Dear Readers,

Well, here it is-the final chapter of Harry Gets Charged! Alas, do not worry-it was always intended to be part of a trilogy. =D Thanks for sticking with me this whole time, thanks for reading, and please-review! Thank you again!

~Rae Carson

The next day dawned bright and early, and rather than having the entire lot of witnesses put in front of the Wizengamot, Severus Snape granted them a reprieve. He had already made his point yesterday, and had only the most choice wizards and witches give their testimonies. After all, Snape had no desire to make himself look the fool.

He was still annoyed with Umbridge and cohorts for making Harry Potter look like such a dangerous criminal. Making sure Harry was unconscious for yesterday's court appearance seemed like an utterly ludicrous thing to him, but it was better than making the boy have to suffer the indignity of walking into court twice while being shackled and hauled in like a convict. Snape snorted to himself. The day Harry Potter becomes a dangerous criminal is the day I stop wearing black, he thought. Draco Malfoy was far more dangerous, and Snape didn't really consider him a criminal either. Why, compared to him, Potter was practically a saint, Snape realised with dark amusement, recalling Draco's choice name for him.

Sighing inwardly, he watched with the rest of those in the court arena when Harry Potter was brought in with as much pomp and circumstance as could be drummed up for a 16-year-old boy who had been accused of trying to kill his relatives. Snape realised that not even Voldemort had to face down such a thing, although he had killed many by the time he was Harry's age.

Manacled and in chains, Harry looked all around the arena, holding his head high. He stood proudly in spite of the whispers, in spite of those who stared, in spite of the metal binding his limbs together. His prisoner's uniform hung off his lean frame and dark circles rimmed his eyes. It looked like he hadn't got a decent meal or night's sleep in weeks. Then he was roughly shoved down into the witness chair where he was bound to it, limiting his movement even more.

Chief Inquisitor Umbridge beheld him with disdain and malicious hunger gleamed in her eyes. She snapped her fingers, which was a signal to the guards to give Harry the Veritaserum she had ready for him. Though he fought valiantly, there was only so much one could do when held down by a chair, chains, and 4 officers of the court. They force-fed Harry the potion and made him swallow it. Dumbledore's worst fears had been realised right then and there; he hadn't been able to prevent Dolores's action. Most of Harry's supporters stood up out of their seats and made sounds of shock and indignation. The Chief Inquisitor had to ask for order again.

"You may question your witness now, Snape," Umbridge said with badly-contained glee to the man.

Snape approached Harry with an unreadable expression on his face. "State your name, age, and

occupation."

Harry answered mechanically, while staring straight ahead, "Harry James Potter, 16, student."

Though Severus questioned the boy, Harry droned on and on about his accounts for things that happened the night of the car crash. His testimony matched exactly those of Stan Shunpike, Madam Adonna, and even Dudley Dursley, to a point.

"Did you see anything, or anybody, outside of the car during or before the time of the crash before you lost consciousness?"

Harry paused for such a long time, many people assumed he'd passed out. But then he stated, "I don't remember."

"Say that again?" Snape said.

"I don't remember."

It was a very puzzling thing indeed when one under the influence of Veritaserum failed to recall something. Snape soon moved on to other questions, including asking Harry what type of robes Madam Adonna had been wearing, what colour Vernon Dursley's car was, and other such queries. It was very uncharacteristic of the Slytherin professor to drift away from things which weren't pertinent to the case. He obviously had an ulterior motive in mind; Snape was trying to avoid handing over questioning of his witness.

Once again, Chief Inquisitor Umbridge admonished him, "Quit stalling, Mr. Snape, and hand over questioning of the witness to the prosecution."

Snape knew his number was up, so he turned to Finkle and said under his breath, "Make certain you question him only about things pertinent to the case, Zedward," before he swept out of the centre of the arena and sat down.

Just as Finkle was about to begin his questioning, a squat little wizard page made his way into the arena, and addressed Umbridge, "Madam Inquisitor, may it please you to know that Harry Potter's aunt, Petunia Dursley, has awoken from her coma just today and given testimony in her nephew's behalf. Here it is:

Members of the Wizarding Court, and to Whom it May Concern,

My nephew, Harry Potter, has never deliberately tried to harm

myself, nor members of my family. It surprises me to know that

in our absence, various people from your society approached my

son, Dudley, about this matter. We, that is to say, I and my

husband beg you to stop the trial against our nephew post-haste,

and release him as soon as possible. As someone who was there

on the night in question, I assure you he has done nothing wrong.

Respectfully Yours,

Mrs. Petunia Dursley

At the reading of Petunia's testimony, Umbridge looked nearly crestfallen, as did Finkle. They seemed to know that the Chief Inquisitor had no choice at this point but to declare a mistrial. That's exactly what the toady woman did, but she was on the brink of tears as she said, "This court has heard the absentee testimony of Petunia Dursley must thereby declare this proceeding a mistrial. Henceforth, Harry Potter is to have all charges against him dismissed and be released from wizarding custody. Case dismissed."

Many cheers and celebrating was echoed around the court arena, as the sooner-than-expected verdict was read. What was most upsetting of all is that Harry Potter had absolutely no outward reaction, as he was still under the influence of the Veritaserum. They had to give it time to wear off. But Harry had to go through procedures first. He still had to be hauled away by the guards and taken back to his cell. But now it would be the last time he was taken there. Dumbledore waited patiently while the guards removed the last of the shackles and chains, Harry was given his belongings again, and by about that time, the Veritaserum had worn off.

It was with much relief that Harry broke down and sobbed to Mrs. Weasley about how awful it was being a prisoner, how horrible the Dementors had been, how he had felt so lost and so sad that he hadn't even felt it within himself to cry. It was a new level of loss he hoped never to feel again. This crying actually seemed good, a cleansing type of tears. But he still couldn't manage to feel okay again. He was so exhausted by the end of it that he fell asleep on Mrs. Weasley, and she didn't wake him for quite some time.