21 New Era

The trials of the Death Eaters and their supporters brought quite a bit of change to the British wizarding world. Fudge had to resign as soon as some of the bribes he had taken were revealed. This didn't help him much, eventually. Some more testimonies made it clear that the esteemed (former) minister only acted based on bribes, which even the corrupt wizarding high society couldn't accept. While bribes were illegal, nobody minded them too much, but a minister needed to have a backbone, at least.

Fudge found himself arrested and all he could look forward to was not being put in the high-security wing at Azkaban.

Albus didn't escape scrutiny either. The way he had handled Sirius after the fateful Halloween made him look much less "light" than his public image. Once the reporters started asking some more questions, ones that Dumbledore was unwilling or unable to answer, the old man's image was tarnished even more. Public pressure forced him to resign from all his positions, including his Headmaster role. Amelia (with Sirius's support) decided not to press charges, although a conviction was almost guaranteed.

She made sure to explain her decision to the press. "Mr. Dumbledore had his whole political career built on the fact that he had vanquished the dark lord Grindelwald. Everybody thought that he killed the evil one but, as found during the recent trials, he only imprisoned Grindelwald in Numengard, the prison Grindelwald had prepared for his enemies. It was also found that there was no great battle to that effect. As former lovers, the two met somewhere and then Dumbledore stun his former lover when that one turned his back to him."

The journalists were writing attentively, following each word.

"As a presumed hero, Dumbledore got the position of headmaster at Hogwarts, although he was younger and less experienced than other candidates. Due to his 'hero' fame, he also got the Chief Warlock position and the British representation to the ICW, where he was elected as Supreme Mugwump, mainly due to his presumed heroism. He used these three positions to direct the British Wizarding world in the way he considered the best, despite a lot of criticism, and not only from the 'dark' faction. Dumbledore acted with complete disregard to the opinions of others, considering himself the only person who knew all there was to know." Amelia didn't play nice with the old man, but he wasn't very nice either, once he was stripped of his masks.

She continued. "During the war against Voldemort, Dumbledore forbade the 'light' forces from using any spells that could do permanent damage to the enemy. This put the 'light' forces at a great disadvantage, of course, because the other side preferred to use lethal spells, mainly the killing curse. This was probably the main cause for the dark forces gaining the upper hand before Voldemort got himself killed when he tried to kill Harry Potter. Dumbledore explained his orders as 'we need to catch them and show them how wrong they were so they can be redeemed.' I know of not a single death eater who was redeemed. Even Severus Snape, whom Dumbledore insisted on keeping at Hogwarts, was eventually found to be as much a criminal as the others. He may have regretted some of his deeds, but not all. He also continued sabotaging the future of our society by not teaching Potions as he should. You all heard his true opinions about Dumbledore, Voldemort and the students at Hogwarts during his trial. His sentence is still to be decided, mainly because Dumbledore is still doing all he can to save Snape from punishment."

"We now arrive at the Potter and Black story. As is now well known, Black was not the Potter secret keeper and Dumbledore, who cast the Fidelius charm on them, knew it well. For some reason which he wouldn't explain, he considered his control over young Harry to be more important than justice or law. He disregarded the Potter will and let Harry stay with his muggle relatives who hate magic and treated him abysmally. He refrained from helping Sirius for the same reason since Sirius was expected to be Harry's guardian after his parents died. Both Harry and Sirius suffered for years due to Dumbledore's actions or inactions."

"Why don't you put him on trial, then?" asked a reporter.

Amelia's smile turned predatory. "We considered that. We found out that most of the possible witnesses for his deeds are either dead or under the complete control of the old man. We can't prove it, but we suspect that he used some compulsions and loyalty charms and/or potions to gain a wide base of supporters who are immune to any criticism against him. We had a few checked and the results are inconclusive. I must also remind you that Legilimency leaves no traces and Dumbledore is known to be very good at it.

"There's also his secrecy to consider. Even his closest allies never knew why he asked them to do something. He keeps his motives and his thoughts to himself, disclosing only fragments of information that may help him achieve what he wants. We considered using Veritaserum, but that proved not to be a viable option. At his age, even a smaller than normal dose can prove fatal. Besides, as an accomplished Legilimens, he has a high tolerance to that potion. We may need a double or triple dose just to overcome that, and such a dose can be fatal even to a younger person."

The mischief in her smile became more pronounced. "Then, assuming he's put on trial and found guilty, as expected, what can we do? Such a powerful wizard might be able to escape Azkaban even if we take his wand. We can't bind his magic, since this can prove fatal at his age, and we may need many more guards there just to make sure he doesn't escape. But we don't need to put him in jail, really. His pride, his positions and his authority were stripped from him by the public and the press. He's currently considered 'persona non grata' practically everywhere. For such a person, this is much worse than prison, and it saves the public a lengthy trial with all the expenses such a trial may cause. And, unlike a trial in front of the Wizengamot, he can't sweet talk some key players, can't bribe anybody and can't use manipulations, since nobody even wants to listen to him."

"So, are you letting him free? Isn't that a breach of justice?" a reporter asked.

"Not exactly. There are quite a few ongoing investigations and Dumbledore is involved in one way or another in many of them. As a key witness, he's forbidden from leaving the country and from speaking to the media, and the Aurors will make sure that nobody publishes anything he says until the investigations are finished, no matter how long that may take. He can live in his home, stroll in his backyard, study his books and even buy some more by owl. He may even leave that house, as long as he says nothing to anybody he happens to meet. Considering the general attitude towards him since the trials started, it's safe to say that he's not looking to meet any people. His few die-hard followers are also under investigation, so they can't meet him either."

"How long will these investigations take?" somebody asked.

Amelia shrugged. "Our last minister made sure to decrease the Auror force below the minimum. We can currently spare no one, and we're still short of manpower. Any investigation that's not urgent is bound to take much longer than normally expected. Your estimate is as good as mine."

"So, may we understand that Mr. Dumbledore is kept under house arrest, for all practical purposes, despite not having a trial yet?"

Amelia had her answer ready. "He's not under arrest unless he decides to act as if he is. As for not having a trial – I'm sure that our new Chief Warlock will make sure to put any suspect on trial no more than six months after one is arrested, as required by the law, that Mr. Dumbledore failed to comply with."

There were some more questions and Madam Bones answered them all, yet it was very clear to all: Dumbledore was no longer a person of any standing. He was formally still a free man, but he was practically imprisoned in his own house. He still got it much better than Sirius had had. He was free to move; he could listen to the WWN and get the daily newspaper; he could read and study as much as he liked; he could even use his wand freely, as long as he only cast legally.

–..–

Dumbledore read the articles about that and sighed. All his plans were now in total ruin. Apparently, Harry Potter wasn't needed for the final demise of Voldemort, making all the convoluted plans, all the illegal acts, all the suffering he caused – everything was for naught. Unfortunately, none of the Death Eaters could be redeemed, and certainly not Voldemort. Under Veritaserum, all the ones put on trial admitted to doing atrocities for their own amusement and never regretting them, not even Severus. He had to sadly admit that he had been wrong all along, and it had cost the lives of more people than he ever wanted to count. Had he not tried to redeem the unredeemable, he could have saved most of the victims of the war. The Potters and the Longbottoms could have still been alive and well, and also the Prewett twins and… practically all the victims among the Order of the Phoenix.

And despite his other efforts, change was coming to the wizarding world. The interim minister, whose name he couldn't be bothered to recall, was working diligently to restructure the Ministry, remove blood prejudice and replace hereditary positions with elected ones. It was a work in progress, one that would take many years, but nobody doubted it was necessary, not even the ones who were expected to lose some or all their political and social powers.

Albus didn't feel like he could be comfortable in what the magical world was sure to turn into. He had never been good at accommodating change, certainly not at his advanced age. Yet what he felt worse about were the many victims he could have spared, had he been wiser, had he not put so much trust in a prophecy that was eventually completed very differently than he could have anticipated. All those victims were setting on his conscience like heavy stones. All those poor souls were coming to him in his dreams, all asking 'Why?'

Three months after Peter's trial, two months after losing his positions, a month after Amelia's press conference, he could bear the burden of his guilt no more. His heart gave out during the night. His house elf found him dead in the morning.

Dumbledore's funeral was a small and private affair. No journalist was present and very few people came to escort him to his last resting place. His brother Aberforth came, as did his latest employer – Harry Potter and his wives. The ministry sent a low-level clerk to show some respect to the person who led the Wizengamot for many years and also managed Hogwarts. From the Order, only Molly came, looking torn between mourning her beloved mentor and cursing the man who was responsible, among other misdeeds, for the death of her brothers.

Dumbledore's death was only mentioned in a four-line article in the inner pages of The Prophet.

–..–

With the Death Eaters and their supporters removed from society, the dark faction lost most of its members and all its influence. There were still quite a few conservatives, of course, but most of them were smart enough not to openly oppose advance. Instead, they tried to make the changes more gradual and give some place to old traditions too. That was something that most people could agree with.

Ten years after Dumbledore's death, the British magical world was well on its way to becoming almost as modern as the muggle world. Discrimination based on blood status was on its way out and democracy, equal rights to all, and respect for tradition without turning away from novelty were becoming the norm.

Hogwarts flourished under its new owners. New courses were added on magical and on muggle subjects. Only Ron Weasley and a few other lazy bums didn't like the change.

Hogwarts changed in many ways. It was wired for electricity, replacing the old torches with electric light bulbs that made the corridors well-lighted, making the whole castle feel more welcoming. A generator was bought to supply the needed electricity since the muggle electric company could not be asked to connect the school, which looked just like a pile of ruins to muggles. The generator was eventually powered by magic, of course, after the professors worked on it for a few days.

Unfortunately, cellular phones could not work there. They didn't burn out, but there was no reception anywhere even quite a few miles away from the wards. The mountainous area was too problematic and had too few phone users to make any phone company invest in improving reception there.

They had better luck with the phone lines. The cables could be passed at the side of the train track, bringing the telephone (and Internet) to Hogsmeade. Some muggle-born upper-class students made the connection from there to Hogwarts, finally allowing muggle-born students to stay in touch with their families and friends without using owls.

–..–

"How are we going to celebrate our tenth anniversary?" Harry asked his wives.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to celebrate," Hermione answered. "You know that we all have our due date roughly at the time of our anniversary."

Harry's thoughts wandered. They had all decided to wait until they were twenty before enlarging the family. Less than a year after his twentieth birthday, Harry was a father of three. It looked like he was going to be a father of six in only a few more weeks.

That prospect would have frightened him ten years earlier, but after gaining his three wives and learning to rely on them and on his house elves, and with some advice from Arthur Weasley, it was no longer frightening him. He was actually looking forward to that.

"Well, if we can't celebrate before the babies come, we'll celebrate a few weeks later, and we'll have some more reasons for celebration," Harry answered.

He was looking forward to many more years with his beloved wives and children, hoping to eventually give them a much better world than he found when he first entered the magical world.

END