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Harry stared impassively up at the Wizengamot as Minister Fudge cleared his throat.
"You are Harry Potter from Number 4, Privet Drive, Surrey?" The Minister asked.
"Yes" Harry said calmly, his magic crackling under his tight grip.
"And you knowingly broke the Statue of Secrecy by doing magic in front of a muggle witness?"
"No" Harry said sharply.
"...No?" Fudge sounded surprised and annoyed. Dumbledore opened his mouth as if to speak before being cut off by Harry.
"No. See, when I got my warning a few years ago, the owl dropped the notice on my relative's muggle guest's head. She had no knowledge of our world and her memory was never wiped because nobody came by to make sure everything was neat and tidy. No one even realized there were non-aware muggles in the house. The letter was then picked up by my Uncle, who read it out to his wife, son, and me. I assume what he read out was correct, but I couldn't check. The letter never made it to my hand. He crumpled the letter up and locked me in my room for weeks. Probably burnt the damn thing after getting me out of sight. So no, Minister. I do not officially know if this is my first or second offense. And while I'm allowed to defend myself, I conjured the Patronus to protect me and my muggle cousin from two dementors who were about to kiss us. Even a second later and my cousin would be soulless right now. Give me Veritaserum if you want, I have nothing to hide and then we can end this farce of a hearing with the truth" Harry felt some electricity spark around his shoulders from his magic reacting to the anger he was feeling.
"Mr. Potter, you are implying many things in that statement. Mr. Weasley, you have gotten all of his words?" A lady with a monocle spoke up.
"I have Madame Bones!" Percy responded eagerly.
"My thanks. Now, to start from the beginning. You claim the letter from our offices never came to your hand in what was it?"
"July 31st, 1992. I remember it clearly since it was my 12th birthday which I was forced to spend silent in my room pretending not to exist while my Uncle hosted a dinner party for some high profile clients. Unfortunately, a house elf named Dobby had appeared while I was finishing my chores downstairs, in the muggle way just so there is no confusion. He is the one who performed the charm on the dessert my Aunt had purchased to get me in trouble" Harry recited dutifully.
"A House Elf?!" Fudge chimed back in "A Likely story!"
"The-" Dumbledore began, likely about to offer to summon Dobby Harry mused to himself as both men were stopped in their tracks.
"Minister! I am the one currently asking the questions and I ask that you remain SILENT" Madame Bones snarled. Fudge shrank back against his seat, face white.
"My apologies Mr. Potter. I'm afraid that incident will have to be handled in its entirety separately. For now, I need you to clarify a few points as they relate to this instance" Madame Bones' voice softened slightly as she returned to questioning Harry.
"I understand Madame Bones. I'm just grateful to know you'd be willing to hear me out on that" He dipped his head gratefully. "What do you need clarifying?"
"You said the owl dropped the note on a muggle's head? And elaborate a bit on what you mean by your Uncle's actions afterwards" She gave him a kind smile.
"Of course. So, Dobby had run downstairs with me following after I refused to stay at that house over the school year due to 'terrible things happening at Hogwarts'. His words, not mine. Anyways, he started hovering the dessert and asked me a final time to agree. I refused once more so he dropped it in the midst of the group and me. At first my family was making the normal excuses for why I was hidden away. Then the owl from the Ministry came through an open window, dropping the letter in its talons on the wife who then ran screaming out of the house as she is deathly terrified of birds. I was mopping up the mess, so my Uncle was the one to grab the letter after the husband left the house after his wife. He read it out, finding out that I can't do magic in the summer. I had conveniently forgotten to tell them, though my wand was locked away anyways. My Uncle then crumpled the letter, grabbed my arm, and dragged me up to my room where he locked me in. He added seven more locks to the door and bars on my window. So while I know the laws, including the exception like what happened just over a week ago, I also knew that if it seemed like no one would listen I could argue that I didn't know. Which is exactly what I did and am doing so I can be heard" Harry summarized.
"Thank you Mr. Potter. I believe I will need to send someone to ensure the couple didn't do something in the years since. Now, I'm guessing your argument is that your casting was justified due to dementors" Madame Bones seemed to have aged five years in the time it took to explain the first warning. "Would you be willing to give a memory to double check?"
"I would. I don't know how though."
"There's no need. I will do it for you so we can be certain that there's no possible tampering of the evidence. Just picture that night clearly for me" She walked over carefully, resting her wand at Harry's temple when she received a nod. A familiar long silvery string appeared, which was then deposited into a Pensive. The witch did a complicated wave and the entire courtroom could see the cloaked figure staring Harry down. After a prod from Madame Bones' wand, it showed the rest of the fight scene before she stopped it and removed the strand from the basin.
"There really was two dementors?" A young man said in disbelief as the head of the DMLE returned the memory to the young wizard.
"Yes sir. And as you could see I performed the Patronus charm to create a stag, which it has been since I was 13" Harry said tiredly.
"Well, this is a clear case of self-defense then. Any opposition to ruling it as such?" Madame Bones asked as she settled back in her seat. There were head shakes all around. "Lovely. You have our sincere apologies for the threat to you and your cousin's lives Mr. Potter. I will be owling you to set up a time to clear up the 1992 mark but for now you are free to go"
"My thanks to you Madame Bones. I look forward to your owl" Harry stood with a bow before heading to the door. He ignored Dumbledore following close to his heels.
"Harry?" Mr. Weasley looked up hopefully.
"It's been ruled as self-defense" Harry smiled. The father of seven gave him a wide smile as well before ushering him back to the atrium and Headquarters beyond.