Pre-Chapter A/N: Please do check out the first chapter of the novel I'm working on up on Patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)- it's completely free to access. What can I say except you're welcome? Here we go. Lovely to have you all here, and I hope you enjoy this one. If you do, feel free to head over to Patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) and read the next two chapters- I update there on a daily basis so there's always something for you to read.
I wish I could say it was close. Or that it was more dramatic and had come down to my astounding orator abilities. None of those were true. I'd given a good performance, I was sure. But the priori possessio was incontrovertible proof that Peter Pettigrew was still alive. After that shock, the defence had requested a recess and after debating among themselves for a few minutes, Forswythe announced that they would be dropping the defence and all charges against Sirius Black. Of course, that meant our case was going to go forward without challenge. It was a useful means to save face, and the Ministry went from being the other side in an adversarial matter, to fellow victims of the Scoundrel, Peter Pettigrew. Either Fudge was smarter than I expected, or the combination of Bones and Forswythe had managed to get to his better self and convince him that fighting this was a lost cause.
Of course, not everyone had bought the pivot. We'd ended up with a handsome enough settlement from the Ministry. One million galleons for wrongful imprisonment across twelve years, another hundred thousand for the chase he'd been subject to, and two hundred thousand galleons for his reputational damages. The ICW had gotten their own licks in, fining the Minister Fifty thousand galleons for lying in their application for an international warrant. Fudge had taken each sentence with a stone-cold expression. Or at least that would have passed for a stone-cold expression on his face if he hadn't been fiddling with his hat all through.
"You did it, Harry" Sirius whispered in my ears as the last of the judgement was read out by a smiling Dumbledore.
"We did it" I corrected with a smile.
"I'll be taking 10% of that settlement as attorney fees, though" I said with a chuckle, trying to introduce some levity into the situation. I wasn't sure I was comfortable with the level of gratitude and devotion I could see in his eyes. I was trying to build a friend here, not a follower. I'd had too many of the latter and too few of the former in my first life.
"10%? You can have the whole fucking thing. I can't believe I'm free." He said, as I began to rise and guide him out. The next petitioners were scheduled to begin.
"On behalf of the government of China, in exile, I am Wei—" that was the last I heard as I crossed the doorway and left the meeting Hall's boundary ward. Well, that was going to evolve fascinatingly. Couldn't wait to see the news after this.
"Mr. Black. Mr. Black" Fudge called out to us as we walked away.
"Be nice" I whispered to Sirius as I spun him around to face the minister.
"I just want to say that I am so sorry for my Predecessor's mista—"
"You did well, Mr. Potter" Forswythe had left Fudge's side to come speak to me, and I was drawn away from paying attention to whatever Sirius was being told.
"Thank you. You were quite convincing— the facts were just against you" I said, accepting his handshake. Refusing a handshake was a big no no in Wizarding tradition. The kind of things honour duels were fought over.
"Indeed. I am sure from your end, it might seem like I was pulling things out of the aether, but Minister Fudge did truly convince me of his truth. He and I will be having words after this for sure" The man said, sounding menacing even with a bright politician's smile on his face.
"You'll get in line, Charles." Madame Bones stepped towards us.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter"
"You as well, Madame Bones. Your reputation precedes you" I said.
"I wonder what you would have heard. But that can be discussed on another day. I thought the first time I would meet you in person, it would be inviting you to join the auror corps from what I saw of your fight against the Hellhounds and your duels against your fellow champions. But now I wonder if we won't be seeing you as one of our prosecutors one day" She said with a smile that was less practiced than Forswythe's, but a good deal more honest.
"You flatter me" I said.
"I wish I did. Do reach out if I could do anything for you or your Godfather" She said.
"Great work once again, Mr. Potter," Forswythe added.
"Let's go, Charles. Before our dear Minister gets us sued again" She said, dragging him towards where Fudge was saying something that Sirius definitely wasn't enjoying having to hear.
In no time, the three of them were on their way, leaving Sirius and I standing outside the ICW meeting hall.
"How does it feel? Freedom" I asked.
"Better than a thousand women with knockers as big as Bones'" I chuckled before falling into full-blown laughter.
"Let's get out of here, Sirius"
—
The good part about already being in Geneva was that even as the ICW meeting went into its second straight day of deliberations, I could make progress on my goals. The relevant one here being my IOWLS- International Ordinary Wizarding Levels. I'd scheduled the exam by post to take place today, and was almost surprised to find the hall filled to the brim with test-takers. It wasn't like I'd picked the date myself, it was one of half a dozen dates available in the month, so there should have been people here, but so many was a shock.
I couldn't recognise any of them, but that didn't matter much. I took the seat with my Examination Number on it and waited for the test papers to be passed out.
—
The thing that made the IOWLS grueling when compared to local equivalents was the fact that all written exams took place on the same day, and all practicals the day after. That means I went from discussing Gamp's laws to outlining the merits of using powdered root of asphodel over crushed root of asphodel in the Drought of Living Death. My chosen courses- Transfiguration, Charms, Care, and Combat of Magical Creatures, Dark Arts, Magical Defence and Combat, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Ancient Runes, Magical History, Potions, and Herbology meant I was left writing in the hall even long after most others had finished. The written exams had started at dawn, and apart from a lunch break and trips to the bathroom, I didn't leave the hall until the Sun had set.
When I handed the final arithmancy paper over, the examiner looked bored out of his mind. His eyes never flicked up to my scar, and he barely even acknowledged my thanks as I left. He just seemed like he wanted to get some sleep. I could relate with that. Proctoring magical exams must have been so boring. The sheets were already charmed to resist cheating, and the quills had similar enchantments on them as a form of two-factor authentication. It was basically impossible to write down anything on the parchment that was not from one's head.
You could spy at other people's works, but you'd just never be able to write it down. It would have been a good enchantment to study and use as the basis for all sorts of intent wards, but it was guarded jealously by the ministries who got the chance to use them. My brain protested the thinking with a sharp spike of pain, and I resolved to avoid all serious topics in favour of fantasizing over what would certainly be a large spread of food waiting for me when I got to the Hotel. Sirius would probably be out doing something or the other. The man hadn't had a good lay in forever, and as he wasn't stuck with the body of a teenager, he could stand to do something about that.
—
The practical exams all take place on the same day, in a set of four rooms. The first room and the venue for the first exam was the Potions hall. We weren't allowed to bring anything except our wands, so the cauldrons, ingredients, and tools would be provided by the ICW. The exam started once the clock struck nine, and the ingredients revealed themselves to us. The IOWL Potions Exam was a bit different from regular OWLS. For one, we hadn't been given a potion to prepare. Instead, we'd been given a set of ingredients.
Of course, anyone who had done the studying would know that these ingredients when brought together formed a potent shrinking solution. It could also be used to make a strengthening solution, but that would involve finding a substitute for Re'em's blood and using only half the ingredients. No. The shrinking solution was the right bet. Figuring out what we were supposed to make was only the first challenge. The test was timed for sixty minutes. A shrinking solution could take up to Half again that long if one didn't follow the most efficient route. The most efficient route would take about fifty minutes, I remembered from memory as I got to work.
Tom Riddle had been a peerless talent in every wizarding art he put his mind to, and Potions was no different. He'd identified Slughorn as a prime target early on, and so worked to make sure he was easily the best in the art in the class. That meant I knew all the little tricks to grind out just that little bit extra that separated superb potions from merely good ones.
Fifty-five minutes into the exam, I turned off my burner with a flick of my wand and finally looked up from my board. The room was…..well, chaos would be an understatement for the present state.
People were in various states of unrest, hair was frazzled, beards were smoking, and more than a few robes had been opened at the top. Had these people never heard of cooling charms? Of course, I hadn't needed to bother with one— my robes had a passive form of that effect to keep me at a pleasant chill, regardless of what the outside temperature was. There was also a haste around the room. They clearly weren't close to meeting the time for the exam. Most of them, at least. Someone had managed to finish even faster than I had. Their potion was not the perfect shade of turquoise with a silver gleam that mine boasted, but it was still passable. I picked up the vial that had my examination number on it and filled it to the brim before walking to the front of the room under incredulous stares and dropping it in the box for submissions.
"Five minutes left" The proctor said, and all eyes snapped back to their work.
"Mr., Potter, you may move on to your next exam" The man said. It was the same guy from yesterday, I noted. The next room was the one used for the wanded subjects bar one. Transfiguration, Charms, and Dark Arts happened in the same room. Magical Defence and Combat had a separate room. The room was more like a large hall— obviously magically expanded. Proctors sat on chairs right in front of tables with an assortment of items on them: probably props for the spells we would be working here. I walked up to one of the proctors, a woman with a smile that seemed kind and welcoming but probably hid the psychopathy that dwelled in all career educators.
"Transfiguration or Charms" She asked.
"Both."
"So we can deal with either one first." She said.
"Whichever is more convenient for you" I offered.
"I should be the one saying that" She replied with a chuckle.
"But if you truly don't care, then I will admit a partiality for transfiguration. Turn this button into a bee" She started, gesturing to the button on the table. I nodded and then pointed my wand at it, focusing my intent.
Easier than had ever happened, the button was replaced with a bright yellow bumblebee.
"Superb. No incantation or wand motion. Can you maintain that pace for the rest of these, Mr. Potter?"
"We won't know until we try," I said with a smirk to match hers.
"Exactly what I thought." She said before pointing at the next object.
"Teacup into goblet" Done
"Goblet into rat" Done
"Rat into Snake" Done
"Snake into rope" Done
"Rope into thread" Done
"Thread back into teacup" Done.
"Wonderful. Now for the next phase. For extra credit in transfiguration, you can attempt any transfiguration of your choice. Of course, failing a transfiguration will be taken out of the marks you have already accumulated." She said.
I nodded, and then looked around for what to transfigure. The table was a choice, but there were still items atop it that would be useful for the Charms exam. That was when the idea came to me.
With a wave of my wand, I conjured an identical table before sending all the items over to that one with a twirl. A spin and a pointed wand late, the table had become a massive black stallion that neighed its presence in the world before moving around the examiner's seated position in a canter. It stopped in front of her, and she examined it closely.
"Almost perfect. Well done. Can we move on to charms now?" She said after almost a minute of what had to be shocked silence.
For charms, the display was even more notable. Every spell, from levitation, to animation, to cheering and to summoning, was executed perfectly and silently with only the barest signs of wand motions. With each one, she was taken even more aback and the shock was clear for all to see.
"Well, no one is going to believe this without seeing a recording" She said with a laugh as Pyro, my phoenix patronus flew through her and then around her, bathing the room in a soft white light and basically bringing all the other exams to a pause.
"Well done, you can dismiss it now" She said with another laugh. The cheering charm she'd had me test on her was still having some effect, it seemed.
"Now for the dark arts, I will mention a spell and you must display the proper counter. I will stay ten hexes, five jinxes, and three curses. Every counter spell earns a fixed number of points" She said, conjuring a target off to the side with a muttered incantation and furrowed brow or concentration.
The test began, and I was off again.
—
"The test for Magical Combat and Defence is a duel against trainee ICW Hit-witch, Michelle Jones, from the United States of America. She and I will be in charge of scoring you but worry not, the entire duel will be recorded and so all scores can be reviewed if you have issues with them afterwards", A blond smiling man said to the small group of waiting candidates. Only seven of us had taken this course.
And the first one to head to the stage was a man who looked to be getting into his middle age. He was easily the oldest one here. The others looked like seventh years. Probably graduates of various wizening institutions who wanted to do some work either with the ICW or in a foreign nation. Every nation part of the ICW had to recognise the ICW exams as if they were the equivalent to the ones taken in their own nation, after all.
The man started the duel on the back foot. He had waited for the Hit-witch to strike first, and she did it with a flick of her wrist and a burst of flames. The curse clattered against his shield and shattered it in one go. He took a step backwards, visibly gathering himself. She allowed him to do so. There was a timer right behind them, and it counted up to three seconds before she struck again. This time, the man managed to deflect the piercing curse but could do nothing as she sent the deflected curse back at him again with two more joining it. He jumped to the side and slipped on ice that she had laid there after her first spell. He shot off the platform after taking a disarming charm to the face. He smashed against the wall, and his wand flew into her grip.
He rose, no worse for wear— wizards were a hardy lot thanks to innate magic and walked towards the hit-witch with a smile on his face.
"Maybe next time will be the charm, Steve" The examiner said, and the man who had obviously just failed the exam took the encouragement with an easy smile. The kind of smile that told stories.
"Who wants next?" Jones, the Hit-witch said, turning towards us with a smile. Before I could step forward, another boy did. He was in his late teens and had strawberry-blonde hair with high cheekbones and striking blue eyes.
"Dimitri Zinchenko. Remember the name" He said to us before smirking and jumping onto the platform.
"Confident, I see. Please do last longer than two seconds" Jones said.
"I can go all night, babes" He replied easily. Her smirk tightened almost imperceptibly.
He struck first, and that was the only remarkable part of his game. The first spell was a bludgeoner, and he managed to cast it with a whispered incantation and even shaved off the last flick of the wand movement. She spun, the spell tasting nothing but air, and struck twice. Both piercing curses shot through the air like bullets.
"Fuck" Zinchenko swore as he dropped down to avoid the curses. Jones smiled and swung her wand through the air like she was releasing a bowling ball, and he rose from the ground in a nigh-uncontrollable ascent. Next, she stabbed her wand, and the disarming charm shot him off the stage and his wand into her grip. "Nineteen seconds" The examiner said with a whistle.
"I call that one alley-oop. Now, off you go pretty boy" She tossed his wand back at the rising Zinchenko with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Who got next?"
"I'll give it a shot" I said, stepping forward this time when it was clear no one wanted Zinchenko's treatment.
A/N: And so we get the end of Sirius' trial— hurray for freedom, and we get to see the International Ordinary Wizarding Levels. As always, the next two chapters are up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga). If you just want to read complete chapters and not my work in real-time, then feel free to purchase this story as a collection on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) page so you get to read each chapter after I finish it and not necessarily the daily updates available with a regular patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) membership- nice way to support this story and me while you're at it. Enjoy! There's a cheeky 20% off to celebrate my birthday till the end of the month so take advantage of that while you can.