DISCLAIMER: See Ch. 1.

A/N: I ought to explain this right now. I WAS going to bash Fudge in the original version of my story, but then the idea left me at the last moment. I could have done a good job at Fudge-bashing myself, but repentant Fudge with a second chance works better for this story. (Like with the Dursleys, I was horrible at writing corrupt characters back when I started writing this fic.) HOWEVER, this chapter WILL include a flashback to satisfy you all. If anyone wants to really see the Ministry morons from OotP get theirs, read chapter 2 of my Harry Potter versus Predator fic.

CHAPTER 9: INNOCENCE PROVEN

Agnosco crimen, amplector etiam. I acknowledge the charge; I even welcome it. –Pliny, Epistulae (7.28.2)

Harry spotted Neville and his grandmother near the entrance. Mrs. Longbottom was talking to Dumbledore. He turned and noticed Harry coming up to them.

"Ah, Harry," he greeted his pupil. He lowered his voice and continued, "Good news. Mrs. Longbottom is joining the Order and Neville knows about it.

Neville nodded. "My parents were part of it, right?"

"That's right," Harry said. "Ask Moody about his old photo of the original Order sometime. See if you can spot your parents."

"Also," Dumbledore went on, "Are there any other students you think should know about the Order?"

Harry thought for a moment and said, "Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, and Cho Chang. Luna fought with us and was the only one other than me to come out uninjured. Susan supported me that day in the Hog's Head and had a relative in the Order. Cho was another supporter in the Hog's Head, and she wants to do whatever she can to help, after Cedric's death."

Dumbledore thought about this and said, "A wise choice, Harry. I shall talk to them now."

As he went off to find them, Harry, Neville, and Mrs. Longbottom set off for Ollivander's.

They entered the wand shop, and sure enough, Mr. Ollivander came drifting out of the back of the shop.

"Ah," he exclaimed after spotting Neville, "I see you've come for a replacement for your father's wand. A good wand it was. Oak, unicorn hair, I believe, 12 inches, nice and firm. Excellent for dueling and combat, ah yes, what a fine wand that one was!. It served him well for his career as an Auror."

Neville looked a little downcast as Mr. Ollivander hurried off to collect some wands to try, but Harry put his hand on Neville's shoulder and reassured him, "It's alright, Neville. I know what it's like to be compared to my father."

Before Neville could respond, Mr. Ollivander came back with a handful of wands. He handed one over to Neville. "Here, try this one. Maple, dragon heartstring, 11 ½ inches, somewhat swishy."

Neville took the wand and simply waved it around. The next moment, a bunch of roses shot out of the wand's tip and landed in his grandmother's hands. She smelled the flowers and said, "Ah, what a beautiful bouquet, Neville, my dear."

Neville smiled with pride as Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, "Bravo! The first wand, too! This hasn't happened in a long time."

Harry paid Mr. Ollivander 8 Galleons for the wand. "Well," he said, "I'd better get going. Good luck with your new wand, Neville."

If Harry hadn't been in such a rush to get to Quality Quidditch Supplies, he would have heard Mr. Ollivander say, "Hmmm, curious..."

~*~*~*~

Harry went to QQS to buy Cho a Cleansweep 7; he wasn't sure why he was being her that, but something in his heart told him that it was a great thing to do. Some heads turned and whispering followed, but he ignored it. At the desk, he placed an order for a Cleansweep 7 to be delivered to Cho's house. Harry also had to sign a form, which would withdraw the gold from his bank account to pay for the broom, plus an extra charge to have the owls deliver it. 'It's worth it,' Harry thought to himself.

He then walked back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and he noticed a couple of familiar faces that weren't there before at the Grand Opening.

Fleur Delacour was walking beside Bill Weasley, both of them chatting with each other, while Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was tagging along while playing with a fake wand that looked like a parrot. A few feet away, Viktor Krum was trying on a Headless Hat, and when his head vanished, a bunch of girls who were looking for him went off in the opposite direction.

"As you can see, Harry," Dumbledore said after appearing behind him, "Fleur and Viktor are also part of the Order. Viktor is working with Charlie Weasley in Eastern Europe, and Fleur is working with Bill in England and the rest of Western Europe."

At which point, Lupin came up to them, closely followed by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville, who had just returned. Lupin took out a deflated car tire, and said, "This will take us to Fudge's office at the Ministry of Magic." Just then, however, Cho came hurrying and said, "Wait! I'm coming too! I want to know what happened."

Dumbledore said to her, "You may also come, Miss Chang, as I know that some of the answers that Harry will provide will settle some things for you too." There was a flicker of sadness on both the faces of Cho and Dumbledore.

"Er, Professor," Ron said. "I know we're trying to prove what happened with Sirius and Umbridge, but with all due respect, how can we trust Minister Fudge?" He asked this with a slight bit of dislike and distrust in his voice. "I still can't even figure out why you're trying to keep him in office

"Ah," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Good question, Mr. Weasley. I'd assign house points, except it's summer break at the moment. Anyway, I've actually cut a deal, or so you might say." The smile vanishing, he said quietly and seriously, "Due to the Minister's... foolishness," and this was met with a few snorts of disgust, "Keeping him in office was actually the best alternative, as opposed to running him out. When he was chosen for the position, he was a bright and hard-working man, but he became lazy over the past few years as things seemed to get easier for him and his job. This is more than enough incentive for him to cooperate with us."

"In other words, you have him eating out of your hand," Ginny said flatly.

"Well," Dumbledore said with that twinkle in his eye, "I wouldn't quite put it that way..."

"Exactly how did you bring about this change of heart?" Hermione asked curiously.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled even more as he remembered that brief dialogue with Fudge... (1)

~*~*~*~

"I can't believe it!" Fudge blustered in front of the entire Wizengamot. "Umbridge being accused of abuse of power... this isn't happening! Right before my re-election campaign too! We're in trouble!"

"You mean, you're in trouble, Cornelius," Amelia said smoothly. "You wrote the laws, you passed the laws, throwing in one after another."

Angry spots of color appeared on Fudge's face while Bones continued, "Letters are pouring in from parents all over the country, whose children have scars on the backs of their hands. You'd be in even more trouble if students had actually gotten whipped. What in Merlin's name were you thinking?"

Fudge gulped. The rest of the Wizengamot quieted down. Bones went on, "And the fact that that Podmore fellow was framed and sent to Azkaban, while that Unspeakable Bode was incapacitated and killed. This isn't going to look very good to you at all, Minister."

Nervously, Fudge said, "Well, they're only two people, right?"

That was the final straw. Bones was actually shouting in Fudge's face, while the other Wizengamot members watched in awe.

"THAT'S TWO MORE PEOPLE THAN WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, FUDGE!" she boomed, and everyone else took a few steps back while Fudge turned red. "YOU HAVE MADE YOU FINAL MISTAKE! YOU HAVE BEEN A CORRUPT, FOOLISH, GREEDY PIG FROM THE START, PUTTING YOUR BEST INTERESTS AHEAD OF THE PEOPLES'! YOU IMPRISON INNOCENT PEOPLE WHILE LETTING DEATH EATERS WALK FREE! ALL THAT WEALTH ISN'T GOING TO STOP YOU-KNOW-WHO FROM COMING AFTER YOU! WITH ONE PRESS CONFERENCE, I WILL HAVE YOU OUT OF HERE FASTER THAN-"

"Enough said, Amelia," came a new voice. It was Albus Dumbledore, walking into the room.

"Dumbledore!" Fudge breathed, looking happy as though greeting an old friend. "Thank God you're here! Please, please tell Amelia over here that-"

"She was correct with what she said?" Dumbledore helpfully supplied. Fudge now turned pink.

"Dumbledore, please, you have to help me!" Fudge begged.

"You have made several mistakes, Cornelius," he said sadly. "However, we cannot afford to have such political chaos with Voldemort on the move."

"So, what can I do?" Fudge pleaded.

"First of all, admit your mistakes the previous year," Dumbledore advised. "No one else gets any points if you admit to it first."

Fudge nodded. "But why should I listen to that maniac, Potter?"

Dumbledore gave him a "don't cross me" kind of look. "First of all, I fail to see why you would believe Rita Skeeter after all she has said about your administration." After allowing Fudge to blush for a moment, Dumbledore continued, "Second, Harry is a very likeable person, noble to a fault. He's never wanted any attention just for being a survivor."

"Codswallop," Fudge muttered. "What about that bilge about Sirius Black being innocent?"

"Harry wasn't lying about Voldemort's return, and he has no reason to lie about Sirius' innocence. I even believed in his guilt myself at one point. For another matter, Sirius died in this very building, fighting against Bellatrix Lestrange. Why don't you show a little faith in Harry and try and take his word for it?"

Fudge shut his mouth, thinking carefully. "Some people in another Department have found another way of showing memories. It works something like a Pensieve. It should be done in another week or so."

"Good," Dumbledore said, smiling a little for the first time. "You know, Cornelius, you were always such a hard worker in the Ministry before you took over a few years ago. I thought you would have thought of Voldemort's return as a challenge. My offer still stands, Cornelius, to help you out, even if you have made things harder on yourself this past year."

Fudge glowered a little. "You care a lot about Potter, don't you?"

Dumbledore seemed to grow a little older at that moment. "For one thing, his legal guardianship has always been a bit hazy, so it fell to me to determine his future. For another thing, he'll probably play the most important role of all in this war. And finally, I happen to be his Headmaster. Yes, I care about him more than you might ever know."

There was silence as Dumbledore walked back to the door. "One other thing: We happen to have something in common, Cornelius. We both happen to like our jobs. If I wanted your job, I would have had it decades ago."

"Why do you like being Headmaster so much, anyway?" Fudge asked him.

Dumbledore gave one of those classic smiles. "Because I find it easier and more profound to be in charge of several hundred open-minded adolescents than several thousand narrow-minded adults." With that, he left. (2)

~*~*~*~

All seven students were grinning as Dumbledore finished recounting that. "So why are you keeping him in office?" Neville asked.

Dumbledore's eye-twinkle faded again as he said, "Because without much-needed wisdom to counteract his foolishness, he could even end up joining Voldemort out of revenge and cause even more trouble." (3)

"An excellent reason indeed," Luna said, sounding as if her thoughts were really elsewhere.

Harry shook his head, still contemplating something.

"What is it, Harry?" Lupin asked him.

"All of this could have been prevented to begin with if he had just listened to me and Hermione that night in the hospital wing," he muttered. "Why didn't he just listen?"

"Apart from his being so sure of himself," Dumbledore explained. "Minister Fudge was a worker on a Magical Enforcement Squad at the time, and he was one of the first on the scene after it happened, and watched as Sirius was taken away. For another thing..." and here Dumbledore looked a little somber "...about a few months before then, the now-Minister lost his wife during a Death Eater attack, and there were ties linking Sirius to those Death Eaters. As you may have already guessed, those brought back strong memories for him, so he thought he was doing the right thing." (4)

There was silence for a moment while everyone digested this information. As much as they may have hated Fudge the past year, they still remembered that he was human, and they never considered such reasons. However, if they were going to meet with the Minister, they had to be diplomatic and businesslike about it, and not let their emotions or desires get in the way.

"So," Dumbledore concluded, "When we go there, try to put aside as much animosity as you can that you feel towards him. I daresay he's learned his lesson." And the students could trust their headmaster on this statement, due to that brilliant twinkle in his eyes.

Dumbledore Summoned an innocent-looking deflated old tire from a wall in the room, and activated the spell on it, already set in place by some Ministry official. Then, they all took the tire; within 5 seconds, they were in Fudge's office. The Minister was signing some legal documents, and he looked tired. In fact, he looked paler and thinner than when Harry had last seen him less than a month before. After signing the last document, he looked up, and said, "Welcome. Here, let me get you some seats." With a wave of his wand, 9 chintz armchairs arrived for his visitors.

"Down to business," he stated, before turning to Harry. "Potter, if you can use your memories to prove that Pettigrew is still alive, then Black's name can be cleared, and his will can be read. You have to be of age to submit to Veritaserum, but I have a device that works somewhat like Dumbledore's Pensieve."

Harry inwardly marveled at the Minister's change of attitude towards him before he pulled out a silvery-greenish orb the size of a bowling ball, which reflected the room. "This is a Memory Orb," Fudge explained. "Grasp it while focusing on a memory, and it should project it to the entire room."

"Try and think back to the night in the Shrieking Shack, Harry," Lupin encouraged him.

Harry grasped the Orb, and thought back to that eventful night. 'It's like getting a happy memory for a Patronus,' he thought to himself.

The walls of the room seemed to get darker, and suddenly they were observing the scene from a side as though they were looking through a Muggle one-way mirror. Fudge gaped, open-mouthed, during the entire memory, throughout Lupin's story, Sirius' explanation of his escape from Azkaban, Pettigrew as a human, and Harry's mercy.

"Maybe I should have let him be killed after all," said Harry bitterly after the memory ended. "Sirius is gone now anyway."

"Harry," Dumbledore coaxed him, "There's no way you would have been able to know that back then. Besides, he was your parents' best friend and your godfather. He would have taken the same risks as them if he had to."

Fudge then asked "Why? What happened?"

With much grief, Harry activated the memory of the battle in the Department of Mysteries. Almost everyone gasped in horror as Sirius fell backwards through the veil, never to be seen again. Harry continued the memory up to Voldemort's failed attempt to possess him, and ended it there; however; Harry deliberately skipped over the point in time with the Cruciatus Curse. When everyone else noticed, he just said that he was having trouble concentrating, although he caught Dumbledore's eye, and both of them knew full well why that actually happened.

After that ended, the usually pompous Minister just looked deep in thought, looking over the whole thing (which was an expression that was very rarely seen on Fudge's face). A moment later, he finally said, "Very well, I will record that for later. Now you said that Ms. Umbridge used a Blood Quill in her detentions?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered, with something like disgust now on his face. He took out a box and gave it to Fudge. "Inside is a list of students subjected to it, the infringements, and pictures of the students' hands after they were done."

Fudge skimmed down the list and looked through the pictures. He seemed to be more sickened with each one. He finally looked up at Harry. "'I must not tell lies.' What did you say to her?"

"I didn't tell any lies. First time, it was because that Voldemort killed Cedric Diggory. Then it was because I mentioned how Voldemort possessed Quirrell. Voldemort was still something less than a ghost, so when he possessed Quirrel, his face was sticking out of the back of Quirrel's head. That's why Quirrel wore that ridiculous turban. Then it was because I told her that Draco Malfoy was attacked by Hagrid's hippogriff, Buckbeak, because he insulted it, because he didn't pay attention to Hagrid. Finally, it was because I gave that interview that appeared in the March edition of The Quibbler." His face showing some hatred now, he added, "That resulted in more than three weeks of detention with her."

Fudge remained silent, wincing at Harry's last statement. He then asked, "How did you get rid of her?"

Harry used the Orb to show the memory where Umbridge was tricked into being ambushed by the centaurs after she threatened him in her office. Harry then projected the memory where Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were attacked in the middle of the night during Harry's Astronomy exam.

By the end of it all, Fudge looked furious. "That awful woman," he growled. "Dementors, Cruciatus Curse, attacking other teachers... and claiming to do it all for me, when I would NEVER condone such things. I will send out Aurors to arrest her right away, and decide on a trial date afterwards. In the meantime, I'll have Black's will read a couple of days from now, and we can decide on a date for his memorial then."

"Very well," said Dumbledore. "Thank you for your time, Cornelius." He took out the Portkey, and as soon as all 9 of them touched it, they were back at the Grand Opening.

Mrs. Weasley came hurrying over to them. "Was his name cleared?" she asked them.

"Yes," Harry answered, "Sirius' name was cleared."

Whispers went throughout the crowd. Sirius Black, innocent?

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence the crowd. "Sirius Black was innocent this whole time," he explained. "He was also Harry Potter's godfather, and died last month in the Department of Mysteries, while trying to protect Harry. He never betrayed Harry's parents, and didn't kill Pettigrew. It was the other way around. Pettigrew betrayed Harry's parents, and faked his own death while killing those innocent dozen Muggle bystanders. He assisted at Voldemort's rebirth last summer, and has been working for him under the alias 'Wormtail.'"

There was silence as the truth sunk in like a stone. People just gaped at Harry and Dumbledore. Suddenly, there was a loud BANG!

"Well, well, well," a high-pitched simpering voice rang out. "Spreading more nasty, attention-seeking lies and funding troublemaking pranks, eh, Potter?"

(End of Chapter 9.)

A/N: Originally, well, I think I handled this rather well and diplomatically... what say you?

(1) Too manipulative for Dumbledore? Probably, but then again, I believe that we've only tasted a sample of his craftiness from OotP...

(2) You like this or Dumbledore's clever one-liner? I actually came up with that myself...

(3) I bet most authors never even thought of that possibility when they ran Fudge out of office (although the running-him-out part in itself is still the best thing to do). HOWEVER, Fudge won't be Minister for this entire story, just to let you all know now (wink wink)...

(4) It says in PoA10 that Fudge was on the scene as some sort of squad (I forget the name and I don't have the book with me right now), and was one of the first on the scene; in GoF28, while Crouch is babbling away at the tree, he refers to a Mrs. Fudge. However, that was at least twelve years before, and she could have died or something between now and then, right? (Oh, and if she's still alive in canon, her fired husband will probably now be sleeping on the couch from now on, heehee.)

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