At that, the courtroom erupted into chaos and shock and it took much banging of the Minister's gavel and pleas for calm before order was restored.

Ginny squeezed Harry's hand as he stood. As he made his way to the chair in the centre of the floor, various friends shot him supporting glances. He was then sworn in and took the stand.

He sat down and looked around and his eyes made contact with those of Draco Malfoy, who still looked pale but now instead of looking nervous, he looked just plain scared. There was a look in his eyes that Harry couldn't describe. He was desperate and pleading silently for Harry to help him and he agreed that he would do everything he could do.

Harry Potter does not break his word.

Harry turned his attention to the court as the Minister began to speak.

"You are Harry James Potter? Son of James Potter and Lily Potter?"

Harry suppressed the urge to twitch at his parents' names. "Yes, I am."

"And this person before you is indeed Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes, he is."

"Well, then, let's proceed in the questioning." The Minister leaned back in his chair to watch what was expected to be a very interesting turn of events.

The man on his right leaned forward, getting over his shock rather quickly so that they can get this over with. "Mr. Potter, thank you for coming. Many people obviously are very surprised to see you here as a defence witness I am sure, since there has been a well known long term enmity between yourself and the accused Mr. Malfoy, which began the very first day you met at Hogwarts. So, might I ask, what moved you to come forward and speak here on his behalf?"

"Well, Sir," Harry replied. "Whilst what you said is true and Draco Malfoy and myself have been sworn enemies for years, that is no reason why I shouldn't be here today. However, I am compelled to admit that he did save my life, not only in the courtyard but also at Malfoy Manor, and for that I am grateful. Plus, I made a promise to him," here he locked eyes with Draco's, "and I don't plan on going back on my word."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. I am sure we could spend the next month going through the years that you and the accused were students at Hogwarts. I'm also sure that you, and indeed all of us, will be relieved to know that I don't think that will be necessary. I intend to concentrate on only a select few of those situations between you and Mr. Malfoy. The first, the night that Albus Dumbledore was killed."

"Yes?" Harry prompted.

"Can you tell us about that night and comment on the accused's connection to the murder of Albus Dumbledore," Shacklebolt asked.

"I can." Malfoy looked at him in surprise. Harry was careful to avoid looking at the blonde man as he said his next sentence. "I was there, on the astronomy tower when he died."

Harry took a deep breath to steady his nerves then continued.

"Professor Dumbledore was dying before that night. It had to do with our mission." He looked at Kingsley meaningfully, "which we have already discussed."

Kingsley nodded and gestured for Harry to continue. Harry risked a glance at Malfoy and found the boy staring at him in shock. Malfoy obviously had been uninformed about Harry's involvement.

"Dumbledore asked, well I suppose demanded is the proper word, that Snape kill him. He said it would be for the greater good, which was accurate enough. Dumbledore was going to die long before Malfoy was ever given his mission.

"You see, we, Dumbledore and I, had been away from Hogwarts that evening and when we came back, Dumbledore was seriously ill. He told me to get Professor Snape, for he would know what to do, but I didn't get the chance because there were footsteps leading up to the tower, which were then identified as Draco Malfoy's. I was then sent by Dumbledore to hide underneath the flooring where I could clearly see their confrontation."

"Why did Dumbledore send you down there?"

"I don't know, perhaps to protect me, but your guess is as good as mine. Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore and was then bragging about how he had fooled him and had succeeded in getting Death Eaters into the school under his nose. He then started talking about how he had to kill him and how he was chosen. That's when he showed him the...um..." Harry trailed off and chanced a glance at Malfoy who seemed to understand what he was getting at and nodded slightly.

"Showed him what, Mr. Potter?" the man pushed on.

"The dark Mark on his arm," Harry told them, and the hall suddenly began teeming with hushed whispers that the Minister had to bang his gavel once more to settle them down.

Harry continued with his explanation. "Dumbledore did not believe that Malfoy would kill him and told him so. He sympathized with Malfoy's problem and offered sanctuary to him, that the order would hide him and his mum, sadly his father was too far gone at the time. Draco's wand did waver and almost dropped if it hadn't been for the other Death Eaters that had bursted into the Astronomy Tower at the time.

"He would have taken up Dumbledore on his offer and I seriously doubt he would have killed if that wasn't the case. Draco Malfoy is no murderer."

"I see. How long did all this take?"

"I'm not sure, maybe four or five minutes."

"And do you know the Death Eaters that were on top of that tower?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "Fenrir Greyback, Amycus and Alecto Carrow, and...Bellatrix Lestrange." There were some muttering at that but it quickly quieted down.

"Yes, very well. Continue then."

"The others were urging Malfoy to kill Dumbledore and get it over with but Malfoy kept hesitating. After a couple of minutes Snape arrived and Dumbledore begged him to do something, which we now know was to kill him, and he did. Malfoy had a choice.

"Malfoy chose to put down his wand down. He chose not to kill Professor Dumbledore, he chose not to commit murder. It was Snape that killed Dumbledore, and even that was done by the Professor's request."

"And the other instances. The attempts on Dumbledore's life earlier in the year," the man admonished, "Was he innocent of those offences."

"To what are you referring?" Harry turned to his Slytherin side to avoid the question. There was no way he could directly deny Malfoy's involvement in the murder attempts.

"The necklace. The poison. The-"the man spat out.

Malfoy was shifting in his seat.

"None of those events have been connected to either Albus Dumbledore or Malfoy," Harry returned with a raised eyebrow. "Unless I am mistaken in the matter."

Kingsley turned towards Malfoy to gauge his reaction. The boy sat stoically in his seat. "Let us drop that subject for now," the Minister decided. "We were talking about something else if I recall correctly."

"Of course, Minister. And then..." the man said to Harry.

"Malfoy, Snape and the Death Eaters bolted down the stairs. I followed them down the stairs and confronted Snape outside on the school grounds."

"What did you confront him about?"

Harry looked up at him. "That is irrelevant for I assure you it had nothing to do with Draco Malfoy."

"But you-" the man was saying but was cut off by the Minister.

"I agree. I think that is all the information that is needed for that night. Gamp, would you continue with the questioning?" Even though it was staged as a question, it was clear that the Minister was telling him to move on.

"Ok, fine. My next question is about something that occurred earlier in that same year, in the boys lavatory. Draco Malfoy attempted to cast the Cruciatus Curse on you. Is this true?"

"Well, yes, but as Malfoy said earlier, he never did get to cast it," Harry said.

"Yes, because he was interrupted by you casting a certain curse his way that would have killed him if Professor Snape hadn't been there," another man in the back piped up. The people watching gasped out loud. Harry's insides churned, making him nauseous, and Ron nudged Ginny in the ribs,

"Ouch... he walked right into that didn't he?"

"Yeah, but I didn't see it coming, did you?" she asked rhetorically.

Harry was thinking furiously, 'How the hell do I answer that.' The confidence he'd had previously vanished in an instant.

Harry looked at him closer and realized where he had recognized him from. The man had been at his hearing two years ago and he recalled that he had been one of the people who had wanted him punished. It turned out that he was still mad about the fact that he had been let off too easily.

"That was...an accident," Harry began uncertainly, "we were duelling..."

"An accident? An accident that you used a little known spell designed to produce serious, if not fatal, injuries? How can that possibly be construed as an accident?"

"I... I did not know what the spell was supposed to do."

"You did not know... you did not know what the spell would do. Do you make a habit of using spells that you are not familiar with?"

"No I don't, but as I said we were duelling and I said it without thinking."

"You said it without thinking, that's interesting. Why were you duelling?"

"That is irrelevant, just like this conversation," Harry answered angrily. "I admit, it was wrong of me and if anyone deserves to be charged for that day, it should be myself."

"Then why is it irrelevant?" he asked.

"Stop it, Steward!" Kingsley said angrily. "We are getting off topic. Please, Gamp, continue," he pleaded. Harry and Steward were openly glaring at each other by then but then backed off at the Minister's words.

"As you wish, Minister. I now wish to ask about another event. This was the day some months after the fall of the Ministry, when you and your friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, were caught by a group of snatchers led by, I believe, Fenrir Greyback, and taken to Malfoy Manor. Am I right?

"Yes, you are."

"I also believe Miss Granger had disfigured you with a Stinging Hex to make you hard to identify. Am I correct so far Mr. Potter?

"Yes."

"So you arrived at Malfoy Manor. What happened then?"

"We were taken into a room with a large table-"

"Who was present in the room?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, Draco, Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew."

"Please continue."

"Greyback told them who he thought I was and Mrs Malfoy wanted to summon Voldemort immediately. She was prevented by Lestrange who wanted to be absolutely certain of who I was. She was terrified of what Voldemort would do if they were wrong. She asked Draco to look closely and see if he could identify me. I thought he would, but he said he couldn't be certain."

"What was his demeanour at this time, was it the same as before?"

"Not exactly no. He wasn't bragging or blustering, he was just plain scared."

"Do you think he did, in fact, recognise you?"

"Yes. My identity was obvious, even whilst my face was swollen by a Stinging Jinx and I could tell in his eyes that he knew me, but he denied it still. This saved not only myself, but also my friends and ultimately allowed us to escape."

"Ok, Mr. Potter. Would you like to say anything else to the council?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "You asked me before why I was here, speaking up on Malfoy's behalf. I want to add that I am here now because I can not stand back and let a man whom I know is incapable of being a killer and who helped save many people I love be railroaded into Azkaban Prison. His father thoroughly deserves to rot in there, but Draco doesn't. I hope that Draco, despite undoubtedly having been a Death Eater, will receive mercy from this court, since I believe he is a truly contrite and reformed character."

"Thank you Mr. Potter," Kingsley said. "I understand the other two members of what our media have taken to calling 'The Golden Trio', those being Miss Hermione Granger and Mr Ronald Weasley, are ready to be called to back up your testimony if need be." He looked up to where Ron and Hermione were siting and they both nodded.

"Alright then," the Minister continued, turning back to Harry. "You are ready to repeat what you have just told the court under the influence of veritaserum?"

"Yes," Harry said without hesitation.

"Okay. Again, thank you, Mr. Potter. You may take your seat back in the stands." Once he was back, seated between his two best friends, Kingsley addressed the whole room.

"Well, obviously, we have a lot of things to consider and, looking at the Wizengamot members gathered here today, that will take a rather long time." Many of the members were torn, thinking at first that this trial would just be another Death Eater trial. Oh, how wrong they were.

Kingsley banged his gavel once to get everyone's attention. "The court will now be cleared to allow the Wizengamot to consider its verdict." And with that said, everyone started filing out of the room.