"Minister, do you have any evidence to support your hypothesis?" Agito asked calmly, as if Harry had not just threatened the entire court.

Fudge appeared suddenly slightly awkward.

"No," the Minister said evenly, "I just thought it best to record Mr Potter's reaction first-hand."

Agito wrote something on the parchment he had been making notes on all though the hearing and then looked up once more at Harry.

"What occurred once Voldemort," the official pronounced the name slowly and calmly, "was dead?"

Harry tried to banish the bloody images of rending Fudge limb from limb from his mind, but his imagination was feeding off the memories he did have of the slaughter he had committed after killing Tom Riddle. It was a few moments before he could make his fangs ascend back into his jaw and bring himself to answer.

"I went after Bellatrix Lestrange next," he said quietly;" she killed my godfather. I don't remember how I killed her; it's all quite hazy after that. All I know is that I chased them all down; his whole inner council and I killed them. I don't really remember anything clearly until Draco Malfoy came back for me, I think I wanted to be dead."

"And it was Draco Malfoy who alerted Headmaster Dumbledore and the Ministry," Madam Bones interposed smoothly, "is that correct, Mr Potter?"

A nod was about all Harry could manage. The self-hatred he had felt after the killing had faded, but it still hurt, and it was difficult not to allow it to take over again. He did not think the court would appreciate a banshee wail.

"Thank you, Mr Potter," Agito said calmly, "do you require a few minutes to compose yourself before we proceed?"

Taking a deep breath, Harry lifted his eyes and shook his head slowly. He was not sure how long he could keep this up, and a break was unlikely to help. What he really wanted was to leave the room and never have to come back.

"I believe the next incident of interest to the court occurred the morning of the thirtieth," the Head of Control of Dark Creatures said in response.

"An incident in which three Aurors were injured seriously enough to require treatment at St Mungo's," Fudge put in his two pence worth quickly, "one was petrified."

The murmuring grew again.

"Thank you, Minister," Agito said calmly, "I am sure we will come to that."

Fudge appeared rather affronted at that, but something stopped the pompous wizard from reacting.

"Mr Potter," Agito continued, "would you please explain what precipitated this incident."

"I had to stop them taking Draco to the Ministry," Harry said plainly.

"Why?" the simple question came back.

"I..." the words caught in Harry's throat as he hit the barrier in his mind, "he...Draco was going to die," was all he could say, and he looked to Dumbledore for assistance.

"If I may be permitted to explain," the headmaster said smoothly, "we were able to ascertain that Harry had a premonition of Mr Malfoy's death. This ability comes from the banshee power forced into him, and hence he cannot speak of it. The Auror in charge was informed of the situation and he chose to ignore the warning."

"Draco Malfoy bears the Dark Mark," Fudge blustered quickly, "it was of tantamount importance that he be taken to a secure location. The Auror in charge was following procedure."

"And endangering the life of his prisoner, Cornelius," Dumbledore said smoothly, "a banshee has never been wrong."

Even the Minister of Magic could not really argue with that one.

"You reacted when the Auror team attempted to remove Mr Malfoy to the Ministry, is that correct?" Agito continued his questioning and headed off any confrontation between Dumbledore and Fudge.

"Yes," Harry replied very firmly, glad to have his voice back.

"Please tell us in your own words, what happened," the wizard requested in a professional manner.

It was not an easy thing to explain since he had mostly been working on instinct at the time, but he tried to make sense of what had occurred.

"I just knew they were taking him," Harry said, grasping for words as he went, "the banshee knew. It was the worse feeling I had ever felt, like I would explode if I didn't react and the wail just happened. I couldn't stop it. I didn't mean to hurt the Aurors on guard, but I couldn't control it. Everything in me needed to save Draco and I jumped out of the window. They were trying to put him in a car when I dragged him away from them; they couldn't have him, he's mine."

A reassuring hand on his shoulder brought him back from the memory and he looked up at Dumbledore as he gathered his thoughts.

"Why did you petrify Auror Blythe?" Agito did not give him much of a respite.

"He cast a Patronus when I tried to use the Dementor to keep them away," Harry said, automatically telling the truth without even considering it, "I just reacted. I had to protect Draco."

"Harry," Dumbledore said calmly, from beside him, "the Aurors were firing spells at you, were they not; spells which can be deadly to the creatures which now make up part of your nature. Is this not true?"

Harry frowned.

"I don't know," he said honestly, "I supposed so; I would have done if I was them."

"Madam Bones," his mentor continued, turning back to the bench, "what is standard procedure when faced with a dangerous dark creature?"

"In the case of a Dark Creature which can be lethal," Madam Bones explained calmly, "and does not stand down, standard orders are to kill it."

"So, when faced with a werewolf, a Dementor and a basilisk," Dumbledore said in a very reasonable tone, "it is safe to assume they would not have been trying to merely subdue Harry?"

"That is correct," the Head of Magical Law Enforcement replied.

"You have no proof..." Fudge tried to put in.

"My Aurors are highly trained," Madam Bones said firmly, "if they react incorrectly in a situation they could die or worse. As is also standard procedure Auror Blythe's and Auror Patterson's wands were inventoried and the spells used entered into their reports. Mr Potter was in mortal peril."

Dumbledore smiled at the witch with a short nod.

"Harry," the headmaster turned his attention back to the bemused young man, "when the Aurors were trying to kill you, why did you not kill them?"

Harry just sat there, blinking at his mentor blankly. He had never thought of the confrontation with the Aurors like that, and the question stunned him for a moment. In his mind he had attacked the Aurors and hurt them, the fact he had refrained from killing them had not occurred to him.

"I," he said, trying to answer the question and having to pause. "They weren't my enemy," he said eventually, finding it quite a revelation himself.

"But they were trying to kill you, Harry," Dumbledore insisted gently, "doesn't that make them your enemy?"

"Not like that," Harry said without thinking, "Aurors fight on the side of the Light; they were only doing their jobs, but I had to protect Draco."

He remembered the desires that had flooded through him, the need to hunt and kill, but he also recalled controlling them. It was not until that moment he truly understood why. He could have killed them easily, he had proved that with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and he knew he would have had there been no other choice, but he also realised that he had not wanted to destroy them.

The fight with the Death Eaters had been so different and now he knew why. He looked into Dumbledore's sparkling blue eyes a little in awe of what the headmaster seemed to have known all the time and what he had only just come to accept.

"Thank you, Mr Potter," Agito took over again with his seemingly habitual efficiency. "Is there anything else we wish to ask Mr Potter at this stage, Interrogators, or do you wish to call your first witness, Minister?"

The look Fudge sent Harry was anything but happy.

"The Wizengamot calls Professor Algernon Priest to be a witness for the Ministry," the Minister said eventually, obviously exasperated with Dumbledore and annoyed with the way things were going.

A short wizard with glasses and a closely cropped white beard stood on the left of the bench.

"This tribunal recognises Professor Algernon Priest," this time it was Agito who spoke the formal words.

"Good morning, Algernon," Dumbledore greeted pleasantly, although from the expression on the other wizard's face Harry did not think there was any love lost between the two, "for the benefit of those not lucky enough to be of your acquaintance would you mind explaining what you do?"

"I am the chief potions master for the Department for Control of Magical creatures." If Harry had been in wolf form his hackles would have stood straight up at that moment; he didn't like Priest at all.

"I do believe he's your witness, Cornelius," Dumbledore turned back to the bench and smiled politely at the Minister.

It was a toss-up as to whether Fudge asked his questions or blew a blood vessel if the bright red cheeks with little white spots were anything to go by. That at least gave Harry some satisfaction, which handed him some ammunition to help keep his dark side under wraps.

"Professor Priest," the Minister said eventually, "would you please tell this assembly all the dark creatures you have identified that now make up Mr Potter."

"Do not forget that Harry is human as well, Cornelius," Dumbledore said pleasantly; "if he wasn't, I do not believe we would be sitting here today."

Fudge just glared and then looked at Priest as if the headmaster had not spoken. The man in question produced a list from his pocket and began to read.

"I turned him down for the post of Potions master at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said quietly in Harry's ear, which he appreciated no end as he tried to ignore most of what he already knew. "He has never forgiven me for choosing Severus over him, but Severus always was and always will be a superior potions master to Algernon."

Even trying not to listen, Harry couldn't help himself and when Priest finally finished, he knew that the Ministry knew less than Snape. Of course, they had not had access to more blood samples, but Priest had missed the Ethologi for a start, and a couple of others Snape had come up with over the last two days.

"Thank you, Professor," Fudge said in an oily tone as Priest finished.

Now the Minister seemed very pleased with himself.

"How can we possibly be asked to believe that Harry Potter is safe to remain at large with that many dark creatures within him?" Fudge said pointedly.

Dumbledore simply walked towards the bench and smiled, producing two parchments from within his robes.

"I believe Algernon missed a few," the headmaster said cheerfully, "and I have also included a list of which powers Harry has been shown to manifest from which creatures, and a list of his donors for any hungers which have come to light as well. Professor Snape has had more ready access to Harry, so his research is more complete."

Fudge looked stunned and now it was Priest's turn to blow a blood vessel. For his part, Harry was not surprised; he had agreed to full disclosure. He did not want to be locked up for the rest of his life, but neither did he wish to be a danger to others. He had agreed that honesty was the only way to ensure this. Agito opened both documents, read them and passed them to Madam Bones.

"My compliments to Professor Snape," the Inquisitor said honestly, "some of these are very hard to trace."

Harry did not bother looking at Snape, he had too many other things to think about, like the pounding headache behind his eyes.

"Exactly what hungers are you referring to?" Fudge demanded, regaining his composure.

That was one question Harry could not bring himself to answer and he looked to Dumbledore for help. It was one thing knowing that you were reliant on certain things; it was another entirely to speak of it in front of so many people.

"Is it really necessary to discuss this matter at the current time?" the headmaster asked pleasantly. "The facts have been documented and entered into evidence."

"I believe it important," the Minister said pompously, and Harry found himself staring at the floor in embarrassment and anger.

"Minister," Agito said calmly, "I believe it would be proper to move on."

Fudge looked about ready to explode and Dumbledore took the moment of the Minister's impotent fury to take over the floor.

"I put it to this Inquisition that Harry Potter has had the opportunity and incentive to kill on several occasions," the headmaster began as silence reigned over the room, "and yet he only killed those who were trying to kill him. As accounted before this assembly he has shown time after time that although he is changed, he is still human at his most basic level. We do not claim that Harry is in complete control, nor ask that he should be allowed to return to his previous position as yet, but he had been afflicted for only a week and already his abilities have improved. To lock away a young man, who has saved us all, for crimes he has not yet committed, and will never commit, is neither fair nor just. I submit that..."

"But there is crime that cannot be overlooked," Fudge was on his feet and he did not look happy about something, but the Minister appeared determined, "one hunger that Harry Potter has fed which must be answered for; one hunger which cannot be tolerated."