This was the wizard who had defeated Grindelwald, the man whom Voldemort himself was afraid of, and there was no arguing with him. Harry cradled Sirius in his arms and watched Dumbledore exert his authority.

"Severus," the headmaster said with the crack of command in his voice, "the Veritaserum."

Snape did not hesitate and walked over to Dumbledore and handed him a small vial from somewhere on his person. Why Snape was carrying the potion Harry could only guess, but he really did not care at that moment. The headmaster handed the vial to the lead Auror.

"I do not care what you have to do to verify that this is Veritaserum," Dumbledore said calmly, "but do so now."

The Auror handed it to one of his colleagues who uncorked it, sniffed it and then tasted the tiniest amount.

"Name," the lead Auror demanded instantly.

"Miles Barrenthorp," the other man said instantly, and then passed back the vial with a nod.

"I am satisfied," the Auror said and gave the potion back to Dumbledore.

Poppy had entered the room behind the headmaster and she had been growing more agitated through the whole procedure, Harry saw her finally snap.

"Headmaster," she said as Dumbledore turned to where Harry was holding Sirius, "you cannot be suggesting that Veritaserum be given to Mr Black. In his condition it could kill him."

At those words Harry went cold.

"Alas, Poppy," the headmaster said evenly, "I fear we have no choice. As I understand it, even the trip to Azkaban could do the same. Of course, it is up to Sirius."

His godfather was barely conscious, but at that, Harry felt Sirius look up at the people on the other side of the room.

"Better anything than going back there," Sirius said in a tone that begged no argument.

"Come on, Sirius," Remus said and caused Harry to look round from where he was staring hard at the headmaster, "let's get you back to bed."

What Harry wanted to do was hex the Aurors into oblivion and run as far and as fast as possible with his godfather, however, the rational part of his brain knew that was not going to happen. The unshakable trust he had had in Dumbledore had been broken after the Department of Mysteries, but he had no choice other than to trust the man now. He knew that if the headmaster thought there was too much danger to Sirius, he would not allow this, and if Dumbledore believed the risk was worth the end then Harry had to go along with it. Being pushed out of his body and then returning to it had not been pleasant and his legs wobbled as he went to stand, but there was no way he was missing this.

"I am correct, am I not," Dumbledore said once Sirius was back in bed and everyone else was gathered around, "that testimony taken under Veritaserum is legally binding no matter where the inquisition is conducted?"

"You are," the lead Auror said evenly.

"Then please administer the legal dose," the headmaster said calmly, "and we shall finally have an end to this matter. Everyone must remain totally silent once the potion has started to work."

Harry swallowed as his mouth and throat completely dried out. He fervently wished that he could have taken his godfather's place, but Sirius was the only one who could tell the truth of this. There was complete quiet as the Auror gave Sirius the recommended number of drops of the potion and they waited for it to start working properly. Once the lead Auror nodded, one of his colleagues pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill which he set on the bed.

"State your name," the lead Auror said firmly and the quill wrote down the question.

"Sirius Black."

The tone of his godfather's voice was almost frightening with its total lack of emotion; Harry hoped he would never have to see it again after this day.

"Are you now or have you ever been a Death Eater?" the Auror asked clearly.

"No," Sirius replied, and the answer obviously surprised the officials even as the quill recorded it.

"Have you ever been in the employ of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" the Auror tried again.

"No."

Sirius' firm response caused even more shock.

"Did you betray James and Lily Potter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

"No."

"Do you know who did?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

That caused a murmur to go round the Aurors who were quieted by a stern look from their leader.

"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?"

"No."

"Did you cause the explosion that killed Peter Pettigrew?"

It seemed to Harry that the Aurors wanted to make very sure of their facts.

"No. He's not dead."

There was the murmuring again. Harry thought about hexing them silent, and by the looks of things Snape seemed to be in agreement.

"Did you cause the explosion that killed the Muggles?"

"No."

"Do you know who did?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

As the interview went on, more and more colour had drained out of the lead Auror's face. To Harry it looked as if the wizard was slowly realising that he had almost condemned an innocent man.

"Give him the antidote," the lead Auror said without any further questions.

Snape stepped forward immediately, but the official did not wait to see what would happen. He picked up the parchment and quill and then looked Dumbledore straight in the eyes before looking at Harry and then glancing at Sirius.

"I will file this myself," the Auror said evenly, "and the official proclamation will be made tomorrow even if I have to do that myself as well."

Dumbledore handed the man the group's wands and they left without another word.

By the time Harry turned back to the bed, Madame Pomfrey was laying a very pale Sirius back down. Before his godfather's head even hit the pillow Harry saw Sirius' eyes flick closed and for a second, he was afraid that Madame Pomfrey's dire prediction had come true, but the idea vanished as he saw his godfather's chest gently rising and falling.

"He'll sleep until at least tomorrow," the school nurse said after a few moments. "I believe he is in no danger."

Harry breathed a huge sigh of relief and all the nervous energy keeping him going flowed straight out of him. He thought that it would be a really good idea to sit down, unfortunately he was nowhere near a chair and so the floor was his only refuge. He had been standing next to Snape and the tall man peered down at him.

"And what, pray tell are you doing down there, Mr Potter?" the Potions master asked with his usual scathing tone.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Harry replied, without even trying to hide his sarcasm.