Firstly, Neville cracked the code in the letter I sent him, as I thought he would. My first indication of that was having Amelia Bones turn up at Hermione's place with a couple of aurors in tow. She's now the Director of the DMLE, if I haven't already told you that.
She was there to interrogate me about your disappearance - or, as she put it, your kidnapping. She got quite confused when she asked me, "Did you kidnap the Longbottoms?" When I, of course, replied, "No."
Once I was able to get her to calm down and sit down, I told her I would only talk to her as Regent Bones of the Noble and Ancient House of Bones. She agreed.
Once she did, I told her I did remove you, not kidnap you, from Saint Mungo's and why. I did not, however, tell her you were in Gringotts. All she knows, even now, is that I had you taken somewhere where healing you was the priority; whereas all Saint Mungo's were doing was keeping you sedated and not doing a damn other thing.
I also pointed out to her where in the alliance Charter I had the right to do it. And she admitted she'd read it and could see I was right. Which meant she then couldn't arrest me as no crime had been committed. That had her frustrated, no end.
[...]
I knew Neville would worry that he had somehow let me down; or that he had turned his back on our friendship; or that he had just given up his only real friendship for a 'guess' that might not have even be right... so I wrote him a short note and had it delivered directly to him by house elf this morning. That note told him I thought he'd done the right thing and that I backed him in his decision.
I also told him that, no matter what his 'Gran' told him, he should be at the Wizengamot session tomorrow. It would prove most interesting for him. I hope he keeps up with the backbone I know he's developed of late and does it. I want to see your reunion with him.
[...]
So, now Madam Bones is 'fairly certain' I've miraculously cured you and it's 'possible' you'll be turning up at the Wizengamot before lunch. Well, "first thing" is "before lunch", is it not? Heh heh!
Now, you're going to need to prove you actually are Lord Franklin and Lady Alice Longbottom. Otherwise, no one's going to believe you. So, I've been coming up with ways for you to do so. After all, you could be wearing a rune-based glamour like Sirius had been wearing while on-the-run from the law, you could be wearing a simple glamour or you could have taken Polyjuice potion.
All of which, except the first, would be just silly. But, hey, we're talking about the witches and wizards of the Wizengamot. And you already know what I think of most witches and wizards.
So, here's some ways:
1. If you have a known Patronus, cast it. Patronus forms are known to only change after a severe traumatic experience, therefore yours might have changed. If it hasn't, that's good evidence.
2. Houses elves know who their masters and mistresses are, even if they're wearing glamours, hiding under invisibility cloaks, or whatever. And they are certainly not fooled by such magics. Call your house elf or elves and have them identify you.
3. Magical oaths and vows can do it; but, do you really want to go down that path?
4. Take a goblin with you to perform and inheritance test right in front of them.
5. Call your Head of House ring to yourself right in front of them.
As you can see, it's easy to prove who you really are with a bit of thought put into it. And it's the sort of proof none of those old fogies can counter.
[...]
Ted's happy with my plan for Sirius's trial, tomorrow morning. He thinks it'll be fun watching all those old stuffed robes get force-fed the stupidity of how their own laws are daft, the one's they were supposed to have drafted. He wants to watch me clearly demonstrate to them how pathetic this law, at least, was in its design.
He hopes it will lead to a review of all other laws. More work for him, more fun using common sense and logic to destroy wizarding laws for me. I think that counts as a win-win situation.
[...]
Anyway, time to sign off. I need to spend time with my betrothed and just relax for a little while. Today was quite the tiring day.
See you in a few days (your time).
Harry and Hermione
~ # ~
After he'd finished, he looked to Hermione and asked, "Think it's ready?"
"Definitely," she replied. "And, checking the time, your guesstimate about it arriving there somewhere about their thirty-second or thirty-third day is going to be darn close if you sign it and send it with Dobby right now."
That's exactly what he did.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Dumbledore had tried to 'obtain' permission to spend a day in Diagon the next day to, as he claimed, rebuild his wardrobe back up. He claimed he had lost four sets of robes in the last couple of weeks, alone, due to his treatment at the hands of the DMLE and from losing Fawkes.
Marchbanks immediately denied him.
"You don't want to go shopping for a new selection of your wardrobe tomorrow, Albus," she said. "You want to go to the Wizengamot meeting, you expect to see the young Lord Potter there and you want to take the opportunity to talk to the boy.
"I don't like being lied to by my supposed staff, Albus. Therefore, the answer is a resounding no; you do not have my permission to leave the school tomorrow."
Frustrated Dumbledore spun about to storm from the office, yet again, when she said, "However, Albus..."
When he turned back she said, "Your garish wardrobe has been making me consider bringing in, or re-establishing, a dress code for the staff.
"Back even as shortly ago as when Headmaster Dippet was the headmaster, all staff had a dress code of base black. Certain... liberties... were allowed among the staff with the Headmaster's blessing. However, those liberties were restricted to styling, not colour.
"When I do grant you leave to leave the castle for the day, you might want to think about purchasing new robes that would meet those requirements.
"Thank you, Albus. You may go."
Horrified, Dumbledore didn't finish storming from the office, leaving the door wide open as he'd done each other time. Instead, he quietly made his way out and even closed the door behind himself when he did.
When she was sure he'd descended the staircase, she gave short cackle of laughter.
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