Time flew, and before long, it was noon on a day in early February.
Gerald was having lunch in the Great Hall with Fred, George, Lee Jordan, and Kenneth.
The long table was piled with roast pork chops, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding.
Gerald was looking down, helping himself to a crisp, well-roasted pork chop, when Lee Jordan suddenly let out a shriek across the table.
"Merlin! Sirius Black was innocent all along! He wasn't an accomplice of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. That bastard Peter Pettigrew was!"
Lee Jordan held up a copy of the Daily Prophet he had just received from an owl, the whole newspaper rustling as it shook in his hands.
Gerald glanced up. The Daily Prophet had devoted its entire front page to the story.
The headline read, "Shocking truth: Sirius Black innocent! True culprit Peter Pettigrew to be sentenced to life in Azkaban."
"Is that really true?" Kenneth looked up from his bowl of pumpkin juice, a little still clinging to the corner of his mouth. "And to think I admired him for a while when I was little. When Dad told me he'd been awarded the First Class Order of Merlin posthumously, I copied out three whole pages of parchment about his deeds."
"Of course it's true!"
Lee Jordan slapped the newspaper onto the table, his voice loud enough for half the Gryffindor table to hear.
"Listen to this-Peter's already been locked up in Azkaban. They arrested the wrong man before, and because of that, Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold, who was nearly at retirement age anyway, has resigned early to take responsibility. Cornelius Fudge is taking over as the new minister. Also, Sirius Black will officially be released this week. The Wizengamot has dropped all charges against him, and the Ministry of Magic will pay him