The Wizengamot in Session. Part Final
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N/A : Like always, trial chapters are a pain in the ass. I'm not doing them anymore; they're really boring. Hahaha, and that's even when I try to add some surprises. But oh well. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and the end of this arc is getting close, so get ready."
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"The break is over; let us continue the trial," Fudge said as he resumed from where they had left off.
Hagrid was now calmer; they had given him enough time to settle down, although that was not exactly what the minister was aiming for.
"Now I will continue with the questions," Fudge added again, looking toward Hagrid while going through the files he had in front of him.
"Rubeus Hagrid. Is it true that you brought a dangerous animal to a class full of students, putting their lives at risk, since said creature had no safety measures or any chain restraining it?" he suddenly asked. Now he seemed to focus on another point; the fact that the hippogriff had been loose, without any restraining rope.
"Eh… well, Buckbeak gets a bit restless and depressed with chains, and…"
Before he could continue, Fudge raised his hand to stop him.
"A student was injured because the hippogriff was loose. Yes or no?" Fudge said again.
"Yes, but…"
Again Fudge interrupted him, not allowing him to continue.
"And this is your first year as a professor, without completed studies, correct? Bringing students to a dangerous place like the Forbidden Forest and placing them in front of a dangerous creature…"
Fudge looked slightly triumphant, with an arrogant smile as he spoke. But before he could finish, a loud bang echoed through the entire courtroom.
Everyone turned to see where it had come from.
It was Sirius, who had slammed the railing with force. The impact was so strong that it reverberated throughout the room, startling Fudge slightly.
Sirius was furious; he had reacted on impulse. When all eyes turned to him, he realized what he had done, exposing his anger.
Narcissa and Wanda shot him disapproving looks; Pandora, on the other hand, showed a look of interest.
"Sorry; I got a little angry," Sirius said with a fake apology. "The thing is, as a representative of the school board, I cannot comprehend what the minister is saying. Is he implying that the school grounds are dangerous for students? Well… he is right; it is something people often talk about. But why does the Ministry not take care of cleaning that forest or ensuring the safety of the students?
Ah, right… I also remember that the Ministry itself sent so many dementors that they lost control, to the point one could hardly say it was safe to have them near the students," Sirius said with clarity and calm.
Upon hearing that last part, Fudge completely tensed up; that was exactly what he wanted to hide at all costs.
He quickly began striking the gavel in an attempt to stop Sirius.
"As minister, should you not be responsible for protecting everyone's interests? You are blaming Hagrid for endangering a student just because the idiot did not even know how to respect a stop sign.
And you yourself sent hundreds of dementors to a school full of students. They lost control and almost killed most of them… or is that not how dementors work?" Sirius continued, ignoring the gavel strikes as he raised his voice even more.
Several Wizengamot members were shocked; some did not even know that had happened.
"Silence. Silence, order," Fudge suddenly shouted, until Sirius shut his mouth and sat down with an arrogant smile.
Umbridge could not take it anymore and stood up quickly.
"Is Mr. Black suggesting that the minister sent those dementors to attack the students? Is he forgetting that they are searching for a fugitive who escaped from Azkaban? Ah, right… how could he forget, after all he was an old friend of yours," she said with that venomous and unpleasant voice that made Sirius' hair stand on end.
"Yes. The same one to whom you gave an Order of Merlin for killing dozens of Muggles. You respected him like a hero… and let him walk free," Sirius replied with a mocking smile.
That left Umbridge speechless; she only opened and closed her mouth like a fish.
Sirius' words hit the Ministry completely. The whispers among the Wizengamot members were so loud they were almost deafening.
"Order!" Fudge shouted, his face turning red.
Everyone fell silent. Sirius, meanwhile, wore an arrogant and mocking expression as he adjusted himself with crossed arms.
"You do realize you ruined everything the kids had planned, right?" Wanda said, looking at him as if he were an idiot.
It was true that Sirius' words had helped a lot, but there had been a methodical plan for this trial; the idea was to complete it without confronting the Ministry directly, playing by their rules.
Now Sirius had changed the entire game. Sure, it would help… but there was also the possibility that the minister, in an attempt to regain his authority, would do something stupid. And considering Fudge, a fat and brainless idiot, that was more than likely.
Sirius' arrogant smile turned guilty the moment he heard Wanda.
Wanda looked at Narcissa, as if it were her fault for not stopping him. Narcissa basically gestured that Sirius was closer to Wanda, not to her.
Meanwhile, Fudge cleared his throat, trying to regain control.
"I must remind you, Mr. Black, that we are in a trial. Please respect the rules and the order before speaking. Matters unrelated to the case of Rubeus Hagrid will be addressed in a future trial if you so wish," he said in a soft tone, trying to appear calm; the anger in his eyes ruined the effort completely.
"I am sorry, Minister. Perhaps I got too emotional, considering that my beloved godson and my honorary nephews were in danger. And it is surprising how everyone is here for a trial where no one was actually injured… instead of addressing the traumas many of your children suffered," Sirius said, looking mockingly toward the Carrow side.
"Enough," Fudge said, completely losing his patience.
As always, Sirius had that talent for infuriating any authority figure.
"Mr. Minister… may I speak?" Alice Longbottom suddenly said softly from her seat.
Fudge turned around with an annoyed expression, ready to shut down yet another interruption. But upon seeing that it was Alice, an important part of Dumbledore's faction, he held himself back; he still had to show her some respect. Especially knowing that the woman was the wife of Frank Longbottom, who had recently been raising his family's reputation like a comet and had offered part of his support to the Ministry.
That was why Fudge quickly accepted.
But instead of turning toward the court or the members of the Wizengamot, Alice turned toward Hagrid before asking.
"Mr. Hagrid, is it true that, while the hippogriff attacked young Crabbe, you stepped in the way, ending up with lacerations and cuts caused by the dangerous beast?" she asked.
And although it seemed she was speaking poorly of Hagrid, her words actually had a double edge: on one hand, that the creature was dangerous; on the other, that Hagrid had injured himself in order to prevent a student from being harmed.
Fudge frowned at the question, but he found nothing wrong with it.
"Ah… yes, that's true. But I always have some cuts and scratches. Every beast keeper should have them. Professor Grubbly-Plank even lost several limbs," Hagrid said, as if the scars from magical creatures were some sort of medal.
But his words made something very clear that many had ignored; that man, a half-giant feared only because of his race, had put his own body at risk to save a student. That changed the perspective of several people present.
Narcissa nodded before looking at Sirius.
"See, idiot? That is how you do the job correctly," she murmured.
Sirius frowned, annoyed.
Carrow, seeing everything was about to turn against them, quickly leaned toward Crabbe and whispered something. The man nodded and carefully stood up.
"Minister, I would like to say a few more words," he announced.
Fudge, tired of being interrupted, simply raised his hands in exhaustion.
"Go ahead," he said, defeated.
He could no longer conduct the trial as a judge; his authority was being interrupted again and again, while the French minister watched everything in silence.
"It is acceptable that the half-giant puts his own life in danger in order to protect the students… and as a father I give… thanks," Crabbe said, as if the phrase hurt to speak. "Therefore, I would like to withdraw the charges against Professor Hagrid. However, in exchange, I want the hippogriff creature, known as Buckbeak, to be properly dispatched according to the law."
Hagrid took a second to understand.
When his eyes opened wide and he inhaled deeply, he understood.
"You want to kill Buckbeak? No! Of course not," he said quickly, growing nervous as he took a step forward.
Several people flinched. An auror, who was stationed as a guard "just in case," grabbed his wand instantly.
Carrow smiled mockingly; in the end, even if they said they accepted a giant… he only needed to move a bit too abruptly for everyone to show their fear. Exactly what he wanted.
"I will not let you hurt him," Hagrid said quickly.
"And how will you do that, Mr. Hagrid? Are you going to attack the Ministry?" Umbridge suddenly said, feeling that she could finally get her revenge.
That stopped Hagrid cold.
"Eh? No, of course not," he said with a confused look as he halted. "Why would I attack the Ministry?" he asked with complete innocence.
Everyone froze at the sudden shift; from furious to… well, Hagrid being Hagrid.
Narcissa looked toward Wanda, who had a hand slightly directed at Hagrid, channeling a touch of magic that calmed his mind. Her hand remained hidden behind the railing.
Even Carrow was surprised. It was well known that Hagrid adored animals and that a violent outburst was possible… but now he simply did not erupt.
"Now it's your turn, idiot," Wanda said toward Sirius.
Sirius straightened himself, understanding the signal.
"Since Mr. Crabbe is asking for justice for a creature that put his son in danger, I would like to request justice for all the Hogwarts students who were put in danger by the dementors. And since my bench partner, Wanda Maximoff, caretaker of the Potter household, found a spell to destroy them completely, we have the power to, according to the law, wipe such dark creatures out of existence.
The problem will be that the Ministry will have to spend quite a lot of money repopulating Azkaban's caretakers and hiring many more aurors to do the job… but it would be the safest thing for the wizarding world," Sirius said calmly.
Upon hearing that, Fudge nearly trembled.
He knew perfectly well how much money that would require. And it was impossible to accomplish from one day to the next. But if he accepted Crabbe's petition, avoiding a future trial would be impossible.
And with such a topic… the media would jump immediately. He would have to explain why the total destruction of dementors was being decreed.
Furthermore, that expense would not fall solely on him; many Wizengamot members had their pockets tied to these decisions. Being part of the council was not cheap, and a lot of money moved around to secure a vote.
Carrow clenched his teeth; tampering with the financial interests of those members was the worst thing that could happen to them.
Without the dementor attack, they likely would have won easily… but now it was clear they would not.
Fudge took a deep breath, moving his hand as he thought.
"Let us take one final break to decide in ten minutes and for the jury to deliberate," he said, striking the gavel with a tired expression.
Meanwhile, the French minister looked toward Fudge, touching his chin lightly and frowning with disapproval.
Ten minutes later, the jury returned to their seats with the final decision.
"Please state the results," Fudge said to Dumbledore, as head of the Wizengamot.
Dumbledore nodded softly.
"By fifty-nine percent vote, Rubeus Hagrid is declared innocent of the charges and is permitted to continue as Professor of Care of Magical Creatures," he announced.
Hagrid let out a long breath of relief… but Buckbeak was still left.
"Likewise, also by fifty-nine percent, the decision regarding the hippogriff Buckbeak is as follows: it will be placed under supervision if used in classes by an expert in magical zoology, with the pertinent safety measures. And if not used in class, it will be sent to a wildlife protection and preservation area," Dumbledore said.
Hagrid nearly burst into tears of joy.
He understood that while Buckbeak was in class he would be supervised and likely chained, but also that he could later release him. It was far better than a death sentence.
"With this, the session is adjourned," Fudge said, lifting the gavel.
But before he struck it, a small red flash appeared in front of Wanda, drawing everyone's attention.
A tiny fairy wearing a red dress emerged from thin air. She was injured, covered in small cuts and blood. In her hand she held a small button; the same one Wanda had given her to appear before her in case of emergency.
Wanda's eyes widened in surprise and she extended her hands to catch her before she fell.
She quickly began healing her, while Terra, who obviously could not speak, moved her mouth.
Though no sound came out, Wanda understood her perfectly.
"Your… son… danger," she managed to say before fainting as she was healed.