days at Hogwarts

Chapter 616 A Business

Draco Malfoy, a relative of the suspect, followed the guidance of a female employee of the Ministry of Magic and took a seat in the audience seat. The bench was cold and hard, and the position was low. He needed to slightly raise his head to see the high-ranking judge seats in front, the Wizengamot, and ministers and senior officials. That was the power center of the Ministry of Magic.

For wizards from pure-blood families, being a Ministry of Magic clerk or Auror is just an ordinary job, even a bit low-class. But those who sit in the positions, the directors of various departments and members of the Wizengamot are the real powerful people, and they need to communicate with them using gold Galleons and guide them to formulate policies that are in the interests of the family.

Law Enforcement Department, International Affairs Cooperation Department, Transportation Department, Sports Department...

Lawmaking, business and trade, traffic regulation, Quidditch competition...

Draco recalled what Lucius had taught him in the past. He took a deep breath and began to look around the room.

The walls surrounding the courtroom were made of huge black stones. There were no portraits or decorations on the walls. The rough brackets were not lit by magic lamps or even magic candles, but by crude torches. The flames burned silently, sometimes swaying back and forth due to the convection of the air, causing the shadows in the entire room to sway, making it appear even darker and more eerie.

The tiered seats gradually rose from the inside to the outside. Apart from the judges in front and a few employees of the Ministry of Magic, there were no other people listening.

The dark figures sitting in the judge's seat were whispering, and when they fell silent, an ominous silence fell.

"Tsk... Do you think that from this perspective, they look like some dark magic creatures, such as Hinckley Punks, hiding in the shadows of the cave and launching attacks at any time?" A low, teasing voice sounded on the right.

Draco glanced sideways and saw a strange man sitting next to him. He had dark pupils, ordinary clothes, and a faint smile on his face. Perhaps it was because he also had platinum blond hair, Draco always felt that there was a sense of familiarity about this man.

It should be an employee of the Ministry of Magic. Draco didn't pay attention. He turned around and looked forward. Minister Scrimgeour had already sorted out the case materials. He tapped his neck with his wand, and then a majestic voice spread throughout the courtroom:
"The trial begins."

Draco lowered his eyes and looked at the chair in the middle of the room. It was the lowest position in the whole room, and the chained chair in the middle of the room could be clearly seen from everyone, which meant that the person sitting on the chair needed to look up at everyone else in the room.

There was a rustling sound of footsteps, and the door at the corner of the dungeon at the back side opened. Three people walked out. The one in front was the suspect, and the two behind were escorting Aurors.

Draco's breathing stagnated, as if his heart was being gripped by a cold hand. He could hardly recognize the person with messy hair, dusty white skin and a slovenly face. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy, was born in the Black family and joined the Malfoy family. She used to nag him for a long time even if there was a footprint on the carpet.

The idea of ​​dropping out of school to help his parents get out of prison as soon as possible emerged uncontrollably in Draco's mind. With a gleam in his eyes, he thought about the feasibility of the plan.

Bribing the members of the Wizengamot with money, they don't need to win the support of everyone. As long as more than half of them admit that they were coerced and pay a fine, the parents can escape trial...

After a few seconds, Draco took a deep breath and the light in his eyes dimmed.

His parents would not agree to him doing this. The Dark Lord is still active outside, and he can only be safe by staying in Hogwarts.

"That's great. I heard that the ones guarding and escorting the suspects were Dementors..." The man next to him began to mutter again, "Before the formal trial, let the Dementors take a few puffs to make them dazed and unconscious. Then bring them up and make them answer whatever you ask. Even a sober person would be afraid of that kind of feeling and confess in order to reduce his sentence in Azkaban."

Narcissa seemed to be in good spirits. She smoothed the sticky hair on her forehead, sat down silently on the chair, put her hands on the armrests, let the chains wrap around her arms like snakes, and looked up at the judge with a calm expression.

Draco straightened up and clenched his fists, as if he felt the same way as the person in the chair.

"April 4th, trial of Narcissa Malfoy's involvement in the attack on the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Interrogators: Rufus Scrimgeour, Amelia Bones, Bertha Jorkins. Trial reporter: Percy Weasley..."

Scrimgeour read the relevant information from the file indifferently.

Those members wearing purple robes with the Wizengamot emblem embroidered on their chests all stared at Narcissa with their eyes downcast, some with stern expressions, some with curiosity, and some with sarcasm on their faces. The red-haired recorder shook his feather pen bitterly, and his eyes hidden behind horn-rimmed glasses moved back and forth between the copying paper and the file.

Just as Draco was concentrating on analyzing the case information, the faint voice sounded beside him again: "It's not good. Scrimgeour is a hardliner who has always advocated showing no mercy to dark wizards... How come Jorkins is still the assistant minister? He has not been promoted despite such great contributions. Tsk... Bones has been promoted to senior deputy minister. I wonder who will be given the position of Law Enforcement Department... Kingsley Shacklebolt has a chance, but he may succeed Scrimgeour as the head of the Auror Office..."

Listening to him mumbling about these job information, Draco just felt a little irritated.

"Narcissa Malfoy." Her thick eyebrows were tightly furrowed, with wisps of gray in them, and her eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses were sharp and piercing. "I hope you will cooperate with the Ministry of Magic, confess the crimes of the relevant personnel, the identities of the hidden personnel, and explain the whereabouts of Voldemort. In view of the fact that your actions did not cause casualties or major losses, we can appropriately forgive your crimes."

Hearing that name, some of the Wizengamot and Ministry of Magic staff showed horrified expressions on their faces, whispers echoed in the courtroom, and Draco clearly heard a female staff member in the back row exclaim in a low voice.

Narcissa's face also turned pale. She suppressed her fear and whispered, "Please don't call that name directly. You know that name is enchanted."

Scrimgeour did not dwell on the name. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Narcissa recalled her husband's instructions not long ago, and the fear in her heart slowly faded away. She took a deep breath and trembled: "Mr. Scrimgeour, you should know that He Who Must Not Be Named is still wandering around out there..."

Scrimgeour was silent for a moment. He knew what Narcissa was not saying.

This was a difficulty that had not been encountered during the trial of the Death Eaters sixteen years ago. At that time, Voldemort had already fallen, and in order to obtain a reduction in sentence, many people rushed to reveal information, confess their accomplices and related crimes. In order to escape trial, members of pure-blood families generously paid fines to enrich the Ministry of Magic's treasury.

But the situation now is completely different. Voldemort is still active outside, and no one dares to confess or reveal anything. No one can afford the revenge of the most powerful dark wizard in history. The Ministry of Magic may be able to do so, but the Ministry’s staff cannot, and the Ministry’s prisoners are even less likely to do so.

The results of previous trials of other Death Eaters were the same. Some Death Eaters kept the secret out of loyalty, but more people were afraid to speak.

Scrimgeour gestured to Percy to stop recording, then looked at Narcissa and asked in a deep voice, "The following conversation will not be included in the file. I will order everyone to keep it secret. Do you think this is okay?"

"How can this be possible?" exclaimed a Wizengamot member in the second row of the judgement booth.

Scrimgeour waved his hand to signal them to keep quiet and wait for the reply from the chair. Draco's breathing was a little rapid, and he knew that the Minister of Magic was willing to negotiate.

"This new minister is very capable..." the stranger next to him spoke again.

However, Narcissa shook her head with obvious distrust on her face. "Only a very few people can keep secrets from the Dark Lord, and... when more people know about it, the secret is no longer a secret."

"You are right, Mrs. Malfoy." Scrimgeour nodded, his brown hair drooping like an old lion. "I will reconsider your case, and I hope you will reconsider our chances of working together."

"The trial has been postponed."

With a calm and powerful announcement, the suspect Narcissa was taken back to the dungeon.

The members of the Wizengamot left their seats one by one, whispering to each other, and seemed not surprised by the result. It had been nearly five months since the attack on Christmas, and apart from a few timid Death Eaters confessing their crimes, there had been no progress in reconnaissance in other directions.

Why did the Death Eaters search for the blond man, why was Voldemort able to come back to life, and what is the truth of the Crouch case?
These questions still have no answers.

But these cases are secondary. The most crucial issue is the whereabouts of Voldemort.

Some experienced senior Aurors, at the instruction of the higher-ups, had tried to use extraordinary means to interrogate several core dark wizards who had committed serious crimes, including Rookwood, Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers.

It is said that the wailing of the Lestrange brothers scared seven mice to death. At first, Rookwood was still able to curse the interrogators and threaten them to repay him tenfold and a hundredfold in the future. But in the end, he was completely insane and said nothing.

The most frightening thing was that crazy woman Bellatrix. She had a shrill laugh, and the more she was tortured, the louder she laughed. In the end, even the Aurors were frightened and stopped interrogating her.

There are rumors that Dumbledore knows the truth and has told Minister Scrimgeour part of the truth, but the hard-line minister still pursues evidence and wants the Ministry of Magic to investigate the case in its own way.

……

"Please go this way."

The female staff member with a steady voice dutifully led Draco along the way. They were walking in the corridor on the ninth floor underground of the Ministry of Magic.

After the Azkaban jailer rebellion and the collective escape of prisoners, the Ministry of Magic could no longer trust these inhumane Dementors, so instead of sending all the Death Eaters to Azkaban, it seamlessly expanded part of the Inquisition and transformed it into a temporary prison for detention.

The conditions were simple and the facilities were crude. It was damp and cold underground, and the temperature dropped even lower at night. Most of the Death Eaters were no longer young and strong. The patrolling Aurors could hear some low cries of pain every night, but no one pitied these Death Eaters. After all, overall, this place was much more comfortable than Azkaban.

For the Ministry of Magic, close guarding is safer and more convenient for interrogation at any time.

For some criminals whose crimes are less serious and who are likely to cooperate, the Ministry of Magic has appropriately allowed family visits... The above information flashed through Draco's mind.

"I didn't expect it to be so big down there." The voice from the side sounded familiar.

Draco couldn't help but glance to the side. He really couldn't understand why this chattering strange wizard was also able to visit his parents. He didn't remember that the Malfoy family had any direct relatives.

The young female staff member did not find it strange. Judging from the hair color of the two people, they were obviously relatives. She took them through several turns in the underground corridor, and after a series of inspections and confiscating their wands, she sent them to a narrow room.

In order to prevent improper conversations or actions that would endanger the security of the Ministry of Magic from occurring during the visit, she did not leave but followed behind to monitor.

Waiting in the room were Narcissa and her husband, whose trial had just been postponed. Despite having experienced several months of imprisonment, their mental states were still okay, but their bodies still revealed some signs. Lucius's hair had become lighter and slightly gray, his back was slightly hunched, and he exuded a faint sour smell.

The couple sat behind a rough-jointed square wooden table, staring blankly at the door. The moment they saw their son come in, their eyes lit up, and they straightened their backs instantly, revealing a happy smile: "Draco!"

"Dad, mom..."

The family of three suddenly threw themselves together, crying and laughing.

The young son's useless concern, the mother's hushed exhortations, the father's occasional inquiries about school life, these are clearly nagging words without any useful information, but the deep family affection is conveyed in these voices, and even the two outsiders standing nearby can feel it.

It was more than ten minutes later when the three of them finished expressing their feelings.

As the head of the family, Lucius was the first to calm down and regain his rationality. After calming down, he quickly noticed the other two people in the room.

The female employee of the Ministry of Magic was staring intently at the wood grain on the table, but the experienced Lucius noticed that her eyes were dazed and she was obviously unconscious.

As for the other man, he didn't have the Ministry of Magic badge on his chest, so he was probably not an employee. His face was unfamiliar, but he had platinum blond hair, which made people unable to help but take a few more glances.

Loren, who used Transfiguration to hide his face, looked at the inquiry in his eyes, smiled gently, and said softly:
"Mr. Malfoy, I am here to discuss business with you on behalf of an old friend regarding a debt incurred during last Christmas."

Lucius' pupils suddenly contracted.

(End of this chapter)