Chapter 281 The Dust Settled

"Then, Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters; blew up a street, resulting in the death of a large number of Muggles; framed Sirius Black, causing him to be imprisoned innocently in Azkaban for thirteen years..."

Allen noticed that Barty Crouch's complexion was almost so gloomy that water dripped when he heard "innocent being imprisoned".

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, had finished counting Pettigrew's charges, and said loudly, "If you agree with the charges, please raise your hands."

Sirius Black jerked his head up.

They raised their hands one by one, a lot... more than 70%!

Blake was breathing heavily, trying to count, but before he could finish, Fudge said, "If you agree with acquittal, please raise your hand."

Crouch looked around, and half a dozen other people looked at him too.

His hand moved slightly, but in the end he still didn't raise it.

Fudge couldn't help showing a triumphant smile on his face, "Mr. Crouch, you didn't raise your hand twice? You mean..."

Crouch pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Okay," Fudge said with obvious ease in his tone, "then I can take it that you have no objection to the sentencing of the two of them?"

"Of course." Crouch said those two words from his lips, which seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

"Okay, now, we have reached an agreement on the outcome of the trial. Sirius was acquitted and should receive reasonable compensation. The details of the compensation will be discussed after the meeting. Peter Pettigrew should be punished."

"Now I invite the jury to vote," said Fudge loudly, "who, like me, believe that these crimes committed by Peter Pettigrew should be sentenced to the most extreme punishment in Azkaban-the kiss of the dementor. hand!"

Fudge glanced at the members of the jury with a serious expression. He had his own selfishness. This case could not be reversed. He needed to suppress Crouch's majesty and completely defeat this old opponent who had once posed a serious threat to his ministerial status.

The jury was silent, and the dementor's kiss was really frightening.

"Is the punishment of sucking people's souls too much?" Professor Dumbledore said suddenly, "How about a life sentence in Azkaban?"

Fudge glanced at Dumbledore, knowing that the greatest white wizard in history must not be able to bear it, and he had always opposed such a cruel punishment as the Dementor's Kiss.

He did not directly reject Dumbledore's proposal, but said in a deep voice, "Everyone, think about the Potters, think about the picture you saw in the Pensieve just now!"

Fudge's tone was extremely heavy, which made Professor Dumbledore, who thought of the Potters and Harry, silent.

"What would happen if instead of Peter Pettigrew being captured, Black was captured by a dementor?" he said meaningfully.

There is no doubt that Black, who successfully escaped from Azkaban, greatly annoyed the dementors. Once they captured Black, what awaited Black would definitely not be the deliberation like today, but the kiss of the dementors.

Several witches in the jury raised their hands first. Although women are soft-hearted, they are also the easiest to hate.

They thought of the picture they saw in the Pensieve, the handsome wizard looking desperate in the dark prison, getting thinner and thinner...

How wretched Blake had been, how repulsive Pettigrew was now!

Gradually, more and more people raised their hands. They looked at Peter Pettigrew, as if they were looking at a puddle of mud, and they were disgusted.

Umbridge's eyes flickered. Although she did not have voting rights, she still raised her hand first,

Mr. Crouch still didn't raise his hand, but this time, Fudge turned a blind eye and ignored his opinion.

"Then, execute immediately." Fudge's face showed unprecedented determination and coldness.

"Wait!" a voice yelled.

It turned out to be Sirius Black!

"Blake, do you have any objections?" Fudge asked in amazement, which he never dreamed of,

It was Blake who stood up against it.

Pettigrew, with tears streaming down his face, stared blankly at Black, with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Black gave him a disgusted look, turned his head away, and said loudly: "I am willing to use all my compensation to replace a power."

All eyes were on Black.

"I want to trade for the right to observe the torture in person! I want to watch him and be sucked out of my soul by the dementors!" Black said loudly, as if venting his thirteen years of anger.

"As long as it doesn't let him live." Fudge's heart settled down, "Yes, I think it is reasonable for Mr. Black to have such a request, and he can obtain such power. Of course, the due compensation must be given to him. After all, it was the mistakes of members of our Ministry of Magic that caused his misfortune..."

The members of the jury nodded one after another, changing places, it is not difficult to understand Sirius' emotions at this time.

The light of hope in Peter Pettigrew's eyes disappeared, replaced by endless despair and fear.

Soon, two dementors walked into the courtroom and made a beeline for Peter Pettigrew.

At first, as if in a final struggle, Pettigrew twisted his body vigorously, screaming like crazy.

But it was doomed to be futile, those iron chains firmly fixed him on the chair.

As the dementor got closer, Pettigrew seemed to be frozen in shock, his eyes fixed on the dementor's head.

The chains on Black fell off one after another, and he—was free.

But he didn't move.

Black watched the dementors walk towards Pettigrew, watched them lift their hoods to reveal a large hole, and suck Pettigrew's soul away bit by bit.

Black let out a long howl, like a wounded wolf.

He only felt that his chest seemed to be torn apart, and hot tears poured out, forming two torrents.

He knelt down on the ground with his forehead on the ground, muttering to himself.

The wizards present were all moved.

The unbearable feeling of seeing Peter Pettigrew being kissed by a dementor just now seems to have eased a lot.

The down-and-out wizard who knelt down below was once in full bloom and high spirits.

Looking back on his entire life, such a young and beautiful life, how innocent he was, he was punished for thirteen years of being imprisoned in darkness for no reason.

Allen, who was sitting in the audience, felt pity in his heart, but at the same time, he witnessed the process of a dementor absorbing a person's soul, and he felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart.

Perhaps, relying solely on the Patronus Charm to drive away the dementors is not an excellent solution.

He needs to learn, explore, and find more effective ways to deal with dementors.

Professor Dumbledore butted ten fingertips together, looked at Sirius silently, and then looked at Pettigrew Peter.

Pettigrew, with his soul sucked out, is now nothing more than an empty shell, with no sense of self, no memory, no... anything, and no hope of recovery, just —alive.