Chapter 224: Wizengamot Trial Chamber
On the early morning of the day of the trial, Sirius changed into decent clothes in the Black ancestral house and walked slowly to the door of the house.
There was a portrait of an old lady hanging near the door. She snorted softly when she saw Sirius, then turned around and disappeared into the frame, as if she didn't want to see the actual heir to the Black family.
"Sirius, have you made mom angry again?" Regulus's voice came from far away from the stairs. "Why did she suddenly run upstairs from the portrait downstairs?"
"She has been asking me to marry a pure-blood wizard all day long. Wouldn't you be annoyed if it were you?" Sirius casually shouted upstairs, "Her expression looks like the Black family is going to be extinct. Same."
"Is there something wrong with what mom said? You can't let my Inferi body pass on to the Black family, right?" Regulus shouted.
He walked out from the corner of the stairs and saw Sirius, who was no longer slovenly for the first time. His expression looked a little surprised.
"Hey, why are you so crazy today?" Regulus looked Sirius up and down, "Why are you suddenly dressed like a human being... You are not really planning to date a woman, are you?"
After all, Sirius had been in Azkaban for more than ten years, and he had long since stopped caring about things like image and respectability. He stayed at home slovenly every day, causing Mrs. Black in the portrait to catch her. Give him a fight when you get the chance.
However, today Sirius suddenly changed into a formal suit, and specially trimmed his hair and beard, revealing his original handsome face.
Regulus naturally felt very strange.
"Of course it's not because of this kind of thing." Sirius said impatiently, "I will see my godson today, at least I can't leave a bad impression on him."
With that said, he walked up to Regulus and posed.
"How do I look? Will Harry like it when he sees it?"
"Anyway, compared with your appearance before, you look quite human no matter what you wear." Regulus chuckled softly, "I remembered, it was that... Peter Pedillo is going to be tried today. ?"
"Yes." Sirius nodded, his eyes gradually becoming fierce, "If those scum from the Ministry of Magic dare to acquit that dead rat, then I will kill him personally in court."
Regulus looked at his clenched fists and frowned slightly.
"There is no need for you to do that kind of thing." He said seriously, "Killing people in front of the judge and many Wizengamot members. Do you really want to make the Black family extinct?"
"But I can't just let him run away like that!" Sirius enlarged his voice, "I've already felt sorry for James and Lily enough. I can't help but avenge them!"
"I didn't say I wouldn't let you take revenge." Regulus frowned even more tightly, "It's just that you have to find a suitable method... There are only so many people left in the direct line of the Black family, you can't Something happened."
"What can I do?" Sirius laughed self-deprecatingly, "Even Dumbledore will follow the rules of those scum, what can I do?"
Regulus was suddenly stunned.
"I seem to know a person who doesn't care about rules." He said slowly, "Before the trial, you might as well go to Hogwarts to plead for Mr. Dracula's help. That adult should be willing to go to the court to watch a good show."
…
The trial of Peter Pedillo will officially begin at 9:30 am.
Dumbledore took the parties involved, Harry and Ron, to the Wizengamot Trial Room at the bottom of the Ministry of Magic in advance, which is the court where the case is heard.
After Sirius left Black's house, he went straight to Dracula's office and asked him to testify in court as a witness.
Dracula had long wanted to have fun at the Ministry of Magic, but Dumbledore's attitude had never been clear, and there were always other things delaying him, so he never made it.
This time, with the excuse Sirius gave him, he naturally agreed readily and walked into the fireplace leading to the main hall of the Ministry of Magic with the masked Sirius.
The green flame fell, and what came into view was a long, narrow and magnificent hall.
This hall spans so long that you can barely see the end to the left and right. The ground is a polished dark wooden floor, and the peacock blue ceiling is inlaid with sparkling golden symbols, which are constantly moving and changing, like a huge high-altitude bulletin board.
There were many gilded fireplaces embedded in the walls on both sides. From time to time, wizards would walk out of the green flames of the fireplaces and come to the main hall.
"Hey, the one in front is blocking the road a little bit." A voice sounded behind Dracula and Sirius.
It turned out that neither of them knew which way to go, and they remained silent for a long time, blocking the exit of the fireplace.
Dracula and Sirius stepped aside and looked at each other.
"I thought you should know where the Wizengamot trial chamber is." Dracula said expressionlessly.
"Ahem...I forgot about this. We should have asked Dumbledore to take us there." Sirius seemed a little embarrassed, but he was wearing a mask, so he couldn't tell what his expression was.
"Such a huge Ministry of Magic doesn't even have any road signs. I really don't understand how these employees manage not to get lost." Dracula curled his lips and prepared to use the Imperius Curse to randomly select a lucky passerby to guide them. .
At this moment, he saw a pink-haired witch suddenly come out of the fireplace opposite, and his eyes moved.
"Tonks, this way!" Dracula waved to her.
Tonks turned around and looked surprised when she saw Dracula.
"Professor Dracula, why did you think of coming to the Ministry of Magic?" She jogged to Dracula's side and asked cautiously.
Her spirit was a little tense, as if she was afraid that Dracula would suddenly blow up the Ministry of Magic.
"Do you know where the Wizengamot trial chamber is? We seem to be lost." Looking at Tonks' nervous expression, Dracula shook his head with a smile, "Don't worry, I'm here to participate in a serious trial. "
"Oh, that's it." Tonks let out a long sigh of relief, "That's easy, come with me! There are just a few minutes left before work time, enough to take you there."
As she spoke, she glanced at Sirius and felt that the masked man looked familiar, so she asked curiously: "Is this a professor from Hogwarts too?"
"No," said Dracula, "this is Sirius Black."
"Oh...ah?" Tonks jumped up suddenly, "He...he is..."
"Shh-" Sirius was startled, glared at Dracula dissatisfied, and then hurriedly gestured to Tonks to calm her down, "Tonks, keep your voice down..."
He was going to the court to surprise the Wizengamot members. It would be a bit funny if he was caught by the Ministry of Magic before arriving in the courtroom...
"Don't worry, Sirius is actually not a bad person. I'm here to help him get rid of his crimes this time." Dracula said with a chuckle, "Don't you believe me?"
"Of course I believe you, Professor Dracula. But..."
Tonks looked at Sirius again and again, feeling scared and curious at the same time. Her face turned blue and white, and she didn't know whether it was the effect of the Disguise Magus or her own expression.
"Since you believe me, then stop being stubborn and just lead the way." Dracula interrupted her.
Tonks' words got stuck in her throat.
She now regrets agreeing to Dracula to lead him...
Under the leadership of Tonks, Dracula and Sirius followed the flow of people towards the end of the main hall of the Ministry of Magic.
At the end of the main hall, the long and narrow space suddenly opened up, forming a spacious circular square. There is a fountain in the middle, and several huge golden statues stand in the middle of a circular pool.
The tallest among the statues is a wizard, his wand pointed straight into the air.
Gathered around the wizard were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house elf, the last three of whom looked at the two wizards with admiration. And the sparkling water of the fountain flowed from the ends of the two wizards' wands.
Seeing this fountain, Dracula frowned slightly.
"Magic Brothers Fountain? Huh..." he sneered.
Although he doesn't like the centaurs very much, he also knows that they and the goblins are very arrogant and don't even bother to associate with wizards -
The goblins have rebelled several times in the past few centuries and have not yet been convinced by the wizards; let alone the centaurs, they even refuse to accept the identity of "human beings". If you want them to look at the wizard with the kind of admiration depicted in the statue, it is probably impossible to describe it as a fantasy.
"Professor Dracula, what's wrong?" Tonks looked at Dracula in confusion.
"It's okay, let's go." Dracula waved his hand mockingly.
The greatest folly of mankind is self-righteousness.
Thinking about it this way, it is indeed remarkable that wizards such as Dumbledore, Sirius, and Regulus can treat werewolves, house elves and other groups equally.
Dracula no longer paid attention to the fountain, and stepped into a magic elevator with Tonks and Sirius.
The metal folding door of the elevator slammed shut, and with a creaking sound and a cool breeze blowing in from time to time, the three of them arrived at the ninth underground floor of the Ministry of Magic.
The style here is very different from the main hall. There is only a simple corridor on the entire floor leading to a black door. The floor and walls are covered with dark tiles. There is no window or door on both sides of the corridor, which makes it even more... secluded.
Two rows of torches were inserted into the dark tiles on the wall, flashing blue and white light, adding a mysterious atmosphere to the entire space.
"The trial room is quite special. You have to walk through the ninth floor to the tenth floor underground to reach it. You still need to walk a little longer." Tonks explained to Dracula.
Then, she led the two of them around a corner and prepared to walk towards the steps leading to the tenth floor.
At this moment, Dracula suddenly stopped.
He suddenly turned his head and looked at a lone, black door at the end of the corridor. There seemed to be a power that he was very familiar with sealed inside that door, and it disappeared in an instant.
"Where is that door?" Dracula asked softly.
"That's...the Department of Mysteries." Tonks was stunned for a moment, glanced at the lonely black door with some avoidance, and whispered, "Professor Dracula, that is the top secret agency of the Ministry of Magic. I don’t have permission to know what’s inside.”
"Department of Mysteries?" Dracula was lost in thought.
Nico Flamel told him that the time turner was manufactured in this department, and this department had also invited Flamel, a master alchemist, to help them conduct time energy research.
Could that breath just now be time energy?
"Professor Dracula, what are you thinking about?" Tonks' voice rang in Dracula's ears.
Dracula raised his head and saw her looking at him in panic.
"Professor Dracula, you must not have any ideas about the Department of Mysteries!" Tonks said aggrievedly, "I brought you here this time. I don't want to be expelled from the Auror Office..."
"Don't worry, I don't have any plans for the Department of Mysteries." Dracula shook his head in amusement, "Who do you think I am?"
Tonks's worry was not unreasonable. After all, he had just had the idea of going in for a walk...
But, helping Sirius crucify Peter's crime was more important.
Now that we know the specific location of the Department of Mysteries, we can teleport here at any time. It is obviously impossible for these crude anti-Apparition spells of the Ministry of Magic to stop him!
…
Walking through the corridor outside the Department of Mysteries, Tonks led Dracula and Sirius through the stairs to the tenth floor underground.
There is no lift directly to this point.
Compared with the previous floors, the tenth floor looked like an unfinished architectural sketch. The corridors were made of rough stone walls, and old-fashioned torches were inserted into brackets on the walls.
The doors leading to the courtroom on both sides of the corridor were heavy wooden doors with iron bolts and thick keyholes embedded in them.
Under Tonks' introduction, Dracula learned that there were ten courtrooms in the Wizengamot, and the doors to the courtrooms with different serial numbers were opened depending on the importance of the case.
This time, there is Peter Pedro, the first-class Order of Merlin winner who has come back from the dead, and Sirius Black, the first to escape from Azkaban, so it is natural to open Courtroom No. 1.
"This is Courtroom No. 1, and I won't send you in." Tonks sent Dracula and Sirius to the door of Courtroom No. 1, and whispered to them, "I don't dare to let Fudge The minister saw me."
"Okay, thank you." Dracula nodded slightly and walked into the open heavy wooden door with Sirius.
A depressing atmosphere came over me.
The walls around Courtroom No. 1 are made of ink-black stone, and the light from the torches is dim and eerie. There are dense rows of benches on all sides, arranged in steps, and you can see clearly from all seats. Go to the chair with the chain in the middle.
At this time, Peter was sitting shivering in the chair, sobbing softly.
…
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