"No," Harry stated clearly as he rose, his voice ringing out across the courtroom. He blinked, then flushed as the entire court turned to him. The old wizard chairing the proceedings glared at Harry.
"Mister Potter," the wizard asked, "are you refuting the witness' statement?"
"Ye-" Harry cut himself off and frowned, then continued thoughtfully. "No. What he has spoken is the truth."
"Then what is the basis of your objections?"
"While what he has spoken is the truth, it is not the whole truth. THere's more he's holding back, and he has been for the last few questions."
The old wizard's eyebrows shot up at this statement. "And how, pray tell, do you know this Mister Potter?"
"Er...I suppose saying 'I just do' isn't going to work is it?"
"No Mister Potter. It will not."
Harry cast a desperate look at Snape, who lifted an eyebrow in his version of a quiet chuckle, then stood.
"What Mister Potter is trying not to say is that he is a Vampire Lord, and therefore able to sense half-truths and lies." Harry glared at Snape, who merely smirked and sat down again.
"Objection," called the Defense attourney. "Not all Vampire Lords can discern such qualities."
"Are you calling my lineage and my Clan into question, sir?" Harry spat, his vampiric hackles well and truly raised.
"I am," the man returned disdainfully, not fully aware of the insult he caused with the statement. Snape actually winced.
"I am directly descended of Lastien al Kaemon, last Lord of Clan Veritas. I am acknowledged by the Clan through blood, line and power. Do you still question my lineage and my Clan?"
The tension in the room was palpable, and Snape tensed to flee if the idiotic Defense attourney responded in the affirmative. Before the man could speak, the man in the witness box spoke up.
"By all means continue with your objection," the perjurer sneered at his attourney. "It will give me the excuse to find a more competent one once your entrails are draped as decoration over the tribunal's bench."
"Mister Potter, you will not harm the Defense attorney," the tribunal chair interrupted.
"Of course not," Harry replied calmly.
"Then..."
"But my bodyguards might," Harry continued smoothly, ignoring the old wizard's interruption. "They take honour very seriously, and this man has insulted both mine and theirs."
