"The Ministry has put together a new law for the likes of you… they're giving you a list of ten tasks to perform to test your morals, and should you fail, they won't even bother shipping you off to Azkaban… they'll kill ya on the spot."
"And should I succeed?"
"Ha! Let's just say… you won't."
Draco Malfoy stared after the Ministry official as the cocky man sauntered away, leaving Draco to stand just outside the courtroom, waiting to be trialed by the Council of Magical law. It was unfair, he had spent several years avoiding Azkaban due to a last minute change of sides in the war, and now, after all those years, a couple of aurors had tracked him down and dragged him (literally) to be trialed. And it wasn't as if he was battling against being given a one-way ticket to Azkaban… he was playing the cards of life and death now, and should he play the wrong hand… he was doomed.
Draco took in a long, sharp breath, startled as he felt a hand clasp around his forearm as he was pulled into the courtroom and shoved down into the seat in the middle of the room. He looked around nervously as all the eyes in the room shifted to him. As he gazed around the circular room that somewhat reminded him of a prison cell, he felt dread sinking heavily upon him. What were these tasks he kept hearing of? What if he couldn't complete them? How hard could they be?
There was a loud crack as the judge brought down the gavel on his podium. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, you have been brought before the Council of Magical law so that we may pass judgment upon you for crimes-"
"That I committed nearly five years ago… with all due respect, your honor, I thought I had been cleared of all charges years ago. Why bring me here now?" Draco interrupted as politely as he could, though the judge clearly did not like the disruption in his speech.
The bespectacled man leaned forward on his podium, glaring at Draco from under his glasses. "I do not appreciate your interruption, mister Malfoy."
"Yes sir." Draco hung his head, staring at his boots, twisting his fists angrily in his lap as he waited for the man to continue.
"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical law so that we may pass judgment upon you for crimes such as fraternization with the enemy, affiliation with Death Eaters as well as many others, far too many I'm afraid to be mentioned here."
"Objection! I was excused due to the fact that I did not participate in the final battle, nor did I give away the identities of the three known as Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and your very own Harry Potter." Draco called.
"Noted." The judge waved away his objection and continued as if he had never spoken. "The council knows of your sudden change of heart at the start of the war, mister Malfoy, and that is precisely why there isn't a cell in Azkaban with your name on it. The Ministry has created a new way of punishment for witches and wizards who defected from the war known as the Defects Doom, and that punishment was given to your parents earlier this year as you well know."
Draco stared up at him, then hung his head, willing himself to not feel the pain he always felt at the memory of his mother and father who had been executed early that year due to their failed attempts to complete whatever bloody tasks it was the Ministry had come up with. He was not at all looking forward to whatever it was, as he was most certain the Ministry would fit it to his weaknesses, not his strengths.
"You have been assigned a Ministry official to keep you updated on your new tasks. You will be given a total of ten tasks, with rewards for each completed task and punishments, each more severe than the last, for each failed attempt. On the tenth task, which shall be the most difficult, should you fail, you will be executed without any last words, pleas or otherwise however… should you succeed… which is extremely unlikely… you will be not only rewarded with your life… but with other things beyond your imagination."
Draco let the judge's words sink in. He sat for a long time in silence, then let out a long breath of air he'd been holding. "Have I no choice at all?" he finally asked hoarsely.
"Your alternative option would be execution here and now." The judge gestured a shady looking figure standing in the corner with a giant executioners axe.
Draco gulped, pulling his eyes away from the gory sight. "I-I'll try it…" He told them and several of the jury chuckled darkly.
"Then may whatever god you serve grant you mercy." The judge cracked the gavel against the podium, signaling finality, and leaving the deafening sound to reverberate through Draco's ears as he was pulled out of the courtroom and lead off to start in whatever journey the Ministry had set for him.
AN: Next chapter; Draco's first test.