p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"- CHAPTER ONE –/p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 13px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"- THE CHARGES -/p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Disciplinary hearing on the ninth of April into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery by Michael Thomas Nott, resident at number nineteen, Osbourne Drive, Manchester… but, wh- is that right, boy?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Mickey looked up. A handsome boy, with dark black hair gliding across his forehead half covering his right eye, sat there with a slouched posture, almost suggesting he wasn't too bothered about the seriousness of the situation./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yeah, that sounds about right" he said casually. The Judge of the Wizengamot peered up over his spectacles curiously./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" "Are you not the same Michael Thomas Nott, son of Theodore Nott, alleged death eater who served under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the height of the Second World War?" Mickey sighed and rolled his eyes./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yes, but I'd appreciate not to be associated with my family if you don't mind. Dark magic isn't really my thing". The Judge smiles at this last notion./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""And so, you didn't attempt to use the Imperious Curse on the Hogwarts Divination Professor, Sybill Trelawney?" the Judge said, almost with a chuckle. Mickey sat upright in his seat, as though thinking carefully about his next words. With the entire Wizengamot staring at him, he anticipated opening his mouth./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I didn't attempt it" he said "Because it actually worked for a while. But-". An outbreak suddenly echoed around the Wizengamot court room. The Judge peered down at Mickey with a distasteful eye./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""So you do plead guilty to the crime of knowingly and deliberately, committing the use of one of the three unforgivable curses!?" he shouted. Fifty eyes suddenly dropped back onto Mickey./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Um… y-yeah… but"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""But what?" the Judge said impatiently. Mickey looked around at all the eyes piercing down at him. It was a good thing he was skilled in Occlumency, otherwise they might have figured him out by now. But he had to stay true to his word. He would not tell on Graham. He could not./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" Sally Oakland from the Interrogation suddenly spoke up./spanspan style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /span/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""May I ask how a boy of seventeen is able to successfully perform the Imperious Curse on an experienced Hogwarts Professor?" she said, intrigued. All eyes, once again, dropped on Mickey, who gulped./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Um… well first it's not like she's the sharpest knife in the draw anyway". A member of the Interrogation chuckled. "And secondly I read about it in the restricted section a few months ago" Mickey said, realising once he stopped that it might not have been best mentioning that last part./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Sally Oakland was staring at him inquisitively. "And you are in Slytherin house at Hogwarts, are you not?"./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yes-"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""And you come from a long line of Slytherins, a number of who became Death Eaters after finishing their studies at Hogwarts, much like you are about to do?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Yes, but-"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""No further questions" said the Judge arrogantly, "I believe we have all we need". Mickey looked up expecting the worst. "Michael Thomas Nott, you have been sentenced to a life imprisonment in Azkaban for your use of the Imperious Curse on Sybill Trelawney-"./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"The Judge continued to speak, but Mickey could hear. What felt like a rock dropped in his stomach. Oooh that ain't good, he thought./p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 13px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"- THE CHARGES -/p
p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 14px;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Disciplinary hearing on the ninth of April into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery by Michael Thomas Nott, resident at number nineteen, Osbourne Drive, Manchester… but, wh- is that right, boy?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Mickey looked up. A handsome boy, with dark black hair gliding across his forehead half covering his right eye, sat there with a slouched posture, almost suggesting he wasn't too bothered about the seriousness of the situation./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yeah, that sounds about right" he said casually. The Judge of the Wizengamot peered up over his spectacles curiously./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" "Are you not the same Michael Thomas Nott, son of Theodore Nott, alleged death eater who served under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named during the height of the Second World War?" Mickey sighed and rolled his eyes./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yes, but I'd appreciate not to be associated with my family if you don't mind. Dark magic isn't really my thing". The Judge smiles at this last notion./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""And so, you didn't attempt to use the Imperious Curse on the Hogwarts Divination Professor, Sybill Trelawney?" the Judge said, almost with a chuckle. Mickey sat upright in his seat, as though thinking carefully about his next words. With the entire Wizengamot staring at him, he anticipated opening his mouth./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I didn't attempt it" he said "Because it actually worked for a while. But-". An outbreak suddenly echoed around the Wizengamot court room. The Judge peered down at Mickey with a distasteful eye./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""So you do plead guilty to the crime of knowingly and deliberately, committing the use of one of the three unforgivable curses!?" he shouted. Fifty eyes suddenly dropped back onto Mickey./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Um… y-yeah… but"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""But what?" the Judge said impatiently. Mickey looked around at all the eyes piercing down at him. It was a good thing he was skilled in Occlumency, otherwise they might have figured him out by now. But he had to stay true to his word. He would not tell on Graham. He could not./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" Sally Oakland from the Interrogation suddenly spoke up./spanspan style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /span/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""May I ask how a boy of seventeen is able to successfully perform the Imperious Curse on an experienced Hogwarts Professor?" she said, intrigued. All eyes, once again, dropped on Mickey, who gulped./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Um… well first it's not like she's the sharpest knife in the draw anyway". A member of the Interrogation chuckled. "And secondly I read about it in the restricted section a few months ago" Mickey said, realising once he stopped that it might not have been best mentioning that last part./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Sally Oakland was staring at him inquisitively. "And you are in Slytherin house at Hogwarts, are you not?"./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yes-"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""And you come from a long line of Slytherins, a number of who became Death Eaters after finishing their studies at Hogwarts, much like you are about to do?"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Yes, but-"/p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""No further questions" said the Judge arrogantly, "I believe we have all we need". Mickey looked up expecting the worst. "Michael Thomas Nott, you have been sentenced to a life imprisonment in Azkaban for your use of the Imperious Curse on Sybill Trelawney-"./p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /p
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"The Judge continued to speak, but Mickey could hear. What felt like a rock dropped in his stomach. Oooh that ain't good, he thought./p