The naming of her first witness caused unrest in the spectator area. Whispering voices filled the silence, photographers grappled with their cameras, and several members of the press pushed rudely out of their seats to get in position by the double doors.

The doors opened to expose Harry Potter. The room grew eerily silent as he moved to sit in the witness box. Malfoy looked on stoically.

Rolling her eyes, she smiled at Harry. "Can you please state your name for the record?"

"Harry James Potter." He focused on the question asked and not on the people gawking at him.

"Thank you, and do you understand why you have been asked here today?" He nodded. "How long have you known the defendant?"

"Since I was 11…so about 10 years."

"Do you like Draco Malfoy?"

"Not at all. You could say that he and I were rivals at Hogwarts."

A voice emerged from the shadows of the second row of the Wizengamot. "I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with anything?" It was a high-pitched voice. It was one Hermione had never wanted to hear again.

She slowly turned to face Delores Umbridge. "I was first establishing the relationship between the two before moving on to my other questions concerning the murder."

Umbridge opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by another witch belonging to the Wizengamot. "Delores, I believe it would be best to let Miss Granger continue," Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, said sternly.

Umbridge returned to the shadows with a sour look on her amphibian-like face.

Sparing not a glance in the direction of that horrible woman, she continued. "Mr. Potter, where were you on the 24th of October around 7 in the evening?"

"My friend, Ron Weasley, and I decided to go to Diagon Alley that day. We were there from just before 7 until 9."

"Did you see Mr. Malfoy there at all?"

"Yes, we ran into him at the Leaky Cauldron just before half past eight. As we were leaving, we passed his table. We were stopped because Malfoy wanted to…chat for a bit."

"And you know for a fact that it was just before 8:30?" At his answer in the affirmative, "How?"

"About 10 minutes into the conversation, Malfoy grabbed my wrist to look at my watch. He said that he was late for a meeting with his father that he was supposed to be there at 8:30. When I looked at my watch, it read 8:35."

Grabbing a scroll from her table for reference, "The Ministry Healers reported that Lucius Malfoy was killed at 8:30 that evening. Do you think it is at all possible for the defendant to have slipped away to murder his father at that time?"

"No, I don't. Ron, Snape, and I were with him at that time, and he never left."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter, you may step down and take a seat." She looked Harry in the eye and nodded slightly. Everything was going as planned.

She and Harry had supposed that the real killer would attend the trial to make sure Malfoy was put away. She needed to continue asking questions in the hopes that someone would make a slip. All she had to do was bide her time until that happened.

She glanced briefly at Malfoy to gauge his reaction to Harry's testimony. His eyes followed Harry as he sat next to Ron in the spectator area. Trying to find an ulterior motive, she supposed.

"Miss Granger, please call your next witness," intoned Fudge.

"I would like to call Auror Keslick to the stand."

Escorted in by the guard was a short man. He seemed to be a bundle of nerves. His eyes darted back and forth across the room as if looking for possible threats. He was young. She would guess mid to late 20s). He must have seen many awful things in his short career to be so…twitchy.

After he stated his name, she asked how long he had been an Auror. He replied that it would be two years this coming February.

"You were first on the scene, is that correct?" He replied in the affirmative. "What did you see when you arrived at the Manor?"

"W-well, the front door was open. When I walked in, the defendant was standing over the body with his wand drawn. I ordered him to roll his wand to me, but he didn't move, so I had to disarm him. I then arrested him."

"Did you see anyone else at the scene—possibly leaving the manor?"

"No, miss. It was just the two Malfoy's that were present."

"Do you believe Draco Malfoy killed his father?" she looked him steadily in the eye, but he looked away after a short moment.

Hesitating slightly, "Yes, I do."

Something wasn't quite right here, that much she knew. Something was bothering her.

"When did you arrive at the manor?"

"It was some time around nine, I suppose." That couldn't be right.

She walked quickly to retrieve another parchment from her bag. "According to this, Mr. Keslick, you signed the defendant into Azkaban at nine. Aurors are not allowed to Apparate with prisoners in tow; they always carry an emergency Portkey for such situations, and, even then, you would be deposited 100 yards back from the prison outside the gates. How is it possible that you arrived so quickly at the prison?"

Again his eyes darted back and forth to faces behind her. "I may—I must have arrived sooner at the manor than originally thought."

She narrowed her eyes. What are you hiding Keslick? She looked to Malfoy. He had remained quiet through all of this as per her instructions. She was surprised he was following orders. He raised a brow at her; it clearly asked 'What next?'

OK, think, Hermione. Malfoy was elsewhere at the time of the murder. He didn't see anyone when he arrived nor did Keslick. The killer had less than 5 minutes to leave before Draco arrived. You can't Apparate from inside the manor, the person would have to make it outside the entrance gates before able, but Malfoy would have surely noticed someone running towards him. The timeline just didn't add up. Malfoy's story was corroborated, but Keslick's…

As she was pacing in front of the witness stand, she looked up to search for Harry and Ron only to catch a glimpse at Rita Skeeter. That's when a thought struck her.

She turned quickly to the Wizengamot. "I'd like request a copy of the Animagus Registry."

Fudge looked askance at the witch to his left who nodded. "I suppose that can be arranged if you feel it is imperative." ("I do, sir.") "Very well…Watkins, please fetch the registry."

A wizard seated at the end of the row stood and left quickly. The onlookers began to whisper in excitement. It took a few minutes, but Watkins finally returned with a heavy tome placing it on her table.

She sat down and frantically began searching through the book. One thing she knew about the Animagus Registry: it was charmed to list and re-arrange the names alphabetically with every new addition. Let me be right, let me be right, let me be right. She flipped to the correct section. Scanning the page, she finally found what she was looking for. She grabbed her quill and made a notation at the bottom of a spare parchment. She tore off the corner with the written information and crumbled it in her hand. She then shut the book and stood.

She moved to the platform where Draco stood eyeing her curiously. "I know this may be too much to ask, but do you remember seeing anything out of the ordinary when you arrived at the manor? Something out of place, not belonging, like an animal, perhaps? Please, think carefully."

"More out of the ordinary than my father lying dead in the foyer? No, not really." She deflated at that. She began to turn away but he spoke again. "Although…there was something…" She could tell he wasn't really there. He was far away back at the Manor on that night almost 3 weeks ago. "I did see a rather large spider. It was crawling across my father's chest. I brushed it away when trying to listen for a heartbeat."

"A large spider? Did you happen to see where it went?"

"I brushed it towards the open door, so I guess it went outside."

She smiled brightly. "Thank you." Turning back to her current witness. "Now, Auror Keslick, you've already stated that you saw no one leave the house, is that correct?" He nodded jerkily. "Since it was less than 5 minutes from when Lucius Malfoy was murdered and the defendant arrived, we can safely assume that the killer had not the time to escape and that he was still there when the defendant arrived. Although the defendant testified to seeing no person other than his father, he has just said that he saw a large spider." Larges pearls of sweat were running down Keslick's forehead.

Again, the high-pitched voice interrupted from the Wizengamot, "Do you expect us to let you badger a witness because the defendant said he saw a spider? I think it's obvious we have the correct man in custody. We need to bring this hearing to a close now and sentence the prisoner. This is taking up too much time." Hermione rolled her eyes. Shut it, you old hag.

Umbridge spluttered in outrage. Hermione paled. She had a feeling she had spoken her thoughts aloud again.

"Why you—" Umbridge began, but was interrupted by McGonagall for the second time. "Delores, I think you misheard the girl. There's no reason to get angry. She merely said that she forgot to shut her bag. Isn't that what you heard, Phineas?" turning to an aged wizard to her right.

"Why, yes, I did hear that," Phineas looked absolutely delighted. Whether it was because he was being asked his opinion or because of her slip, she wasn't sure.

Playing along, she walked to her table to close the flap on her bag. She looked up into the confused crowd. They didn't hear me. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Fudge spoke up then, "You can continue, Miss Granger. Please excuse the interruption," sending a disapproving look to the second row.

Hermione looked to the witness box where Keslick was shifting in his seat. Every few seconds he would cast glances to the double doors. "Don't worry, I only have a few questions more for you." He nodded.

"Are you an Animagus?" He jumped slightly at that. He looked toward the Registry on her table.

"Yes, miss," he croaked.

"And can you please tell us what form you take when you transform?" She motioned discreetly to the court guards. They nodded and took out their wands. She was cornering him and she didn't want to take any chances.

When Keslick began stuttering, she asked, "Isn't it true that you transform into a tarantula?" He looked wildly about the room. "The tarantula is a large breed of spider, so, when the defendant said he saw a large spider on his father's chest—that was you. This means that you were there before the defendant. This also means that you would have been there to witness the murder, but you arrested Draco Malfoy, the one person we know couldn't have done it." She paused. "Why did you kill Lucius Malfoy, Keslick?"

That spurred him into action. He quickly jumped out of the box and was halfway to the door before he was knocked unconscious.

The next moments were a blur as Fudge dismissed all charges against Malfoy. Everyone began to talk at once, and the press swarmed vying for her attention.

She looked to where Malfoy was being released. He met her eyes and nodded solemnly in thanks. Harry and Ron pushed their way through everyone to get to her. They greeted her with large grins. She couldn't wait to leave, so she gave a brief statement to the reporters, posed for a few photos, and went to pack her things.

Harry nudged her and nodded indicating Malfoy. He was walking to meet his mother. For a few seconds, both mother and child stood staring at one another until Narcissa raised her arms tentatively and wrapped Draco in a hug. He sagged into her embrace and his shoulders began to lightly shake.

"He's crying," Ron announced tactlessly while staring openly. Oh, honestly!

When she reached down to pick up her bag, she accidentally on purpose elbowed him in the ribs. He grunted. "Serves you right," she said while Harry laughed.

"I think it's time we leave." And with that, the trio walked out the door. Mission accomplished.