Harry walked into the ministry and went to the legal section of the building. Following the war the legal system including the design of the courtrooms had been completely redone. The court now resembled a typical British muggle court but with a few differences. The courtrooms were much smaller then the previous ones. There was a panel of seven judges. Four were require to convict and the chief judge would sentence the defendant based upon the recommendation of the other judges. Many of the laws had also been rewritten. A special court was set up to handle the large number of trials necessary following the war. The death penalty was also reintroduced for the first time since 1977 for the crimes of treason and murder. The minister decided to do this as the crimes were committed during wartime making them eligible for the death penalty in British Wizarding Law.
Harry sat down in the main courtroom. It was still early in the morning and not many people were in there. The special court hadn't begun its session yet and only minor wizarding crimes that had nothing to do with the war had begun. The current trial was for the charge of theft of a magical device. Five minutes later the man was found guilty by a vote of six to one and sentenced to four months in prison. After that there were several other similar trials for crimes like assault without magic, theft, and bribery. The most exciting trial of the morning session was for at temped murder. It was the case of a drunken wizard who attacked a muggle after leaving a bar. Instead of attempted murder he was convicted of assault without magic and sentenced to four years. After that the cases continued to get more and more boring and Harry wondered why he even decided to come so early and not stay at the hotel with Ron and Hermione.
After listening to cases for two more hours the special court session finally began at 11:00. The first cases were small and were mostly assault with magic cases. Hagrid walked in on one of the cases and sat down near Harry. Later Ron and Hermione walked in. Several other people Harry knew including some Hogwarts staff also were present. Afterwards the cases grew to murder charges. The case of Antonin Dolohov was the biggest of the morning. Dolohov was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to death causing almost everyone in the courtroom to cheer loudly. Later Fenrir Greyback was also sentenced to death. Those two trials were the highlights of the early hours of the special court. Harry and several others of the Hogwarts students and staff were caused to testify. There testimonies were usually brief and after they finished they returned to the gallery. The cases now grew to include former high-ranking ministry officials. The first was the trial of Dolores Umbridge. This case was to be by far the longest of the day far surpassing the other minor trials that lasted an hour at most. This trial could easily last all day and perhaps up to three days. Before the trial started the chief judge declared a two-hour recess. Harry walked out of the courtroom and went to the lobby. In it he saw Vernon Dursley walking in the lobby. What the bloody hell is he doing here thought Harry. Harry ran back to tell Ron and Hermione after seeing him. They went back to the courtroom and saw Vernon Dursley sitting in the gallery by Lockhart who also went in during the recess. The trial of Dolores Umbridge began. The chief judge began to read the charges: Murder Treason Kidnapping Assault Arson Bribery etc. The total indictment was a total of 73 counts. It seemed to Harry that they just charged her with random crimes and that several of the indictments for completely ridiculous. After the charges were read the chief prosecutor began his opening statement. It was very long and made Harry and everyone else in the courtroom bored. It seemed to Harry that he kept repeating the same thing. After talking for several hours he finally stopped. The lawyer representing Umbridge was and old wizard short with a white mustache and short white hair. He talked for around ten minutes. Afterwards Umridge made a ridiculous statement before the head judge finally cut her off. The judge declared a recess for the night. Harry talked to Hagrid after the trial ended for the night about Vernon showing up and talking to Lockhart. Afterwards Harry Ron and Hermione walked back to their hotel room. They entered the room walking past the guard holding the gun. They discussed the day and the mysterious appearance of Harry's uncle. They went to sleep after watching some TV. Harry once again walked into the courtroom. Although he was early their were more people here then yesterday presumably to get a good view of the Umbridge trial. Harry was pleased to see Ollivander there. He went over and talked to him for a while. The special court hadn't started yet and the normal court was still in session. "Guilty," said the chief judge. It was a case of a theft and Harry listened as the man was sentenced to ten days in jail. The Weasleys walked in and sat down. Rita Skeeter also walked into the room. The chief judge, who was a rather tall man with a brown mustache a short white beard and receding brown hair announced that the special court would began its session. The prosecution called a few witnesses when Vernon Dursley walked in. Harry stared at his uncle wondering what the hell he was doing here. He sat down next to Harry. "What the hell are you doing here," asked Harry. "I'm here to testify. Why else would I be here," said Vernon. "About what," asked Harry Vernon didn't answer but instead stared forward listening to the proceedings. Ten minutes later he was called to testify. Vernon stepped up and began his testimony. His testimony seemed very short probably only lasting three minutes. It consisted of how he was Harry's uncle. What was the point of that Harry wondered. Later Harry Ron and Hermione were also called to testify about what they had seen. They also called many muggle borns to recite what happened. After that there case ended. The next day the defense launched a horrible case. Umbridge testified but she said nothing that could help her. The judge declared that the verdict and sentence would happen next week.