A Perfect World

Chapter 7

Minnie's Trial


Minerva jumped a little and looked up at the two officers. One was a man and the other was a woman, both with curly brown hair. Other than the difference in their sexes they looked nearly identical. "Come with us quietly." The woman said. "If you make a fuss it will only get worse for you."

Tears welled in Minnie's eyes. It felt like her whole world was crashing down around her ears. Her stomach felt like a lump of lead. Her parents will be furious. She's in so much trouble. As they led her away down the snowy streets of Edinburgh she slid her hand down the outside of her coat and felt the lump made by the wad of pound notes. That little bundle of paper could very well end her career as a witch. All she wanted to do was make her father happy. To see him smile as he opened the box on Christmas morning and saw the cathode thing inside. Now it was all over.

The two officers led her to a Ministry car and slid into the back seat with her. "To the Ministry!" The male officer barked. The car started moving by itself and the image of a man flickered into the front seat to the keep any muggles from being alarmed. Minnie glanced at the two officers. "I've never met a real auror before." She remarked.

"And you still haven't." The man answered. "We're Magicial Law Enforcement Patrol." He gave her a small smile. "My name's Jerry McDougle and this is my twin sister Terry McDougal."

"I would say I'm pleased to meet you but under the circumstances I'd be lying so I won't."

Terry reached over and gave Minnie's hand a gentle squeeze. "You broke the law Miss McGonnagal and you will have to be punished but if it's a first offense it shouldn't be too bad."

Up ahead Edinburgh Castle loomed in the sky. The old castle dominated the skyline of Edinburgh. The car turned into a parking lot at the base of the basalt cliff face under the castle then drove directly into the cliff face. Deep under Edinburgh Castle were the chambers of Scotland's Ministry of Magic.

The halls seemed nearly deserted. Minerva spotted one wizard in the corridors, using his wand to try to clean up the owl droppings that seemed to cover every flat surface. The windows on the walls showed scenes from all over the world: Stonehenge, Mount Rushmore, The Great Pyramid, Hogwarts. They walked around a corner and Minerva spotted Professor Dumbledore speaking with a red haired, middle aged witch. He turned his head slightly and his blue eyes locked onto hers. Minnie dropped her head and felt a fresh flush of shame as they walked past the couple.

"The Ministry's pretty much empty right now." Jerry McDougle commented.

"Every body's off for Christmas except for us." Terry McDougle sighed. "Here's the place. Looks like your case is going to be heard by Herbert Crabbe."

They entered a room dominated by an elevated desk at one end. An uncomfortable looking wooden chair was placed on the floor in front of the desk. Behind the desk was a rather bored looking bald man reading The Daily Prophet. He looked up and scowled as they came in. "So, what have we here?"

"A case of under aged magic, Your Honor. Performing acts of magic in front of muggles." Jerry stated.

Mr. Crabbe pulled a grey judicial wig out of a drawer and plopped it on his head. "Why would she want to do that?"

"It was a magic show your honor." Terry told the judge. "Some muggles like to pretend they are wizards. They do tricks based on sleight of hand and clever devices to fake magic and entertain other muggles. Of course no real witch or wizard would stoop to such activities."

Crabbe stared at Minnie seated on the wooden chair. "So you were a witch pretending to be a muggle pretending to be a witch?"

Minerva wished she could just sink into the floor. "Yes, your Honor."

"Very well, let's get started." A quill pen rose up and began writing on a piece of paper. "Thursday, December 23, 1937, state your name for the record."

"Minerva McGonnagal."

"You're the daughter of Jupiter McGonnagal aren't you?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"He's a muggle."

"No, Your Honor, he's a squib. He's from one of the oldest wizarding families in Scotland."

"Same thing, defective genes though, they can pollute the whole wizardly community! Why would a talented witch like your mother ever want to marry a man like that?"

Minerva was starting to get angry. She tried to stay calm, eye of the hurricane, calm in the middle of the storm. "Because she loves him!"

"She should be considering the future of our people. I could remedy the situation. You should have your wand broken and be expelled from Hogwarts. You should spend the rest of your life in the muggle community and never associate with witches or wizards again."

Tears were welling up in Minnie's eyes. "No, please don't," she sobbed.

Crabbe leaned over the desk. "It won't be so bad, there are lots of things muggles do. Did you know that King George is a muggle? You could be a submarine driver or a butler or something."

Minerva was now weeping openly. She felt a soft breeze as someone else entered the room. She looked up to see Albus Dumbledore. "Hello Herbert, hope I'm not too late." He said with a smile.

Crabbe looked extremely annoyed. "No, this is Minerva McGonnagal, daughter of the well known squib, Jupiter McGonnagal. I was just about to pass sentence."

"Without calling witnesses for the defense! Highly irregular. And I don't see what her father's status has to do with the case. He isn't on trial."

"I was just pointing out that he has defective genes that he could have passed on to his daughter."

Professor Dumbledore conjured up a nice soft easy chair and sat down. "I assure you that Miss McGonnagal is one of the most talented young witches I've ever had the pleasure of teaching."

"It is a scientific fact that defective genes can skip generations. I was concerned about her children."

"Yes, I can see that you're a very kind and sensitive man. I have read your articles on how the wizarding community of Britain can be vastly improved by selectively breeding superior wizards and witches and sterilization of those witches and wizards who might be tainted with muggle blood. They were very interesting. Of course allowing your personal feelings to affect your judgement would be highly unethical. I know a man with your high moral standing wouldn't dream of doing such a thing."

Crabbe looked a bit uncomfortable. "Of course not."

Dumbledore looked around the room. "All this talk about her parents and I don't see them anywhere. Where are they?"

Crabbe frowned. "They're asleep. I didn't think it was necessary to wake them up."

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, it would be very distressing to woken up from a sound sleep in a nice warm bed only to find out that your only child is on trial. It is very considerate of you to allow them the pleasure of a good nights sleep. But as I said, you are a very kind and sensitive man." He leaned back in the chair. "So what's the charge?"

"Underaged magic. She performed a magic show on stage in front of muggles."

"I see," Dumbledore turned towards Minerva. "Why would you do that?"

"I needed money to buy my father a Christmas present, a cathode ray tube." Minerva said with a soft voice.

"What's a cathode ray tube?" Crabbe asked

"An electron gun fires a stream of electrons through a vacuum to a phosphorescent screen." She answered.

"Guns are dangerous! They can kill people! Vacuums are dangerous too. People can suffocate and die in a vacuum! You have no business buying such a thing!"

"I assure you that cathode ray tubes are harmless." Dumbledore stated.

"She did perform magic in front of hundreds of muggles!"

"I see," Dumbledore turned toward the McDougals, "and you are the arresting officers?" He watched them nod their heads. "So did you perform a memory charm on all the muggles who saw the show?"

"No," Jerry said, "There was no need."

"And why not?"

"She didn't do anything out of the norm for a muggle magic show." Terry answered. "It wasn't even the best muggle magic show we've ever seen. Mediocre you might say."

"Yeah, she didn't even do that trick where the magician saws the lady in half." Jerry added.

"Oh yes, that's a good one." Terry said, "I wonder how they do that?"

Jerry gestured with his hands as if he were holding a saw. "Well you see, the muggle magician actually has two ladies . . ."

Crabbe slammed his gavel on the desk. "I think this conversation is irrelevant to the case and can best be carried out in your own time."

"I agree!" Dumbledore stated. "But as you can see there's no harm done. A young girl loves her father and wants to buy him a special Christmas present. Some muggles enjoy a night's entertainment. Surely you can be lenient in the spirit of Christmas."

"So some carpenter gets born in a barn a couple of thousand years ago! I don't see what it has to do with us!" Crabbe sneered. "She should have her wand broken and be banished from the wizarding community!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way. In such a serious case I think we should call an expert witness, I understand your grandfather is an expert in these matters. I'll bring him here."

"There's no need to bother an old man for such a minor case!" Crabbe said rather quickly. "I was just trying to frighten the girl so she doesn't do anything like this again. For a first offense how about house arrest and we confiscate her wand until she returns to school?"

Dumbledore nodded. "That sounds agreeable. I will take charge of the wand." He held his hand out to Minerva who handed him her wand.

"Very well, Minerva McGonnagal, you are sentenced to house arrest until the school term resumes. You are also to leave your wand in the charge of Professor Albus Dumbledore until the school term resumes, and if I ever see you in this court again it will go much harder on you!" Herbert Crabbe slammed the gavel down.

Walking down the hallway with Professor Dumbledore, Minerva felt a great sense of relief. "What was all that stuff he kept saying about jeans? I don't even wear jeans."

"It's called eugenics, it's a very popular idea these days among both wizards and muggles. All the fashionable people believe in it. It's the idea that the very best people should be carefully chosen to breed superior children. Those people who don't reach the standards set by the very best people should not be allowed to have children."

Minnie thought about her father. "That's horrible!"

"I quite agree, the way to create good children is love. Two people marry because they love each other. They love their children and set an example for them. Love is what makes the world better, not genes." Professor Dumbledore stopped to stare out a window at some penguins waddling around on a glacier. "I'm afraid this eugenics idea is going to cause untold misery and horror."

Minerva shivered, there was something about the way he said it. Like he could see something horrible about to happen and couldn't stop it. "Umm, you're not going to tell my parents about this are you?"

"Of course not, you're going to tell them. And I will know if you don't."

"I just wanted to buy my father a cathode ray tube. Now the store is closed. We're going home first thing in the morning and I won't have another chance."

Dumbledore smiled down at her. "Don't worry, let me have the money and I'll buy the cathode ray tube and have it sent to you. You'll still have a good Christmas."

Minnie smiled up at him. "Thank you so much Professor Dumbledore."