Chapter 47: The Trial
When Draco came to, he was sitting in a dark room somewhere in the depths of the Ministry of Magic. His head was pounding, and his eyes could barely handle the light emanating from the small crack under the door. About half an hour after he had woken up, the door to the room swung open, and a man in midnight blue robes swept into the room and grabbed Draco by the scruff of his neck.
"C'mon, get up," he said gruffly, pulling Draco up. Draco struggled to gain balance, his knees were weak. He locked his fingers together behind his back and placed his feet firmly on the ground. The man promptly magicked handcuffs onto Draco's hands and feet. "Alright, now walk." Draco obligingly placed one foot ahead of the other and headed toward the door, which the man opened with a flick of his wand. "Make a left." Draco almost passed out as the light from outside hit his face. He blinked for a few moments, unmoving, until the man prodded Draco in the back with his wand. "Move." Draco continued walking down the hallway. His eyes adjusted to the brightness, and he began to make out his surroundings; a long, wood-paneled hallway, a dark, tiled floor, and an elevator with an iron grate over the front of it. Draco knew exactly where he was, and his shoulders sagged with the weight of this realization. He began dragging his feet as he approached the elevator. Was he afraid? He couldn't tell. He just felt tired. He was actually feeling quite surprised that this hadn't happened sooner.
After a long walk down the hallway, Draco was finally shoved into the elevator. He stared darkly out onto the hallway as the man shut the iron grate in front of them. Draco's stomach lurched as the elevator shot downward, sideways, downward again, and then upward diagonally. Finally, they came to a halt before another hallway, this one paneled with a darker, more sinister-looking wood. Draco was led down the hallway by another wizard, this one in deep red robes, and stopped before a set of large wooden doors. Draco was searched, then the doors were opened, and Draco looked up to face the Wizengamot. He did not bother looking for any familiar faces. He obediently followed his new caretaker into the chair, and did not flinch when more chains snaked up around his arms and feet. Draco, his eyes bloodshot, looked up at the Chief Warlock, Hestia Jones. She was looking down at him almost disdainfully before she began to speak.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you have been brought here to be put on trial for the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore, your actions in bringing Death Eaters into Hogwarts School the night of the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, for maintaining the imprisonment of Luna Lovegood and Garrick Ollivander and for bearing witness to the torture of Hermione Granger at Malfoy Manor. Furthermore, you are on trial for association with and participation in the actions of Death Eaters. In addition, you will be questioned about any knowledge you may have on the whereabouts of any remaining Death Eaters. Do you understand?"
Draco nodded, his face emotionless.
"Very well then," Jones said, folding her hands before her on her desk. "You may bring forth the first witness," she continued, nodding to the man in red robes. The man nodded and bowed out of the room. Moments later, he returned with Gregory Goyle. Draco almost laughed.
"Gregory Goyle," the man announced, bowing again as Goyle stepped into the witness box.
"Thank you," Jones said. "Now, Mr. Goyle, will you please explain the actions of Mr. Malfoy during your sixth year at Hogwarts school?"
"Yes madam," Goyle said. He cleared his throat. "Malfoy came to school at the start of the year with, you know, the Mark. He used it to threaten me and the dead, er, deceased Vincent Crabbe, into serving as his guards when he was in the Room of Requirement."
"And what was he doing in the Room of Requirement?" Jones asked.
"Well, he never told us," Goyle said nervously. "But I guess he was fixing the Vanishing Cabinet."
"Very well. Do you have anything to add, Mr. Goyle?"
"Er, yeah. During the final battle, he made us go into the Room of Requirement with him to follow Potter and find a...diadem, I think? That's when Crabbe started the fire and them, um, died."
"Thank you, Mr. Goyle," Hestia Jones said. "Next witness please." Now Theodore Nott was brought in, then Blaise Zabini, then Pansy Parkinson. They all gave a similar story about how he got the Mark and then began behaving strangely in sixth year. There wasn't much of a reaction to their testimonies from the Wizengamot. Once the Slytherins were cycled through, they began bringing in Hogwarts teachers, who testified to Draco's odd behavior in sixth year, as well as the story of Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley's poisoning. These stories in particular drew a significant reaction from the crowd.
"Well, fellow members of the Wizengamot, it is clear that many can verify that Mr. Malfoy was evidently a Death Eater by the age of 16 and that he was carrying out He-Who-Must-Not- Be- Named's orders. Now, we would like to bring up the only living witness to Mr. Malfoy's getting the Dark Mark: Narcissa Malfoy."
Draco's heart sunk, and he twisted his neck to try and see his mother as she was brought into the courtroom. She looked tired and as though she had been crying. Draco felt awful.
"Mrs. Malfoy," began Jones. "Please recount to us the events of the day Draco Malfoy became a Death Eater."
Draco watched his mother's eyes fill with tears. She cleared her throat and began to speak. "It was two summers ago, just after he had turned 16-" She choked back a sob. "I heard it first from Severus, Snape, that is. He came by the Manor with the news. From there, we Flooed to Spinner's End, Snape's house, where Draco was sent into the study to meet the Dark Lord. The two of them spoke, and we were brought inside. My sister, Bellatrix, was there. She...she...she teased him while he was considering the Dark Lord, sorry, You-know-who's demand. Finally, he said yes, and Bellatrix gave him the Mark."
Hestia Jones began her questioning. "Did you do anything to stop this from happening?"
Narcissa shook her head.
"Why?"
"I was afraid," Narcissa whispered. "Lucius was in jail, and I was all alone with Draco. I...he didn't have a choice."
"What gave you that impression?"
Narcissa, tears running down her face, looked up in shock. "How on earth could he say no? He...he would have been killed..."
"Then why didn't you do anything to stop this from happening? You stood up to You-know-who the night of the Battle of Hogwarts. Why not this time?"
"That was different," Narcissa said, almost angrily. "That was a year later, a year after he had been living in our house, forcing us to witness terrible, terrible things. That night, I had nothing to lose but my son. So I did what I had to. I'm sorry if you cannot understand that."
Draco felt a lump grow in his throat as his eyes filled with tears. He couldn't believe what he had done, what he had really put his mother through. He dropped his head and stared into his lap.
"Very well, Mrs. Malfoy, that is all for now. Thank you." Narcissa nodded sadly and descended from the witness stand. She glanced up at Draco for a moment as she walked out, catching his eye. Draco almost started bawling right then.
"Now, for our next witness," Hestia Jones continued. "Mr. Harry Potter." A cheer rang around the room as Harry strode into the room and settled into the witness box. Draco avoided looking at Harry, too ashamed and embarrassed to do so. "Mr. Potter," Jones smiled. "I believe you know what you are being asked to testify to?"
"Yes, Hestia," Harry replied. "Well, I'll just get started then. Sixth year to begin with, right?"
"Yes," Jones replied.
"Well, then," Harry repeated. "Well, throughout sixth year, I suspected Malfoy was a Death Eater. He, er, that's not important... Right, he was acting strangely, more than usual. I often followed him around. I became the most suspicious in the wintertime, during the Katie Bell incident. I found out the full extent of what had happened during that incident, as well as the incident with Ron being poisoned, the night Dumbledore was murdered. Malfoy told Dumbledore everything that night, the night he was supposed to kill Dumbledore. I was there under the Invisibility Cloak."
"How was Mr. Malfoy behaving that night?" Jones prompted.
"He was terrified," Harry stated simply. "He was clearly telling Dumbledore all this because he was stalling. He only managed to disarm Dumbledore that night. He lowered his wand, too, before Snape stepped in and..." Harry trailed off.
"Would you consider Draco Malfoy responsible for Dumbledore's death?" Jones asked softly.
"No," Harry replied quickly. "No, like I've said before, Snape and Dumbledore had this all planned out- that Snape would kill Dumbledore, that is. It would have happened no matter what Draco had done."
Draco inhaled sharply. He hadn't known this. Harry went on.
"To say more about Malfoy, I met him again this April, during Easter, when Ron, Hermione, and I were kidnapped by the Snatchers."
"And what happened then?"
"Well, Hermione had hit me with a Stinging Charm, so my face was all swollen up. Lucius Malfoy asked his son to identify me that time. And Malfoy stalled then, only admitting it was me when he felt he was being threatened by his family, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange in this case." Most of the members of the Wizengamot gasped here, and Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Anything else, Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, just that I believe that Draco Malfoy was under much duress when he took the Mark and carried out the actions he did in sixth year, and that he was fearing for his family's life."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter. Let us take a ten minute break."
Draco grit his teeth, afraid of what they would bring up next.
A/N: ! Please let me know what you think! :)