Prologue
"Quiet in the courtroom please! Order!"
The lively whispers continued to echo off the tall stone walls. In the middle of the circular room sat a simple wooden chair enclosed by short rounded walls, protecting the benches that rose high above the ground. The witches and wizards seated upon them muttered to each other in anticipation. Front and center of the small crowd sat a large man with a long wooden wand. He raised the instrument and tapped it on the ledge in front of him, sending a deafening echo through the room.
The chatter stopped immediately. The figures surrounding the man looked ahead with tight lips.
"Bring forward the accused."
A large wooden door opened with a click, and a guard walked forward, his hand wrapped tightly around the arm of a woman. She walked with grace toward the wooden chair and sat down.
"How does the accused plead?"
The woman cleared her throat, "Not guilty… of course."
"Very well." Said the man as he looked at the woman. "Bring forward the witness."
"Excuse me?" the woman asked. "Witness? How could there be a witness!"
"Silence please."
The door swung open once more and the guard brought forward another woman, free of his clutch. She moved toward the center of the room with courage. She stated her name at the man's request and stood beside the woman in the chair.
"Please tell the room what you witnessed."
"Yes, your honor. I am on the Council of Magical Law. I was assigned to bear witness to the court proceedings of this woman. She was accused of tampering with her coworkers' belongings, causing serious harm and hospitalization of the victim. After the first of the proceedings, several council members rapidly proclaimed her to be innocent.
"After the near last meeting she approached me and offered me 300 galleons if I would change my vote to not guilty. At that point I approached the Wizengamot and notified them of the bribery."
"Thank you, Ma'am. You are excused from the courtroom." The woman bowed her head to the man and made her way out the door.
"I sentence the accused to 500 hours of volunteer work on the third and fourth floor St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, in addition to a 1000 galleon fine and a month in Azkaban."
The woman's eyes sat like tennis balls in her sockets. Her mouth opened slightly and anger bubbled inside her.
"I hope you learn your lesson." The man said calmly. He raised his wand and tapped it once more on the ledge, and as he did so chains connected the woman's wrists and she stood from the chair. The guard walked forward and rested the tip of his wand on her spine, moving her out the door.
When the door shut once more lively chatter began as people milled out of the courtroom, entranced by the curious hearing they had been witness to.