The pensieve was floating in front of Kingsley, as if waiting for his command. Draco had wondered how this part would go. Would he have to join each judge as they watched his recollection of events? Would his father have to watch? He could only assume that the break was used for the judges to view the memory, but if that were the case, what would be happening now?
"Draco, each judge has viewed your memory of the events in question. Your father has refused to give us his memory, therefore we move onto the next step. Is there anyone else who you want to view the memory before we ask you questions on it?" Kingsley asked formally.
"Yes." Draco said quickly. "Hermione." Draco added, causing his father to slur profanities on the top of his lungs.
Kingsley decided to ignore Lucius and ushered Hermione towards him. Hermione squeezed Draco's hand before abiding, and was met by the floating pensieve. She heard stories from Harry, so she knew the basics. She stuck her head in the shallow bowl and was plunged into the Malfoy Manor. She saw the whole scene unfold, Draco pinned to the wall and Narcissa withering in immense pain under Lucius' wand. She pulled her head out of the bowl and met Draco's eyes with tears in her own. She practically ran over to him and placed a long soft kiss on his lips.
"I'm sorry." She cried, pulling away from him. Draco guided her into her chair and cupped her cheek briefly before intertwining their hands.
"Draco, we have some questions about what we have seen." Kingsley said, jerking their attention away from each other and back to the trial. Draco barely noticed that Lucius was still silenced. "What was the confrontation between your parents about?"
"My father was informed by one of his friends that my mother aided Harry Potter." Draco spat, Hermione squeezed his hand for support. Behind them Harry shifted uncomfortably, not aware of his involvement in this.
"Was this information accurate?" The judge from earlier asked.
"Yes. Why does that matter?" Draco asked, clearly annoyed.
"We are just trying to get a full picture of the event Mr Malfoy." The judge responded evenly.
"Please call me Draco." Draco repeated his request from the day before.
"Of course. Draco, how did your mother aid Harry Potter?"
"She told Voldermort…" The room chilled at the mention of his name. "...that Harry was dead after their fight in the woods." Draco's voice was even, but Hermione could feel his tension. Harry was stiff as a board, sick to his stomach with the idea that he was to blame for Narcissa's current state.
"I see, and he was clearly alive." The judge pointed out, motioning towards Harry in the audience. Lucius was still silenced but he seemed to be yelling anyway. "Why did your mother lie?"
"Because Harry assured her that I was safe and alive, it was a trade of sorts." Draco's voice was calm and even, but it was clear he was uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as Harry was though.
"I see, we are going to lift the silencing charm on your father now, so that he can testify." The judge said and Draco nodded.
Lucius' shouts filled the trial room once more. Saying everything and anything that came to his mind. Starting and ending with the same blood traitor remarks he had already said towards his son. It seemed like the judges were waiting for his outburst to pass, but when it was clear that he would not stop, Kingsley rose from his chair.
"Lucius!" He yelled, but it was no good. Kingsley wordlessly reapplied the silencing charm before he spoke again. "If you do not stop you will not get a chance to speak in defense of yourself." Lucius seemed to stop yelling. "Do you have anything productive to the case to say?" Kingsley asked as he lifted the spell.
"No matter what I am charged with I will get out and will kill her!" Lucius spat, glaring at Hermione. Draco shot up, but Hermione pulled him back down. "Defending the mudblood eh? Disgracing the Malfoy name." Lucius spat but stopped when he caught the look on Kingsley's face. It seemed he didn't want to be silenced again.
"Very well, onto character witnesses. Do you have any Lucius?" Kingsley asked, but Lucius shook his head solemnly. "Draco do you have an order in which you want us to go in?" Draco shook his head. "Very well, we call Harry Potter." Harry rose from his seat and walked down the levels to stand next to the table that Draco and Hermione sat at. "Mr Potter, would you say that you are a friend of Draco's?"
"I would, yes." Harry answered firmly, smiling at Draco.
"Would you also say that you know Draco to be an honest person?"
"I would, yes."
"Even considering your history with him?" Another judge asked, addressing the elephant in the room.
"Our history is where it should be, in the past." Harry retorted.
"How would you know that your allegiance with Draco is not born out of your hatred for his father?" The judge asked which threw Harry for a loop.
"Excuse me?" Harry snapped.
"We are all aware of your issues with Lucius Malfoy, are you just aligned with Draco to spite Lucius?" The judge clarified, and it seemed like his suspicions were even out of left field by the other judges standards.
"You are also all aware of how I've vouged for Draco in the past, without seemingly something in it for me." Harry snapped, and Kinglsey cleared his throat to break up the tension. "Now I'd like to point out how Draco has an army of people here for him, and Lucius has nobody. The type of turn out can't all be passed off as spite." Harry's voice was harsh and Draco seemed quite impressed.
"Very well Mr Potter. Do you have anything you'd like to add?" Harry shook his head, knowing he was on the verge of pissing off the judges. "You are dismissed then." The judge said and Harry made his way back to his seat, stopping at Draco who exchanged a friendly hand shake with him. Lucius was oddly silent, but they soon noticed that he was silenced once again. "Blaise Zabini."
"Mr Zabini, you have been friends with Draco since childhood, is that correct?" The judge asked when Blaise arrived at the interrogation spot.
"Yes sir."
"Would you say that Draco has changed significantly since your time at school?" The judge asked, clearly biased against Draco.
"That's a bullocks question." Blaise deadpanned.
"Excuse me?"
"That's a bullocks question." Blaise repeated, unphased by the judge's glare. So much so, that he did not wait for an answer before continuing. "You are clearly holding on to preconceived notions of who you thought Draco was." The judge stilled with anger. "If I say no, which is the true answer, you will assume he is exactly who you always thought he was. If I say yes, you won't believe me anyway and we all know exactly why." Blaise's tone was even, but his eyes were on fire with anger.
"I'll have you kno-"
"I will be doing the questioning from now on Fredrickson." Kingsley interrupted, revealing the judges last name for the first time. "If you want to answer the previous question you are more than welcome to, if not I have others." Kingsley said evenly to Blaise, who seemed only slightly more at ease.
"I would actually." Blaise responded and Kingsley nodded encouragingly. "The answer is no. He has not shown a significant change since we were kids because he never truly was who his father wanted him to be. To clarify, my friend was a slytherin through and through, but he wasn't a villain. We were both raised by and around people who fed us toxic information and beliefs. We tried our best to be what they wanted, but we never truly aligned with their views and actions. So no he hasn't changed, because he is still the good guy he's always been." Blaise finished, his eyes locking with Draco's.
"Thank you, do you feel like Draco is an honest person?" Kingsley asked, all business.
"Almost too honest."
"How so?"
"Draco has the annoying tendency to say whatever he thinks whenever he thinks it. It's a bit of a compulsion." Blaise answered, laughing lightly.
"Thank you Mr Zabini, you are dismissed." Kingsley said firmly and Blaise punched Draco playfully on the arm before walking back up the levels and to his seat. "Astoria Zabini formerly Greengrass." Kingsley called and waited for her to make her way down the levels before continuing. "Do you consider yourself a friend of Draco's?"
"Yes sir." Astoria said stiffly, playing with the rings on her fingers.
"Would you also say that you know Lucius Malfoy fairly well?"
"Yes sir."
"That being said, does Draco's accusation seem like something Lucius might do?" Kingsley asked, causing an uproar of murmurs from the other judges, which he swiftly ignored.
"Yes it does." Astoria answered swiftly, a 180 from the sweet person Hermione had met earlier.
"And what, Mrs Zabini makes you knowledgeable enough to say what Lucius Malfloy is prone to?" Judge Fredrickson interjected himself, causing Kingsley to shoot a disapproving look his way.
"Well we grew up together. Our parents were very close friends up until a certain point." Astoria's voice was sad, as if this was a great loss.
"And what was that certain point?" Fredrickson asked, clearly fishing.
"The point in which Lucius became a death eater. My parents were not fans of his lifestyle choice."
"Did you ever witness Lucius using an unforgivable curse?"
"Yes." She answered matter of factly and the judge gasped. "On his house elf, everytime he did something wrong." Harry's eyes filled with tears briefly at the unpleasant mention of Dobby.
"Thank you Mrs Zabini, that will be all." Kingsley spoke once more and Astoria turned on her heels to go back to her seat, but stopped briefly to hug Draco. "Ginevra Potter formerly Weasley." He called and Ginny made her way down the levels. "Do you consider yourself a friend of Draco?"
"Yes I do." Ginny's response was the least formal so far.
"Would you say that you trust Draco?"
"Yes I do."
"Would you say that Draco is truthful and honest?"
"Yes to both of those." Ginny answered lightly, but then her face got a bit more serious. "I think it's important for me to say that I once had the same preconceived notions about Draco." The judges murmured softly. "But knowing him has changed my views, and I think that speaks volumes to his character." Ginny's eyes locked with Hermione's, who nodded in gratitude and briefly locked eyes with Draco.
"Thank you Ginevra, you are dismissed." Kingsley said, careful to use her full name instead of the nickname he was familiar with. Ginny was the only one who didn't stop at Draco, but just nodded at him as she passed. "Andromeda Tonks." He called next and Andromeda made her way down the levels.
"What is your relation to Draco?"
"I am his aunt." She responded kindly, looking at Draco lovingly. Lucius seemed to try even harder to scream when he saw Narcissa's sister.
"Would you say you are close with him?"
"Yes I would."
"Were you always close with him?"
"No" Andromeda answered, her look turning sour. "I missed his childhood due to a feud between me and his parents."
"And that feud was?" Kingsley asked knowingly.
"Lucius considered me a blood traitor for marrying my muggle husband…" She started slowly. "...he convinced my sister to disown me, Draco probably didn't even know who I was for a long time." Andromeda's voice was sad.
"How did you reconnect with Draco?"
"After the war I reached out, knowing he was all alone. We haven't stopped talking since, he's so wonderful with his little cousin Teddy." Andromeda filled with pride as she spoke about Draco and it was clear everyone in the room felt it.
"Did you know his parents well enough to know if his accusation is far-fetched?" Kingsley asked.
"Narcissa fell pretty deep into a hole when she married Lucius, but I heard plenty of stories about him from other witches, but no…I guess I didn't know them well at all." Andromeda's head fell down slightly.
"Very well, one more question. Do you consider Draco to be honest?"
"Yes very much so."
"Thank you Andromeda, you are dismissed." Andromeda basically ran at Draco hugging him tightly and she blew a kiss to Hermione. Draco grabbed Hermione's hand when he sat back down, squeezing her hand firmly. "Neville Longbottom." Neville rose and quickly made his way down the levels. "Mr Longbottom, would you say you are a friend of Draco's?"
"Yes I would."
"You also work with him, is that correct?"
"Yes it is."
"Would you say he shows any signs of purest mentality or hatred of muggle borns towards the students?" Kingsley asked, knowing that if he didn't, another judge would.
"No not at all, if anything he stops those things." Neville answered evenly.
"What do you mean?"
"Draco is the head of the Slytherin house, and he makes sure bullying of that sort is no longer tolerated." Neville answered proudly.
"Would you say that his efforts are genuine and not for show?"
"Definitely."
"Thank you, and considering your own experience with Cruciatus illnesses, do you think Draco's mother's injuries were caused by such a curse?" Everyone was shocked by this curveball Kingsley threw.
"Yes I think it's consistent." Neville spoke wearily.
"He is not a medical expert!" Judge Fredrickson chimed in once again.
"We are all aware of that, thank you Fredrickson." Kingsley dismissed him firmly.
"Thank you Mr Longbottom, that will be all, you are dismissed." Kingsley added, turning to Neville once more. Neville patted Draco on the shoulder as he walked by and back up the levels to his spot. "George Weasley." He called and George came bustling down the levels. "George, do you consider yourself a friend of Draco's?"
"Yeah he's alright." George said lightly, laughing a bit.
"Do you think Draco is honest?" Kingsley asked, ignoring George's inability to be serious.
"Sure is, pisses me off sometimes but he's as honest as they come." George answers, really selling himself as a friend by his retort. "And his father is a right pompous arse!" George yelled looking directly at the muted maniac. Draco laughed out loud, the first laugh he had since the trial started.
"That's enough Mr Weasley, you are dismissed."
"But I was just getting started!" George bellowed, but Kingsley gave him a hard look and George practically skipped up the levels winking at Draco and Hermione as he passed.
"Rubeus Hagrid." Kingsley called, and Hagrid's footsteps could be heard and felt by everyone in the trial room. "Rubeus, how do you know Draco?"
"Well I er taug't 'im for a bit, and now we work toget'er." Hagrid blubbered.
"How was he as a student versus how he is as a coworker?" Kingsley asked.
"'E was a bit of a prat as a student. Sorry to er say t'at Draco." Hagrid glanced at Draco who nodded curtly. "'E's muc' better now. A good guy even, a great professor I reckon."
"Do you believe he is an honest person?"
"Er yes I do."
"Thank you Rubeus, you are dismissed." Hagrid patted Draco on the shoulder before thumping up the levels. "Minerva McGonagall!" Kingsley announced, and Minerva rose from her seat and steadily made her way down the levels.
"Minerva you also knew Draco as a child and now as an adult, is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct Minister." McGonagall answered formally.
"How would you describe Draco as a student?"
"We didn't necessarily get into trouble like others in his year did…" She answered slyly, shooting looks to Hermione and Harry. "...but he was…difficult in his own right."
"How so?"
"He had a sense of entitlement that most pureblood Slyherins had in those years."
"Was he worse than most?" Kingsley pried.
"Yes and no, he struggled the most to break the cycle I think."
"I understand, and now?"
"He is one of my most prized hires." McGonagall spoke with pride.
"I see, did you or do you know his father well?"
"I knew Lucius well before and during the war."
"And what is your opinion on the accusations raised here today?"
"I think they are well within reason for Lucius' character." McGonagall answered dryly, and the judges murmured some more. Lucius didn't seem to have a reaction to McGonagall at all.
"Thank you Minerva, that will be all you are dismissed." McGonagall rose and curtly nodded at Draco before finding her seat once more. "The last witness is Arthur Weasley." Kingsley announced, and Arthur made his way down the levels to the floor. "Arthur, are you here today on behalf of Draco?"
"Yes and no." Arthur responded awkwardly.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I agree with everything the other witnesses have said about Draco today, but I have truly come here to be a witness for Lucius." Arthur answered, which caused the judge's to stir louder than before.
"If that is the case, you should have sat on the other side of the audience." Fredrickson butted in once more, seemingly happy there was a witness for Lucius.
"No, because I am testifying against his character, not for it." Arthur retorted quickly, taking Fredrickson by surprise.
"So please tell us what you came here to say." Kingsley said softly.
"I have known Lucius Malfoy for longer than I care to remember. He is and has always been an unkind intolerant man. I have personally seen him be cruel to not only his son, but his coworkers and his so-called friends. What Draco is accusing him of is not only within his character, but is his entire character. I for one am glad that his son has fallen so far from the tree." Arthur finished and looked directly at Lucius. He was still silenced, but you didn't need to hear him to know what he was saying.
"Thank you Arthur, you are dismissed." Arthur rose and went straight to Draco, shaking his hand firmly before heading up the levels. "We will take another short break to discuss all the character witness statements. After which we will hear from the nurses at St Mungos and then will break again to come to a decision. You all may exit now, we will inform you when we are to resume."
Everybody rose from their seats, and suddenly Lucius' slurs could be heard once more. It was almost like they all decided to treat his vulgar words as background music as they walked out of the trial room.