Chapter Twenty-Five
Trials and Tribulations
Jennifer looked in the mirror and asked herself if she was ready. It was the Friday morning after the Quidditch match, the first day of Malfoy's trial, and she was dressed in her newest Hogwarts robes and cloak, hair tied into a bun instead of her normal braid, hoping to make herself look a little older. Many of the students were getting a long weekend with most of the classes on that day having been canceled. But for her, it was bound to be a busy weekend and the trial expected to last several days. There was a knock and Jennifer opened the door to Severus, who asked her if she was ready.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go get this over with," Jennifer muttered. They walked out of the school and Apparated into a large open entryway leading into the council chamber. There were quite a number of people mulling about, even more than Jennifer had been expecting, and as they walked in the council chamber, she suddenly started to feel nervous. What had she gotten herself into? They walked down to the front, where they spotted Dumbledore talking to Vallid by a large low table to one side of the walkway.
"Jennifer!" Vallid smiled, waving them over. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Jennifer said blandly. Vallid nodded to her.
"I don't blame you, Jennifer. I'd feel fine myself if I were you," she said with a wink, putting a hand on Jennifer's shoulder. "All I want you to be concerned with is the counselors, the magistrate, and me, okay? Don't be concerned about the council, that's my job. Don't look in anybody's face if you don't have to. Just be concerned about what you think not what anyone else thinks."
"I need to be heading up to my seat. Don't worry, Jennifer, we all have faith in you," Dumbledore said. "Just try to have a little bit in yourself for a change." Jennifer gave him a dirty look as he walked up the stairs.
"A fine time for him to pick on me," Jennifer said, sitting between Severus and Vallid. Severus smirked at her.
"When you get up there, the other team is going to try and do everything in their power to discredit you as a witness; basically it's the only real shot they have at this point," Vallid explained. "You just pretend it's Voldemort himself asking and you just stand there and tell them the exact truth. There's nothing you can tell them that I can't use to our advantage, okay?" Jennifer nodded. "Professor," she said, looking at Severus. "I don't think I'll have to resort to calling you; let's hope not."
Vallid looked up as the seven seats set aside for the defense began to fill, and Jennifer noticed the three counselors from Azkaban and the two she had seen at the Ministry. Last came Audi Belle, walking with Lucius Malfoy and his two guards.
Everyone stood as the magistrates came in, and Jennifer focused on the head magistrate; Archimedes Muse, Vallid had said his name was. He nodded to several people in the council as he took his place, and then gazed over the two tables below.
"We now call to order the case of the Ministry of Magic and Jennifer Corsiva Craw vs Lucius Malfoy. If I read correctly here, we have Counselor Lunette Vallid representing the prosecution," Vallid nodded politely, "and Jeffers, Blake, Jacob, Rummert, Belle and Bowyer for the defense." Bowyer nodded. "Counselor Bowyer, I can't help but notice that the amount of representation between the prosecution team and the defense team are far from equal. Are you sure your team does not need another member or two to compensate?" Several chuckles broke out from the council as Bowyer icily declined. Jennifer suddenly decided she liked the head magistrate. "Very well, let's hear the charges then, Counselor Vallid."
"Magistrate and Council," Vallid said, stepping up with perfect ease, "I present to you the charges against Lucius Malfoy, whom our clients contest that he should pay for his crimes in association with being a Death Eater, which includes the participation in murders and use of illegal curses; as well as with conspiring murder and attempted murder of my client Jennifer Craw, as well as also casting Dark magic with intent to harm and debilitate said client. We also intend to prove that Lucius Malfoy has also used his money and influence in the past to corrupt past witnesses to buy his innocence. I implore to the magistrate and the council, that this purveyor of death and deception should be sentenced to life imprisonment, for the safety of our public, our world, and our posterity." Vallid bowed slightly, extending a hand movement to Bowyer, as she glided back to stand at her table.
"Magistrate and Council," Bowyer said, shaking his head at Vallid as if she were an erring child, "our client Lucius Malfoy is no more guilty of such crimes as he was fifteen years ago. Many of these charges are actually based on the assumptions and conjecture of a young woman whose motivations for coming forward with this are questionable. Our client has also been placed under extreme duress because of these unfounded accusations, causing him anguish and even questionable sanity in situations of great stress. Our client is the victim here, the victim of false accusations, threats, and the hatred that has spurred this attack on his integrity. We therefore ask that these charges be dropped, and an investigation be called to look into the activities of the accuser, Jennifer Craw, begin immediately. Thank you."
"At this time, I would remind all who will bear witness today, that it is against Council law to tell any falsehood in court. Anyone caught doing so will incur strict penalties, as well as risk the possibility of having spell and or potion means used to derive the truth in certain circumstances. Counselor Vallid, your first witness please," Muse said.
"Certainly, Magistrate. I would like to call Professor Jennifer Craw to the platform." Vallid said. Jennifer took a deep breath, got up and stepped forward, stepping up to a circular platform. From here she could see the whole room, and she realized the whole room could see her. Remembering Vallid's words earlier, she tried to concentrate on her counselor.
"State your name, profession, and any titles, please?" Vallid asked.
"Jennifer Corsiva Craw, Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Where were you originally born and what schools did you attend or work with besides Hogwarts?"
"I was born in London, and attended Whitebridge Academy of Light Arts in America, then after finishing my teaching exams, I got a position as junior instructor at Beauxbatons for a few years."
"Would you please tell the court about how we first met?" Vallid smiled.
"We first met when I went to America last year to study for and to take the Truth Seeker exam," Jennifer said.
"With which you passed with a perfect score, correct?" Vallid asked.
"Yes, that's correct."
"But you decided not to take the oath. Why was that?"
"Upon hearing the oath, I decided I couldn't commit to it. The oath was based on ideas I didn't quite agree with. I couldn't have been honest to myself and have done so." Jennifer admitted.
"So, in other words, you turned down becoming a Truth Seeker because of your integrity." Vallid said with a thin, lopsided smile.
"Well, yes." Jennifer agreed.
"May I ask why you wanted to be certified in the first place?" Vallid asked.
"Well, the main reason was that the Ministry needed Truth Seekers, and they were having trouble finding suitable candidates. I agreed to go and train and once certified was going to help out with the Ministry during the summer."
"You had a personal reason for wanting to be certified as well, did you not?"
"Yes," Jennifer said.
"What was that reason?"
"I wanted to be able to testify against Lucius Malfoy for being involved with the murder my mother, which I had seen with my ability." Jennifer said evenly. A protest quickly went up.
"Professor Craw is not certified and therefore can not enter any evidence using her ability-" Rummert started.
"Magistrate, I only asked her the reason behind her wishing be certified. The fact that she cannot use that knowledge as evidence is the entire point of her reasoning," Vallid said.
After a moment, the magistrates nodded to Vallid.
"No violation."
"Tell, me, Professor. When was the first time you met Lucius Malfoy?"
"I met him at a school Quidditch match last year. His son goes to our school."
"So the meeting was coincidental?" Vallid asked.
"Oh, no, not at all. It was totally intentional," Jennifer said. "I very much wanted to meet him at that point."
"And why was that?" Jennifer looked slightly uncomfortable, trying to decide how to word it.
"I had seen some old court records that had been saved from being destroyed and put in Professor Dumbledore's care. There had been mentions of my mother and father in it, so I became curious. According to the records I'd seen, my mother had been discredited, and it had happened at Malfoy's first trial. I thought there might be a connection to her death and sought him out, hoping that I could find out something."
"Did any conflicts erupt between you because of that meeting?" Vallid asked. Jennifer had to think about that one, knowing that she couldn't testify about what she had seen.
"Not directly," she said.
"How did this meeting affect things indirectly?" Vallid asked. Jennifer couldn't help but glance over at Severus, who nodded gently.
"It was after that point that I had agreed to follow the guidance of Severus Snape, who had established himself as a Death Eater again to act as an informant for Dumbledore. He had told them that I was his servant to protect me, and I went along with it." A rumbling murmur had erupted in the Council, but a glance from the Magistrate made it quickly die back down.
"So it was after this point that you had seen Malfoy with the Death Eaters?"
"Yes," Jennifer nodded. "The first time I heard Malfoy was when the Death Eaters interrogated me to test my loyalty; he gave me a Veritaserum and was holding a restraint spell in place and was doing the questioning."
"You heard, not saw?"
"He was wearing a mask. But I know it was him, I can usually recognize voices clearly." Jennifer said.
"Was that when the Death Eaters discovered that you were not loyal to the Death Eaters?"
"No, I passed the interrogation." Vallid looked at Jennifer thoughtfully.
"How did you get through without them discovering you with a truth serum in you?"
"I guess it was a bit miraculous that I did," Jennifer said, thinking back. "It took a lot of trust, a lot of luck… oh, and a talk with Albus Dumbledore a few weeks before that convinced me I wasn't a Truth Seeker like my mother."
"So you're saying that during the questioning they asked you if you were a Truth Seeker?" Vallid asked.
"Correct, I told them no, I wasn't."
"Under a truth serum."
"Yes."
"So that means that you believed Albus Dumbledore when he told you that you weren't a Truth Seeker?"
"Of course! It was Albus Dumbledore," Jennifer said. "And it's not as if he wasn't right, after all, although I had to go and take the test before I figured that out for myself. I may have the talent but that doesn't make me a Truth Seeker. Truth finder, maybe," Jennifer couldn't help but add. Vallid smiled at her.
"All right, so you came out of that fairly unscathed then?" she asked.
"No, I definitely wouldn't say that," Jennifer said with a frown. "They had used Cruciatus Curse on several times during the interrogation, then afterwards I was beaten and wand slashed by them."
"When you say them, whom do you refer to?"
"All the Death Eaters that were there that night. I don't know them all."
"Did that include Malfoy?"
"Yes." Jennifer said. Vallid took a moment to hand over a medical report.
"So when was it that they began to suspect you were not on their side?"
"That didn't occur until the night of the Azkaban Revolt. The, uh, Unicorns sort of gave me away," Jennifer said sheepishly.
"Was this when you believe that Mr. Malfoy began to work against you?" Vallid asked.
"I believe so. Severus had warned me that Voldemort wanted me dead, and I kept in constant contact with Severus about where I was after that."
"When did you see Lucius Malfoy next?"
"Oh, that was at the Ministry dance. He and I had words on the dance floor." Jennifer said. "It was not long after that when I had noticed that my mirror was missing."
"And what's the significance of the mirror?" Vallid asked.
"I always kept a mirror on me… this one was a small yellow folding mirror…"(Vallid at this point nodded to one of the exhibits…) "I never went anywhere without it. It's a truth perception habit, I guess. Sometimes it's easier to tell what I'm thinking by looking in a mirror, rather than just wondering what I'm thinking… I suppose it's a rather odd habit. In any case, that's what was used to trap me and send me to Voldemort and the Death Eaters the day I almost died. I had 'found' the mirror in my office after speaking with Ederick Thurspire, and it sucked me in at the Quidditch game that day."
"What happened when you got there?" Vallid asked.
"Voldemort was there and tried to get me to submit to the Imperius curse. When I wouldn't, he cast the Cruciatus Curse on me. Then Harry Potter somehow found us and tried to get me out, but they stopped us. I tried to fight back but it was no use. I got hit too many times with it… then I heard him say the Killing Curse, and a white light hit my eyes, and I was knocked out."
"Did Voldemort say anything to you about the mirror?"
"Indirectly… he said it was fortunate that Malfoy was a bit more cunning than Severus was in capturing me." A protest went up, and Vallid quickly accepted the hearsay ruling, looking thoughtful.
"Let's move on to the day that Malfoy was arrested. Would you explain what happened to prompt that?"
"Well, I had been teaching cursed items in my class when one of the items I had bought from Borkin and Burkes, a man's pickpocket ring, seemed to act strangely. I had been, with the help of Professor Filius Flitwick who was spotting for me, demonstrating how the ring worked when we discovered it wouldn't pick anything from one of my students, Draco Malfoy. I thought it was rather odd, so I ran some tests on it and discovered it was family made. It occurred to me then that Lucius wore the same ring at the dance, and I decided to go and see if we could get the records to match, or perhaps find some more items that might be useful to building a case." Vallid then stopped and entered a pawn ledger as evidence. Jennifer looked extremely interested at the fact that she got a hold of it, but Vallid nodded for her to continue.
"Was anyone with you?" she asked.
"Yes, Sirius Black, he didn't think I should be walking around Knockturn alone." Jennifer said. Vallid nodded for her to go on.
"Well, we went in and started trying to nonchalantly ask questions, and we found an inkwell…"(Vallid nodded to another exhibit.) "It was as we were trying to buy it that I saw with my ability that he had sent a note to Malfoy to come and was stalling. Sirius made an exorbitant deal with the pawnshop over the inkwell and we hurried out so that we could Apparate. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Pettigrew caught up first." Another rumble went up. Again the Magistrate looked up and it died down.
"The same Peter Pettigrew that's now awaiting trial for murder and assault at this moment?" Vallid asked.
"Yes."
"What happened then?"
"Malfoy threatened to have me killed if I didn't give him back the ring and inkwell. When we refused, Pettigrew aimed at me, Sirius distracted him and I stupefied him. I hit him a little harder than I meant to," Jennifer admitted. "I accidentally blasted him through the candle shop window and unfortunately allowed him to escape. That's when Crabbe assaulted Sirius and Malfoy cast the Mortification Curse on me."
"Were you able to fight off the spell?" Vallid asked.
"No, I collapsed." Jennifer looked down. "But Sirius was able to immobilize Crabbe with a crystal bomb and countercursed me, and I was able to fight it off then. It wasn't long after that we called the Ministry to come and get them." Vallid nodded, smiling at her gently.
"No further questions at this time," she said heading back to her seat.
It was Rummert who stepped up, eyeing her thoughtfully, smugly almost, she thought.
"Professor Craw, was the last incident you mentioned the only time you had met Lucius Malfoy in Knockturn Alley?" he asked
"No. I bumped into him once before, when I first went shopping for cursed items, in September." Jennifer said.
"You literally bumped into him, did you not?" Rummert asked.
"Er, yes, though I'm not sure who actually –"
"Stick with the question please."
"Alright, yes." Jennifer said.
"And then you proceeded to pull your wand and aim at him, is that not so?" he asked.
"I didn't aim," Jennifer said irritably. "But yes, I pulled a wand. He startled me."
"Startled so much, in fact, that your friend Rubeus Hagrid felt that he needed to jump in between you, is that not correct?"
"Hagrid jumped in between us, yes."
"And then, you proceeded to accuse him of killing your mother, did you not?" Rummert said. Jennifer blinked, looking thoughtful.
"That's not exactly what happened. He-"
"Just answer the question."
"He threatened me, then yes, I accused him of killing my mother." Jennifer said, glaring at Rummert.
"And then what happened, Professor Craw?"
"Someone cast Stupefication at him from the roof, then cast the Cruciatus curse on him. I couldn't really see who it was; he was cloaked. I tried to disarm the person, but it didn't work."
"How convenient. Do your spells not work often, Professor Craw?"
"It was dark and I had trouble seeing him, and yes, I had a lot of trouble casting Light magic at that point."
"Why, then, if you wished to help Lucius Malfoy, did you not cast a Dark spell instead?"
"I didn't want to hurt whoever it was, only disable him."
"Or perhaps it was because you were only pretending to make it look as if you weren't with the attacker?" Before Jennifer could say anything, a protest went up. Rummert smirked and nodded.
"Very well. Who was up on the roof?"
"I have no idea."
"Did you recognize his voice?"
"He was using resonating whisper spell. I didn't recognize it from that."
"But he knew your name, didn't he?"
"Yes, he said my name after my spell fizzled."
"So it's quite possible he was there to defend you?"
"Maybe, but it definitely wasn't on my request. I can't condone anyone using Cruciatus on someone else." Jennifer said angrily.
"After the figure escaped, the Ministry came and you filled out reports, correct?" Jennifer agreed, as if that were obvious. "They had to fill out a special report for you. Why was that?"
"I used a licensed wand in the attack." Jennifer said.
"A cursed wand, is that correct?"
"Yes, an ebony banshee-hair. It's a family heirloom," Jennifer admitted.
"Yes, a family heirloom, but that is not an ordinary wand, is it? Was it not the same wand used by Mallus Craw the Screamer to totally annihilate a Welsh village five hundred years ago?" Jennifer frowned at him.
"Yes, it's the same wand," she said coldly.
"A wand specifically designed to channel the most powerful of Dark magic, and treated with blood rituals. One of the most powerful dark wands known to still exist, isn't that correct?"
"Probably."
"How long have you used that wand?" he asked.
"Since I was seven."
"Since you were just seven years old, not even of legal training age, you've commanded enough black magic to control that wand?"
"The wand was very family loyal," Jennifer explained. "It had no objection to me."
"Even family loyal wands have power requirements, especially one known to have gotten control over several different wizards –"
"Pardon, but can we do without the history lesson? I'm sure you've already got a wand bio prepared for the court," Vallid interrupted.
"Who taught you magic when you were seven?"
"My father, Thomas Craw."
"He was a Death Eater, was he not?"
"Yes. We fled to America to escape Voldemort."
"Did he teach you the Unforgivable Curses? What about the twelve spells of death?" Jennifer kept waiting for a protest, but it didn't come.
"Yes, I know them."
"Let me repeat that for the record, you know all twelve? Even the two lost spells?"
"Yes, of course," Jennifer said with irritation, ignoring the murmur in the council. "I'm a Craw, it's part of my heritage. However, I have no intention of passing them on any further."
"You've also used your death spell knowledge in the past, haven't you?"
"Very rarely, and only when a life was at stake," Jennifer snapped angrily.
"You have also, by your own admission, never been very good at Light magic. Your school records indicate this as well. Could it be, perhaps, because you were so consumed with Dark magic that you could not do any other? Or did that wand have more control over you than you thought it did?"
"The wand was to blame, but it didn't have control over me."
"Just where is the wand now, Professor Craw?"
"I don't know."
"Perhaps then I can illuminate things for you a bit, Professor," Rummert said, slapping down a report. "Last night, several bodies were found in a small house in Sussex. All of them except one had bleeding ears and looks of horror on their faces. The last one was a member of the Ministry, Theo Camden, who must have wandered in at the wrong time and his hit with the Killing Curse. The attack was traced to your wand, and all the victims had ivory skulls in their hands." Jennifer felt as if she were going to be sick.
"So I ask you again, do you know who the Ivory Skull is?"
"No," Jennifer said.
"Magistrate, I really don't see what this has to do with this case," Vallid said in apparent boredom.
"Isn't it obvious?" Rummert asked. "I contend that this Dark witch is working for the Ivory Skull, and that we will not hear the truth behind these so-called accusations from her because she's working under his direct orders."
After the defense finished, the court took a fifteen-minute break. Jennifer went immediately to her chair, leaning back against Severus' arm and looking grumpy. Beside them Vallid was flipping through her notes with a pencil in her mouth, jotting down things here and there as she went.
"You're doing great, Jennifer. If that's the best they can do, we're going to be shutting this case down in no time," Vallid said cheerfully. "They didn't even contest about Malfoy not seeming to be "directly" involved. Of course I'm ready if they do pull it, don't worry," she said, making another note. A Phoenix feather quill suddenly tickled her cheek, and she looked up to see Dumbledore smiling at her.
"Hang in there, Jennifer, you're doing well. Talk to her Severus, she'll listen to you," Dumbledore said. "Am I next after Jennifer, Lunette?"
"Sirius first, and Thurspire, then you, then Minister Weasley." Vallid said, shuffling paper. "But unless the defense plans to pull out Sirius' full history," she rolled her eyes, "They should be short."
"Very well, I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised and walked away.
"Vallid, why don't we call Audi Belle?" Jennifer asked.
"No," Vallid and Severus said at once. Jennifer glanced between them and Severus suddenly became interested in who was in the spectator stands.
"Okay. You two definitely know something I don't. What's going on?" Jennifer demanded.
"Jennifer relax, details are my business. Let me teach you the first rule of court life… the court doesn't have to know everything."
"But Counselor, the more they know, the more likely they will see what really happened, right?" Jennifer asked. Vallid grinned at that, making a last note on her page.
"Not always," Vallid said, going over to speak with someone in the Ministry.
As the break ended, Vallid and several of the counselors from the other side were standing with the magistrate, debating something fervently. Jennifer reluctantly got back on the stand, and everyone in the room eyed the interchange. At last the group broke up, Vallid looking exceptionally pleased, the other counselors heading back to their seats frowning thoughtfully. Vallid smiled warmly at Jennifer.
"Jennifer, have you ever actually cast a spell at Lucius Malfoy?" Vallid asked.
"No," Jennifer said.
"Have you ever threatened to kill him?"
"No," Jennifer said.
"Have you ever even wanted to kill him?"
"No."
"Can you remember the last time you used a Dark spell?" Vallid asked.
"Yes," Jennifer said nodding. "I cast Imperius on my students when I was teaching them the Defiance spell."
"All right then, outside of class." Vallid said. Jennifer had to think for a while.
"Aha! I remember. I cast Aureus Digitalis on Voldemort last year," Jennifer replied. Vallid stared at her. She felt many other eyes staring at her too.
"You know all twelve death spells and the spell you decided to cast on Voldemort was golden touch?" Vallid asked flatly. Jennifer suddenly felt herself turning bright red.
"You try snap-casting spells when you've had Cruciatus Curse cast on you three times in a row and see how clearly you think," Jennifer said irritably. "I had fifty Death Eaters surrounding me and two other innocent lives to worry about, and if he'd died just then we'd have surely have been lost to his followers, so I planned to melt the wand to hopefully give both of them some time to escape. It didn't work exactly as I had planned," she admitted sheepishly, "but that was the plan." The room was quiet, and Vallid was still eyeing her thoughtfully.
"The only other time I can remember casting a major Dark spell last year was when I cast Bleeding Death on Ginny Weasley so that she wouldn't die from Venowraith venom before we could come up with an antidote. Just don't ask me to go back any further because I really don't think I can remember that far." Vallid stopped to get a drink of water before returning back to the front, glancing at her notes.
"All right, you said that you found out that the cursed wand was keeping you from using Light magic properly. When did you first discover this?"
"Dumbledore found out about my losing the cursed wand and he lent me one out of his collection that he thought might work for me. It was when I was testing it that it became obvious how much energy I had to put into casting Light spells. I have never been separated from the wand before, so it came as quite of a surprise to me."
"How would you describe the difference in your casting at that point?"
"I don't know, I'm still trying to balance it," Jennifer admitted. "If anything, I'd say it was almost as strong as my Dark casting ability, but it's really still too soon for me to tell."
"No further questions," Vallid said with a winning smile.
Relieved, Jennifer stepped down and went back to her seat, suddenly aware of several people in the Council, many of which she didn't recognize, standing as a sign of respect and support. Severus was also standing, smiling thinly as she approached and sitting down after her, followed by those who were standing behind her. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed another movement and turned just in time to see Audi Belle sitting down as well, smiling enigmatically at Jennifer as the rest of Malfoy's team stared at her.
Vallid then called Sirius Black, who recounted the fight with Malfoy. Sirius was unusually serious, Jennifer thought, and knew he didn't really like being here. At least this time he was on the other side of the table, and corroborating Jennifer's story willingly.
"Now, Mr. Black, did you at any time threaten Lucius Malfoy?" Vallid asked him.
"No, not directly. I don't like wasting time with threats. I did want to kill him, though," Sirius added calmly.
"Why did you want to kill him?"
"To be blunt, Counselor, I'm not that big on the justice system," Sirius said, "and if it works in this trial, it'll be the first time in as long as I can remember. Malfoy shouldn't have walked free in the first place, and on top of that, I believe that he had occasion in the past where not only Jennifer but also Harry Potter nearly met their deaths because of his actions. I would have been quite happy to save the court the trouble. The only reason I didn't was because Jennifer asked me not to out of concern for one of her students, so I sent up a flare instead."
Bowyer's response was only to ask Sirius if he had any evidence to substantiate his belief that Malfoy had tried to hurt Jennifer or Harry other than what was presented in court, and Sirius replied no, of course he hadn't, it was only his belief. They then let him go, and Vallid called Ederick Thurspire to the stand.
"Your name and titles?"
"Ederick Thurspire, Ministry Investigator."
"Now, please tell me what you were working on last year before the mirror incident."
"I was investigating circumstances surrounding the use of the Bleeding Death spell in Hogwarts last year… the one Jennifer Craw previously mentioned," he explained
"Were you investigating just the spell, or were you investigating Jennifer Craw?" Vallid asked.
"Er, well, yes, I was suspicious of the amount of Dark magic that had gone into that spell, and when I began looking into things, I'd noticed she'd been spending a lot of time around Professor Snape, whom at the time I suspected was a Death Eater."
"So, not being privy to certain information, you naturally thought she was involved?"
"Precisely. I was working in hopes to get a break and arrest them both," he admitted.
"Was this where the mirror came in to play?" Vallid asked.
"Yes. Lucius Malfoy found out what I was working on and offered to help. He gave me the mirror and told me that it was hers, and if I put a trace on it and found a way to get it back to her, it would give me the evidence I needed."
"Did he ever say how or when he got it?"
"No, he only said he'd acquired it by chance," Ederick explained, shaking his head.
"What happened then?"
"Oh, well, I found an excuse to go down to her office, asking her to come talk to the Ministry about a fine I had written up over using the illegal spell. I left the mirror in her office while I was talking to her. I'd hoped that she would come up to the Ministry so that I could speak with her and tell her the fine was waived, but Professor Snape came in and I decided it would be best to leave."
"So you put the mirror back at Malfoy's instruction, not knowing he had cursed it?"
"Yes," Ederick said glumly.
"You didn't think twice about Malfoy being in the Ministry, or even having the mirror?"
"My, no, he was up there all the time, talking to Macnair or Fudge or someone, donating to this thing or the other. I didn't think anything of it. I just assumed he was trying to help."
"Then what happened?"
"The tracer went off that evening, and we found that it had teleported her to Voldemort. A few other agents and I stormed to the mirror's last location and found ourselves in a school Quidditch box, and Snape was there, whom we tried to arrest."
"Tried to?" Vallid asked.
"Yes, well, it all got a little confusing after that," Ederick scowled. "Dumbledore came and asked another professor to show us inside, then this other man, Mr. Filch the caretaker, put us in the lower dungeon until later that evening. We were then shown up to Dumbledore's Study where we spoke with Minister Weasley." Vallid thanked him and nodded to the defense, where Jeffers stood up.
"Mr. Thurspire, you've been working for the Ministry for a while, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, several years now," Ederick nodded.
"You were originally hired by Creatures Minister Macnair, were you not?"
"Yes for Animagus licensing, then I moved to investigations along with several others."
"Were you aware at the time that you were under him that he was a Death Eater?" Jeffers asked.
"No, no, of course not! None of us knew until after he died at the Azkaban Revolt." Thurspire said.
"Mr. Thurspire, did you go to the Ministry Ball yourself?"
"Oh, yes. Everyone was there."
"So, you were there when the mirror disappeared, the same time Malfoy was?"
Ederick looked at him blankly. "Yes or no."
"I didn't know when the mirror was taken. But yes, I was at the ball."
"You owe a lot to Macnair don't you, your job, your promotion… how did you really get that mirror?"
"I told you where I got it," Thurspire said evenly.
"Didn't you actually take it yourself, and then blame Malfoy since at the time you knew he wouldn't be implicated?"
"No! That's ridiculous. Malfoy gave me the mirror."
"Did anyone see him giving you the mirror?"
"No, we were alone, but…"
"No further questions," Jeffers said walking away.
"As if he had the brains to even think up that sort of a scheme," Severus muttered softly to Jennifer. Jennifer couldn't help but to agree. It was true that Ederick didn't like her, but she didn't believe for an instant he took the mirror. Vallid didn't seem to worried about the testimony, nor did she seem too surprised, and after a quick lunch break was ready to get back to work.
"I hope I'm not in for any more surprises, though," she said to Jennifer as they settled into place. "You know it's not nice to shock your own counselor, even if it's in a good way." Jennifer blinked quizzically at her, but Vallid was already standing as the magistrate looked up.
"Your next witness?"
"I'd like to ask Albus Dumbledore to the platform," Vallid said. A rumble of curiosity rolled through the council as Dumbledore stepped onto the platform and recited his titles.
"I think I'll start by asking you to tell us about how you came to find Jennifer after she had been teleported with the mirror."
"Well, several of my staff and I were soon alerted to her disappearance, and after dealing with the overzealous Ederick Thurspire, who was about to arrest the only man who could have saved Jennifer Craw, we went to the Dark Forest to head off Voldemort. The forest was ablaze by the time we arrived, but with the help of some of our allies in the forest we were able to contain the flames as well as disperse the Death Eaters that had gathered there.
"When I arrived, there were signs of a magic blast and I found Harry Potter, dazed and holding a part of a broken wand in his hand that once belonged to Voldemort. Apparently as he had struggled with Voldemort for the wand, the Death Eaters had Stupefied him, and because it had been changed into gold, it broke, causing the blast. That blast was what allowed us to pinpoint where they were, and with the help of the Unicorns, we were able to get to where Voldemort had been.
"I then went over to Jennifer, her fallen form being guarded by Severus Snape, who had witnessed the occurrence as a Death Eater. I knew from Severus' reaction that she was not dead; we had spoken in the past of the possibility of attempting to cast Cosmic Sleep as a counter for the Killing Curse, although we knew the chances were not favorable. The timing would have to be perfect. But with the help of some speed and time enhancing potions and using the mask to his advantage to hide his casting, he was able to counter the death spell." Severus was suddenly aware of a host of stares upon him but he ignored them, his eyes steadily watching Dumbledore. "After making sure Jennifer was all right, I discovered the mirror beside her, and I immediately took possession of it at that point."
"And according to the Ministry report, you found that the mirror had actually a series of Dark spells on it including entrapment, location, port to specific person, a holding spell, and even a deception spell placed on it so that it would only work on the original owner."
"Correct," replied Dumbledore.
"Could such a complicated matrix of spells be woven into a mirror by any wizard off the street?"
"Not at all. It would take an individual very skilled in the Dark Arts to perform such a task."
"In your expert opinion, do you think Lucius Malfoy would be one of the individuals who might be able to do this?"
"Yes, he is probably one of the very few I know who could… and would." Dumbledore looked calmly at Lucius, who was staring back with hatred.
"You also helped study one of the other items in evidence, did you not?"
"Yes, I helped the Ministry with the investigation on the inkwell."
"And what did you find, sir?"
"Although it had been magically cleaned, we were able to get trace signatures on the ink that was in the well before it had been sold, and we were even able to identify the person the ink had been made to write to."
"And that person was?"
"Cornelius Fudge, the late Minister of Magic." A loud rumble erupted in the council, and it took Muse a few moments to frown it back to silence.
"And from the signature, were you able to determine any place the inkwell was used?"
"Yes, one of the locations was the back of the court documents Arthur Weasley saved from being destroyed. The writing, found by Jennifer Craw, by the way, instructed for those papers to disappear or people would disappear in their place." Vallid nodded to him, and redirected the magistrate to the documents a moment.
"These are the same documents that prompted Jennifer to seek out Malfoy in the first place, are they not?"
"Yes, she was present at the meeting in which Arthur released them into my care. I asked her to bring them up to my regular study."
"Did you give her permission to look over them?" Vallid asked.
"No, but I didn't particularly go out of my way to tell her not to look at them either," Dumbledore smiled.
"Tell me a little more about Jennifer Craw. Do you believe she is a Dark witch?"
"Jennifer Craw is no more a Dark witch than I am." There was a soft chuckle from the council. "Nor is she working for the Ivory Skull, whomever that may be. She has been an asset to Hogwarts from the day she arrived, even though I admit she has a tendency to get into things way over her head sometimes… I think we can blame some of it on that "truth finding" thing that she referred to earlier. She is an excellent teacher that has gained the respect of all of the students, and spends quite a bit of her spare time working with the students as well. She always puts the needs of others before her own, faces all challenges before her with strength and determination, and somehow manages to come out joking more often than not. She does have her faults of course… no one's perfect… but one thing I would never doubt is her integrity," Dumbledore smiled at Jennifer, who was looking back at him with a dazed expression.
"Do you agree with her opinion that the cursed wand was partially responsible for her disinclination towards Ligh magic, and not necessarily a predisposition towards Dark magic?"
"Oh, definitely. I never had any doubt of that. But one does tend to get attached to one's wand, especially in her case where the wand also had a very long and great connection to her family, however Dark. I do not think I could have convinced her of its effect on her had the wand not left her hands," he said, glancing at Audi. "She would have never seen it as evil, because in her capable hands, it never was. However, it did not take long after I found a suitable wand for her that she took my advice and wrote up the missing wand report, asking that the wand be destroyed after recovery and investigation."
"And the wand you gave to her was out of your personal collection?"
"Well, mine and the school's, yes," Dumbledore smiled. "But it was a wand made with no Light or Dark intentions like the one she had held, it is special only because of who once wielded it."
"And may I ask who that was?"
"Rowena Ravenclaw." Jennifer promptly fell off her chair. "I might have failed to mention that fact to Jennifer, however," Dumbledore added. "Although I do believe I told her it was a part of a set." Vallid stared at Dumbledore.
"You actually lent one of Rowena Ravenclaw's wands to Jennifer?"
"Of course! It was Jennifer Craw," Dumbledore smiled. "I had this curious hunch it would take to her, and it did. Jennifer has great reason and wisdom, and the good sense to follow it. She could use more self-confidence though," he added, "but, as I said, no one's perfect."
The defense's case went swiftly downhill from there.
Audi convinced them not to cross-examine Albus Dumbledore, arguing that it would hurt them more than it would help. Reluctantly they allowed Vallid to continue, huddling and going back and forth on points as they discussed their options. It was quite evident that further character defamation was not going to help either.
Arthur Weasley then took the stand, getting into more detail about the court papers and evidence, as well as testifying about Malfoy's outburst in the cell. He even added some testimony of his own about how the pawn shop's ledger dates suspiciously matched certain events, from planned Ministry raids to the disappearance of Fudge in the case of the inkwell. The defense did get in a few jabs about Weasley having a few illegal magically altered Muggle items, but Vallid pointed out that all of that had cleared and explained before he was even elected as Minister, and the defense stormed back to their table. Statements from other witnesses piled onto the magistrate table for the council to look over later, and Vallid, looking satisfied, handed the floor to the defense, who immediately requested five minutes. Vallid agreed, plopping down in her chair, shoving her notes to the side and putting her feet up on the table as she watched an argument start up between Lucius, Audi, and Bowyer.
"I love my job," Vallid declared with a smirk, watching their faces with interest.
It was late the same evening when Vallid got a knock on the door of her suite. She opened it to see Dumbledore, and let him in with a smile. The candles, which were dim a moment ago, flickered more brightly as they sat down.
"I had a feeling it was you," Vallid smiled.
"Who else would be able to get past your personal greeting committee downstairs?" he asked, his eyes twinkling bemusedly as he accepted the cup she handed him. "I wanted to explain why I had to leave for a while during the trial, especially since it's something that concerns you directly."
"Oh?" Vallid asked curiously.
"Yes, Lunette. You see, we had an unexpected guest Apparate directly into the castle," Dumbledore said calmly. "I also had a long conversation with one illustrious student of mine, Harry Potter, who, it seems, had met her before." Vallid blinked in surprise, then sighed.
"It's official, Audacious Belle is neglecting all of her duties," she brooded.
"Perhaps I myself am to blame, having her look after so many people for me," Dumbledore mused. "I had put a lot of faith in Audi, but I never thought it would be misplaced."
"Well, I haven't given up on her, not yet. I'm sure she has good reason for helping the Ivory Skull," Vallid said gently. "I want you to know that I really hated dancing around the issue in that court room, but I really had no choice."
"Yes, I know, and I agree. No reason to worry, however," Dumbledore said, "There's little doubt now it'll go in our favor. As for Audi's other young charge, I have her with a friend at the moment, safe and sound for now."
"Well, my work is nearly finished here, so I'll gladly take over Audacious' personal responsibilities for awhile," Vallid said, "I say, though, of all the people I expected to get a bit over their head when it comes to Auror work, Audi would have been the last on my list."
"This from the woman who used to thrive on getting over her own head," Dumbledore teased.
"Nonsense! Don't you read the papers? I am the famous Lunette Vallid, and I never make a mistake," Vallid chuckled. Dumbledore took out a mirror and put it in front of her. "Cheater," she added with a grin, taking a sip of her drink.