Author's Note: I am very sorry it has been a month since I last updated. This has been the most difficult chapter I had to write so far. I just didn't have the inspiration, and it was difficult even to come up with one sentence at times. To make up for it, I am glad to say this chapter is by far the longest (I think). Hope you enjoy it. And thank you very much for all the reviews. Each one has my sincere appreciation.
Another note is that, this chapter is linked in many ways to the chapter "In Dumbledore's Office".
Courtroom
Hermione's Point of View
The Courtroom was packed.
It was literally overflowing with hundreds of wizards & witches, who came to witness what the Daily Prophet called "the trial of the century" - the trial of the disgraced Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
The Wizengamot, a group of fifty Ministerial wizards & witches, were perched on their respective high benches. All of them wore plum-colored robes with an elaborately worked silver "W" on the left-hand side of the chest, and were staring down their noses at the crowd.
Cornelius Fudge stood at the defense stand, his arms chained to the side. He looked petrified, yet defiant at the same time.
"Retrial hearing of the twelfth of December," began Amelia Susan Bones, Chief Interrogator of the Wizengamot, in an authoritative tone, "into the murder of Arthur Weasley………Summon Hermione Granger to the witness stand"
I squeezed my way through the crowd, past the Aurors, and stood before the Wizengamot.
"Hermione Granger, you have been summon to give evidence against the accused, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, for the murder of Arthur Weasley."
"Your Honor, I vow to speak only the truth" I gave a slight bow in Bones' direction.
"Please recount the sequence of events, Hermione Granger."
I began to give my account, from how Dumbledore first spoke of Draco Malfoy's innocence, my visit to Azkaban, what I found out at Borgin & Burkes, and what Percy told me in his apartment.
The crowd moved with me. There was a collective gasp when I recounted how Percy found out that bribery was going on within the Ministry's finance department. There was an uproar when the crowd heard me accused the esteem Lucius Malfoy as the mastermind behind a coup to overthrow Fudge and simultaneously using the situation to siphon Ministry coffers for "war funds". The final straw for the audience came when I spoke of how Percy found out that Fudge had accepted bribes in exchange for Lucius Malfoy's release from Azkaban. By the time I finished, everyone was all worked up in excitement. The trial of the century indeed.
"Silence!" Bones boomed.
"I was convinced that Fudge was the murderer. But there was no proof against him. To confirm my suspicions, I did the only thing I could do. I decided to confront him. I made an appointment to see him at his Ministry office on a late evening. I stupefied him, and downed the Veritaserum on him to make him confess."
"Was anyone with you at that time?" Bones asked.
I hesitated for a while. I wanted to keep Snape out of this, but it would not be wise to lie in Court. So I replied simply "Severus Snape."
Bones nodded. "What happened then?"
I took a deep breath before making my statement. "Fudge confessed that he murdered Arthur Weasley, by using another hand to kill. Draco Malfoy's."
"She's lying!" Fudge screamed from the defense stand.
"Silence! Cornelius Fudge, the Wizengamot has ruled that you will be subjected to the Veritaserum test, and be interrogated in court" Bones declared.
Two Aurors approached Fudge, and the Veritaserum was forced down his throat. Fudge's eyes were suddenly dull.
"Cornelius Oswald Fudge, did you kill Arthur Weasley?" Bones questioned. Members of the Wizengamot were leaning forward and the crowd was silent.
"Yes." Fudge answered, in a dull voice. There was another uproar from the crowd.
"How did you murder him?"
"I did not intend to murder him. It was Percy Weasley I wanted to silence. I did not know that Arthur Weasley was disguised as Percy Weasley that evening."
"Describe the sequence of events." Bones commanded.
"The head goblin at Gringotts lodged a complaint to me on the same day that Percy Weasley visited Gringotts. He complained that Ministry officials were investigating bank accounts, and disrupting the bank's business. That was when I found out that Percy Weasley was looking up bank accounts, including mine, and coincidentally, it was the day after he had raided Malfoy Manor. I put the two incidents together and gathered that Lucius Malfoy might have spilled the dirt on me. I could not risk Percy Weasley exposing me. I have worked so hard to get where I am today, and no one will take that away. I knew I had to act quickly.
Percy Weasley and Lucius Malfoy. One who can destroy me. One who is out to destroy me. Lucius Malfoy was untouchable, I would not be able to oust him out of the Ministry so easily. To destroy him, I have to strip him of his power first, reduce him to where he cannot touch me. As for Percy Weasley, I have to silence him somehow. He will spill the dirt on me to his father, and Arthur Weasley will not stand by and do nothing if he ever found out that I was corrupted. He would go straight to Dumbledore, for sure.
I contemplate the use of memory charms on Percy Weasley. But then I thought of a better idea. I would kill two birds with one stone. I would use Percy Weasley's death to incriminate Lucius Malfoy, to scandalized his name and drag him down with it.
Percy Weasley had to die. Arthur Weasley too, if need be. But Lucius Malfoy will be difficult to incriminate, he was quite untouchable for he was more powerful than me. And then I thought of his son. Draco Malfoy. Who else better to lay the blame on, if not for the son of Lucius Malfoy? It would be like Ol' Barty Crouch's case. History repeating itself. If Lucius' son is sentenced to Azkaban, it will be the perfect opportunity for me to oust Lucius Malfoy from the Ministry. Fall from grace, just like Ol' Crouch.
Luck was on my side. On the very same night, using an invisibility cloak, I spied on Percy Weasley's office and overheard him talking to Arthur Weasley in his office fireplace, saying he would be looking up Borgin in Knockturn Alley on Tuesday evening. He told his father he need to "find things out". I knew I had no time to lose.
First, I had to lure the young Malfoy to Knockturn Alley. That was not difficult to do. I knew the Malfoys long enough to know that Draco Malfoy has a strong fascination for Dark Arts stuff. I exploited his weakness. Using a stray owl, I deliberately faked a letter from Borgin and Burkes, telling him there were had some new Dark Arts stuff which could interest him. Would Young Master Malfoy like to come by and take a look on Tuesday evening?
Everything went according to plan. Using my invisibility cloak again, I followed, whom I thought was Percy Weasley, as he made his way from the Ministry to Knockturn Alley. He took longer than I anticipated to reach Knockturn Alley, because he kept looking over his shoulder. He could sensed that he was being followed, it seemed. Time was running out, and I was afraid that young Malfoy would not be there. However, again, luck was on my side. When Percy Weasley reached Borgin & Burkes, young Malfoy had just strolled in. I wanted to burst into the shop, and carried out my plan. However, I tripped and fell, and my invisibility cloak came off, revealing a part of me. Percy Weasley spotted me, or rather Arthur Weasley did. He bolted from the shop and came after me. But he lost me as I conceal myself with the invisibility cloak again. I sneak up behind Arthur Weasley and stunned him from the back. I lifted his body in mid-air and conceal it behind a heap of rubbish in a back alley. Now, I was ready to carry out the next step of my plan. I had to get the boy, Draco Malfoy.
To my utter amazement, I saw Borgin himself coming out from the back of his shop. He was carrying an unconscious Draco Malfoy, and he left him, too, at the back alley. It seemed he had stunned the boy. I heard Borgin muttered "Sorry about it, young laddie. But Ol' Borgin don't want no trouble, and you'll be safe here. No one dares touches a Malfoy in Knockturn Alley" and he turned on his back and went back to his shop.
I waited around for a few minutes, listening for any passersby before I felt safe enough to act. It was time. I revived the boy with a reviving spell. He looked dazed and groggy as he woke up. I lose no time in performing the Imperious Curse on him. I directed the boy at Percy Weasley's body, or rather, Arthur Weasley's body, and willed him to perform the Killing Curse. Blood spluttered out of Percy's body. I dropped the Imperious Curse on Draco Malfoy and watched him slumped back to the ground. As a final touch, I slipped his wand in Percy's pocket.
Still in my invisibility cloak, I turned and left them there."
You could hear a pin drop in the Courtroom. The atmosphere was frozen. No one made a sound.
Bones' cleared her throat. "Did you not notice that you killed the wrong person?"
Fudge continued in his dull voice "I realized it only after the Aurors went to the scene of the crime and found Arthur's body. He had changed back by that time, of course. I wanted to finish off Percy Weasley, but I was shaken by the whole ordeal, and there was Draco Malfoy's trial that I had to quickly execute. I could not lose the opportunity to scandalized the Malfoy's name. Percy Weasley would have to wait. Anyway, Percy Weasley did not seemed to suspect me, on the surface that is. Rather, it was that Dumbledore who kept pestering me on young Malfoy's innocence. That man was not easily fooled.
Lucius Malfoy, of course, came to me, requesting me to free his son, on any terms. I led him on, saying that I would do my best, and I would certainly free him after the Veritaserum test, which I assured Lucius, would reveal the truth. Frankly speaking, Lucius never believed that his son could murder someone and was convinced of his innocence. In his own words "I know my son, he doesn't have what it takes to kill someone, Fudge." However, Draco Malfoy failed the Veritaserum test, just as according to plan.
When Draco Malfoy was sentenced, I visited Lucius Malfoy at his manor, suggesting that he leave the Ministry for a while, until the trial is over. Lucius Malfoy agreed, but he made another move I never expected. He put up a notice in the Daily Prophet disowning his son. The man was indeed ruthless. A publicity move for himself, of course, portraying himself as the suffering parent of a wayward son.
But no matter, everyone was convinced of the boy's guilt. I would use this incident to barred Lucius from the Ministry permanently and remove his gang of collaborators working within the Ministry. I will sniff them out, one by one. As for Percy Weasley, I will take care of him very soon." And Cornelius Fudge slumped forward.
The Wizengamot sentenced Cornelius Fudge to a lifetime in Azkaban, with no hope of parole ever. Bones also authorized a series of investigations into the corruption activities of the finance department of the Ministry, and of Lucius Malfoy's involvement in bribery and coup attempt.
Draco Malfoy was declared innocent. And he was to be released from Azkaban immediately.
When the verdict was announced, I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off me. I turned instinctively to look at Dumbledore. It was due to Dumbledore's influence over the Wizengamot that they have agreed to trial the Minister of Magic himself. Dumbledore's face was grave, but he gave a small nod of approval at me. I nodded back at him. I turned my gaze to Professor Snape, who was seated beside Dumbledore in the Courtroom. He too, looked grim, but his eyes had softened. And I thought I saw a small smile from the curve of his lip. But it was gone so quickly I might have imagine it.
It was all over the Daily Prophet the next day.
"Trial of the Century Brought Down Minister of Magic!", "Malfoy Heir Saved By Young and Beautiful Professor!" screamed the headlines. The Quibbler even had a picture of me on the front page with the headline "Descendant of Sherlock Holmes?"
I was pelted with owls from newspapers around the world, asking for interviews and promised galleons of gold in return. An American wizarding newspaper even managed to track down some of my former Hogwarts schoolmates, such as Lavender Brown, and quoted her "She hated Draco Malfoy, he always taunted her in school. And what with the traditional Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. Perhaps she was secretly in love with him all these years. That's why she did it. That's what give her the unwavering determination." There was another quote from Padma Patil "I never knew Hermione had it in her, she was always the bookworm in school. Of course, she had been involved in adventures before, with her best friends, Harry and Ron, and she is rather resourceful at times……". The Daily Prophet even tried to interview Harry, "We caught up with the Boy-Who-Lived, and asked him what he had to say about his best friend playing heroine to his arch-enemy in school. However, disappointingly, the only reply from Potter was "Sorry, no comment" and a blank look, not much to speak of……"
I ignored all of it. What greatly worries me is Draco Malfoy. He was dying the last time I saw him. There was no news from Azkaban since the verdict yesterday. Malfoy……Draco……please, don't be dead……please live……please……
Author's Note: Well, hope you liked it. Please leave me a review, like to know what you think of this chapter, thanks!