Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, and ideas (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J.K. Rowlings. Mordecai and Elisabeth are mine, as is Horatio Carstairs.
Chapter 32: The weight of justice.
Mordecai and Elisabeth met with Minerva, Severus, and Arthur before the trial. They could not attend due to the fact that they had classes, but they could at least mention a few last-minute ideas. "Will they give Pettigrew Veritaserum if he goes on the witness stand?" Mordecai inquired.
"Yes. By the way Mr. Maddock, tomorrow you are to take the witness stand," Arthur remarked.
"We wish you all the best of luck today," Elisabeth said as she and Mordecai headed off to school.
The other three entered the courtroom at the Ministry of Magic, noticing how many people had shown up for the trial. Those who came had either been former students, friends of Albus Dumbledore, or people who wanted to see justice enacted on the deatheaters. Minerva entered first, followed by Severus and then Arthur. They sat as they had entered at a table on the defense side.
Arthur glanced over at the prosecution's side and turned back to Minerva. "They have Horatio Carstairs. This is not going to be easy," he conveyed.
"You sound as if you expected it to be," Severus commented.
"All rise for the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour," someone they could not see called out.
They stood as he entered, Minerva noting the seriousness in his yellowish eyes as he scanned both the prosecution and the defense. For the first day, the items of evidence would be examined. The first article was the pensieve that Minerva had found. Scrimgeour himself had looked at it and the prosecution could not say much for it.
However, Carstairs was not without comment. "Minister, this only proves that the defendant could have considered killing the man an act of mercy."
"Does the defense have any comment?" Scrimgeour asked.
Minerva nodded, being the one to speak for the defense. She had an arrangement with Arthur that both would act as legal consultants and he would take her place when she would be called to take the stand. "The pensieve shows the defendant's reluctance, as well as the Headmaster's resolve," she added.
"Then let us move onto the next article of evidence," he suggested.
The partly empty flask was brought in. Minerva took it in her hands and spoke first. "This is polyjuice, left behind on the day Albus Dumbledore was murdered. It causes the person who drinks it to become Mr. Snape here," she explained.
Carstairs raised a bushy black eyebrow above his beady gray eyes. "Minister, do they have some way to prove what they claim?"
Arthur spoke. "Yes. The defense calls Bill Weasley to the stand."
Bill emerged and was introduced as a willing volunteer. He took some of the potion and indeed became Severus. As he left the stand, Carstairs spoke again. "Minister, how do we know that Mr. Snape didn't just leave it behind to make people think that the murderer was not him?"
Minerva was offended by this question, but she had anticipated it. "If I may, Minister, assuming that he had killed Dumbledore, and sincerely switched sides, there would be no need to leave the potion in hopes of someday returning to Hogwarts. The act alone would have permanently canceled out his chances as a spy.
Scrimgeour rested his chin on his hand, propped up by his elbow, as he thought about the matter. "Noted, please proceed with today's witness."
"The defense calls Harry Potter to the stand," Minerva began. Harry entered and stepped up to the stand. Minerva walked over toward him. "Please state your full name for the court."
"My name is Harry James Potter," he said.
"Mr. Potter, can you tell us what happened in the Astronomy tower the day that Albus Dumbledore died?" she questioned.
He paused and thought for a moment. "I was hidden under an invisibility cloak while Snape and Dumbledore were talking. Dumbledore said, 'You weren't supposed to be here. Why have you come? The betrayal you have caused was your fault, not mine or his.' Then the man we had thought to be Snape killed him."
Minerva walked back and forth between the witness stand and the table. "You see, Minister, what Dumbledore said at that point counteracts what was said in the pensieve. Why would he have said that if he had been expecting Mr. Snape to be there, unless it was not Mr. Snape?"
Carstairs put his two sense in. "Minister, she is making inferences."
"Let her finish and then you may cross-examine the witness," Scrimgeour told him.
Minerva smiled politely. "Thank you, Minister. Mr. Potter, what can you tell us about Mr. Snape's character?"
Severus sighed heavily. Why did she have to ask him that? The boy is going to have me buried alive for all the trouble we've had over the years, he worried.
Harry glanced over at Severus before responding. "Although he has heavy-handed teaching tactics and can be a bit of a git, he is actually a man of integrity who does work behind the scenes so that others can continue with their lives. He does what no one else wants to do in order for the rest of us to get recognition for what we do, based on what he relays to us."
The young man noticed a spark of gratitude in Severus' eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Potter, no further questions from the defense," Minerva stated.
Carstairs stalked over to the stand. "Well I have a few questions, Minister. Mr. Potter, weren't your six years at Hogwarts filled with torment from the defendant? Didn't he enact a personal vendetta against your father onto you?"
"People can change, and he has. True, we had trouble for several years, but we now understand one another," Harry managed.
"Why did you fail to complete Occlumency with the defendant?" Carstairs probed.
"It was my own fault, sir. I looked into a pensieve that I had no business viewing," Harry responded.
Carstairs was not achieving his goal. "No further questions, Minister," he grumbled.
After Harry left the stand, the judge said that the trial would be postponed until the following day. Minerva would head back to the school while Arthur returned to his post at the Ministry of Magic and Severus was led away by the guards to the room in the building they had decided to keep him in after he had turned himself in.
Minerva stopped him first. "Will you be alright?"
He looked around and noticed that too many people were still staring. "Of course, now go before anyone here becomes suspicious." She left with a sigh and he muttered under his breath various complaints just out of the guards' hearing range.
Harry reported what had occurred to Mordecai and Elisabeth and then departed, leaving them to ponder the events. "I don't think I like this Carstairs guy. You should be careful tomorrow," Elisabeth mentioned.
Mordecai sighed. "I intend to do no less. My father is innocent, and no matter what I am asked, I stand by that."
Elisabeth flopped down into a chair, putting aside the book she had been reading. "What if he asks about your parents?"
He sat across from her in another chair. "Then I'll deal with it. It would be better if I could deflect those sorts of questions though."
"I know," Elisabeth began, sitting up straighter, "you could emphasis that you want to be a Potions Master and he was training you as he would an apprentice."
Mordecai watched the fireplace and thought for a moment. "I think it will work, considering that I would like to do that as a profession."
She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then she bent toward him and kissed him softly. "I only wish that I could come with you tomorrow."
He kissed her back and smiled. "So do I. When this is all over, I'm going to take you on a real date."
"That sounds fair," she said with a smirk.
Mordecai woke early the following morning. He had elected to dress in a muggle suit and was having the worst time with his tie. Elisabeth found him in front of the mirror in the common room, his tie looking more like a bandana. "I'm surprised that you didn't use magic to fix that," she commented while laughing.
He snorted at his reflection and turned to face her. "I suppose you know the spell for it then?"
"No, but I do know how to tie one of these," she relayed. After she had successfully fixed his tie, she stepped back to admire her work.
"When did you learn to do that?" he questioned.
"I am the youngest of ten, remember? Everyone ahead of me saw to it that I acquired that skill. I knew one of these days it would be useful," she told him with a wry smile.
Just then Minerva entered the common room. "Ah, Mordecai, it's good that you're ready to go. We rethought some of our plans and decided that both of you might as well come today, for the proceedings," she quickly stated.
Elisabeth remained in her school uniform as she and Mordecai sat in the courtroom audience toward the front. They watched as Minerva and Arthur entered with Severus and they stood as the Minister of Magic entered for the second day of the trial. Mordecai watched the prosecutor with scrutiny. His black hair was slicked back and he kept glancing between the Minister and the defense team.
Then Minerva spoke. "The defense calls Mordecai Maddock to the stand." Mordecai left Elisabeth and walked toward the witness stand. He stated his full name and Minerva began to question him.
As she did, Mordecai noticed that the prosecutor was attempting to penetrate both his mind and hers, so he set up a few mental blockades as Minerva asked her first question. "Mr. Maddock, what did you see the day Albus Dumbledore died?"
"We, Miss Wellington and I, accidentally walked into a cross-fire just after finding a flask containing the polyjuice, which I tested," he explained.
"And what brought you to the decision that Mr. Snape is innocent?" she continued.
He paused, pushing the prosecutor out of his mind again. "It was partly the polyjuice and also our assessment of his character. Someone as intelligent as him would not have murdered the Headmaster because it would have meant a permanent loss of communication from the school," he stated articulately.
"What is your assessment of him as a teacher?" Minerva introduced.
"Professor Snape, though shrewd and strict with his classes, encourages the students who show actual potential in Potions as well as interest," the young man answered.
"The defense rests," she stated as she took a seat.
Carstairs stood and looked at Mordecai with a piercing gaze. "The prosecution will cross-examine the witness. Mr. Maddock, did you or did you not receive out-of-class training in Potions by the said professor?" he questioned.
"Yes. He noticed my interest and was helping me learn more advanced potions," Mordecai answered, realizing that Carstairs was up to something.
"Why would he pay so much attention to you, a Ravenclaw? He was the Head of Slytherin and an enemy of Gryffindors, yet he helped a Ravenclaw," Carstairs said pointedly.
"Ravenclaw in several ways is a neutral house compared to the other two," Mordecai explained frankly.
"But what made you so interesting? Mr. Maddock, did he not go to St. Mungo's to save your life?" Carstairs barked.
"He did, at the request of Professor McGonagall because of his advanced knowledge of potions and their properties," Mordecai tossed back, not falling for Carstairs' bate.
The prosecutor was not about to let a mere adolescent beat him. "What is your association with Mr. Snape?"
"He is a mentor that I would rather not see placed in Azkaban for something he did not do. Would you not do the same for a teacher?" Mordecai was playing a verbal badminton game now.
Carstairs tried not to let his frustration show, and then suddenly he had another idea. Mordecai noticed a glint of malice in his eye. "Mr. Maddock, where you raised by your biological parents?"
"To be asking that question, you've obviously read my file and you know the answer, so why are you asking me?" he shot back.
"Why you insolent- I mean answer the question please," Carstairs growled.
"No."
Then Carstairs asked a question that Mordecai was not prepared for. "Do you know who your parents are?"
Upon hearing the question, Minerva jumped up. "Objection, Minister, the question is irrelevant. Mr. Maddock is not the one on trial."
Scrimgeour raised an eyebrow at Carstairs. "Sustained. Mr. Carstairs, find yourself a different question."
Carstairs glared at Mordecai. "No further questions."
When Mordecai left the stand to return to his seat, he stopped by the table to tell Minerva, Arthur, and Severus that Carstairs had been attempting to probe his mind. "The prosecution calls Professor McGonagall to the stand," Carstairs called snidely.
Minerva gave her name and eyed him suspiciously. Severus watched, deciding to use his own skills to keep Carstairs out of Minerva's mind. "Headmistress McGonagall isn't it actually? What did you see that led you to believe that Mr. Snape was innocent?"
"I saw one of him wander out of the forest the day that Dumbledore was killed, at the same time that I saw Mr. Potter chasing one of him back into the forest," she replied plainly.
Carstairs scoffed. "Professor McGonagall, that seems to be a rather slim reason to convince someone of your intellect of innocence. Was that all?"
"Certainly not!" she shot back. "Mr. Maddock informed me of the polyjuice, there was Dumbledore's pensieve, as well as my doubts that he would kill Dumbledore."
Carstairs saw an opportunity and seized it like a vulture swoops down to feed upon a carcass. "Were you, or were you not in contact with Mr. Snape, even though the rest of the Order thought he was both a traitor and a murderer?"
"Yes."
"How was this done?" he probed.
Minerva had to be as tactful as possible. "He sent me information by owl, not only explaining his innocence, but informing the Order of what the deatheaters were doing, allowing us to intercept them on several occasions."
"Why did he contact you?" Carstairs nearly demanded.
"Because he trusted me more than the others," she held her sense of calm.
Carstairs was about to strike, glancing from Mordecai to Severus, and back to Minerva. "Was it because you two were… intimately close that he trusted you so much? Or was there an even more important reason than that? Could you both have had something to protect?" he spat. "What exactly is your relation to Mr. Snape?"
Minerva took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eyes. "We are friends and, unlike you, when I have friends in wartime, we defend and protect one another. You obviously don't have anyone to defend you, therefore you play an offensive and a defensive role."
She had hurt his ego and he was about to fire something back when the Minister stood. "Enough of this! Both of you are out of order and if the prosecution has no more reasonably useful questions, then the defense can cross-examine the witness."
"No further questions," Carstairs growled.
Arthur stepped up. "I have only one question. In both the battle last spring as well as the recent one in September, whose side was Mr. Snape fighting on?"
"He fought on the light side both times," she replied.
"No further questions," Arthur stated.
Carstairs then grinned maliciously at his next witness. "He has something new planned," Minerva whispered to Arthur.
"So do we," Arthur added.
"The defense calls Severus Snape to the stand," Minerva called out.
Severus stood and quietly walked over to the witness stand, sitting and stating his full name. Carstairs came toward them. "Minister, since he was both a deatheater and a spy, would it not be prudent to question him under Veritaserum?"
Carstairs knew how much Scrimgeour loathed deatheaters. "You may proceed."
As Severus took the potion Carstairs presented him with, Mordecai decided to block Carstairs from Severus' mind. Fortunately Minerva got to question him first. "Mr. Snape, did you murder Albus Dumbledore?"
"No," he said blandly, under the influence of the serum.
"Would you tell the court who did?" she inquired.
"Peter Pettigrew. He hit me on the back of the head twice so that I would not stop him," Severus replied.
"Why did you send reports to me while you were in hiding and what was in them regarding the deatheaters?" she continued.
"I trust you more than anyone else. The reports told of the attacks so that the Order would stop them," he stated blandly.
"What happened when you were fighting in the last battle?" she probed.
"Pettigrew and I engaged each other in fighting, but both of us blocked each other sufficiently. Then Pettigrew accidentally killed Voldemort's snake. When Voldemort walked over to investigate, he hit me with the torturing curse, but it was enough of a distraction for Potter to finish him off," Severus responded.
Minerva backed away from the witness stand and looked around the room to observe people's reactions, as well as the Minister's. "The defense rests," she told him before taking a seat at the table.
Carstairs smiled maliciously and walked over to the witness stand. He took one long glance at Minerva, as if to say that he was about to toss a wrench into what she had just set up. Then he faced Severus. "Mr. Snape,while you were in 'hiding' as Professor McGonagall put it, did you contact her by means other than letters?"
"Yes, by floo and fireplace," he relayed.
Minerva's eyes grew wide and she held her breath, realizing what Carstairs was doing. While under Veritaserum, Severus will answer any question truthfully. Carstairs plans to ask him what he tried to ask Mordecai and me. She swallowed hard as Carstairs looked from her back to Severus.
A cold chill found its way to her spine and she recognized it as genuine fear of exposure. Then Carstairs asked his question. "Mr. Snape, what exactly is your relationship to Professor McGonagall?"
(My thanks to Kimmy Malfoy, cricketsong(), trulyamused, excessivelyperky, Motet, Annette-Rose, lullaby moon, and Leta McGotor for reviews :D)