Chapter Eight – The Verdict
The Wizengamot sat facing a single chair in the middle of a large stone room waiting for the accused so the trail could commence. Holding his gabble, Rufus Scrimgeour tapped his fingers impatiently. This was his first serious case as Minister of Magic and he needed to show the wizarding community that he was fit for the highly held position. He awoke from his daze when the scuffling of my shoes against the floor outside of the large wooden doors grew louder and faster.
I watched as he straighten his robe along with his second in command, a man named Warwick Grissam who appeared to be fresh out of school. Ignoring the attractive man I continued to struggle out of the grasp that the two guards held me in. A cry of pain passed my rough lips as one of them twisted my wrist sharply while forcing me into the seat. Thick ropes instantly tied down my arms, cutting into my flesh and continued to tighten on my raw skin until it seemed that my bones would break. Gasping at the injustice I looked up at the serious faces that gazed down at me with disgust.
My eyes raked over the crowd looking for one face that I could recognize besides the Minister himself. A long gray beard caught my attention and I stared at Professor Dumbledore. He just shook his head in disappointment. Feeling ashamed that I was so alone and degraded, I looked down at my lap and waited for the questions to begin.
"The Wizengamot court officially comes to a start. I, Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic first class swears in the accused, Ms. Ginevra Molly Weasley who is being charged with murder in the first degree and attempted murder of millions of muggles. How do you plead?"
"Innocent."
"Many people have stood in front of this court throughout the last week and have claimed that you are guilty. What do you think of that?"
Feeling anger building inside I replied, "They are all liars."
"So," Scrimgeour said, "you want me and the rest of the Wizengamot to believe that Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Anita Revierta, Mr. Borgin, and another student who remains to be anonymous, have all plotted together to get you arrested for a crime that you haven't committed."
"That is correct."
"Mr. Grissam, would be so kind as to give Ms. Weasley a few drops of Veritaserum so we can speed up this procedure."
Without making a sound Mr. Grissam approached me and pulled a vial out of his side pocket. I clenched my jaws shut tight and refused to allow him to place the potion in my mouth. Smiling he looked down at me and I felt drawn to look at his brown eyes. I tried to look away but I seemed to be stuck. Suddenly an image of him kissing me passionately on the lips flashed before me as if I was watching it happen. I could actually feel his lips against mine and was startled. 'How could this be?' His hands then slid down to my backside where he promptly grabbed my butt. I gasped as I felt the squeeze he applied to my behind. 'But how could I possibly be feeling this when it isn't really happening?' When I gasped he slipped the potion into my gapping mouth.
With a seductive wink he walked back to his seat on the left side of the Minister. Scrimgeour look at him and said in a disapproving voice, "You shouldn't do that to the accused. It could compromise the evidence." Helplessly shrugging his shoulders Grissam turned around to once again focus his attention on me.
"To make sure that the Veritaserum is working I will ask you a series of questions. One, what grade are you currently in?'
"Fifth."
"Good, number two. Name all of your brothers."
"Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron."
"Excellent. And the last test question, what happened to you during your first year at Hogwarts?"
I struggled to keep myself from answering the question that the Minister had asked. It seemed that it was no ones business what terrors I had lived through in my first year at school. I felt my lips begin to form a word and I mentally pushed the fog out of my mind, trying to clear it so I could think clearly for myself. The voice of Scrimgeour floated in my mind as if from far away, calling to me.
Letting the tears cascade down my cheeks I confessed that I had been possessed by the Dark Lord and had done his bidding, even in killing chickens, writing on the walls with blood, and setting the basilisk on muggle-born students. The entire room was momentarily stunned into silence.
"I was expecting to hear about your studies but this new evidence is even more enlightening and helpful then I could have expected. Ms. Weasley has admitted to being under He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will before, so why wouldn't she be now?" Murmurs broke out and people turned to their neighbors and began to converse. A booming voice broke out above the rest.
"Ms. Weasley wasn't acting on her own accord. She had been placed under a spell when she used one of Tom Riddle's old journals. The journal possessed her; she didn't do the events she said before because she wanted to, but because she had to."
"Who is this Tom Riddle character, Albus?"
"He was a student at Hogwarts many years before Ms. Weasley attended school, even before you Rufus."
"Ah, well, he should be arrested for illegally possessing another wizard."
"I am afraid that he is dead Sir."
"To bad."
Shaking his head as to get back on topic, the Minister of Magic asked me another question. "Is it true that you left Hogwarts to go to Borgin and Burks where you stole three items?"
"Yes." I sighed. "I was going to buy them but left in a hurry."
"And why did you leave so quickly?"
"I saw a fellow student there and I didn't want him to see me."
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy told us that he followed you and then later entered the store to see what you were buying. What were the three ingredients you took?"
"I took nettles, an Abyssinian shrivelfig, and a few lionfish spines."
"Where these three items used in a potion that you created in the girls bathroom?"
Tightening my fists I attempted yet again to stop myself from saying the truth. I was only fifteen; I couldn't go to Azkaban for the rest of my life! Concentrating on pushing the intruding voice and fog out of my head, I shut my eyelids tightly and fought against responding.
"I did use these items in a potion that I made in the girls bathroom. They were the only ingredients needed and I couldn't steal them for Hogwarts because they were too rare."
"The only ingredients. What potion is this that only needs nettles, lionfish spines and a Abyssinian shrivelfig?"
"I will never tell you what the potion does. You wouldn't believe me."
"Must I remind you that you are under the influence of a very powerful truth serum? You couldn't possibly lie about the potions effects, so please, tell us."
"It gives the drinker immortality."
"I don't think I heard you correctly, please repeat that." Many of the people in the room had leaned forward to hear easier.
"Immortality."
"Impossible," cried out a woman in the back row, "there isn't a potion capable of such a task."
"Yeah, she cannot be telling the truth!" yelled a balding man in a gravely voice.
"But I am under the Veritaserum, must I remind you of that?"
"Order in my court! Ms. Weasley, tell us where you found the instructions for such an amazing potion."
"I was in Egypt two summers ago when my father won money that was given out by the Ministry. We went to Egypt to explore some of the tombs. I found an old book in one of them and took it home with me. I read it right before school this year."
"So you planned to drink it and become immortal. Why?"
"The power. I wanted to take over the world after Voldemort," many people gasped, "purified the Earth. I would let him have a drink of the potion too then kill him later."
"But you cannot kill someone who is immortal…hence immortal."
"That is where you are wrong. The potion's instructions said you are immortal when you drink the potion, but can be killed by drinking it again later on in your life. I planned to give the Dark Lord another swig of it, telling him it would recharge his powers and he would then die."
I was very curious as to what Harry and Anita said that would convict me. Surely they hadn't heard even a whisper about my plan and they were my friends who wouldn't turn me in if they didn't think I had done something wrong, so I politely asked. Instead of getting an answer, I was given another question.
"Did you kill Miss. Rachel Lynnette Serapian because she knew about your plan?"
"No, she must have drunken the potion."
"The court must now convene and decide on a verdict. We will call you back in within the hour."
The ropes around my wrists untangled themselves and I rubbed the wounds gently, trying to get some circulation back into them. I tried to stand without the guards help but fell due to the sharp pain in my ankles. The two men practically dragged me out and tossed me back in a cell that was across the hall from the room I had just been in.
"Well will get you when the Wizengamot is ready." Without another word they closed the door and submerged me in total darkness. From the lack of sleep I had gotten over the last week in Azkaban I fell asleep within minutes. All too soon the two men harshly woke me up and took me back to where I would be charged guilty or not guilty.
Instead of sitting I was forced to stand as Mr. Grissam read the verdict.
"The Wizengamot finds the Ms. Ginerva Molly Weasley is guilty of murder in the first degree and shall be charged as an adult for her heinous crime instead of as an underaged witch.
"We also charge her with planning to kill masses of muggles and working with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Because of these crimes we demand the death penalty."
