Well, here is chapter 7. This chapter was a bit of a headache because of trying to write the actual trial, but I'm happy with the result. Thank you to everyone who has been leaving reviews.
It's only two weeks, just two weeks, Calida thought to herself as they walked her down a dark row of cells. The guards had been removed temporarily for the new prisoner to be brought in, but they would be back just as soon as she was locked safely away in her cell.
Faces were peering at her trough the bars, it was easy to tell who had been here when the dementors were; they were the ones who looked dead, nothing in their eyes, their skin waxy and pale. Calida felt the most remorse for them, and wondered how many of them were innocent. Some of them were just looking blankly at the walls, others sobbing and shaking silently in the corners, and some were just screaming wildly.
Calida winced, recognizing innocent faces as she passed, and was glad she knew many of them had never had to suffer the dementors. Her only experience with dementors had been when Sirius Black had escaped and they had been stationed all around Hogwarts in her fourth year. She usually wasn't sure of what she was recalling when they drew near her; there was lots of screaming, no words, and flashes of light. Just remembering those made her shudder.
Finally she was led into a cell. She guessed it was almost underground, as the hall had sloped downwards. Her parents had told her that the higher security cells were located in this area. Calida wondered idly why she was being treated as a high security risk as they closed and locked the door behind her.
The cell was a dank dingy place. There was no bed to speak of, just a wooden bench jutting out from the wall. Calida thought the stone floor looked more comfortable. There was a toilet in the corner, and that was the extent of any other furnishings. There was a slight chill there, almost like a draft, but there was really no where for a draft to come from.
Two weeks here, that'll be fun, she thought bitterly. Of course everyone would know she was arrested, and the Torlops would now be under heavy investigation, as it had been their house she was in. The Ministry knew it, but they weren't making mistakes this time, they wanted to make sure everyone involved with any Dark Activity was put away. It wouldn't matter too much, the Dark Lord had other spies in the Ministry, and she was counting on them being there during her trial.
She walked over and touched the walls. They gave off a feeling of dread chill. It was almost like they had soaked up the temperaments of a dementor. She sank down into the floor and rested her head on her knees.
Just then she heard a fearsome roaring shriek. Her insides turned to ice. The new guards; she had forgotten about them. She closed her eyes as voices were yelling all around her. She couldn't make out just what they were saying her mind was racing.
Dragons, oh no, they've got dragons guarding us now. They'll kill me before my trial even comes.
She started going over every possible spell she could use against a dragon, but it was useless. There was no way one witch could take on a full grown dragon and live to tell the tail. Sure, the Triwizard champions had to get past a dragon, but they weren't enclosed in a tiny space with Merlin only knows how many Aurors to get past as well.
Calida slowly opened her eyes to see what kind of morbid dragon they had found for her. She received a shock as she looked into two fierce orange eyes, but not the eyes of the dragon as she had anticipated. She almost laughed as she looked at one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen. It had the head and front feet of a giant eagle, and the back end of a lion. Griffins, she thought. Griffins are the new guards.
It made sense really, they were known to eat raw meet and were often recruited to guard treasure, and only a small handful of witches and wizards had ever befriended one. There were three now settling themselves outside her door and the doors nearest to her. She watched as the one nearest to her bent its scaly knees and curled its tail around itself.
Calida had always been able to get along with most animals rather well. She wondered if that would hold true in this situation. One of them snapped at someone who was too near their door and he scuttled back into a corner like a spider that had been threatened by a large shoe.
The one in front of her had a beautiful golden body that smoothly changed into gray feathers. She slid closer to her door; slowly, so as not to scare it. The magnificent creature watched her carefully. Unsure of what to do, she bowed to it the way she would have done a hippogriff. The creature didn't respond to her, but she was undaunted by that, she didn't really expect any reaction from it. At least trying to befriend this beast would give her something to do for two weeks.
The first night was horrible. She tried lying on the wooden bench, but that just gave her splinters; not to mention the fact she rolled right off the edge and cracked her skull on the floor. After that she tried lying on the ground. It wasn't comfortable; she got shoulder cramps, her arm kept going numb, her head hurt from the stone, and she felt flattened. Despite it all though, she managed to drift off into a very light and uncomfortable sleep.
She couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour when she was woken abruptly by a high pitched blood curdling shriek. Most people seemed to just be moaning or muttering incoherently, but this one was plainly unhinged. She kept screaming about all kinds of things, going on and on about how she was sorry and it was her fault. The screaming continued, seemingly unnoticed by anyone else, long into the night and the wee hours of the morning.
The next time she got to sleep she guessed it was almost noon, and even the day was broke by periodic screams. She was interrupted by her lunch and later by dinner. By the time that night rolled around, Calida was so tired that she just slept right on through the screaming. She knew people around her were screaming; it was incorporated into her dreams as her own screaming from the Cruciatus Curse.
It was amazing to her, how even with the dementors gone, this place still seemed able to drive its occupants to insanity. Calida felt blessed for not having to relive her worst memories over in her mind.
The next several days passed by similarly to the first one. During her waking hours she tried to befriend her guardian, and during her sleeping hours she had horrible nightmares of being tortured and harming people she loved and cared about. She had made some progress with the griffin, she could now move freely through her cell and get as close as she wanted to the door without being snapped at, but she couldn't put her hand outside the bars or touch it.
It was on her last day there that something interesting happened. Someone new was being brought in, and she wasn't coming quietly. She was screaming and thrashing around. Calida ignored her at first and was attempting to pet the griffin, which was now letting her stick her hands out from the bars.
As they drew closer, she caught words among some of the woman's yells. "It wasn't me," she screamed. "It was the Death Eaters!" At that Calida jerked around to look at the woman. She moved her hand a bit too quickly and felt a sharp pain across her palm.
She swore loudly and pulled her hand back to examine the damage. There was a deep cut on her palm from the griffin's beak; it went all the way to the bone. Blood was soaking her robes and the floor at an alarming rate. It could be easily healed, but not without a wand, and she couldn't risk getting her wand out with so many Aurors nearby.
She watched as they threw the woman in the cell. The woman was very persistent in what she was trying to tell them.
"It was the Death Eaters," she kept saying. "They came into the village, they were every where. They had so many people under the Imperious Curse; there were inferi and dementors with them."
She was in a hysterical state and was not listening to the Aurors trying to calm her.
"They just kept blasting houses out of the way, and killing anyone they saw; if they didn't kill them they tortured them, or made them do horrible things."
The woman was now sobbing into her knees.
She listened for almost a half hour as the woman recounted her tale. She explained how Hogsmead was attacked. She tried to tell them that she wasn't doing anything on purpose, that she had been under the Imperious Curse. Calida smiled when she started accusing Lucius Malfoy of being her 'puppeteer'. It was common knowledge that Lucius had a very powerful Imperious Curse, and could easily control multiple people at one time. Calida was shaking horribly, and getting very pale now. Blood was still flowing freely from her hand.
From what she could hear, there was little of the town that was unscathed. There had been at least a dozen deaths, and even more people found tortured to the point hospital stays were necessary. The ones who had been under the Imperious Curse had been freed, save for this woman who was caught actually torturing someone. Calida didn't doubt for a second that she was telling the truth. First, Death Eaters were supposed to be more disciplined than she was being. Second, with the Dark Lord in power, no Death Eater would name their associates just to escape Azkaban.
By the time that the Aurors finally left the woman Calida was deathly pale and sitting in a puddle of blood. She was shaking worse than ever and knew that she wouldn't be any better after the healing spell, not until she took a blood replenishing potion, and that couldn't be done until she was out of Azkaban. However, she conjured her wand and did the healing spell. The cut closed itself up, but there was a scar there; it had been open for too long.
This wasn't good. She needed her strength for tomorrow. She wasn't about to serve an Azkaban sentence for something she wasn't guilty of, and she didn't have the time to wait for the Dark Lord to get her out, he had other things on his mind. It was her responsibility to do this for herself, to do everything within her power to remain in his service, ready to perform any task at his command. She flinched inwardly at the thought of performing certain tasks. She knew there were things she would never be able to do. This was different though, she could do this.
Calida spent that night weak, cold, and shivering from the blood loss. The blood was caked on the floor where she had sat. She was sick and sweating all through the night. She dreamed of her trial and the horrors that she would face there, and her dreams never ended well for her. People screamed as usual, but she slept through it, too tired to care what torments the night brought to them.
She was jerked awake the next morning by several Aurors. It took a while for her to get on her feet and recognize them. There were three she knew, and two she didn't. Naylor, Alinger, and Spalding were Aurors that her brother was constantly being harassed by. They looked positively gleeful about having her at their mercy. Ordinarily she would have thought they were over confident, but she was still in bad condition.
Calida tripped over her own feet as they tried to lead her from the cell. A quick glance back at the floor told her that she had fallen asleep in a puddle of her own blood, which was now congealed onto her robes and matted into her hair.
She cursed silently as they took here out to the Apparation deck to transport her to her trial. She should have been paying more attention to what she was doing. Now she was going to be facing a potentially lethal fight in far less than ideal health.
The bright sunlight hurt her eyes and she stumbled as they walked across the grounds. They stopped on the Apparation deck and bound her hands with ropes. Calida swayed somewhat dangerously. Two of the Aurors grabbed her arms and they Disapparated with her.
Calida opened her eyes and saw she was in a small stone chamber in the Ministry. The two Aurors led her through a door into another chamber, exactly like the first only darker. They explained that it was impossible to Apparate or Disapparated in this room or in the courtroom, so she would do better not to try. She had expected as much. There was going to be a wait in this room while the Wizengamot took their seats. She slid down the wall and tried to will herself into having more energy.
It felt like only seconds later that the Aurors seized her arms and pulled her to her feet. They vanished the ropes binding her hands and led her through the door into the courtroom. Her entrance was met with a frightening silence. This was only a formality; the decision had already been made.
She was shoved into a chair in the center of the room. The chains on it sprang to life and curled around her arms and legs binding her to her seat. She expected this, but that didn't make it any more comfortable. She looked up to see who all was there. There was the Minister of course, a young boy taking notes she recognized as Percy Weasley, and to her utmost displeasure, Dolores Umbridge. She gripped the arm of the chair and glared as the woman gave her a wide toad-like smile.
The Minister stood up and cleared his throat. He nodded at Percy who poised his quill on the parchment. "Criminal hearing on the twenty-fourth of September concerning the possession of Class A non-tradable, substances under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Potion Possession and Use by Private Citizens by Calida Marcella Aderas. Interrogators: Rufus Andrew Srimgeour, Minister of Magic; Leon Turner Dawlish, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley."
Calida shifted uncomfortably. Every eye in the room was now on her; she wasn't used to being the center of attention. She took a deep breath, readying herself for the barrage of questions; but succeeded only in making herself dizzy. She groaned inwardly while the room spun slowly around her.
"Miss Aderas, you have been informed of the charges against you?"
"Yes," her words sounded rather thick and slow.
"Yes," she said more loudly and clearly.
"And you are aware of the seriousness of these charges, are you not?"
"Yes," she said bitterly. It seemed that the Wizengamot noticed the bitterness in her voice, as they began to whisper among themselves.
"Do you deny that you were caught in possession of the following potions and liquids which are prohibited for possession by private citizens? Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, Exploding Fluid, Deforming Draught, Scalding Serum, Elixir of Death, and," the Minister paused here, glanced back at Dawlish, and proceeded to add "and other substances used in Dark Activity." He glared at Calida waiting for her to answer.
"They were found in the house I was watching for an acquaintance, yes," she spat at them. Her head throbbed; she probably shouldn't be putting so much energy into this, but she was angry with Umbridge sill being employed by the Ministry after all she had done at Hogwarts.
"Do you associate regularly with the owners of the house?" the Minister continued.
"Not regularly, no." That was true; she had only met them three or four times.
The Minister was not pleased with this answer, and the members of the Wizengamot turned to mutter amongst themselves once more.
"Were you aware that the house owners may be in possession of such inappropriate items?"
"I was," she said slowly.
"And why did you not report it to the Ministry immediately?" Umbridge cut in.
"Because of you," she spat contemptuously at Umbridge. "I knew you would try to pin it on me. And that's what you're doing isn't it, that's what you-"
"You did not have to report this to Umbridge. It would have been better directed towards myself, Head of Magical Law Enforcement, or Williamson who has taken over as Head of the Auror Offices," Dawlish stated.
"It would have got back to her somehow, and she would have pinned it on me. She hates me. I haven't forgotten."
Calida tightened her grip on the arm of her chair. She knew the scars on her hand were gleaming white in the flickering torchlight of the courtroom.
"That is beside the point. The fact remains that you were in possession of said items and that will require some punishment. My suggested sentence is six months in Azkaban under high security."
Calida was once again baffled as to why she was being placed under high security. Then it hit her; she was the little sister of Atabulus Cassius Aderas. That explained it all right. She sighed as the Minister spoke to the Wizengamot.
"All those in favor of the suggested sentence?" he asked.
Almost everyone raised their hand; everyone except Umbridge.
"All those opposed?"
Rather than raising her hand, Umbridge stood up. "Hem hem."
Calida cringed. "You miserable old hag!" she snapped at Umbridge, "if you make that stupid little coughing noise one more time I'll make you pay!" She knew she was wasting precious energy, but Umbridge really grated on her nerves.
"I believe," Umbridge began, using her disgusting girly voice but speaking over Calida's threats, "that given the family history of Miss. Aderas, a harsher sentence really is in order."
At that, one of the Wizengamot elders stood up. Calida recognized her as Griselda Merchbanks; she had tested Calida in some of her O.W.L.s.
"I believe that, as this is Miss. Aderas' first offense, and as she is not the owner of the house in which the evidence was found, that this sentence is quite harsh enough," she said firmly.
Several other members of the Wizengamot nodded their agreement; Umbridge looked rather put out by it. The Minister turned back to face Calida. He cleared his throat; she swallowed. This was it, her moment was coming. She wished desperately one last time that she had more energy, to no avail.
"Calida Marcella Aderas," he said in a ringing voice, "for your breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Potion Possession and Use by Private Citizens, you are-"
"Hem hem."
Calida twitched involuntarily, and felt the restraints on the chair tighten further.
"I really do think you should all remember that Miss Aderas is the younger sister of known Death Eater Atabulus Cassius Aderas."
"We are aware of that, thank you." The minister spoke in short clipped tones and continued, speaking more loudly as Umbridge once more opened her toad-like mouth. "Calida, you are hereby sentenced to a six month imprisonment in Azkaban."
With those words the door she came in through opened and all the Aurors appeared there again. They would take her back to Azkaban. Little did they know Calida had no plans of returning. They reached her chair and grabbed her arms. The chains sprang to life once more and released her.
As she stood up, she closed her eyes and twitched her fingers. Wand now in hand, she held it close to her, pulled inside the sleeve of her robe where no one would see it. She allowed them to walk her several steps. Her head spun again as she walked; she really was too weak for this.
No, don't think like that, she told herself. You can do this, just concentrate.
Each of her Auror escorts had their wand out and ready, just in case. Calida bit her lip and tilted her hand very slightly to hit the closest Auror with a Stunning Spell. He dropped like a stone to the ground. The others all turned to look at the fallen Auror. As they did so, she hit two more of them.
She was only dimly aware of the shouts that had erupted around her. She was trying to listen for sounds of approaching spells. She was trying to feel for the magic before it would hit her. She had never been good at that, and she was proving to be even more dismal than usual in her weakened state. She turned and ran toward the door that led out into the hallways; that would lead her to the Atrium where she could Disapparate.
Spells were flying at her from every member of the Wizengamot, who were all jumping out of their seats to run after her. Calida wasn't sure if she was really hearing Umbridge's shrieks or if she was just imagining it. She was running full out toward the door, firing spells wildly behind her. She hoped that some of the yells were spells that had hit their targets, and that thuds were stunned enemies hitting the ground.
Calida flung out her hand as she reached the door. She wrenched it open and ran into the hallway, slamming it shut behind her. She let her senses grope for magical traces of an anti-disapparation jinx. Swearing as she felt it, she raced off down the hall and up the stairs. Surely she would be able to Disapparate before she reached the Atrium.
As the golden gates of the lift came into view, she gave a sigh of relief. At least she would be able to get onto a lift and have a small rest before she got to the Atrium. Even as this thought entered her mind, the gates flew open and Aurors were rushing out at her. She swore again and started sending spells back at them; this time aiming to kill rather than just stun.
She turned at the only available opportunity and found herself facing a plain black door. One rather powerful spell of the Dark Arts let her through. She could have kicked herself for having to use it in front of people. She thought it better if she seemed like an undereducated child trying to follow her family, not really knowing what she was doing. She did know what she was doing though, and she was also completely aware that she had just entered the Department of Mysteries. She recognized it from the stories her parents had told her as a child, well, more of a child than she was now.
She groaned as she recalled what had happened to the last Death Eaters who had set foot here. She just had time to take in the many doors in front of her and the blue flame of the candles before she spelled the door locked; that was a mistake. The second the door had shut the room began to spin. Calida held her head, as the room had already been spinning to her before, and seeing a room actually spin gave her an instant throbbing headache. Apparently her parents had either left this part out of the stories or didn't know. The blue lines of light slowed and the room stopped.
I know this is something of a cliffhanger ending, but it was the perfect place to stop. Agaian, I want to know what everyont thinks, and reviews are an excellent way to let me know. Also, I'm going to try to update every week or two from here on out, but with school starting in 10 days, that might get a bit sidetracked. So, I'm sorry in advance for any chapters that don't make that schedule.