Chapter Five: The Trial of Rita Skeeter
Wordy swallowed as he stayed behind Neville and Harry; if anything, the Wizengamot chamber was even more intimidating now that he wasn't dead on his feet. And it was getting very awkward with all the people staring in their direction…at him, his armor, and the two phoenixes that had taken up perches on his shoulders. One of them, Fawkes, was getting the most attention by far; from what Harry had said, today was the first time Fawkes had been seen since Albus Dumbledore's funeral. Wordy wisely didn't touch that subject; Harry's eyes had gone rather shuttered at the memory. On Wordy's other shoulder, the blonde and platinum blonde phoenix made herself comfortable, trilling to herself every so often as she looked around from her perch.
As the trio entered the Wizengamot chamber, a hush fell over those already present, the assembly taking in the sight of the Lord of a traditionally Dark house with two phoenixes actually perched on his shoulders. After a instant, chatter rose again, the volume easily exceeding the prior quiet tones in seconds.
"Head high," Harry muttered without turning. When Wordy started a little, Harry turned with a small half-grin. "Used to have to tell myself that every time I came in here." He broke off from their little group, heading to the clerk and whispering something to him.
Neville considered, then led Wordy up to a chair on the Wizengamot's third tier. "This is your seat," he murmured. "Normally, you can't take this seat until you take the oath, but with Lord Malfoy's challenge, it makes sense to keep you close to the floor instead of up in the family tier."
Wordy nodded and slid past the shorter man to inspect the chair. The two phoenixes lifted off and settled themselves on the railing as their former perch frowned, kneeling down and inspecting the area. "Could you check it?"
Neville blinked, then flicked his wand in a quick diagnostic. Nothing flared. "Looks clean," he reported, "But you can't be too paranoid right now, so good thinking." He hesitated, then added, "I have to go to my own seat now, sorry."
The brunet looked over his shoulder, tossing Neville a grin. "I'll be fine, thanks. Not exactly my first hot call here."
With a shake of his head, Neville headed for his seat, noticing Harry's expression as he went. Harry looked gleeful about something and Neville hoped that meant things were finally about to go their way.
As people settled and chatter continued, a man in an Auror trenchcoat entered, escorting a woman; the woman was fighting to get loose and she'd obviously been silenced at some point. Neville's eyebrows shot up as he recognized the prisoner; Rita Skeeter's hair was askew and her magenta robes looked as though she'd been forced to sleep in them. Her rhinestone glasses were crooked and he was pretty sure they were missing a jewel or two. The Auror hauling her along didn't glance up at the Wizengamot; his jaw was set, his eyes angry and hard.
Neville's gaze stayed on the pair even as the Chief Warlock entered and took his seat. "Seal the doors!" the man ordered.
The security Auror echoed the order and the massive doors to the chamber swung shut. Chatter died out more swiftly than usual; everyone was eager to see the continuation of the spectacle from two days previous.
"This emergency session of the Wizengamot is called to order!" the Chief Warlock declared. Before he could cede the floor to a salivating Lord Malfoy, the clerk rose and received a grudging nod to proceed.
"Lord Potter has relayed a request from the Canadian Ministry of Magic to delay today's session long enough to deal with a violation of a diplomatic visa on their soil," Clerk Dullard announced gravely. "A Canadian Auror has escorted the accused to the Wizengamot and can present evidence concerning the violation."
Lord Malfoy protested at once. "Surely such a matter can wait until we have dealt with 'Lord' Lestrange; I move that this issue be put aside until 'Lord' Lestrange takes his oath."
"If I may?" Harry requested, rising himself.
The Chief Warlock eyed the seething Lord Malfoy and the serene Lord Potter. "Very well, the floor is ceded to Lord Potter."
Harry inclined his head. "My response is twofold, Lord Malfoy. The violation of Canadian law by one of our diplomats is a serious issue, particularly as they cannot try such violations themselves, but must be content with expelling the offending diplomat in hopes that we ourselves will punish the offender. From the information I received, the violation the Canadian Ministry of Magic discovered has bearing on the issue of Lord Wordsworth and, additionally, is serious enough that the Canadian Ministry of Magic has threatened to go to the ICW if we do not deal with this in a timely manner."
"And what, pray tell," Lord Malfoy countered, "Would they tell the ICW? That they have a Squib working for them as an Auror?"
Harry's smile was so angelic that Neville shuddered. "No, Lord Malfoy. They would report to the ICW that you and two of our Aurors arrested Lord Wordsworth in a Muggle police station, with all three of you as well as your pet reporter in robes. Additionally, I am given to understand that Lord Wordsworth's Auror teammates were required to remove images of your visit from the Muggle security camera's record to prevent a Statute of Secrecy breach."
The room erupted in fury; only Harry, Neville, the Auror on the floor, and, when Neville turned to look, Wordy remained calm. Lord Malfoy was forced to back away from the edge of his tier's railing as the room turned on him. Much as the chamber had, two days earlier, turned on Wordy, it now turned on Lord Malfoy. For over two minutes, the room was near deafening, but the Chief Warlock finally recovered enough to pound his gavel and roar for order. At first, the volume was still too high for the gavel to be heard, but slowly the gavel and the yells of the Chief Warlock took effect.
"Order!" the Chief Warlock commanded, pounding his gavel as the room began to quiet. "I shall have order!" When the volume fell enough that he could be heard without raising his voice, he fixed Harry with a disapproving look. "I trust that this Canadian Auror is present?"
Harry smirked. "Of course, Chief Warlock," he replied, gesturing to the Auror and his prisoner. "May I present Canadian Auror Giles Onasi and our 'diplomat' Miss Rita Skeeter?"
The room nearly erupted again, but the Chief Warlock pounded his gavel and gave the entire room a deadly look, daring them to continue. "All in favor of proceeding to trial?"
Not even Lord Malfoy dared vote in opposition; he was thoroughly cowed by the Wizengamot's reaction to Harry's report. Neville turned his attention to a smug Auror Onasi and his indignant prisoner. Auror Onasi pulled Skeeter to the center of the chamber and turned her over to the security Auror.
With a bow to the entire room, he began. "Lords and Ladies of the British Wizengamot, I thank you for your time. Miss Rita Skeeter was apprehended in the headquarters of the Muggle Strategic Response Unit in Toronto, Canada. She was discovered by two underage wizards in her Animagus form, a blue beetle."
Gasps came from around the room and Lord Nott rose, lighting his wand to gain attention. "Miss Skeeter is not on the Animagus Registry, Auror Onasi; surely you are mistaken."
"With all due respect, sir, I am not," Auror Onasi refuted. "I cast the detection spell on her Animagus form myself as well as the Animagus reversal spell. I personally saw her transform back from her Animagus form." Murmurs rose, but the Auror continued, "As you know, Canada maintains its own Animagus Registry, just as all magical nations do. Miss Skeeter is not on our Registry and as you, sir, have just confirmed that she is not on Britain's Animagus Registry, then, unless she is on another country's Registry, she is unregistered."
He paused a moment to let the facts sink in. "Additionally," he announced, pulling several flat, white sheets from a folder in his hands, "I also have images of Miss Skeeter assuming her Animagus form inside the Muggle police station; these images were taken by a Muggle security camera and later removed by a member of our Auror Strategic Response Unit to preserve the Statute of Secrecy."
Clerk Dullard summoned the Muggle photos from Auror Onasi and used his wand to create several duplicates; the duplicates were passed out to the Wizengamot. The murmurs of the court turned angry as the pictures were passed from lord to lord. Auror Onasi wisely waited out the indignation and anger.
When the anger had died down to a dull roar, Auror Onasi cleared his throat and drew another piece of parchment from his folder. "In addition to violating the Statute of Secrecy and being an unregistered Animagus, Miss Skeeter also gained access to our public records archive under false pretenses; she claimed to be investigating Death Eater activity in Toronto during the War, but we have found no notes of any kind on her person. What we have found is evidence that an Animagus breached our Auror records during the same period of time as when Miss Skeeter had access to the public records archive. An Auror file was copied and the copy removed from our Auror Division headquarters." Auror Onasi's gaze turned hard as he regarded the Wizengamot. "We take any breach of our Auror records very seriously; if not for the diplomatic visa that Miss Skeeter was issued, we would be trying her ourselves for this crime."
Neville knew a cue when he saw it, so he rose to his feet and patiently waited to be recognized. When the Chief Warlock nodded to him, he inquired, "Auror Onasi, does your division have any idea of what Miss Skeeter did with the file she stole?"
Auror Onasi all but beamed at the question. "Although our evidence is circumstantial, we believe that Miss Skeeter gave the file to a British Lord who was also in our country under a diplomatic visa. Miss Skeeter was apprehended shortly after Lord Malfoy and the two British Aurors with him arrested a Canadian Auror on Canadian soil, in the middle of a Muggle police station."
Lord Malfoy didn't give them a chance to lead the questions around to Wordy; he rose to his feet and snarled, "Kevin Lestrange is a British citizen, Auror Onasi! And he is no Auror!"
Auror Onasi regarded Lord Malfoy, his face outwardly in control, but Neville saw his jaw twitch. After a second or so, the Auror shook his head slowly. "No, Lord Malfoy, Auror Kevin Wordsworth is a Canadian citizen. Regardless of who his father turned out to be, when he was born, he was issued a Canadian birth certificate, with a Canadian mother and father listed on it. Legally speaking, he is Kevin Wordsworth; the late Lord Lestrange would have had to lay claim to his son before said son's eighteenth birthday for him to have a British citizenship."
The Auror's eyes narrowed. "And he is a Canadian Auror, Lord Malfoy, regardless of your claims to the contrary. As Auror Wordsworth was unaware of his heritage at the time he was made an Auror, my division has chosen to take the position that he and we acted in good faith based upon our knowledge at the time and Auror Wordsworth's valid birth certificate."
Lord Malfoy nearly spat his retort. "A pretty play on words, Auror Onasi, but our families recognize blood and blood alone."
The Auror's jaw twitched again. "You arrested a Canadian Auror on our soil and dragged him here to Britain simply because you believed you could get away with it, Lord Malfoy." For an instant, it looked as if he would add something else, but he shook his head and clearly decided against whatever it was. Instead, he growled, "Because of your diplomatic visa, my country has no authority to return the favor, but consider this your notice that Canada will not accept you on our soil again; you violated our laws of jurisdiction, you violated the Statute of Secrecy in our country, and you have in your possession a confidential file concerning a Canadian Auror." Dismissively, Auror Onasi turned back to the rest of the Wizengamot. "Likewise, we will not accept Miss Skeeter back on our soil again. I rest my case."
The security Auror, at the Chief Warlock's gesture, pulled Rita Skeeter to the fore. "Release the silencing spells on her," the Chief Warlock ordered. When the spells were cancelled, the Chief Warlock inquired, "Have you anything to say in your defense, Miss Skeeter?"
Green eyes looked around the room wildly, searching for an escape, but there was none. Then she drew a breath and screeched, "I'm not the only unregistered Animagus; the two Calvin brats are Animagi and I've never seen them on the Registry!"
Attention swept to Harry as he rose to his feet, smirking. "That didn't sound like much of a defense to me, Miss Skeeter, merely an attempt to drag two innocents through the mud and into your mess." He turned to the rest of the Wizengamot. "Unfortunately for Miss Skeeter, her latest wild story is, as usual, quite wrong. The Calvins are on the Registry, though it is rather…obscure."
Skeeter shrieked in outrage. "I am not going to Azkaban alone! Arrest those two little miscreants!"
The Chief Warlock landed his gavel on his desk once more. "Order! Miss Skeeter, hold your silence or be silenced!" He shifted back to Harry. "Lord Potter, pray continue."
Harry inclined his head. "The issue dates back, Chief Warlock, to the dawn of the Animagus Registry itself. The Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Calvin at the time was Lord Leon Calvin, a friend of the then Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Alaic Moody. Now, Lord Calvin was a law-abiding wizard and after the Animagus Registry Bill was passed and made into law, he hastened at once to his friend and colleague with a peculiar request."
Neville glanced around; the Wizengamot was curious but confused by Harry's story, while Skeeter looked almost apoplectic that she was being ignored…Auror Onasi appeared rather relieved, making Neville's suspicions about the Auror rise. Harry's expression was solemn, but there was a hint of Marauderish glee underneath.
"It was with great surprise that Alaic Moody discovered that his friend wished to register the whole of the Calvin family as soon as could be." Whispering rose at this statement and the court looked ever more intrigued. "But Lord Calvin had a reservation regarding the Registry, a concern that the information within could be misused in the future. He asked that Alaic Moody take down the information regarding the Calvin family's traditional Animagus forms and seal the knowledge from the public eye, so that his family would not become a target or an object of curiosity as the ages marched on.
"Alaic Moody agreed to Lord Calvin's request and so the family name was added to the Registry with the understanding that any future members of the family would be covered under the original registration and that the Animagus forms themselves would be sealed by order of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Harry bestowed Rita Skeeter with a fierce predator's grin. "And so, Miss Skeeter, every member of the Calvin family born since that time has been registered from the hour of their birth." You lose, rang out, silent, but clear.
The Chief Warlock allowed the moment to hang, then turned back to Skeeter. "Have you anything else to say in your defense, Miss Skeeter?"
Defeat shone in the witch's eyes, but she was unable to admit it. "No, no, I didn't do anything wrong…it's all that Squib's fault…it's all his fault!"
Wordy's voice echoed in the chamber as he pushed himself up. "I don't remember telling you to break the law and steal my Auror file, I don't remember telling you to use your illegal Animagus form to spy on people and ruin their lives, and I definitely don't remember telling you to give my Auror file and home address to a former Death Eater! In fact, I don't even remember meeting you before, so how is it my fault that you ended up here today on trial?"
Though the Wizengamot was still on the fence regarding the suspected Squib, not a single one of them wanted Rita Skeeter or a former Death Eater to have access to their home address. Nor did any of them like Skeeter enough to defend her against the charges, particularly when the Canadian Ministry of Magic could still go to the ICW.
The Chief Warlock called the room to order once again and swept his gaze across the court. "We shall now vote on the matter before us. The clerk," Dullard inclined his head, "will now accept your votes either for or against conviction."
Neville turned his attention to the desk at his side, duly registering his vote for conviction with a quiet flick of his wand. For five minutes, silence reigned in the chamber, as the lords cast their votes and leaned back in their seats. Harry was smirking; his dislike and distaste for Rita Skeeter was well-known and well-understood…Skeeter had been a pest in Harry's life since fourth year and that blasted Tournament. Privately, Neville wondered if Harry had known about Skeeter's Animagus status…it would explain the article Skeeter had published in the Quibbler their fifth year.
It took some minutes, but eventually the votes were tallied and the Chief Warlock received the report from Clerk Dullard. The stern Chief Warlock lifted his wand and brightened the lights once, drawing attention back to the center. "Miss Rita Skeeter, on the charges that Canada has brought before us, the Wizengamot had rendered the following verdict. On the charge of being an unregistered Animagus, guilty."
Skeeter cried out in dismay, though it surely was not a surprise. The security Auror silenced her and bowed to the Chief Warlock.
"On the charge of violating the confidential Auror files of another country, guilty. On the charge of passing confidential Auror information to a person or entity outside of the Auror Department or Division, guilty. And on the charge of violating the Statute of Secrecy, guilty." The Chief Warlock leaned forward in his chair. "On many occasions, Miss Skeeter, you have been granted second chances, but we cannot ignore the evidence before us. This court sentences you to life in Azkaban and orders your wand snapped. Take her away."
The doors to the Wizengamot opened and the Aurors dragged Skeeter away, still kicking and screaming, even under the silencing spells. Neville glanced back at Wordy only to see him pale; Neville winced, Wordy was seeing what could well be him before the day was out.
The constable looked up, meeting Neville's eyes, and straightened his shoulders. No, Neville decided, no matter what, Kevin Wordsworth would face what came with far more dignity than Rita Skeeter had ever possessed. And by the Squib's side, the blonde phoenix trilled.
Author note: I hope you all enjoyed Rita's comeuppance...long overdue in my opinion. On the RL front, I'm still doing actual work instead of sitting around, but that may change. Monday was virtually all documentation busywork and, well, I got most of it done. *sigh* I guess I need to get better at spacing stuff out. So it goes.
Have a great week, please read, review, and pray; Happy Reading ya'll!
