Chapter 159: The Third Interrogation Room
Chapter 159: The Third Interrogation Room
Hanson wasn't alone at the security checkpoint; several other wizards were nearby. Upon hearing Hanson's words, they rushed over to shake Harry's hand.
"After such a long time at school, I almost forgot that Harry has fans all over the British wizarding world,"
Sighed Vernon, turning to Lupin, "Do you think we're late?"
Lupin shared the same concern. He pushed through the crowd and finally managed to extricate Harry.
"Excuse me, gentlemen! We have business to attend to, so if you could please make way..."
Harry straightened his skewed glasses and asked, "Mr. Hanson, could you perform the security check for us now?"
"Of course, of course,"
Hanson waved a thin golden rod over each of their fronts and backs, from top to bottom, much like an airport metal detector.
Then he asked Harry to place his wand on a brass machine that resembled a balance scale. After a moment, the machine spat out a narrow strip of paper.
"Eleven inches, holly, phoenix feather, and one year of use, correct?" Hanson asked.
"Yes." Harry glanced at the onlookers nearby and felt like a monkey in a zoo.
The wizards smiled warmly at him.
Hanson also smiled and said, "Well-maintained. Mr. Ollivander would be pleased if he saw this."
He returned the wand to Harry and then pinned the paper strip to a small brass nail.
When it was Lupin and Vernon's turn, Hanson's attitude became strictly businesslike.
"Yew, unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches, and 21 years of use?"
"Yes," Lupin said.
"White birch, unicorn hair, twelve inches, and one year of use..." Hanson glanced at Vernon, "Are you from Hufflepuff? I was in Hufflepuff House as well."
"No," Vernon said, "I'm from Ravenclaw."
"Oh..."
Hanson's friendly smile vanished, but when he turned to look at Harry again, his enthusiastic attitude returned.
"Mr. Potter, where are you headed? I can show you the way."
"That's alright, Hanson. They're with me!"
Arthur Weasley suddenly squeezed out from the crowd and draped an arm around Harry's shoulder, leading the trio towards a wide-open golden door.
"You're a bit late, Lupin," Mr. Weasley said.
"Sorry, Arthur, the people at the Ministry were a bit too enthusiastic," Lupin said, straightening his clothes, which had become disheveled from the crowd, and escorting Vernon forward.
A group of colorful paper airplanes whooshed by, resembling a flock of birds.
They passed through the golden door and entered the elevator lobby, where at least twenty elevators were present. A small crowd was waiting for the elevators.
"Hey, Arthur," someone greeted Mr. Weasley, "How's work been lately?"
Mr. Weasley nodded, "Aside from a Muggle who almost had his nose bitten off by his cup, everything's been fine."
The group approached one of the elevators, and Mr. Weasley pressed the downward button.
"Dumbledore's already here," Mr. Weasley whispered to Lupin, "and there are quite a few foreign reporters... Fudge wanted to hold the interrogation in the Tenth Courtroom, but because of those people, he had to change it to the Third Courtroom..."
Lupin seemed relieved to be familiar with both places. "That's a relief..."
"Let me remind you all to stay calm, alright? No matter what happens in the courtroom, the one who loses their temper always loses..." Mr. Weasley said.
"I understand.
Lupin clenched his hand twice, his tone still calm, "Those who disrupt the order of the court will be thrown out, and I certainly won't let that happen."
"That's good," Mr. Weasley said, slightly relieved.
Vidal and Harry looked at Lupin.
Since they got to know each other, Lupin has always been calm and rational. Professor McGonagall even got angry with her students, but Lupin has always been incredibly emotionally stable.
But why does Lupin give off the impression of being a hot-tempered guy who would flip the table at the slightest disagreement?
Harry thought it was because they had such a deep relationship.
As for Vidal's idea, he used to think that among the four of them, Lupin was the one who was led astray by his friends to do bad things. But it seemed that others didn't see it that way...
The elevator soon arrived.
They got off the elevator and went down to the underground floor. They walked down the steps, the rough stone walls were embedded with many torches, and the air was still chilly and damp.
"We're here, the Third Courtroom."
Mr. Weasley said, pushing open a black door with all his might.
It was clear that many torches and floating magic candles had been added temporarily to illuminate the entire hall.
On both sides were rows of ascending seats, almost filled with people. Almost everyone was talking, and the courtroom was filled with noise.
In the front row were also a dozen or so reporters, with bulky cameras hanging around their necks, and someone was writing furiously.
Among them, a woman with jewel-encrusted glasses and golden curly hair was particularly eye-catching. She wore a fluorescent pink skirt, which looked out of place in the dark courtroom.
The other reporters instinctively kept their distance from her, whether it was wariness or disgust.
Vidal and the others' entrance hardly caused any stir. Mr. Weasley led them along the narrow staircase on the side all the way to the top, and then found a few empty seats to sit down.
After a while, someone else sat down next to them. As he sat down, the wooden chair creaked.
Vidal looked up and saw that the man beside him had a terrifying appearance, with messy, gray-white hair, a scarred face, and a mouth that looked like a crooked gash.
The eye on the side closer to Vidal was very strange, constantly moving like a flexible pointer, suddenly turning towards Vidal.
Caught off guard, Vidal was startled.
The wizard laughed and asked in a hoarse voice, "Don't mind me sitting next to you, kid?"
Even with the most polite tone, he still sounded like a threat.
Harry was so startled that his eyes widened and his body stiffened, probably thinking that this was some dangerous Dark wizard.
At the umbrella shop, he had also heard Theo mention how he and his brother had almost been kidnapped but were later saved by a stranger.
"Of course not, please sit down," Vidal said to the wizard.
"You've got guts, kid." The wizard mumbled, his blue eyes rolling again before landing on Harry, staring at the scar on his forehead for a while before falling silent.
"Good morning, Moody," Lupin greeted him, "I didn't expect to see you here."
"After retiring, I can't very well turn a deaf ear and blind eye to everything, can I?"
Moody took out a curved bottle and took a big gulp, saying, "Besides, Sirius was once my comrade-in-arms."
"I want to see for myself if he's truly innocent or if he's tricked you lot with some cunning ploy!"
(End of Chapter)
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