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Chapter 959: Witness, Lucius Malfoy
Chapter 959: Witness, Lucius Malfoy
Kyle was no stranger to the Ministry of Magic's courtroom, having been there twice before.
The first time was for the trial of Peter Pettigrew, which revealed the true informant from seventeen years ago.
The other time was when the Death Eaters turned the tables and tried to frame him for the murder of a wizard...
Kyle narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling the masterminds behind it all... those three damn Death Eaters.
One of them, Carcaroff, hadn't been seen since, likely killed by Voldemort.
And the other... who was it again? Oh yes, Walton MacNair, a member of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and the most ostracized position in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
This was also the main reason MacNair was able to continue working at the Ministry despite being suspected of being a Death Eater.
After all, this position, along with the Office for the Resettlement of House-Elves, belonged to the most deserted departments, with pitifully low salaries, and it might take over a decade to see a new recruit.
Moreover, unlike the Office for the Resettlement of House-Elves, everyone in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, including the Director, avoided dealing with the person in this position.
The lack of volunteers allowed MacNair to take advantage of the situation.
However, he seemed to have disappeared as well, either in hiding or killed.
Of the three Death Eaters from back then, only Malfoy remained alive...
Kyle suddenly felt a bit of regret. He muttered, "That damn guy, I shouldn't have let him off so easily."
"What did you say?" Professor McGonagall, sitting next to him, turned to look.
"Oh, nothing," Kyle shook his head. "Hasn't the hearing started yet?"
"It should be about to begin," Professor McGonagall glanced into the courtroom.
At this time, the tiered seats were already filled with people, and Amelia Bones had also arrived.
"Let's go in," Professor McGonagall said, leading the way, with Kanna and Kyle following closely behind.
Compared to the Tenth Chamber where Peter Pettigrew was tried, this courtroom seemed slightly smaller and lacked the eerie atmosphere.
Perhaps it was due to the increased number of windows.
The Tenth Chamber had only a small palm-sized window, relying solely on the oil lamps on the walls for lighting. In contrast, this courtroom had a more reasonable number of windows, all enchanted, allowing bright sunlight to stream in, resembling a slightly larger classroom at Hogwarts.
Snape was also inside.
Since this was a hearing and not a trial, Snape was not confined to a specially made iron cage like the other Death Eaters.
There wasn't even a basic iron chain on his chair; instead, he sat with several wizards on the opposite side of Amelia.
Kanna was assigned to a specific position on the left, while Professor McGonagall took a seat next to Snape.
As for Kyle, he had to sit with the other members of the Wizengamot on the tiered seats.
There were approximately thirty attendees, all wearing violet-red robes, curiously observing Snape below, along with Professor McGonagall by his side.
As Kyle sat down in the last row, the two people next to him were whispering.
"I heard this Severus is Dumbledore's man..."
"Who knows? Dumbledore's been dead for a long time. Maybe he's just trying to escape blame."
"Not necessarily. If that were the case, Minerva wouldn't be working so hard to help him."
"That's true, but I still find it hard to believe that someone could be an undercover agent among the Death Eaters without being discovered."
"Let's see what evidence they present."
...
The two spoke while curiously examining Kyle.
"I remember, you came in with Minerva..."
"This is the seating area for the Wizengamot members. Accompanying personnel sit on the left below."
"That's right, I should be sitting here." Kyle turned to show the Second Class Order of Merlin medal hanging on his chest.
"Oh, the Order of Merlin..." One of the elderly wizards exclaimed, "I know, you must be Kyle, the youngest Second Class recipient that Albus mentioned."
"If there isn't another person with that name, then it's indeed me," Kyle politely nodded.
The 'Albus' he referred to was likely Albus Dumbledore, the Minister of Magic from a century and a half ago. After retiring, he became a well-known socialite in the magical community.
Kyle had met him through Nicole and had been corresponding by letters in recent years.
"It's great to see you here.
"The old wizard chuckled and extended his hand.
'My pleasure,' Kyle said,
'I didn't expect to see you here, let alone Professor McGonagall,' the other old wizard leaned in, 'Snape must be quite popular at Hogwarts, especially with Slytherin. Perhaps he was indeed Albus' choice.'
'That... is one way to put it,' Kyle replied vaguely.
Snape was indeed popular, but only within Slytherin House. To the other three Houses, especially Gryffindor, they dreamed of expelling Snape from the school.
If this hearing were to pass, they would probably be heartbroken to tears.
'Very well.'
At this moment, Amelia Bones' voice came from below, 'Since everyone is here, let's begin.'
'It's time for your statement.' She looked at Snape, 'You claim to have worked for Dumbledore, and we need to know the detailed reasons and process.
'You will record this, Mr. Weasley.' She spoke to the other side.
'Yes, Minister.' Percy shifted his gaze away from Snape.
To be honest, as a Gryffindor, Percy also disliked Snape. After all, he was the one who loved to deduct points from Gryffindor, especially after Harry's enrollment, leaving them with no chance for the House Cup, and they were always at the bottom.
This also made Percy feel a bit embarrassed when facing the other Heads of Houses.
However, deep down, he still didn't want a Hogwarts professor to be a Death Eater.
Percy pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses and held a quill, ready to record.
'That was seventeen years ago. Sybill Trelawney made a prophecy about the savior in the Hog's Head, and I happened to hear it...'
Snape's voice was calm as he recounted the events of that time.
'Wait a moment...' A few minutes later, Amelia suddenly interrupted him.
'Do you mean that you revealed the content of the prophecy to Voldemort?'
'Yes.' Snape clenched his fist tightly, and his voice became dry for the first time, 'But at the time, I didn't realize that the person Voldemort would believe to be the one in the prophecy was... Lily Evans.'
Amelia's eyes flickered, 'Well, continue, and we need more detailed evidence.'
The subsequent events were exactly as he had seen in the memories.
However, Kyle noticed that Snape deliberately concealed his feelings for Lily Evans, or rather, he redirected this affection into a more ordinary friendship, but the other wizards present didn't seem to notice.
Perhaps, in their eyes, it was a perfectly normal thing for two wizards with exceptional potion-making skills to become friends.
Of course, it could also be that Lily had already married.
But not everyone thought so.
Take the two old wizards who had been chatting with Kyle earlier, for example. They sat there, listening to Snape intently, and unlike the others' serious expressions, they would occasionally burst into a fit of hehehe laughter.
'Love...' one of them whispered in awe,
but his voice was too soft, and even Kyle, who was sitting close by, couldn't make out the rest of his words.
After about half an hour, Snape finally finished speaking, and a buzz of discussion emerged from the platform.
How to put it... If you look at it from Snape's perspective, he didn't seem entirely innocent.
Because he had once been a Death Eater and had leaked the most important secret... the content of the prophecy about the savior.
For this alone, he should have been thrown directly into Azkaban.
But it was because he told Voldemort about the prophecy that Voldemort later sought out the Potter family, and the savior, Harry Potter, as an infant, killed him.
So, in a sense, Snape played a role in fulfilling the prophecy.
This made it a bit unclear whether Snape should be considered a hero or a villain.
The original text can be found in Chapter 9 of Book 6!
'Please be quiet.' Amelia tapped a wooden hammer on the table.
She already knew all of this, so she remained calm.
'Next, we need you to provide more detailed evidence to support your claim.'
'Here.' Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a sparkling bottle.
'This is Albus Dumbledore's memory, which can prove that Severus Snape is not lying.'
At Bones' signal, a large mirror that had been prepared earlier was brought in.
The mirror was antique, as if it had existed for many years, and its faded frame was engraved with magical runes similar to those on the Pensieve.
Professor McGonagall poured the memories from the bottle onto the mirror, and the surface immediately displayed the scenes from the memories like a movie.
Kyle leaned forward with interest, but after watching for a while, he sat back down.
This mirror could also play memories, but it was far inferior to the Pensieve, which allowed one to directly experience the memories.
However, in this situation, the mirror was more convenient.
The content of the memories was largely consistent with what Snape had said, but there were some differences.
"Voldemort once captured Harry Potter during the Triwizard Tournament?" Some people were startled by this news and couldn't help but look towards the front where Minister Borens was sitting.
"We've already questioned Harry Potter, and it's true," Borens said softly, but this immediately sparked a chaotic discussion in the courtroom.
Until the second bombshell...
"Didn't he realize that the Dark Lord intentionally lured him to the Department of Mysteries?"
The Department of Mysteries...
"Oh, I remember now. The first appearance of the mysterious person was at the Ministry of Magic, and Dumbledore stopped him."
"I remember that too. The battle destroyed the Great Hall and almost tore down the entire Ministry."
"Was it him who informed Dumbledore about this?"
The discussion among the people grew louder.
And when the word "Horcrux" appeared, the discussion turned into a noisy uproar, almost lifting the roof of the courtroom.
Now they finally understood why Voldemort could make a comeback, and it turned out to be due to the use of Horcruxes.
The memory ended here, and Amelia Bones had to knock the wooden hammer several times to calm everyone down.
"For this part, we need to verify the authenticity of the memory before making a judgment."
"No problem," Professor McGonagall agreed without hesitation.
"We need more supplementary evidence."
"Of course." Professor McGonagall, who was well-prepared, took out a thick stack of parchments.
"Here is all the information related to Horcruxes in recent years. This is what Albus Dumbledore has been working on."
"I think many of you have had similar doubts. The reason why Albus Dumbledore didn't go after the Death Eaters is that he has been searching for and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes."
Under Professor McGonagall's stern gaze, some people lowered their heads, feeling a bit guilty.
Kyle hadn't expected that Snape's hearing would also help Dumbledore regain some reputation.
But on second thought...
Most of the Horcruxes were destroyed by Dumbledore, and he only found the Philosopher's Stone...
Oh well, Dumbledore is Dumbledore, Kyle thought, feeling that it was fine to put it this way. Even if others knew what the Horcruxes were, they would only think that Dumbledore had found them.
At the same time, no one would know that the crown, cup, and locket had always been in his possession.
Although he might have earned a First Class Order of Merlin for this, compared to those three items, the so-called Order of Merlin seemed utterly useless.
Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall casually tossed the parchments from the podium, and they flew in all directions, precisely landing in front of each person.
For the next period, everyone quietly read the contents.
"These are just your words, and they can't be used as direct evidence."
"It's fine," Professor McGonagall said, "We have a witness, and he's outside."
Percy glanced at Borens and, upon receiving a nod of confirmation, took the initiative to walk towards the door.
After a while, he returned, followed by Lucius Malfoy.
He kept his word and not only came to the Ministry of Magic voluntarily but also as a witness.
Kyle narrowed his eyes and sighed softly.
What a pity, he thought. He secretly wished Lucius hadn't kept his promise.
This coward was too timid. Why didn't he just solve the problem with Galleons like before? Did he really want to go to Azkaban?
Moreover, he is now a student at Hogwarts. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't break into the Malfoy Manor and kill him.
What was there to be afraid of?
Furthermore, it seemed that Lucius had found Professor McGonagall beforehand and reached some kind of agreement with her, which was why he appeared as a witness at this time.
Kyle tapped his leg lightly.
Why does this guy seem smarter now?
...
(End of Chapter)
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