The noise in the hall was surprising. Well, surprising to me, because there were only two children or even teenagers here: me and Potter, and all the others were "important" adult wizards. But that didn't stop them from gossiping so much that you couldn't even hear your own thoughts. Anyway, as you might have guessed, today we are to attend a court hearing about... It is hard for me to even say what the trial is about.
No, I know that the main idea of the whole thing is to nail Dumbledore and the islanders, to enforce other people's orders and interests, but I never bothered to find out what the final official reason was — I'm just not interested. Besides, it was decided to divide the trial into several "subplots", in the sense that they would work point by point to better understand the situation, and today was the day when many interests would collide with mine... or so I thought at first.
Harry Potter was standing next to me, the guy had a strange look on his face because of his mixed feelings. And I can understand him, because the guy is not morally mature enough to have the right to make his own political decisions.
No, I'm not talking about the guy who suddenly demanded that Dumbledore, who had taken over his guardianship, take back his right to vote in the Wizengamot, which the Headmaster had used without remorse all these years. And I'm not talking about any of the other grievances that Potter has every right to have with the current government, and with Dumbledore and Fudge in particular.
I'm talking about the fact that after our conversation at Greengrass Manor, the teenager went, as he was supposed to, to The Burrow, where he was met by the kind headmaster who happened to be there, and, as fate would have it, Dumbledore immediately began questioning the boy about everything and everyone.
There were no particular secrets, in the sense of real secrets, but the fact that some of the events only concerned certain species, and that foreign noses and beards were absolutely unnecessary, we explained to the boy. And also literally on the fingers justified the possible trouble in which he, Harry, can be drawn by outsiders simply because they do not know some of the nuances.
And at the very end, when we parted, I warned him that the headmaster might start asking questions and would be very persistent in this case, even giving him some of the most "innocent" examples and explaining what could actually be learned from such questions.
And if Harry wants to stay "on his own", he'd better think about what he's talking about, otherwise the good old man will start urging him not to hurry, to take a break, to think, and there and then, you see, and forget such a "bad" Arlet, who distracts our "irreplaceable" and "only" Hero of Light from the righteous deeds. I didn't mention all the possibilities for the development of the situation, and how could I know them all, but that was enough for Potter: he went to the Burrow extremely pensive.
Today, however, we met an hour and a half before the hearing was to begin, and the boy quietly confirmed that the Headmaster had indeed begun to delve into 'personal' matters, as if it were a matter of course. This moment made the boy very tense, and Harry even tried to keep quiet about everything else, fearing that he would be immediately tyrannized.
However, he wasn't used to the fact that he had a new piece of jewelry — a ring on his finger, which the headmaster noticed immediately (judging by the boy's story), but he didn't pull it off immediately — he brought the conversation to this topic very nicely.
They were talking in the kitchen, and Molly Weasley was there, and Arthur was legitimately enjoying his coffee and newspaper, and the younger ones, I think, were warming their ears. With their talents, it would be strange if they weren't.
So it was not at all surprising that when Dumbledore asked about the ring, there were several muffled squeaks from the doorway. Well, we warned him about that as well, and about what was to come.
And then the Headmaster, with full dedication, thought and imagination, stirred the boy's brain and brought the matter to such a point that he almost agreed to break off his engagement to Millicenta, only to be stopped by the fact that it could not be done at the moment. Later, the teenager collected his thoughts, thought about it a bit, and realized that Albus Dumbledore was saying literally the same things we had warned him about.
On the one hand, the boy still believes the Headmaster because he is a powerful authority for him, but on the other hand, the elder's behavior raises certain doubts, and first of all, it is important that Harry still managed to ask Dumbledore about the restoration of the Potter family: whether he will help him in this case.
The grandfather, however, made a strange speech about prejudices that should be fought, and also about the fact that Harry should come to his senses after a vacation with a foreign culture.
In other words, the guy has to give up everything, but it's unclear why and for what. Well, or something like that. As a "control" the guy manages to ask the headmaster why the school doesn't teach the laws of Magical Britain, because in Britain these lessons are compulsory for everyone, starting from the third year.
The headmaster replied that the laws were a complicated matter, not for children, and that learning them was a purely personal matter. And so he left, apparating away.
He stayed up half the night — organizing his thoughts, trying to combine all the information he had. Analyzing wasn't something the Gryffindor was used to, but he had come to some conclusions, so he told me about them before the meeting. He added that the Headmaster would arrive half an hour before the meeting and "give Harry the right answers to any questions he might have".
I couldn't help smiling: I shook my head and advised him to ask our lawyer how this was legal, especially under a magical oath during the trial. These are not British sessions, where the use of "Veritaserum" is a rare occurrence, and so everything is done as in Muggles.
In Europe, wizards do not forget who they are, even the simplest citizens, so during the trial, standard oaths are given "for a day" or "for an hour", and for the same reason, in European magical countries, trials are not so common, because it is enough to ask just a few questions, and everything becomes clear. Or special runic tools are used, like the "Circle of Truth" or a chair with runic chains.
No, it's quite possible to lie, if you don't mind a tangle of not-so-nice curses that are not easy to get rid of. Or something else, depending on how far a particular government and legal system is willing to go.
In Japan, as far as I know, it's even stricter, somewhere on the level of the US, so it rarely goes to court, and those who do have to go to court have only two choices: either you're innocent and can prove it. Or you're not smart enough to escape or commit suicide before the bailiffs do. I won't talk about the methods of execution — it's brutal, even compared to what the Inquisition did. What a beautiful and wonderful fairy tale we live in.
Meanwhile, Potter was safely talking to the grey-bearded headmaster of the wizarding school, receiving from him the cherished paper, which he immediately showed to our lawyer — Gustav Klein, from a respected but not old breed of lawyers and human rights activists, but I have already mentioned him.
The stone-faced German studied the paper, then used a whole series of incantations, the meaning of which I could not determine. When he finished, the man snorted and smiled sarcastically with thin, bloodless lips.
— Mr. Potter, this paper has only your fingerprints on it; no forensic examination will ever prove that you received it from your Headmaster. Unfortunately, we can't use it in this case.
— But that's not why I... — Harry looked at me, confused, and shifted his gaze to me.
— Don't worry, it's just that lawyers are a different kind of people and they have their own views on life and values. — I nodded respectfully at the giggling lawyer. — And what Mr. Klein's words mean is that everything a wizard has held in his hands, or as in our case, created, can be defined by its history. We, the gifted, always and everywhere radiate magic around us, and by these imprints we can determine a great deal. Do you understand me?
Potter nodded dumbfounded and shifted his gaze to the sheet of paper in his manicured fingers. Arleth is definitely a great influence on the boy, for he has learned several special charms to tidy up his appearance and take care of himself.
For example, the teenager has learned to control his hair, and the broken nails on his hands have begun to look much neater, as has his overall appearance, turning the usual yard kid into something more pleasing to the eye. With a guy like that and a girl like that, there would be no shame in going out in public.
The hearing began pompously: the secretary tapped the ceremonial staff three times on the floor, the room fell silent, and at that moment the judges, or something like them, came out of the side door.
I used the word "pompous" because the hall is very large, with stands for spectators, and by my estimate there were at least a thousand of them. That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? I think so, it's not a concert, it's a rehearsal. Although, it depends...
The next forty minutes were spent with speeches, long explanations of the reason for this event, they said that there had been unrest on the territory of Britain for a long time, and it was not only about the war with Riddle, but also used one of the main trump cards — an attack on the Quidditch World Cup. Especially since Fudge had really pissed everyone off with the amount of money invested and the "unprecedented" security measures.
Fatty, of course, tried to pin the blame on Scrimgeour and Bones, but they were no fools, and every order from the Minister was kept in a special file, so any attacks from the Minister were immediately fended off with enviable regularity. Incidentally, the hearing began with this case, and Fudge immediately tried to shift the blame in front of everyone.
Of course, I doubt that a stupid man could become a minister, but why he did not think about the possible reaction of his subordinates I do not understand. But that's exactly what he did, of course he heard the protest of "those responsible for the poor quality of the defense system" and then he started something I didn't expect.
Frankly, I didn't expect it at all. The thing is that the banal bazaar and shit started. Five hours of my life were spent watching the bickering of "market women" — that's what my math teacher in a previous life called such scenes.
It is impossible to imagine my disappointment at what I saw. I expected to see grown-up people solving serious problems. No, I understand why they organized all this, but I didn't think that the redistribution of power would turn into a long verbal argument, shifting responsibility from one to the other and trying to prove something in the style of "You weren't there! And, characteristically, this turned out to be the norm for everyone, and no one was outraged at the disruption of the rules, even our lawyer was following the chatter closely.
It made me very sad. How, that's how these people survive, if they can't control themselves even in such situations and make a circus where they shouldn't. What's wrong with these people? Why do the talented ones, when they gather in numbers of more than ten, turn everything into some kind of foolishness?
After all, these judges could first get a good understanding of the details of the case, sink those who need it, or on the contrary, give a helping hand with the expectation of collecting this "small" debt, and after all this gloating. But no, these people began to sneer right in the meeting, in front of numerous witnesses. And if that was the introduction, I didn't understand its purpose at all.
Albus Dumbledore spoke, then Minister Fudge spoke again, then his secretary of three months was given the floor for some reason, then the judges went over the reputations of the two Britons with dirty shoes, expressing doubts about the suitability of their skills for their positions. In response, they heard the exact same thing about themselves, and that was the end of the hearing.
We were not even mentioned — so absorbed were they in gloating and bickering. We returned in silence and with mixed feelings. I was disappointed in the world and in myself, for it was I who had been deceived by these people (magicians).