Lupin fell silent for a mont.
He felt Moody hadn't ant "naive" but rather "foolish."
Yet… trusting Sirius was sothing that felt entirely natural to him.
He had been wrong for eleven years—Am I supposed to continue to make the sa mistake?
Back in their school days, the four of them had always stuck together, though they each had a closer bond with certain friends.
Sirius betrayed Jas, and Lupin felt that betrayal more deeply than anyone. But the instant he learned that Peter Pettigrew was still alive, he knew he had been wrong.
He realized he should trust his own heart's judgnt rather than listening to the so-called "facts" everyone else accepted.
But such sentints were likely beyond Moody's understanding.
So Lupin simply forced a small smile and said quietly, "I believe in him."
Harry gathered his courage, looked at Moody's intimidating face, and said, "I… I believe in him too."
The blue magical eye swiveled sharply onto him, as did Moody's real dark eye.
Harry felt nervous, his palms were sweating, but he insisted, "I trust that the godfather my father chose for … is not a traitor!"
Moody laughed, but unusually, there was no hint of sarcasm in it.
"…Kid!"
He muttered under his breath.
Suddenly, the entire room fell silent.
The door on the side of the courtroom opened, and several wizards walked in—the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge; a witch with gray hair and a monocle; and a wizard with a fierce expression and a mane of hair like a lion's.
They took their seats on the high benches at the center.
Next, about a dozen people in deep magenta robes filed in and took their seats on either side, their faces were serious and imposing.
The courtroom noise quickly died down.
A clear tapping sound rang out, and the gray-haired witch spoke with a blank expression, "Bring in Sirius Black."
Lupin leaned forward sharply, his hands were gripping the back of the chair in front of him and his knuckles were going pale, while Harry instinctively stood up.
Moody put down his flask, and gripped his cane with both hands.
Wade looked up, and his gaze was fixed on a small door in the corner.
The door opened.
Harry nearly gasped, and there was a brief hum of whispers from the crowd.
Two creatures cloaked in long robes, each nearly three ters tall, floated in slowly. Their decayed, scabbed hands gripped the arms of the man between them as they carried him toward the central armchair.
The faces beneath the creatures' hoods seed to be breathing, taking deep, rattling breaths that sent a wave of coldness across the room.
Even at this distance, Harry felt his hands and feet grow icy. Many of the wizards in the room wore expressions of mixed disgust and fear.
"What… what are those?" Harry asked.
"Dentors," Wade replied.
His Occluncy skill was now strong enough that the dentors' influence didn't affect him much.
——So those are Dentors.
Harry thought to himself.
He had previously heard that many prisoners in Azkaban went mad, and he had found it hard to believe. But now, seeing the dentors with his own eyes, he suddenly understood.
He looked at the man being held between the dentors.
He hung his head as if he were unconscious, his tangled, filthy hair falling over his face. His skin was as white as wax, and his body was so thin it seed skeletal.
A set of ragged, tattered clothes clung to his fra like a shroud of rags. Around his bony ankles were shackles, and the iron chains trailed along the ground, jangling as he walked.
Wade suddenly heard a quiet, rattling sound. He looked up to see Lupin staring intently at the skeletal figure of Sirius, his face was tense and expressionless, but his hands trembling slightly.
Wade lowered his gaze.
The dentors placed Sirius in the central chair, and the chains on the armrests suddenly glowed gold, snaking around him like a serpent to bind him tightly in place.
Then, the dentors floated slowly out of the room, drifting like trails of black smoke.
A collective sigh of relief rose from the courtroom. The reporters craned their necks, their eyes were fixed on Sirius in the chair as they snapped a flurry of photos.
In the front row, Dumbledore remained calm, but most of the other wizards wore visible expressions of displeasure.
The clear sound of a gavel rang out again, forcing the reporters to lower their caras and pick up their quills, but their faces were still alight with excitent.
"Record!" The gray-haired witch announced in a cold voice, "The retrial on November 14 for the case of Sirius Black: accused of joining the Dark Lord, betraying the location of Jas and Lily Potter, and, upon discovery, killing thirteen people."
"Interrogators: Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge; Head of the Departnt of Magical Law Enforcent, Alia Susan Bones; and Head of the Auror Office, Rufus Scrimgeour. Court Recorder: Albireo Ima."
"Defense representative: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."
Dumbledore, seated to the side, stood up and said, "Given the poor condition of the defendant, Sirius Black, I will be speaking on his behalf."
A faint stir rippled through the audience in the courtroom, and most mbers of the Wizengamot, dressed in purple robes, smiled in Dumbledore's direction.
Fudge's displeasure beca more apparent as he looked around, seemingly hoping soone would object. But neither Alia Bones nor Rufus Scrimgeour spoke up.
Reluctantly, Fudge said, "Well… very well, Dumbledore… this is allowed…"
Ignoring Fudge's reluctance, Dumbledore stood and walked over to Sirius Black, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The warmth of a living touch seed to pull Sirius out of a suppressed state; he slowly raised his head to look at Dumbledore.
His eyes, which were sunken deep within their sockets, appeared dark and hollow, devoid of any visible emotion.
"Ladies and gentlen, I believe most of you rember that yesterday, we conducted a hearing here for Peter Pettigrew"
Dumbledore said: "Due to the age of the case and its complexity, we permitted the use of Veritaserum during questioning…"
At the ntion of that familiar na, Sirius Black suddenly froze, and a shadowy glimr seed to flicker in his eyes.
He stared intently at Dumbledore.
In the audience, a few people looked worried, so even signaling for the white-bearded headmaster to step back—as if they feared Sirius might lunge at him.
But Dumbledore remained in place, and continued his statent.
"Under the effects of the potion, Peter Pettigrew made a full confession of his cris. He admitted that he was the true Secret-Keeper for the Potters and that he was the one who betrayed their location to Voldemort…"
Sirius Black suddenly let out a hoarse cry—
"Peter Pettigrew? He's alive?"
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⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- 145 Chapters & 2 Chapters/Day
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