harleyscars Chapter 294 The Failed First Hearing
Chapter 294 The Failed First Hearing
Chapter 295 The Failed First Hearing
"It was intentional! That Umbridge must have done it on purpose!"
Harry had never been so angry. He stood on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, at the entrance to the Department of Prohibition of the Misuse of Muggle Items, cursing Umbridge with Ron.
But this time even Hermione didn't remind them to watch their words, because she herself was quite angry.
It's obvious that Umbridge didn't want them to attend the hearing because of what he said in the elevator.
She herself didn't care, but Sirius was Harry's godfather, and it was too much to exclude Harry from such an important hearing.
Moreover, Harry is a direct witness; he personally witnessed Peter Pettigrew being rescued by his Death Eater companions... and his identity is more convincing than that of other witnesses.
But he couldn't even get into the courtroom.
"This is Umbridge's scheme!" Ron shouted indignantly. "She just doesn't want Sirius Black to be exonerated, that..."
Ron swore.
Hermione frowned, but ultimately said nothing.
"What should we do now?" She looked around, finally fixing her gaze on Xilen, and asked, "Is there any way to sneak in?"
"No," Siron said. "Apparition is forbidden in the Ministry of Magic, Portkeys are not allowed, the doors to the Inquisition are marked with the Revealing spell, and Polyjuice Potion is also unusable."
"So there's absolutely nothing we can do?" Hermione sighed in frustration.
"That's not entirely true..."
As soon as Xilun finished speaking, three pairs of eyes stared straight at him.
"What method?"
"Say it!"
……
"It's very simple." Xiren spread his hands. "As long as you can find the phoenix, and then figure out a way to get it to agree to bring you into the trial chamber, that's all you need to do."
"The phoenix is born with the ability to apparite, and is unaffected by any magical factors. In other words, the anti-apparition spell is completely useless against it."
This……
The three people's gazes, which had just come together, simultaneously scattered again.
They felt that the chances of success were much higher if they simply barged in, rather than trying to find a phoenix.
To date, there has only been one phoenix in the British wizarding world, the one that accompanied Dumbledore.
But Fox should still be at Hogwarts right now. Even if they are confident they can persuade Phoenix to help, by the time they get there and come back, the hearing will have already ended.
"Is there any other way?" Hermione asked.
"That's all," Siron said.
Harry and Ron were silent for a moment, then began cursing Umbridge again.
Xiren found a chair in the office and sat down.
"Aren't you worried?" Hermione asked as she walked over.
"Don't worry," Sirius said, shaking his head. "As long as they don't forbid Dumbledore, there's nothing to worry about. He'll always find a way to solve the problem."
Hermione looked at Siren with suspicion but said nothing.
However, it soon became clear that Celen was right.
About half an hour later, Mr. Weasley returned.
"Is the hearing over?" Harry stood up immediately. "How did it go? Is Sirius alright...?"
"I can't answer your question, and the hearing isn't over yet," Mr. Weasley said quickly. "There's no time to explain now, Harry. Come with me quickly; they need your testimony."
Mr. Weasley pulled Harry toward the elevator.
"Only Harry, Ron." In the elevator, Mr. Weasley turned to Ron, who had followed him, and said, "They still don't allow underage wizards to attend hearings unless you have some special testimony."
Ron stopped in his tracks.
He didn't offer any special testimony, of course. In fact, he had been in the common room almost the entire time after leaving the Quidditch pitch that day. As for what happened outside, he only heard about it from Harry.
To put it another way, even if Umbridge hadn't deliberately targeted him this time, he might not have been able to get into the trial room.
Oh, and the same goes for Xilun.
Although he witnessed the entire process in the most detailed way, it was as an Animagus, and an illegal Animagus who was not registered with the Ministry of Magic.
If he were to actually testify, it's uncertain whether Sirius would be in any trouble, but he would definitely be in trouble.
Mr. Weasley hurriedly left with Harry.
Instead of waiting there, Siren went to the lobby on the first floor and returned to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network.
Ron will definitely be going back to the Burrow with Mr. Weasley and Harry, and Hermione should be going too, since the three of them came together and it's unlikely they'll meet at the door.
But since Siron wasn't going to the Burrow, even if he stayed at the Ministry of Magic, he was just waiting for a result.
But even in Diagon Alley, someone will tell him the answer.
……
The hearing lasted longer than expected, starting in the morning and not ending until around 5 p.m., a total of nearly eight hours.
When Lupin pushed open the door of the wand shop, his face looked even paler than when they first met.
"How did it go?" Xilun asked.
"That's a bit of a problem," Lupin said. "Because there's no direct evidence that the person who rescued Peter was a Death Eater, we can't say for sure that Peter was a Death Eater."
"This... even Headmaster Dumbledore can't do anything about it?" Siren continued to ask.
"If it weren't for Dumbledore, this hearing would probably have ended in failure long ago," Lupin said, his tone unconsciously tinged with gratitude.
"He found a lot of clues and evidence from over a decade ago to prove that Sirius did not betray James."
"Is there any evidence from more than ten years ago?" Xilun asked doubtfully.
"Memory," Lupin said. "Dumbledore found several key figures from back then and obtained their memories."
"One of the Muggles, a survivor of the street bombing, heard Peter confess that he had betrayed James."
"Such important evidence, and it's only been found now?" Xilun was somewhat incredulous.
"Because nobody cared at the time." Lupin's face darkened. "Everyone thought Sirius was the murderer, so there was no investigation, no trial, and they just sent him to Azkaban."
"Well... okay."
There was no trial process, so naturally no one would collect any evidence.
"It's just as useful now, isn't it?" Siren said.
"You're right."
The two chatted for a while longer before Lupin prepared to leave. Before leaving, he turned and glanced at Siron, saying something meaningful.
"Regarding the address I gave you before, you can actually go there anytime, without waiting until the hearing is over. This is also Sirius's idea."
……
(End of this chapter)