After Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge's silvery laugh, the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up.
He didn't know what others thought, but he really couldn't help it, so he lowered his voice and said to Sherlock: "That... I thought I'd hear a hoarse voice..."
Sherlock smiled slightly. "Little friend, judging by appearances is wrong."
Harry: "..."
While that was true, watching a middle-aged woman emit such laughter, Harry still felt a strong sense of discomfort.
Fortunately, Sirius began his statement at that moment, so Harry immediately fell silent and listened attentively.
"I once thought it was a good idea—suggesting James and Lily switch Secret-Keepers at the last moment. Because I thought they wouldn't notice such an inconspicuous character instead of me."
As he said this, he gazed at Peter Pettigrew, his voice low and suppressed. Every word he spoke seemed forcibly squeezed from his chest, carrying intense hatred and the agony of betrayal.
"But I never imagined that precisely this most inconspicuous person would be the one to betray us!"
All two hundred-plus wizards in the courtroom stared at Sirius.
As Mrs. Weasley had said, after careful grooming, Sirius's originally tall and handsome appearance was even more outstanding. Combined with the depth time had given him, his physical advantages were maximized at this moment.
Everyone is a visual person—this was true in both the magical and Muggle worlds.
The wizards present, regardless of gender, subconsciously felt that whatever Sirius said was right. Not only that, they empathized deeply, profoundly experiencing this man's inner grief and regret.
Sirius was completely unaware of this. He had immersed himself in his own world, looking at Peter and slowly saying:
"That night, when I discovered the Secret-Keeper who should have been hiding was gone, I immediately realized something was wrong. Unfortunately, by the time I reached Godric's Hollow, it was too late. James and Lily..."
Here, Sirius's voice broke. He could no longer speak those two names.
"..."
The entire hall fell silent.
After a moment, Sirius's speech suddenly accelerated, clearly intending to finish his statement as quickly as possible:
"Later I encountered Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid, who rescued Harry from the ruins. At that time, I thought simply—someone could care for Harry, which was good, because I could go find that damned traitor and take revenge.
I pursued him for a while, then cornered him on a street... I didn't expect to underestimate him once again."
His voice carried thick self-mockery, and his gaze toward Peter grew increasingly cold and piercing.
Peter felt the substantial hatred in Sirius's gaze and trembled involuntarily, causing his restraining chains to emit a harsh grinding sound.
Sirius didn't look away but continued speaking rapidly:
"He shouted loudly so the entire street heard that I had killed them. Then he struck first before I could, blowing up half the street. At the time, even I was fooled by him, thinking he'd truly blown himself to pieces!
Who would have thought that the fool who usually followed behind us would have such quick wits and such determination. Remarkable, truly remarkable!"
Sirius's gaze moved to Peter's hand, where the missing finger joint appeared especially glaring at this moment.
Peter suddenly let out a pitiful wail. His body twisted hopelessly in the chains, tears and mucus streaming down like a desperate worm.
"I had no choice, no choice at all... too strong... he was truly too strong..." he muttered futilely, his voice barely audible.
At this moment, Sirius did something that surprised everyone.
He suddenly stood up, walked to Peter's side, and delivered a vicious slap.
"Smack!"
All the wizards present couldn't help but gasp.
"Smack!"
Sirius backhanded another slap.
By the time everyone reacted, Sirius had already finished delivering both slaps and sat back down as if nothing had happened.
"Stop!" Only now did Madam Bones manage to speak, attempting to stop Sirius.
However, by then he had already returned to his seat. After this final venting of his fury, he lounged lazily in his chair, leaning back with only two chair legs touching the ground.
Hearing Madam Bones's words, he nodded to her: "Yes, ma'am."
Madam Bones: "..."
A witness assaulting the defendant in court was certainly wrong. But Sirius had been too fast. By the time the Wizengamot members reacted, he had already sat down and given a very positive response to Bones's reminder.
Moreover, Peter Pettigrew's actions truly were universally condemned, so after whispering among themselves briefly, they pretended nothing had happened.
After Sirius finished his statement, Fudge spoke again,
"Witness, after the Ministry of Magic provided information that Peter might still be alive, you reached an agreement with the Minister of Magic—that is, myself, Cornelius Fudge to jointly pursue Peter Pettigrew, correct?"
As he asked this question, Fudge's voice grew involuntarily tense, his entire body even trembling slightly. He stared fixedly at Sirius, terrified he might say "no."
Sirius frowned with distaste and looked toward Sherlock.
Even he found it strange—by rights, at such a moment, he should be looking toward Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, or his friend Lupin. Yet his body had instinctively chosen Sherlock.
But having looked, so be it.
In the instant their two sets of gray eyes met, Sirius slowly spoke: "That's correct."
"Excellent!" Fudge's face lit up with joy as he immediately said,
"Since the defendant has confessed without hesitation to the above two major crimes, combined with previous verification through Veritaserum and the testimony of key witness Sirius Black, this court now..."
Just as Fudge was about to seize this opportunity to bring down the gavel, a voice suddenly interrupted him:
"Wait a moment!"
Everyone looked toward the speaker.
It was one of the three interrogators for this public trial, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement: Amelia Susan Bones.
Peter Pettigrew suddenly raised his head and looked toward her. In this moment, his eyes burst forth with an intense will to survive.
Sirius was precisely the opposite. He abandoned his careless demeanor, set the chair flat again, and looked sharply at the witch who had just exchanged friendly words with him.
Madam Bones didn't avoid Sirius's sharp gaze. She looked calmly at him and asked in her resonant voice,
"Witness, since you were innocent, why did you surrender without resistance when Ministry personnel arrived on the scene, without making any argument? Furthermore, you spent a full twelve years in Azkaban—why did you never speak the truth of this matter?"
Just when this trial seemed about to conclude smoothly, Madam Bones's sudden questioning became an unexpected turning point.
Sirius frowned and looked toward Fudge in the center of the bench. The meaning in his eyes was obvious: 'I've already been so cooperative, why are you still making trouble?'
Fudge looked helpless upon seeing this: What could I do? I am desperate too!
This really wasn't at his instigation.
Amelia Bones was both Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and a Wizengamot member. Her parents and a brother had been killed by Voldemort during the wizarding war.
Perhaps for this reason, she was exceptionally serious in her conduct, famously difficult to deal with in the Ministry.
To Fudge, this type of person was a typical troublemaker.
Unfortunately, she was highly skilled at magic, proficient in dueling, and even her professional abilities were strong. She remained unmarried to this day. Facing such a strong woman, Fudge had no way to handle her.
Not long ago, when the Ministry had wanted to suppress the truth about Peter, she had been the loudest voice of opposition. But now that the Ministry was publicizing the truth, she was nitpicking these details, truly giving him a massive headache.
However, headache aside, he still had to speak.
The rebellious Sirius was finally cooperating for once—they couldn't waste this precious opportunity.
"Madam Bones, actually the witness has already answered this question: from arrest to imprisonment, he never knew the defendant was still alive. Not until I obtained confirmed information and informed the witness did he begin cooperating with the Ministry. To deceive the defendant, we even deliberately created the illusion of the witness escaping from prison."
"Oh, is that so?" Madam Bones said, squinting her eyes so tightly that the edges of her monocle dug into her flesh.
"Precisely so!"
"No, no." Madam Bones said somewhat impatiently. "Even so, this cannot explain why the witness surrendered without resistance when Ministry personnel arrived on scene, nor why he never defended himself before discovering the defendant wasn't dead."
Fudge looked at Madam Bones with annoyance.
What was wrong with this woman?
Damn it, these questions should be answered by Sirius!
No—Bones shouldn't be asking these questions at all.
Earlier, when he'd planned to suppress this matter, she'd opposed most fiercely, saying they absolutely couldn't let innocent Sirius be wronged again, that the criminal must be severely punished.
Later, under pressure from the Muggle Prime Minister, the Ministry's direction had changed, finally satisfying her wishes.
Not long ago, voices within the Ministry had suggested they shouldn't impose capital punishment on Peter—just throw him in Azkaban like the other Death Eaters. Even Fudge himself had wavered, but Bones's opposition had been most intense. She believed that having issued an investigation report, they must enforce it—say what they mean and mean what they say.
So, for today's trial, she was the last person he'd worried about.
Who knew such a reversal would occur?
As an interrogator, instead of questioning the defendant or the witness, you're pursuing another interrogator with endless questions at a time like this—has your brain been waterlogged?
"What's with this person?" Harry couldn't help but frown.
Although he didn't care for Fudge either, at least the Minister was currently on their side. But this witch named Bones kept harping on these trivial details—could it be... she actually wanted to acquit Peter?
At this thought, Harry immediately became anxious, and his gaze toward Bones changed.
"No, my dear Harry, you've misunderstood."
As before, Sherlock didn't need to ask, he immediately voiced Harry's thoughts.
"She has no intention of exonerating Peter—in fact, like me, she simply wants to find the truth."
"The truth?"
"Yes."
Sherlock's gaze moved to the second row of benches behind Fudge and Bones. A short, stout wizard with a great bush of black beard leaned toward a curly-haired witch beside him and whispered. The witch showed a smug, mocking smile and nodded.
Sherlock withdrew his gaze and said coolly:
"From my observations, this lady is a calm, rational person, so raising questions about the illogical aspects of this case is actually quite normal. If it were me, I'd certainly do the same—the difference being, I already know the answer."
Harry couldn't follow Sherlock's line of thought and asked instinctively: "What answer?"
"Your godfather, Sirius Black, is a shrewd, rebellious, rule-defying person who is loyal, passionate, impulsive, and reckless."
Under Harry's surprised gaze, Sherlock said word by word:
"And self-righteous—in certain situations, you can actually view him as the Malfoy family's house-elf."
"You mean Dobby?"
"Yes, regardless of consequences, imposing his own ideas on others with one-sided goodwill, though not to the same degree as that house-elf. This type of person is fine normally, but once they encounter major upheaval, they easily become obsessive.
For this reason, some of his behaviors appear contrary to normal logic. That's why he did something as foolish as changing Secret-Keepers without telling anyone else.
This lady's questions precisely hit this anchor point."
Harry: "..."
'Wait, buddy, do you have to be this harsh?'
"Also, she knows Sirius."
"What?" Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "They know each other?"
"Yes, they know each other," Sherlock said with certainty. "There's no doubt about it."
Hearing this, Harry looked over again, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Sirius and Bones. He couldn't see any sign that these two knew each other.
Meanwhile, facing Madam Bones directly, Fudge was already struggling to hold his ground.
The reason for this situation was essentially because the Ministry had done nothing in this case. If they'd done anything at all, it was drag their feet, muddle through, and bungle things.
The supposedly wise and brilliant Minister discovering the truth, personal cooperation with Sirius, coordination with Hogwarts—all of it was fabricated.
The Ministry's understanding of the entire matter came entirely from Dumbledore's account.
So, while they could manage the broad strokes, once such detailed questions were involved, he immediately showed his hand.
Seeing the sweat on Fudge's forehead growing denser, Sirius, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
He revealed that thought buried deepest in his heart—the most sincere and also the most foolish one.
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