{Courtroom 1, 2nd Floor, Ministry of Magic, London}
{30th Oct 1991}
{Rigel's POV}
...
"I-i d-didn't want to do it. I-i was forced to. T-the Dark Lord threatened to kill me if I didn't." Pettigrew's stuttering words echoed throughout the courtroom. I wasn't the only one who noticed the abnormality in his sentence: his posture, the sobbing, and flinching were like a photocopy of his earlier statement.
After a couple of seconds, Amelia asked again, this time with narrowed eyes, "And is there anything else that you would like to add?"
"I-i d-didn't want to do it. I-i was forced to. T-the Dark Lord threatened to kill me if I didn't."
The commotion erupted throughout the courtroom as I felt Dumbledore's mana swell. He wasn't alone, as Amelia wasn't far behind; all three of them stood up as the Auror quickly activated the silencing charm on Pettigrew once again. Still, the situation quickly escalated as Lorelei grasped the situation a little too quickly for that to be a coincidence.
"Madam Bones, I would like to confer with my client." Lorelei requested. Amelia's stoic face turned into a frown, but she still nodded, not like she had a chance to deny that request anyway.
As Lorelei walked over to Pettigrew and cast a privacy charm, I looked around at the situation in the courtroom. Almost everyone was appalled at the implications of what was happening, but I kept my attention focused on Lucius, who, in turn, was looking straight at me as well. There was a small smirk on his face, his mana singing in smugness.
'So this was his plan, then why did he pretend to be agitated in the beginning? I can't believe I never thought he could go for something like this.' I thought the situation would get out of hand, and I turned to look at Fudge. Even though he had a panicked expression on his face, the lack of any change in his mana told me he was quite calm.
'So this scheme was a combined effort of Fudge and Lucius. It makes sense, even though he would have to deal with some accusations thrown at him. Not only did he defuse the situation where Malfoy could be ousted as a genuine Death Eater, but he also stopped himself from coming under fire as their relationship was quite close. He also weakened his most dangerous political rival.' I turned to look at Amelia. Her eyes were fixed on Pettigrew's visage despite being under a privacy charm. He was clearly repeating the same sentence.
'Well, there goes my dream of him revealing and implicating more people.'
The privacy spell vanished as Lorelei turned to Fudge with a serious look on her face.
"I would like to postpone the trial as my client has suffered an attack. He's clearly under the influence of confundus charm, so I would like to request his transfer to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies," Lorelei said, her tone level as she kept her face stoic, even though Rigel could tell she was practically giddy. Fudge nodded after a moment. He had a difficult expression on his face.
The atmosphere strangely turned as the Auror escorted Pettigrew out of the courtroom, with Lorelei following closely behind. Before anyone could address what happened, I decided to speak up since I was pretty sure Sirius was not going to.
"The House Black would like to request that all Aurors who were in charge of guarding Mr. Pettigrew be detained and an investigation launched to find the culprit responsible for attempting to use illegal charms within the Ministry," I said. My words were met with murmurs of acceptance as many people nodded along to my request.
As Amelia nodded toward me in thanks, Lucius decided to intervene, "I think you are stepping over some ranks, Mr. Black. While you may have Black blood flowing through your veins, you are just a house member. The votes of the Black House are in control of the regent." He pointed out as he indicated toward Narcissa, who was sitting beside him.
I turned my eyes to Narcissa and then reiterated, "While that may be true, the reason Narcissa Malfoy-nee-Black was granted the right of control over the votes of House Black was because Draco was next in line to inherit the heirship to the House. That may not be the case tomorrow, and the reagent seat will be empty again. I'm sure there is no need to rush everyone down here for another session if anyone else would like to present the proposal."
The smug look on Lucius's face disappeared, and a moment later, Daphne's father accepted my offer as he spoke aloud, "The House of Greengrass would also like to see a thorough investigation take place. Anyone identified as an accomplice should be treated as a death eater, as they not only tried to help a death eater, but they are trying to hide other accomplices of the fallen reign."
"Seconded..." The voice of a brown-haired man followed Daniel Greengrass's statement, and the vote quickly gained the favor of the majority.
Fudge nodded after a while as the voices voicing their agreement to this plan quietened down. I could sense he was a little nervous now as he turned to Amelia and stated, "Madam Bones, please create a team to investigate this incident and forward me the names of compromised Aurors."
'What's he planning now, trying to divert the investigation or something?' Still, I can't accuse Fudge in front of everyone. I still managed to give Amelia some power to decide her own fate, and this should have been enough.
'Still, I never expected Pettigrew to end up as Lockhart. At least the chance of him escaping and going to aid Voldemort is very unlikely.' I took the win as the session of the Winzengamot came to a close.
"You are quite good at this, the politics," Sirius complimented as he smiled at me.
"Well, you need to be better, too. The seat of House Black needs a regent or a Lord, and you are the only one left who could do that, as I'm still in Hogwarts." My words caused the smile on Sirius's face to fade away as he looked at the seat of House Black right beside Lucius Malfoy.
"Lord Black, no chance in hell..." He denied it firmly. From his expression, I could tell that he had no interest in being stuck in a courtroom for hours.
"Well... there is another way." I pointed out that he looked at me eagerly.
"Why don't you reinitiate Andromeda into the family? I'm sure she could help you manage the House..."
...
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AN - What do you guys think of Andromeda Black and Tonks being introduced during the summer break?
P.S- 50+ advanced chapters on P.atreon!