Hogwarts: Wizards of Eternity.

Chapter 2 The Supreme Judgment! My Heart and My Actions Are as Clear as a Mirror
Due to the particularity of Roger's case, the specific details of the case have not been made public, but it is not a secret to the upper echelons of the wizarding community.

Many core members of pure-blood families who control resources and powerful wizards all talk about this matter after dinner.

Although the lawyer is not a member of that circle, he has a friend who is... Without some connections, how can one become successful in the legal profession? As I said before, the key to court judgment lies outside the court.

But the rumors he heard were not good.

"At the age of 10, he formed a decent team in the chaotic and terrible Muggle hot weapons war, led his team to kill so many people, and escaped unscathed from the brutal war. His character, leadership, and decision-making execution are all incredible."

"Those who have brushed shoulders with death will better understand the value of life."

"So, what would happen if one day he learned the dark arts because he wanted to gain the ability to protect himself or for other reasons and wanted more power?"

"His heart is strong. The power of magic has a lot to do with the heart. And he's also a... prophet!"

"The world doesn't need another Grindelwald, nor does it need another You-Know-Who!"

——These words were heard by the lawyer from his friend. How many years has it been since the shadow of the mysterious man left the British wizarding society? Those who experienced that horrific era are still alive.

This short period of time is not enough to heal the wounds and restore the courage of everyone who was frightened by the mysterious man.

Could Roger Virgil grow up to be the second mysterious man to kill wizards?

do not know.

But even if there is only a 10% possibility, it is difficult for many people to accept.

In their eyes, Roger is indeed a talent, but the wizarding world is not short of talents.

In fact, they even hate such talents.

Voldemort, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Merlin, Slytherin and other four giants of Hogwarts... The new strong ones want to eat at the table, the new strong ones want the times to obey their will, and the new alchemy technology and magic are going to change the world.

The changes they bring can be good or bad, but there is no doubt that every time such people appear, there will be turmoil in wizard society.

There are many people who hate turbulence and want everything to remain unchanged forever.

Would Dumbledore risk the disgust of so many wizards and pure-blood families and use his "power" to "pardon" Roger?

The lawyer thinks it is unlikely.

Boom boom boom!
There was a light knock on the door.

Then the prison guard's voice came: "Mr. Roger Vigil, Attorney Wick, the trial will begin in 5 minutes. Have you finished your communication? If you are, we will go to court."

After he finished speaking, the lawyer looked at Roger.

Roger didn't say anything else, he just stood up calmly and walked towards the door.

"Roger!" the lawyer called to him.

"Ok?"

"You have been in the detention center. You must have heard about how terrible Azkaban is. Aren't you afraid?" After hesitating for a moment, Lawyer Wick asked the question that puzzled him.

The tiny figure of the 11-year-old child was reflected in his pupils. He couldn't understand why Roger was so calm.

Does he have any other cards up his sleeve?

Or, what did he predict as a prophet?
Well, one of Roger's crimes was pretending to be a religious prophet, but he really did have prophetic abilities, which was also mentioned in the file.

It was because of his constant predictions of the future that Roger Virgil was able to lead the people around him who believed in him to survive the war.

Roger smiled and gave an answer that was beyond the expectations of Attorney Wick: "I am very scared. My heart is beating faster and my muscles are shaking."

"I have never come into contact with Dementors, and I don't know the extent of the harm they can cause me, but there are still people alive in Azkaban, right?"

"From the moment I returned from hell twice, I decided that I would never give up hope of living."

"I will fight forever, until the moment I die."

"Before this, nothing can defeat my will." There was no impassioned speech, Roger just stated in a very calm and natural tone.

At this moment, the lawyer understood.

The young prophet had no trump card.

He just has the courage to face it even if there is hell ahead and his heart is full of fear.

At the same time, the lawyer felt... fear!
The lawyer also understood why some of the upper echelons of the wizarding community, knowing that the probability of Roger becoming the next mysterious man was not high, still did not want Roger to be acquitted.

A man so determined that once he considers wizards or Muggles to be his enemy...

squeak--

The door was opened and Roger walked out. The four wizard prison guards waiting outside once again formed the same surrounding and escort formation as before.

Several people left the Department of Law Enforcement, which was originally located on the second floor of the British Ministry of Magic headquarters.

Normal minor cases are heard here, but Roger's case is not heard here, he has to go to another place.

Going down from the 2nd floor of the 8th floor, we arrived at the th floor which is located on the first floor of the Ministry of Magic.

The building numbers of the Ministry of Magic are very strange. The top floor is the 1st floor, the first floor is the 8th floor, and the underground floor is the 9th floor where the Department of Mysteries is located. The place Roger is going to is further down than the Department of Mysteries.

There is one of the pinnacles of British wizarding society, the Wizengamot, which holds legislative and supreme judicial power!

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.

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One document after another was displayed in front of everyone.

The interrogator asked questions again and again, allowing all the Wizengamot members to get to know Roger better and understand the details of the case that were not in the documents.

As Roger answered, he was also paying attention to everyone around him.

A Wizengamot trial is very different from a normal court trial.

Its trial process is that the interrogator asks questions, the interrogated person answers, and the 50 Wizengamot members then vote by raising their hands whether they think the interrogated person is guilty based on their own considerations.

The minority obeys the majority. If there is a special situation of 25:25, the decision will be made by the Chief Magician of the Wizengamot. The position of this Chief Magician is roughly equivalent to that of the Speaker of this parliament.

Well, there is no mention of Lawyer Wick in this at all.

Normally, if the interrogator's ability to express himself verbally is not that good, he can entrust a lawyer or other more professional person to speak on his behalf and defend him.

But after meeting and talking with Attorney Wick for a while, Roger felt that it might be better for him to face these questions in person.

Roger had no objection to Lawyer Wick's professional ability, but he had other reasons.

Firstly, through previous exchanges, Roger was keenly aware that Wick did not show absolute support for his case... This was normal, defense was just a job, and it did not mean that he was sure of his actions.

Just like no matter how much the employees curse in their hearts, they still have to work overtime and toast.

In an ordinary case, this would not matter, but this was the Wizengamot, and the voting method here meant that the attitude of the respondent would have a significant impact on the verdict. If Wick showed any hesitation on a key issue, it would be a fatal blow to himself.

The second is that Roger does not want to leave his fate to others to decide.

Since the chances of having a happy ending are slim no matter who debates, it would be better for me to do it myself.

"Yes, after I awakened my ability, which is what you call the prophecy magic caused by the magic riot, I thought that the only way for me to survive was to borrow the name of the influential local religion."

After listening to Roger's answer, Albus Dumbledore, the chief wizard of the Wizengamot, asked the next question with a serious expression: "According to our investigation, by the end of 1990, the intensity of the war had decreased. With your power and resources at that time, you had every chance to escape the quagmire of the war and return to Britain. Why didn't you come back? Why did you stay in Kuwait as a religious prophet until the spring of 1991, when the Gulf War was completely over?"

At this moment, Dumbledore's expression was not as kind and gentle as when he was the headmaster of Hogwarts. Instead, he had the solemnity and majesty of the chief wizard of the Wizengamot.

And the question he asked was also very crucial.

The reason why many of Luo's charges were proven true, in addition to the fact that some magical forces in the Middle East were trying to cause trouble, was that Roger did not return when he had the ability to escape the war, which had exceeded the scope allowed by "emergency avoidance."

The so-called emergency avoidance means that when a person's life is seriously threatened, he or she will not be held criminally responsible even if he or she does something illegal, such as killing a thief in self-defense, or eating protected animals when he or she is starving to death.

As Dumbledore finished speaking, the wizards of the Wizengamot fixed their eyes on the little wizard standing in the dock. He had smooth golden hair, a handsome face and a thin figure. His height was about the waist and abdomen of most wizards. He looked weak, helpless and pitiful.

But Roger's answer to this question was not weak at all: "When I was in Kuwait, many people followed me because I borrowed the title of a religious prophet. They firmly believed that I was a prophet and that I could lead them to survive. Their survival was indeed inseparable from my premonition ability." "Landmines, bombs, bullets, missile attacks, I can sense the arrival of things that can threaten me, and I am always one step ahead of death and avoid death's pursuit."

"I have accumulated enough resources to get out of the war in the middle of the war, but what will happen if I leave? Without the spiritual pillar of the 'prophet', many people will go crazy. Those guys in the team whose ambitions have been suppressed because of my existence will jump out and tear the team apart for power and profit, and more chances of survival. People may even kill each other."

"Not to mention, in order to protect them, we have had conflicts with many armies. Without my 'prophecy', how are they going to avoid missile attacks and pursuit by other armies next time?"

“A lot of people are going to die.”

At this point, Roger paused.

"I hate lies and I hate death."

"When I was weak, I had to lie to gain strength and protect myself by bringing death to others."

"And at that time, there were thousands of people who believed in me, I had weapons, I had people. I became powerful."

"When I was weak, I had to do things I hated. Now that I'm strong, I have to do things I hate again. I have to watch people who believe in me die... Then what's the point of me becoming stronger? What's the point of me trying my best to survive? Is it just to keep doing things I hate, one after another, endlessly?!"

"People shouldn't live just to disgust themselves. This is not the life I want."

"I don't like separation and death, so I refuse its appearance. I don't allow it to appear in front of me or come to me."

"I don't like lies. I promised them that I would help them survive this war, so I won't leave until the war is over."

This was Roger's answer, and it was also what he really thought.

A real man can bend and stretch. When he is weak, he bows his head, not to surrender, but to accumulate strength to fight back. When he is strong, he will naturally let the world run according to his will, instead of continuing to be a deserter or a coward!
"Hmm." Dumbledore responded without comment, and then moved on to the next question.

"During the Gulf War, you killed 98 people with your own hands. What do you think of this?"

When this question was asked, Roger immediately felt that the air in the room seemed to become heavier.

Apparently, the wizards were more concerned with this question than why Roger was pretending to be a religious prophet.

There are many controversial issues in Roger's case, but no matter how hard you try to argue about the legal text, there will always be a day to sort it out. The reason why this case has to be heard by the Wizengamot, the "Supreme Court", is not only because it involves international disputes, but also because they want to get to know Roger face to face and get to know what kind of person he is.

Many wizards who knew about this case believed that Roger was a talented person.

Among them, there are people who are afraid of the birth of a powerful wizard because of the mysterious man.

Naturally, there will be people who hope that more powerful wizards will appear and who are willing to cultivate talents.

If Roger's nature was not evil, some people would not want him to go to Azkaban.

For the Wizengamot, which has legislative power, their trials are no longer about whether something is illegal, but about "right or wrong". What they have to consider is more complicated.

Magic and wizards have evolved from the barbaric and bloody ancient spells to the more sophisticated and popular era of today, and it has required the contribution of powerful wizards one after another.

The controversy has always existed. Although one faction has the upper hand, the voice of the other faction cannot be ignored, which is why this trial has such a strange atmosphere.

In this heavy atmosphere, Roger replied: "The lunatic whose whole family died in the war and suffered mental breakdown, the scum who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to do evil, the invaders from Iraq, and the US military who would do anything for their own strategic goals. 54 of the people I killed were people who wanted to kill me."

"And the other 44 people were those who wanted to kill the others around me."

"Do you think it is a sin to attack someone who is wielding a butcher knife in order to save someone who is about to be killed?" After answering, Roger asked a question in a calm tone.

"If you think this is a crime, then I think I have nothing more to say next." Roger knew that after they had asked questions about the people he had killed with his own hands, they might ask questions about those who died because of him.

Roger simply answered the upcoming question by asking a question.

After Roger finished speaking, there was a rustling sound among the wizards in the Wizengamot seats of the Inquisition. They discussed in low voices, and the next question from the Chief Wizard Albus Dumbledore came right after, without giving the wizards more time to discuss.

"Roger Virgil, you have killed so many people. Do you feel guilty for ending other people's lives?"

This question was also within Roger's expectations, and he gave the answer he had already thought of on the battlefield: "No."

Roger's tone of voice was resolute and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

"Those who kill will be killed. The moment they pick up the butcher knife, they should be prepared to face it all. I know that they may be someone's son, husband, father, or even sister or brother. Some people will feel sad for them. They may not think their actions are evil. They are fighting to protect national interests and the lights of thousands of families behind them, but this is not a reason for them to slaughter without bearing the consequences."

"I won't feel the slightest bit of guilt for killing them."

"Life is priceless. One life should not be more noble than another life, and one hundred lives should not be more precious than ten lives, and vice versa. Life is not something that can be put on the scale."

"If someone hates me because I killed them and wants to kill me, then go ahead. The same goes for me. I don't have double standards. From the moment I started fighting, I was prepared to face death."

"However, no matter how deep their hatred is or how justified their reasons are, I will not show mercy to those who raise weapons against me."

When Roger finished speaking, he noticed that some wizards in the court had strange expressions on their faces.

Obviously, some wizards could not accept Roger's remarks.

But he didn't care.

Albus Dumbledore, the chief wizard, obviously noticed the reactions of those wizards. Although he looked serious on the surface, a strange color flashed in his eyes.

Then he asked a question that seemed unrelated to the case: "Mr. Roger, you should have communicated with your lawyer before going to court. If you are found guilty, it will definitely be a serious crime, and the British Ministry of Magic usually detains serious criminals in Azkaban."

The question seemed incomprehensible, but Roger understood Dumbledore's subtext.

Roger's originally calm eyes fluctuated slightly, but he still suppressed it.

"I know that I am a child, much weaker than any wizard here. You don't even need to use magic. Your strong bodies can pin me to the ground with one hand. If I say something soft, or even shed a few tears and cry bitterly, it might help my situation."

After hearing Dumbledore's question, Roger knew that this elderly white-haired wizard was not the evil guy described in some conspiracy theories in his previous life. He was implicitly telling him that his statement might be unfavorable to the judgment.

He...actually wants to help himself get rid of the crime?

Roger felt Dumbledore's kindness, but he still planned to go his own way.

“But I don’t want that.”

"This is the Wizengamot. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are powerful wizards who hold the legislative power and the highest judicial power in the entire British wizarding world. I know that to be able to sit in this position, you must have your own extraordinary qualities."

"Vast knowledge, ancient bloodline, outstanding wisdom, powerful strength, deep and extensive power connections... I don't think you will be easily deceived if you have all these, and I also hate lies."

"You asked me a lot of questions, but I have only one answer from beginning to end. All my actions and all the consequences during the Gulf War were only because I wanted to save myself, I wanted to save those who believed in me, I wanted to fulfill my promise and keep everyone alive. I have no regrets. Even if you find me guilty and give me a chance to turn back time and let me go back to that battlefield, I will still choose to fight."

"All my answers are sincere. There is not a single lie in them. If you have the means to read minds or detect lies, you can verify them as much as you want as long as it does not hurt me." Roger said calmly.

The words fell.

The Wizengamot courtroom was in complete silence.

All the wizards were looking at the child whose eyes were calm and peaceful as he looked at them.

Although he was so weak, all the wizards could feel it at this moment.

Beneath that tiny body is an indestructible soul that has been tempered by war and fought its way back to the human world from the pile of dead bodies in hell!
With such a will, even if he was thrown into Azkaban, it would probably be difficult for the Dementors to destroy him.

According to the procedure, the chief wizard Dumbledore should have some questions to ask.

But at this moment, Dumbledore felt that the result would be the same whether he asked or not.

As Roger said, he has the answers to all the questions.

"So……"

Dumbledore, who was sitting in the central seat of the chief wizard, hesitated for a moment and said, "Those who agree that the charges are guilty, please raise your hands."

Some people raised their hands, while others did not.

And if someone knew something about these Wizengamot members beforehand, they would find something very interesting.

Many of those who had strong opinions about Roger before the trial and were determined to prove his guilt did not raise their hands.

Before the trial, a considerable number of people who believed that Roger was an innocent child and wanted to exonerate him raised their hands and agreed that Roger was guilty.

Of course, more people did not express their opinions at the first time, but instead turned their attention to Albus Dumbledore in the center of the courtroom.

And Dumbledore...

Stand still!

(End of this chapter)