Hogwarts' Golden Glory

The atmosphere in the Wissengamo courtroom was somewhat heavy.

After all, the trial should have taken place twelve years ago, but it's only being carried out now.

Kane Malfoy, Snape, and Harry are now standing in the defendant's dock.

This morning, Dumbledore dropped Harry off at Malfoy Manor and left.

Harry came because the case was related to his parents.

"According to Section 3 of Chapter 7 of the Wissengamo Trials Act,"

Ms. Mark Bans sat in the highest, most prestigious position.

She tapped the scales in front of her with her age-spotted hands.

"This Court is now rehearing the judgment of 6 November 1981 in the Sirius Black case."

Kane's grey-blue eyes swept across the circular courtroom.

His gaze lingered briefly on the faces of the Wizengamo members wearing purple sashes.

Mrs. Longbottom was talking quietly to the person next to her.

After seeing Kane's gaze.

The former gave him a barely perceptible nod.

Harry seemed a little reserved, after all, the place looked rather oppressive!

"Silence! The retrial of the Sirius Black case is now in session."

"Bring the defendant in," Mark Bans announced.

The clanging of chains came from the underground cell, followed by heavy footsteps.

Two Aurors escorted Sirius Black to the center of the courtroom.

He was then locked to the iron chair in the center.

Harry stood up unconsciously, his fingers gripping the oak fence in front of him tightly.

Twelve years in Azkaban had ravaged this once pure-blooded nobleman, leaving him emaciated.

Even though she's been doing alright these past few days, her weight loss is still clearly visible.

Sirius Black looked up.

My gaze traveled past the disheveled black hair to the towering stone walls of the courtroom.

The candlelight flickered in the cage-like wall lamps, casting the faces of the Wizengamo members in alternating light and shadow.

These people had all disappeared without a trace when Voldemort was rampant.

Now they are here, looking down on him, to judge him.

He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a mocking smile.

But his eyes met Harry's the moment they saw him.

Suddenly, it burst forth with a terrifying brilliance.

"James..."

Sirius's lips trembled as he uttered the broken syllable.

His body suddenly leaned forward, and the iron chains taut and creaked dangerously.

Startled, Auror immediately grabbed his shoulder.

But the next second, he shook his head.

A bitter smile tugged at his chapped lips. "No...this is Harry."

"Mr. Black..." Harry's voice caught in his throat.

He looked at the man in front of him, who was nominally his godfather.

At this moment, my chest was churning with complex emotions.

The way the man looked at him was as if he were gazing through him at some vanished phantom.

Sirius suddenly coughed violently, his thin shoulders heaving beneath his tattered prison uniform.

When he looked up again, Harry was shocked to find that he was smiling.

A genuine laugh, even with bloodshot eyes and gaps between missing teeth.

"Your eyes," Sirius said hoarsely, "are exactly like Lily's."

"But that messy hair—Merlin, it's exactly the same look James had when he was dragged into the Black Lake by the giant squid in seventh grade."

A few suppressed gasps came from the audience.

Harry felt his knees go weak.

The way this man talked about his parents was like he was talking about old friends he had just met yesterday.

"I..." Harry's voice choked with emotion.

He suddenly realized that this was the first time someone had described his parents to him so vividly.

Not a hero.

He was not a martyr.

Instead, they are real people who mess up their hair and play pranks.

Sirius seemed about to say something, but Mark Bans's gavel fell. "Defendant, please remain silent!"

"The defense is calling a witness—"

The voice came from above, like a pronouncement of fate.

But just then, he saw Remus Lupin.

Standing in the witness stand, pale and exhausted, but with a straight back and a firm gaze.

He also greeted Kane and the others.

Sirius's breath hitched.

Moon face.

His gaze shifted further back, and then froze.

Just now, he only noticed Harry and didn't see anyone next to Harry at all!

Severus Snape stood in the audience.

And beside him—

Kane Malfoy.

That heartless Malfoy!

Sirius's pupils suddenly contracted.

"—Remus, watch out for that Malfoy brat, he's even darker than Lucius."

He warned Lupin in the letter.

But now, his old friend, his plunderer brother.

He's standing with Snape, and he's even bringing Malfoy along?

Lupin's gaze met his briefly.

A complex emotion flickered in those gentle brown eyes.

Apology? Resolve?

Sirius abruptly turned his face away, his throat tightening.

"Mr. Lupin, please swear that what you have said is the truth," Mark Bans said.

Lupin pressed his wand against his chest: "I swear."

Chief Wizard Mark Bans' quill hovered above the parchment, awaiting recording.

Lupin stood in the witness stand.

His thin, bony fingers unconsciously rubbed the patch on his sleeve.

As if he had made up his mind, he spoke.

The voice was so soft, as if afraid of disturbing something:

"When I was five years old, my father offended Fenrir Greyback, and that werewolf broke into our house on a full moon night..."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "From now on, every full moon night, I will become a bloodthirsty monster."

The courtroom was deathly silent.

Several Wizengamo members instinctively leaned back.

That's a werewolf!

"Fortunately, when I received my Hogwarts acceptance letter at the age of eleven..."

Lupin raised his eyes and looked at Sirius. "That's where I met my good friends!"

Harry saw Sirius's chains suddenly tighten, scraping against the stone floor with a screeching sound.

"—So what does this have to do with the case?"

Fudge suddenly slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his round face trembling with excitement.

"We're judging Blake for killing those Muggles, not listening to some werewolf autobiography!"

Lupin's words came to an abrupt end.

"Minister," the boy's voice carried the characteristic cold elegance of Slytherin, "according to Section 12 of the Magical Creatures Rights Act, a witness's background is directly related to the credibility of their testimony. Unless..."

His grey-blue eyes narrowed slightly. "You believe that werewolves are unfit to testify for wizards?"

The audience immediately stirred.

Several Wizengamo members exchanged glances—this first-year student dared to question the Minister of Magic in public?

Fudge's face turned a deep shade of liver: "I didn't say that! But he's wasting it—"

"On the contrary."

Mark Bans suddenly spoke up, "I think this testimony is crucial."

Her age-spotted fingers turned the pages of the thick legal code before her. "The core of Mr. Black's charges is betrayal and collusion with the Death Eaters. And Mr. Lupin is proving it—"

"This proves that Black can even accept werewolves!" Old Lady Longbottom suddenly exclaimed.

His voice was so loud it didn't sound like that of an old man at all. "By Merlin, this speaks volumes about his character more than any truth serum!"