Chapter 22: Chapter 22 - Farce of a trial
The next morning, Ash was back at his mansion. His two new apprentices were sleepily sitting at the breakfast table. Mornings, now that they lived with a kind-hearted mentor, were simply not their thing the twins decided. But since they made up for that by diligently achieving all their tasks as well as use their leisure time improving themselves in other avenues, Ash saw no need to force them to wake up early.
"You're revising proper workplace hygiene today. Following that, we're going to the greenhouses for another tour. I want to see how much the two of you retained from the previous tour. If your performance is adequate, I'll allow you to tend to the greenhouse of your choosing and use the plants inside up to half of the stock for personal use. However, you deem fit," Ash explained as he regarded the twins.
Hestia dutifully nodded, but Flora looked indignant.
"Master, could we please not clean cauldrons for half a day again? My arms are just about ready to fall off," Flora pleaded.
"Just be glad Ilia cleans everything else for us usually," Hestia mumbled, clearly still in a very tired state.
"Not to worry. You've shown enough progress that this time, I'll be teaching you some spells during revision," Ash jovially offered to which all sleepiness and stubborn indignation in Flora's face vanished.
"You're the best, Ash!"
"Mhm," Ash acknowledged with a wink.
"Master Ashy, an urgent letter from the high peoples," Ilia shouted in worry as she popped next to Ash at the breakfast table.
Ash's mood turned solemn immediately and regarded the letter from the Wizengamot with a quiet, angry stare. He carefully picked up the heavy folded parchment from his house elf's hand and opened the letter.
A few moments of silent reading later, he mumbled, "This has Malfoy written all over it. Too bad he wasn't among the victims. Yet what does this serve other than being a nuisance and a waste of time? Surely they can't think the law is on their side?"
"What's wrong Master?" Hestia asked as she realized the severity of the situation.
"Ah, you were asleep already yesterday night when I came back, and neither of you two picked up the newspaper I see," Ash drawled with a tired sigh.
"It looks like there is a change of plans for today. Until I come back, the two of you can do as you wish. Go ahead and relax at the spa if you want," he added as he stood up. "I've been summoned to a special hearing deciding my fate at the Wizengamot given yesterday's... happenings."
After Ash walked out of the room to get properly dressed, Hestia quickly snatched the Daily Prophet lying near Ash's spot at the table, and Flora hurriedly stood up to read the headline with her sister. It read: 'Heroic Hogwarts Professor Punishes Evil: 16 Alleged Death Eaters Maimed Or Killed After Attack On Quidditch Festivities, 1 Attacker Flees Scene'.
"Ugh, we should have come along," Flora softly cursed that the two of them didn't like Quidditch enough to attend yesterday.
Hestia read the complete article before turning to her sister with a pale complexion, "I don't think this hearing is going to end in master's favor."
Meanwhile, Ash finished dressing up in a formal yet fashionable coat and three-piece suit and made his way to the fireplace with a bag filled with potions. After a quick floo, he arrived in the auditorium of the Ministry and was immediately surrounded by five aurors led by Head Auror Scrimgeour.
With their wands quickly drawn and pointing at Ash, Scrimgeour stepped forward with a sneer and adressed Ash in a confronting tone, "We're here to bring you to the Wizengamot, brat. Slowly unholster your wand and hand it over! No funny business!"
"Adress my beloved grandson as a brat again and watch me neuter you," a chilling voice counter-offered from the fireplace right next to the one Ash had just emerged from. With another *swish* from the floo, two elder ladies stepped out of it.
"Grandmothers Victoria, Elizee," Ash greeted with a bright smile and slight bow. "Glad you received my notification in good health."
"Hmph, those mongrels of the dark faction are one century too early to sentence my last living family for defending himself against drunken dogs," Victoria cursed as she regarded all present aurors with venom. "I can hardly wait to hear the ridiculous charges they bring against you."
Head Auror Scrimgeour took a while to gather his thoughts. This was not the script he had prepared overnight where he would cuff this insolent boy and lead him through the Ministry in humilation.
"You barked that my boy shall hand over his wand. Under what charges are you arresting him?" Elizee asked in a threatening sweet tone.
"Ash here resisted arrest yesterday. I was merely making sure the safety of the hallowed halls of the Ministry remains unblemished," Scrimgeour spat out defiantly.
"First of all, that is Lord Starkey to you! Secondly, you were in the wrong even yesterday! Are you too dense to learn from your past mistakes? What has your mother taught you!? I shall notify your venerable mother Lady Scrimgeour post-haste about your lacking upbringing," Victoria Starkey countered with her venomous gaze.
"Let us go. It shan't do to make the 'esteemed' members of the Wizengamot wait," Elizee ordered with her sweet smile while branding all the faces of those who dared point their wands at her grandson unprovoked into her mind.
The three registered their wands at the appropriate checkpoint and followed the aurors toward the reserved courtroom. All the while, most aurors had sweat running down their backs and were cursing their boss in their minds for getting them involved in this fiasco.
Even Scrimgeour wasn't any better. His mother might not have many lucid moments left in life, but if she heard from the respected Lady Starkey that his upbringing was lacking, she might just use her last moments in life to curse off his buttocks with her disciplinary spanking spells.
Outside the courtroom, a solemn mood hung over everyone present. The dark faction, who was by relation largely involved in the attack, was mourning the loss of quite a few members. The light faction mourned the general loss of life and had no time celebrating the apprehension of several alleged Death Eaters.
And the grey faction? Their mourning varied, but a common factor was found among them. They bemoaned the once more besmirched reputation of their homeland in the eyes of the international wizarding community. The attack happened on their grounds in front of countless foreign guests, after all. And, all attackers were proven to be British wizards and witches.
"The accused Ashbert Starkey may enter with his legal counsel," the auror at the door announced after he was given the signal. Though he immediately regretted it when he saw Victoria looking at him like he was a dead man for calling her grandson 'the accused' and Elizee's sweet smile looked much more threatening yet.
The remaining members of the Wizengamot quickly filed in, no one outside the courtroom in the mood to make small talk with the members of House Starkey. Once inside, Ash found himself led to the middle of the room with his great grandmother and grandmother, both of whom he quickly conjured comfortable chairs for. They sat down on them with a grateful nod as he stood in between the two chairs and regarded Minister Fudge and Headmaster Dumbledore at the main seat.
Dumbledore favored him with a reassuring nod in greeting, though his smile seemed quite forced, while Fudge looked positively constipated. After the last warning by the headmaster, he wasn't pleased with Ash's heavy hand. Though, he was proud of the fact that he stood up and raised his wand to defend the innocent.
Unfortunately for everyone present, it was the shrill voice of Secretary Umbridge that started off this hearing, "Esteemed Wizard and Witches of the Wizengamot. We have gathered here to measure the weight of Ashbert Solaris Starkey's guilt during last night's heinous attacks on reputable magicals at the festivities of the Quidditch World Cup. Due to the severity of the accusation, the full Wizengamot was summoned to act as Judge and Jury according to articles six and eleven of this legal body. The court has heard the testimony of Head Auror Scrimgeour and victim of the accused, Lord Avery. The accused is charged with the murder of seven pureblood lords and ladies as well as the permanent disfiguration and amputation of several limbs of nine more pureblood magicals. A preliminary sentencing will include both the potion recipe as well as dissolvent potions for the concoctions used in the attack to be turned over to the ministry."
Victoria Starkey had to use her Occlumency on full power to not jump up and curse this foul witch into oblivion. Not betraying any of her rage, she calmly asked, "Victim of the accused? May we infer as to the ruling this 'Lord Avery' has received in this court for his attack yesterday?"
"Lord Avery's ruling is not yet decided. He claims to have been put under the Imperius Curse and therefore pleads not guilty. A team of consultants is currently judging the validity of this defense at the Ministry's infirmary. The charges to the accused are based on the fact that he, with great malice and forethought, tortured and killed those pure of blood with undue, excessive dark magic," Umbridge reluctantly admitted.
"Ha! For all his pureblood nonsense, that dog seems to have a mind and will weaker than dragon dung! Imperiused twice into doing a dark lord's bidding. Without even a dark lord present this time around," Elizee scoffed with enough mirth that her French accent shone through more than usual.
"Watch your tongue and mind your manners, Lady Lovegood. You are in the presence of our esteemed Minister and Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot," Umbridge swiftly admonished with a constipated look that rivaled even Fudge's.
"Without meaning to insult this esteemed court, I have always doubted the blanket ruling of the Imperius Defense after the last war. I acknowledge this court needed, no prioritized stability to calm the masses. However, I believe some of the dark lord's loyalists may have been able to slip through the net, so to speak. The Potioneer's Guild never revealed the newly created potion that granted me my master's status, so I shall do it here. I devised a potion that will reveal whether or not a mind has been tempered with. If it has indeed been tempered with in the past week, the person who drank the potion will shed tears for roughly ten minutes to one hour, depending on how long ago the last mind-altering spell was applied."
The high court of the Wizengamot broke into loud, disorganised murmurs and yelling.
"Truthfully, Ashbert? Such a potion was created?" Dumbledore asked curiously amid the cacophony of disorganized voices.
"Indeed, Chief Warlock," Ash offered in reply as he tapped his Potion Master badge to show its veracity, "and you can trust on my honor as a Potion Master that these vials contain this exact potion. Brewed to perfection with my original recipe and no added effects previously undisclosed to the esteemed council members of the potioneering council."
Ash took out ten vials filled with milky grey potions inside. The members of the dark faction almost collectively looked like they ate sour candy. Lucius Malfoy, at the very front of 'his' faction, was quickly trying to think of ways to make it impossible for this potion to be administered.
Taking a deep breath, the platinum-blond wizard started out with, "The result of Lord Avery's trial is not needed to make a ruling in this case. Therefore I hardly think there is a need to play along with this farce. As commendable as the achievement of creating such a potion is, the fact remains that you brutally maimed and killed honorable lords and ladies in cold blood."
"I see. Well, I can agree that the result of his trial is not needed. I simply plead not guilty to any and all charges brought against me," Ash countered with a cold expression.
"We have testimonies and you yourself admitting to the mutilation and murder on the scene," Umbridge shrieked from her position next to the minister.
"Lord Malfoy so aptly described my argument as a farce just now, so let me reciprocate. How come this esteemed court allowed these ridiculous charges be brought against me?"
Victoria shot her grandson a proud smirk while Elizee looked at every member of the light faction with barely concealed disdain.
"Is this your defense?" Fudge spoke up for the first time, though his inner wish to be anywhere but in this courtroom became more and more apparent with every passing minute. It was clear that he realized early on that this was a losing battle, yet the dark faction strongarmed him into retaliating against the young potions professor.
"Yes, it is. According to article 51 paragraphs two to eleven, with me as a pureblood wizard of Magical Britain, all of my actions in combat are excused as rightful retaliation in 'educating the uneducated masses' when I fought these wizard and witches in an active spell-slinging environment. And, in this 'one against many battle', mutilation of the wand hand is not only permitted but encouraged in paragraph eleven. Their blood status cannot be held against me as they were all hidden in non-descript uniforms, performing heinous crimes unbecoming of magicals in their station. Upon engaging them in combat, none of them identified themselves, and, if required of me, I will admit to as much under the influence of Veritaserum."
Victoria's grin turned proud yet vicious, a combination that looked odd for a woman her age. Elizee finally let off the members of the light faction who were by now sweating in their seats for allowing the charges to be brought against Ash in the first place, and looked to Umbridge with loathing.
The courtroom was oddly quiet. All that was heard was Dolores Umbridge leafing through her law book with a distraught expression on her face. It looked like she desperately hoped that these laws were rescinded or amended since last Ash heard of them, that a loophole was among them that made his argument invalid.
Hiding how criminal he thought it was that the direct secretary of the minister didn't know these laws by heart when even he did, Ash once more adressed the whole court, "Should this be all? In that case, according to article 83, I invoke my right as a pureblood lord and demand to administer this previously mentioned potion to my accuser Lord Avery. Due to the unique circumstance of having bested him in... 'honorable combat', and him besmirching my honor by bringing charges to my feet as a result of this battle, I am granted the right to immediate retaliatory measures in the form of one non-permanently damaging potion, jinx or curse not identified as a banned dark spell in the presence of - at minimum - 'three noble pureblood brethren'. If needed, I can procure a copy of the potioneering council deeming my potion a non-dark potion."
This law was brought into existence by a very petty Lord Black over four centuries ago in 1568 who planned to humiliate the suitor of his beloved. Since it didn't offer any benefits to those 'unpure' and only offered benefits to purebloods, the outdated law was never touched in all these years. After the death of that particular Black ancestor, it was also never once applied in court thereafter.
"That is... your right. Be informed though that this slight can be perceived as start of a blood feud between your two houses," Fudge said through gritted teeth. Ash's steely gaze told the minister everything the young professor thought about this potential blood feud.
This day could only get worse from here on out for the minister. Any publicity garnered from this ill-planned and ill-advised hearing would be negative. Inwardly, Fudge was already planning to bleed Lucius dry for this 'offense' as compensation.
Two minutes later, four aurors and a medi-witch entered the room with a clearly irritated man dressed in white robes and without cuffs. Victoria Starkey scoffed when she saw that this death eater was treated as anything better than an animal but gained a pleased glint when she saw both amputated stumps covered in hardened, blue goo.
"I ask that all aurors and medi-staff who fetched him stay inside the room until after the potion takes effect," Ash calmly demanded. "Lord Avery, I trust you were told about my right to make you imbibe a potion of my choosing for your transgression?"
"You filthy blood-traitor! It better have the effect of making this blue monstrosity fall off of my wounds! It itches non-stop and hinders any attempt at healing!!!"
The crazed answer didn't come as a surprise to Ash, who had purposefully included these two symptoms into the potion.
"It doesn't. Now, medi-witch. I take it you are trained in helping administer potions to the unwilling and unable?"
Clearly uncomfortable with the situation, the old witch nodded relunctantly.
"Marvelous. That means you are much better equipped to make Lord Avery drink this," Ash praised as he handed over an uncorked potion bottle.
Under several profane curses and a death glare from the 'alleged' death eater, the potion was finally administered. Several minutes later, during which the man didn't stop cursing Ash, Avery's left eye started shedding bloody tears in a constant stream.
"I see, it is as I suspected," Ash exclaimed softly. Victoria, who knew what this result meant, had to take all her willpower to not start cackling madly.
"Enlighten us, Lord Starkey. What do bloody tears from one eye mean? You only mentioned crying earlier?"
"Ah yes, Chief Warlock. Only complete memory alteration and the heavy influence of an Imperius curse would result in both eyes shedding tears. That means Lord Avery has not been under the Imperius curse for over a week. I suspect someone cast a Confudus on him not one full day before now," not-so-silent protests rang through the crowd, but Ash continued unperturbed, "The more intriguing part of this potion, however, is that it helps identify the mind's attacker. If the caster of the mind-altering spell is not present in the room, the tears appear as normal, clear, and salty tears. Only if the caster of the last mind-altering spell is present and within line of sight will the tears change to blood."
The room immediately turned as still and quiet as a graveyard. Ash's smile slowly grew until he softly offered, "Quite an ingenious potion if I do say so myself."
'It looks like the gloves are off since we summoned him here under pretentious charges. He certainly isn't making any friends today,' Fudge thought, almost crying himself when he thought of all the negative consequences this day will bring.
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