Chapter 9

While I was listening to the minister begin the trial, two men approached my sides, one on my left and one on my right.

They touched the chair where I was sitting with their wands, then the chair began to twist, the wood began to deform and as if it were handcuffs it trapped my hands and feet.

one of the wizards belonging to the plum robe group raised his voice and said.

"By Merlin's beard, what do you think you're doing, Fawley, he's just a kid, not an Azkaban criminal."

"Are you afraid that a child will cast a murderous curse on you, huh? Ohh, of course, without a wand too"

At his desk, Minister Fawley frowned upon hearing this person's statement. Murmurs could be heard in the room about the scene they had just seen.

Minister Fawley responded, somewhat annoyed, "I remind you, Tiberius, that the rules indicate how to treat those accused of serious crimes, it is not something that I am inventing."

The murmurs in the room became louder after hearing the answer, Minister Fawley slammed his desk with the skull in his hand.

"SILENCE!"

"let's start the trial"

"Bob Ogden will speak next and explain the events of the case in question"

I heard someone walking behind me and I saw Bob standing next to me and starting to talk.

"Yesterday, January 14, 1926, before midnight, we received a reading on the use of magic in Little Whinging. After checking, we discovered that there are no registered magicians in that area of the city, so we decided to send a team. from the Magical Law Enforcement Brigade to review what events occurred there."

"The team I sent to the scene carried out a preliminary investigation and when they delivered the first report I was surprised by what I heard."

"They had found the body of an elderly Muggle man who was killed with a spell that caused his eyes to explode and he bled to death in extreme pain."

While Bob was narrating the story of the case, murmurs began to be heard in the room again. It seems that people were a little shocked by what they were hearing and the dreadful way in which the old man died.

Again Minister Fawley asked for silence in the room while he hit his desk hard with the skull.

"Keep talking Bob," said Minister Fawley.

"After I gave you a preliminary report on what we had found, Mr. Minister, I decided to send all the personnel available at that time to find the culprit of such a horrible crime."

"To our surprise, while we questioned the neighbors to find out if any of these people had seen anything that would give us clues, an old woman informed us that she had gotten up after hearing a terrible scream and many cries, she claimed to have seen a small child with "The blonde hair ran in the darkness, according to his story he fled the place quickly through the alleys."

"With the direct clue that we obtained from her testimony, we sent some wizards to search the surroundings to look for the child that the old woman said she had seen."

"Wizard Rufus, in his search for him, found a minor who fit the description and who was also a wizard, so he brought him to the crime scene while he waited for the rest of the group to make a decision."

"After carrying out a search and not finding anything, I met with the team again and when I arrived I recognized the child. I had the opportunity to see him a week ago when I went to the Gaunt house to arrest them. He belongs to that family, sir. Minister"

After Bob's story was finished, the plum-robed wizards began to talk among themselves, discussing something that I could not hear clearly. It seems that these wizards will be the people who will decide my judgment.

After a while of whispering among themselves, they fell silent.

Minister Fawley took the stand and spoke again.

"Kid, introduce yourself and tell me if you have anything to say about the previous events."

"Greetings, Mr. Minister and the other magicians present in the room. As you have heard from Mr. Bob, I belong to the Gaunt family and my name is Alexander, Alexander Gaunt."

 "I hope you will forgive me for my lack of manners in not giving the corresponding greeting, but circumstances do not allow it," I say with a smile as I try to move my restricted hands.

"I must inform you that I still do not understand the reasoning of Mr. Rufus and Mr. Bob for bringing me to this trial, I recognize that I was close to the scene of the crime but that does not mean that they can be treated like a criminal."

I could see quite a few faces impressed by what I just said among the members of the wizengamot.

"It seems that Bob was not lying when he said that you are quite intelligent Mr. Gaunt," said Minister Fawley.

"For security reasons, we must ensure that the person we are judging is who he says he is, therefore for this trial we brought Mr. Marvolo Gaunt who will testify about the origin of the child present here."

A hole formed from the ground and a cage began to emerge that in its internal structure was surrounded by blades and inside the cage was my grandfather Marvolo.

I must confess that after a while he seems even uglier, it seems that the confinement did not help him much.

"Mr. Marvolo, today you were brought to this trial to testify about the origins of the young man behind you, who is said to belong to his Gaunt family," Minister Fawley said.

Upon hearing this my grandfather turned and looked at me, then while he laughed he said "Of course he is a Gaunt, and one of the best besides, my grandson Alexander will be a great wizard, remember my words..."

Listening to my grandfather speak it almost seemed like listening to a raving madman, I don't think the way he speaks helps in my judgment.

I imagine that Minister Fawley has the same thought as me because he quickly ordered my grandfather to be taken out of the room, and then the cage began to rapidly descend through the hole until it closed again.

Minister Fawley continued "Since the identity of the suspect is established, let the next witness come forward, the Muggle lady who claimed to see the young man fleeing the scene of the crime."

I watched as an old woman with big glasses walked very slowly with a cane into the room. I wouldn't be surprised if for some reason she slipped it would probably be the last blow she would receive in her life.

While she slowly approached a chair that had been placed next to me, I could see a lot of nervousness on her face full of wrinkles, I sensed that it must not be easy to be before this court.

When the old woman was able to sit in a chair that other men brought, Minister Fawley said softly, "Madame Isolde, I thank you for attending this trial. Please remember carefully and tell the people in the room what it was that you saw in the room. last night."

"Yes, sir," Isolde responded, a little shy.

"Last night while I was sleeping in my bed on the second floor, I heard a scream and then something that sounded like wails and whimpers, this caused me a lot of fear, I thought maybe someone had been run over or someone had been broken into at a neighbor's house."

"I quickly approached the window of my room and the first thing that caught my attention was a shadow that ran through the darkness, from the size I can tell it was a child."

"I also remember the color of his hair, a very bright blonde."

After hearing that, Minister Fawley said to her, "Madame Isolde, could you tell if that shadow you saw is the young man sitting next to you?"

The old woman looked at me carefully and after a while, she said "It could be him, yes."

Upon hearing the old woman's statement there were some murmurs in the room.

After hearing this all I could think was that this is stupid.

What kind of testimony is this, how dare she claim that it was me?

It seems I have to intervene in this farce or else this could end very badly for me.

"Mrs. Isolda, can you tell me how old you are?"

It seems that the old woman didn't like the question because she made a face, but she answered in a low voice, "90 years."

I Continue with the questions "I can see that you have some normal problems of old age, tell me, is your cane for pleasure or do you need it to walk?"

"I need the cane to walk because my legs have lost strength over the years, young man," the old woman responded.

"Tell me then, madam, are your glasses necessary for you to see normally, are they only for activities such as reading or simply aesthetic?" I asked for it.

"I need my glasses to be able to see son, what is the reason for asking me these questions, don't you want to know the color of my underwear now, eh young man? The lady said, somewhat annoyed and also in a joking manner.

To the laughter of some of the wizards present, Minister Fawley intervened, "Young Gaunt, if you have nothing useful to say, it would be better if you let us continue with the trial."

When I got the answers I needed, I decided to end this farce: "Don't worry, Mr. Minister, I was just seeing how an elderly lady, 90 years old to be more precise, was able to run quickly to the window in the middle of the night without the help of her cane from his room and also without his glasses, in the middle of the darkness of the night he could affirm that he saw a child running from the place."

"Besides, I don't feel this enough, she dares to affirm that the supposed person she saw in me as if she had seen my face, and this under the only certain clue, if it can be called that way, that the person she said saw had blonde hair, I didn't know that having blonde hair made you a criminal."

Once my intervention was over, I looked at the Wizengamot wizards to observe her reaction.

There was complete silence in the room, if they were previously surprised with the way she spoke, now they were stunned by what they had just heard.

We can't blame them either, if a seemingly 5-year-old child talks to you better than a young adult in their 20s, many would think you were hallucinating or that your grandson did something with your drink.

After a few moments, Minister Fawley took over, he seemed to conveniently ignore what I had just said, "Let's continue with the trial, let Mr. Rufus come by and tell us how he found Mr. Gaunt."

Rufus came up next to me and began to tell me what his encounter with me was like and his deductions, although he wasn't as brazen as when he spoke to me.

When Rufus finishes talking I start to realize some things that I'm not liking.

"This trial is quite strange, they are ignoring the situation that they never found what was supposedly stolen from me, they do not talk about the wand much less than a child of approximately 5 years old can do magic and can kill a person with a spell that magicians most respected in England seem to be unaware or at least unable to identify"

Analyzing all these situations, I began to feel some concern about what was happening in the room.

I decide to intervene directly on this again." Mr. Minister Fawley and Wizards of the Wizengamot, I have to confess that this trial seems unnecessary and an insult to the dignity of the Gaunt family."

"The only things I have heard in this trial are indications and delusions from some people, so far they have not demonstrated a single solid piece of evidence that links me to the Muggle's death."

"Where is the supposed wand with which I murdered the old Muggle?"

"Where is the supposed money that I stole?"

"Why don't you explain to the court how it is possible that a 6-year-old child has access to a wand and can also perform magic that in this court it seems no one can recognize and can kill a person?"

"I don't think the wise and respected wizards of the Wizengamot will condemn me just because I have blonde hair, a color that matches what an old Muggle woman who supposedly saw me at the crime scene says."

When I was saying all these things, I can see how on the faces of some wizards who belong to the Wizengamot you can see a little annoyance and some a little regret.

I don't know if that's what I'm talking about or if there's something I'm not understanding.

see that all the magicians present begin to argue about what I just said, it seems that some of them agree with what I am saying.

I was struck by the face Minister Fawley made, he seemed quite thoughtful while he looked at me.

While the magicians deliberate on what just happened, I could hear a woman's voice whispering to me.

"boy, I can't help you much more."

Looking for the person who was talking to me I saw Griselda's face sitting among the Wizengamot wizards looking at me, she shook her head to the sides of her and made an apologetic face.

I waited a while until everyone present was silent.

Minister Fawley spoke.

"after having listened to everyone and taking into account the seriousness of the facts and also the age of the criminal, this court considers it appropriate to send young Alexander Gaunt to Azkaban until he reaches the age of 11 to be sent to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"let's start the vote"

"Those who are against the sentence raise your hands"

A young woman who was standing near the Minister while she was taking notes of the entire trial counted those who voted, she said out loud.

10

3

5

3

3

"for a total of 24 votes, Mr. Minister."

Then there was a commotion in the room, some people were talking about the vote, as I watched the scene I was not sure if what just happened was good or bad for me, I don't know how many votes there are in total but from the reaction it seems like if they just condemned me.

Seeing that the noises in the room did not stop, Minister Fawley shouted "SILENCE!!" While he hit his desk hard with the skull.

"those who vote in favor raise their hands"

Then the young woman counted out loud again and said

21

4

"For a total of 25 votes, Mr. Minister."

"It looks like my vote won't be necessary then," said Minister Fawley.

"Move the young Gaunt to the transit place while you prepare his transfer to Azkaban prison."

The two men who were near me approached me and made the restraints on my chair loosen, then grabbed me by the shoulders and handcuffed my hands while guiding me somewhere outside the room.

We arrived at a door very close to the place where we had just left and we entered a room where there were several cells and then they entered me into one.

I am still somewhat stunned and upset by what had just happened, it seems that things are not as simple as I thought.

Discuss why the court was so ridiculous with his sentencing.

"Surely there must be political implications in the court, what kind of stupid corruption I just witnessed, totally impartial and dark."

I was extremely furious when I understood that I would be locked up in prison again for 5-6 years and the worst thing was that I did not understand what the real reasons were for why I was conspired and convicted.

I have my doubts about whether I can survive to become a free man again, I could only sigh.

I sat on a chair in the cell to try to calm me down.

This is stupid...

It was the only conclusion I reached.