18 Trials (1)

"Hogwarts, please present the first detainee," Neville said. The Slytherin boy returned, causing a gasp from one woman in the crowd.

"Hogwarts, if you please," Hermione summoned a stool, and the Sorting Hat immediately appeared on top of it. It spoke in the Hat's usual voice, instead of the feminine voice of Hogwarts it had used the night before.

"Seventh Year Slytherin, Zachary Nott, accused of one count of rape and two counts of attempted rape upon female Hogwarts students," the hat declared. "Paintings and ghosts were witness to these events, and are willing to testify."

"It would be quicker to give him Veritaserum and get it over with," Harry snapped. "Madam Bones, this is why you and your team were summoned. Please help us prove or disprove these allegations."

"As a minor-"

"No seventh year student can be a minor," Hermione retorted quickly. "They must turn seventeen before the first of September. Calling his parents was a courtesy, but we expect you to do your duty!"

Madam Bones again looked shocked to be spoken to that way by a young girl, but after a moment she nodded and then turned to her aurors. "Shacklebolt, set up the recording quills. Scrimgeour, the Veritaserum."

Once the quills were recording onto long parchment scrolls and the truth serum had been given, Madam Bones enervated the student. His questioning was quick, and everything the hat said was correct. He even admitted to two more attempts and a single rape on the grounds, where the castle was unable to monitor. He also admitted that one of the girls, a Slytherin, had complained to their Head of House, but that he had not been punished.

As soon as the questioning was finished, Harry stepped forward, his gaze steely. "I hereby revoke the admission of Zachary Nott to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for conduct unbecoming of a student. He is forbidden from setting foot on the school grounds ever again, to be effected at the conclusion of this trial."

"So Mote it Be," chorused the three heirs. A glow of white light surrounded Zachary briefly, before fading.

"I would suggest that the Wizengamot now punish this criminal accordingly," Harry said, eyeing the members. "Rape is illegal both in the Wizarding court and the court of Her Majesty, so your duty should be clear."

With little discussion, the boy was sentenced to a year in Azkaban for each rape, and six months for each attempt. Harry and Hermione were disgusted, as they felt the sentence was far too light, but Neville and Helena quietly explained that the Wizarding prison was so much worse than the Muggle ones that a month served there felt more like a year.

They quickly repeated the procedure with the next five Slytherin seventh year boys, one seventh year Slytherin girl, and one boy each from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's seventh year. Next came the sixth year boys, and two Slytherin fifth years, who all had at least one parent present. Their parents attempted to object to the use of Veritaserum on their sons, but given the accuracy of the accusations so far, Lord Greengrass overruled their objections.

Each time, Harry and the others expelled the students and forbid them from returning to the school. For the fifth-years, who had not yet taken their OWLs, being expelled also meant that their wand was to be snapped, which one of the aurors did after each case.

Four of them were also accused, and found guilty, of bringing Dark Arts items onto the school ground, as were a handful of other Slytherins not accused of greater crimes, including one first year, Draco Malfoy. Those items were summoned and confiscated by the aurors, and for each student not already expelled, the heirs ordered two weeks of suspension per each item.

Once all the confessions were out and the victims had been revealed, including those that had been obliviated of the rape, the heirs called for a brief recess. The parents of the victims who had been in the witness stands were escorted from the room by McGonagall, and allowed to see their children for the day. Harry also informed them that any House Elf could direct them to a private room, as needed. The parents of the guilty students had each been escorted out once their child was sentenced.

Finally, they were done with the students, and all of the watching parents were gone. Harry and the others braced themselves. Now things were going to get tough.

The first adult presented was Snape. He was questioned, and revealed that he had been hiding the reported rapes in his House for years. He had also actively terrorized the other Houses, unfairly graded students to keep them from reaching his NEWT classes, encouraged the Slytherins to bully other students, and admitted to a host of plans to make Harry's life miserable once he arrived at Hogwarts. When questioned about his attitude, Snape even confessed to lying about not wanting the Dark Mark in order to get Dumbledore to accept him to the light. He admitted to playing both masters, and also let slip that it was impossible to give an unwilling person the Dark Mark. He was quickly sentenced by the Wizengamot to life in Azkaban.

Next came Lucius Malfoy and several others who had been summoned either as parents or as Wizengamot members. Each of them was revealed to have the Dark Mark on their arm, and each, under Veritaserum, admitted what they had willingly done to receive their Mark. At the heirs' suggestion, each was also questioned on how they had stayed out of Azkaban so far, which lead to several accusations of bribery against Fudge. Hogwarts immediately gagged him and confined him to his chair, awaiting his own questioning. Several aurors were deployed to the ministry to gather others named as taking bribes, holding them for questioning. A list was also formed of Death Eaters who had not been caught and were not currently in Hogwarts, more aurors were summoned and dispatched to hunt them down.