Chapter 13: A Few Quick Trials

The full Wizengamot was in their seats. All thirty-eight of them. They were talking among themselves over what was happening at the ministry and how they were going to stop it. Just then the doors opened, and seventy-five soldiers marched in and spread themselves around the room. They covered every corner and had their weapons, be it gun or wand, at the ready.

"What is the meaning of this?" Weathers said, banging his gavel for order. "You can't just come in here and take over. We are the Wizengamot," he stated, like they were above the law. Which in their eyes they were. They made the laws after all. It was up to them to deal with the criminals, and these people were criminals to them. "Aurors arrest them," the Chief Warlock said, pointing to the men and women in uniform.

"Belay that order," Amelia Bones said, standing with General Stevenson. She knew they were no longer her bosses. Or anyone's after today. They would be lucky to keep what little power they had now.

"You'll find I can do this," General George Stevenson said, holding up a piece of parchment. "You were told four days ago that you needed to straighten out or we would come and do it for you," he said, expanding the document large enough for everyone to see it, and then rotating it so no one could say they didn't get to see it. "It is your own fault that you decided that you were above the law. This is directly from the Queen, to whom you still owe allegiance. You are subject to her rule. You broke those rules. Now we are here to make sure they are reapplied."

"How do you intend to do that? You are muggles," one member said, sneering at the guns and the people holding them.

"You will find none of us are muggles," Stevenson stated, making a 'show them' gesture to his men.

The soldiers all held up their wands and cast a lumos spell. It was a bit blinding, but it got the point across.

"Muggleborn then," the same man spat, not liking them either.

"You will be forced to take Veritaserum and asked three questions. If you answer them correctly you will be left alone. Answer them incorrectly you will be further questioned. If you have done anything illegal you will be detained," Stevenson said, walking right over all those trying to speak louder than him. The voices shouting to be heard got so loud that he took out his firearm and fired it three times. The loud bangs made everyone shut up. "You don't have a choice," he stated, waving for his men to start pulling the members of the Wizengamot to the side where there were commissioned officers ready to question them.

"I refuse to pander to you and your muggle queen," one man said, and he was immediately arrested. Two soldiers came up to him and grabbed him by the arms and escorted him from the building. He protested loudly all the way to the doors. "You can't do this to me. Don't you know who I am? You can't do this, I tell you," he said as his voice trailed away the further he got away from the chamber.

"You don't seem to understand, some of you are being replaced. Some of you will remain on the new Wizengamot. If you are just a bigot, you have the chance to work with others. Unless you feel you can't, then you will be let go without being arrested. If you refuse to cooperate, then you will be arrested and questioned. If you have broken the law, the Queen's laws, then you will serve time. There are no two ways about it. Do what you're told, and we can get this done quickly," Stevenson said, and again waved at the soldiers to start herding people to the commissioned officers.

"I won't," another person said, and they too were taken away. This time they were silenced. But there was a struggle to keep him contained, so they stunned him and floated him out of the room. When that happened, the rest fell in line and went to where they were told and answered the questions. The thirty-eight members were reduced to eighteen rather quickly.

"Now we don't have a quorum," Weathers said, banging his gavel. He had passed the questioning and was given his seat back for the remainder of the meeting.

"It's a good thing for you we have representatives to replace them," Stevenson said, calling for the doors to be opened. In walked half-bloods and muggleborn. Most of them were representatives of the children of Hogwarts, and those that had joined the protest here, and in the Alley, that Stevenson knew had already been vetted. They had been asked similar questions that the purebloods were asked, in that they had to be able to work with the bigots, and that they didn't pander to anyone like Dumbledore. The rest were Stevenson's people.

"Who are these people?" one member asked, not recognizing any of them.

"These are parents of some of the children that held the sit-in, or those that agreed with what they were doing. Since we can't have muggles on the panel, we opted to have the next best thing and asked the muggleborn to join us. You will recognize Mr. Starchers; he headed the protest here at the ministry. Among them are a few soldiers that will be acting as judges until you and they are more familiar with, to you, the new laws. They are going to swell your numbers to at least seventy-five," George said, waving them to the middle of the room. "They will be taking the vows that you all should have taken when you took your seats."

One by one, the new members took the vow to protect the law of the land, by Queen and Country and the people via the law. The soldiers were easy to pick out as they stood at attention the whole time and practically shouted their vows. This was a magical vow, and not one that could be easily circumvented.

Seeing the confused look on the old members' faces, Stevenson knew they had not taken that vow, which was how so many biased laws got passed. He waved for a private to come to him and whispered in his ear. The private nodded and moved off to inform the other soldiers.

"Since it is apparent that you have not taken this vow, all older members of the Wizengamot will be taking it now. If you do not, you will be removed," the general stated, glaring at them. It was no wonder the government was in such a state that it was. Every head of office should have taken this, or similar, vows.

"Now see here," someone said, standing to be heard. "You have already dwindled our numbers to almost nothing. Now you seek to make them smaller," he said, not liking that they had to take a vow to some muggle queen.

"You should have taken this oath the moment you sat in the chair. It is in the charter. You either take it or leave. Be glad we are giving you the opportunity to stay at all," the general stated, not budging an inch.

There was a lot of grumbling, but they could see the spell on the wand and all of them took the vows. It was a wake-up call to all of them. Things were not going to be the same. Now they were figuring out that they should have listened to Starchers. At least that way they might have some control left.

The meeting continued for quite a while, going over the laws of the land and how things were going to be different. The old pureblood laws were thrown out as the garbage they were. The new, to them, equal rights to all laws were explained and put on the books. This took many hours and the books that held the laws were handed out and a month was given to the Wizengamot to familiarize themselves with them.

There was a lot of complaining that they were not in school anymore, but they all agreed that if they were going to be able to do their job correctly, they needed to know.

"We need to discuss who will be the new Minister," Weathers stated, looking at all the new and old members. He still wanted Bones for the job. She had been steadfast during the whole protest. Arresting those that broke the law, and standing up to the minister and his toad, um, undersecretary. She was what they needed to keep the new regime under control.

"Who do you have in mind?" Stevenson asked, looking around at the new members. He was all for choosing one of the new members. He wanted one of the commissioned officers to take control. They were trained to handle this type of government. Bones was good at her job, and she needed to stay there. However, if she wanted the job, they were willing to let her have it. She was the good sort.

"Amelia Bones," Weathers said, getting a 'hear, hear' from a good deal of the old crowd.

"No," Amelia said, standing and slamming her hands on the railing in front of her. "I won't do it. I will not clean up the mess that Fudge left behind. And I'll be damned if I can understand this new government. Let one of the new members take over," she added, waving to Stevenson.

"I concur," the general said, pointing to a woman in the front row. She was middle-aged and had her long blondish hair in a bun. She stood and nodded to the room. "This is Commander Christy Idlewild. She has been trained to command an army and run a government. We have been preparing for this takeover for years. There has always been someone ready to step in. In this case, it is Commander Idlewild," he finished, nodding to the woman.

"Why didn't you just say so to begin with?" Weathers asked, not sure what the military was playing at.

"We wanted to see if you had someone that could or would take over that we approved of first," Stevenson said, nodding to Bones. "We approve of Bones, but she doesn't want the job." He then looked around the room again and noted that many of the old members didn't agree with their choice. "I see that you don't agree. Well, let's take a vote," he said, knowing they had the majority.

"That is a futile effort," Weathers said, not even bothering. "You have the majority," he pointed out needlessly.

"Then let us welcome the new Minister, Commander Idlewild," the general said, saluting the commander. The rest of the Wizengamot either saluted or clapped, as their rank dictated.

The meeting broke up after that and Idlewild and Stevenson approached Starchers. "I want you as my undersecretary," the new minister said to the man.

"Me? Why?" Thomas asked, completely blindsided by the promotion.

"You were in charge of the protest and you kept them from getting out of control many times. It could have ended up with more than five dead if you hadn't stayed coolheaded," Stevenson said, clasping the man's shoulder. "I heard that from many of your co-activists. You kept your head under pressure. We need that kind of person under the minister."

"I accept," Starchers said, like he was ever going to refuse. It was a prestigious position. "What about Jackie? She wanted to be the undersecretary," he asked, remembering the woman said that she had applied for it to Bones.

"I will promote her to a junior undersecretary, but I want you as a senior," Idlewild said, tapping her chin in thought. It didn't hurt to promote within the ministry. It showed that they were willing to keep the people that were here before the takeover.

"Good," Thomas said, glad that they were willing to work with those that protested. It was what they had been fighting for, after all.

Hphphp

It was two weeks later, that the trials were started. They started from the oldest arrest to the newest. Malfoy was one of the first arrested and he was almost at the deadline that would have had to let him go. There were a panel of five judges. All military since they would all be tried under the new, to them, laws.

Malfoy was brought before the panel. "I want a hearing before my peers," he demanded when he didn't recognize any of them. He knew he could bribe those that knew him. He had done so in the past. Where was Fudge, or even Umbridge? They were usually insistent that they be on his panel of judges. This was not going the way it was supposed to.

"Your peers don't know the law," the general on the left said, shuffling the papers in front of him. "Do you wish an advocate?" he asked, then waited for the man to answer.

"I have my own attorney," Malfoy sneered, looking around for his normal lawyer. Surely Narcissa would have called the man by now. Where, in Merlin's name, was he?

"I mean one that knows the law," the man reiterated. "We found that most of the laws on the books went against the laws of the land, which you are subject to, so we abolished them. You will be tried under the laws of the Crown," he added, looking to his fellow judges. They all were thinking the same thing. This was going to be fun. This was the first trial and it looked like it was going to be easier than they thought.

"I don't know those laws," Malfoy protested, as if that made a difference.

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse," the man said, waving a hand to the side as two men came in and sat at the tables. "This is Mr. Stanworth, he will be representing you," he said, pointing to the man who sat next to Lucius. "Take a minute to confer."

The lawyer asked Lucius a few questions, that Malfoy refused to answer since he pegged the man to be a mudblood. Finally, Mr. Stanworth just nodded that they were ready.

"Lucius Malfoy, take the stand," the general said, and waited for the man to come to the booth.

Lucius stood and walked to the booth and took the stand and sat. He sneered at the military personnel that he saw sitting there judging him.

"Since you seem to be unaware of what you are being tried for," the judge said, "let us remind you. You are being charged with trying to incite a riot, terrorism, and firing deadly curses into a crowd with the intent to kill. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," the man said, sure that he could talk his way out of this one. They would not dare give him Veritaserum. Or use his past questioning against him. Bones will pay for dosing him. He was a pureblood. He would see she lost her job for forcing that concoction down his throat.

"Will you swear on your magic that you did none of those things?" was the question posed.

"No, I will not take such a vow," Lucius said, sure that they would not make him do such a thing. It was a common practice among purebloods. They couldn't force them to incriminate themselves.

"Bailiff, bring forward the Veritaserum," the only talking judge said, waving the court officer forward.

"Wait, you can't dose me. I'm a pureblood," Lucius said, standing and backing away from the approaching man. Not that he could go far, the booth was only a few feet in diameter.

"I thought I made it clear that those laws were stricken from the books," the general said, looking smug. "All pureblood privileges have been banned. Henceforth, you will be treated just like everyone else. You should have treated the 'scum' better." It was something that he should not be taking pleasure in, but it did tickle his funny bone.

"You can't do this," Malfoy continued to say, looking to his 'lawyer', who just shook his head. There was nothing the man could do for him.

"Your choice is to swear on your magic or take Veritaserum. There are no other options for you," the judge said, his tone firm.

"I'll swear on my magic, but I change my plea," Lucius said, not wanting to take the serum. They might ask him questions he didn't want to answer.

"Very well, swear on your magic that you will answer the questions about your crimes this last month," the judge said, nodding to the bailiff to move back.

Malfoy was handed a wand from the bailiff, who stood with his wand pointed at him, and he braced himself to do something he really didn't want to do. However, he was between a dragon and a cerberus. "I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, do hereby swear on my magic to answer truthfully the questions about my crimes this past month. So mote it be," he intoned, making sure to keep it simple. He was sweating bullets and he was not liking his odds at seeing home any time soon.

His entire body lit up to show that he was not just mouthing words. There had been those in the past who had tried to fake the vow, but they couldn't pull it off. The body glow was not something that could be replicated.

The bailiff took the wand back and moved to the doors where he stood and watch the proceedings.

"I ask you again, how do you plead?" the judge said, this time his tone was hard.

"Guilty to all charges," Malfoy said, sitting tall and proud. His head was held high and he was not the least bit ashamed that he might have killed a few mudbloods.

"You admit that you came to the ministry to incite a riot?"

"Yes."

"You admit that you are part of the terrorist group the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"You admit that you fired deadly spells into a crowd of people who were not firing spells at you?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that one of your spells might have killed any of the protesters?" the judge asked, only for Malfoy's lawyer to object.

"Your Honor, you are asking my client to remember a chaotic time," he said, hoping to do something to earn his pay. "There were many spells being fired at that time. I am sure Mr. Malfoy didn't have the chance to see where his landed."

"I want him to answer to the best of his ability," the judge said, looking at the blond man.

"I am unsure," Malfoy said, his brow scrunched. He was telling the truth as he knew it. "I want to say yes, but I cannot be certain."

"The fact that you want to make that claim makes me want to throw the book at you. Alas, I am not alone on this panel," the general said, nodding to the grim looking people who were staring at Malfoy with disdain. "Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Malfoy?"

"None, your Honor," both lawyers said, shaking their heads in unison.

"We will deliberate for a few minutes and let you know our verdict," the general said, putting up a privacy bubble. The five military personnel started talking among themselves. It didn't take long, only around five minutes and they all agreed on a sentence. The bubble came down and the same judge said, "For your crimes, you have been found guilty and will be sentence to thirty-five years in Azkaban. Since we can not pin a murder crime on you, you got off lightly. However, you will not be eligible for parole until twenty years have expired." He banged his gavel and ended the session.

Lucius Malfoy was flabbergasted. They hadn't even given him a moment that he could try to bribe them. The whole thing was over in thirty minutes. It was unreal. His life was over, and he would never see his wife and child again. What were they going to do without him? Would Voldemort come and rescue him, like Bellatrix often stated he would? Was he going to sit in a prison cell and hope for that? It looked like he didn't have much of a choice.

The bailiff came and cuffed him in magical handcuffs and dragged him away.

Hphphp

The rest of the trials for the Death Eaters went pretty much the same way. All were found guilty of being part of a terrorist group and sent to Azkaban. The prison was getting full for the first time since it was built.

Now it was Fudge's and Umbridge's trial. Like Malfoy they were given a lawyer who they all treated with disdain for being a mudblood. It was the same man, who did his best to help them, but there was little he could do. You can lead a horse to water…

Fudge was first. He was brought in wearing prison garbs. He had been wearing his usual clothes when he was arrested, but there was a minor accident that required him to change his clothes.

"Cornelius Fudge, you are here because you have been accused of taking bribes and blatantly abusing your position of minister. How do you plead?" Stevenson asked from his place on the panel of judges. He wanted to be on this panel personally.

"Not guilty," Fudge said, like every pureblood before him had. They all were under the misconception that they would not be dosed with Veritaserum.

"Vow or Veritaserum?" Stevenson asked, not going into the normal spiel of how they were no longer allowed to use the pureblood rights.

"What?" Fudge asked, dumbfoundedly.

"Vow or Veritaserum?" the general asked again, narrowing his eyes in frustration. Like he was speaking to a dimwit.

"I don't understand," Cornelius said, worrying his shirt hem.

"I am speaking English, right?" George asked the judge next to him, who nodded. "Are you simple?" he then asked the ex-minister. "Vow or Veritaserum. Choose or we will choose for you."

"But… but… I'm a pureblood," the pudgy man sputtered, using both hands to wrinkle his shirt.

"Irrelevant. Choose," Stevenson said, making 'tick-tock' noises.

"Vow!" Cornelius shouted as the bailiff started walking his way. He made the vow to tell the truth about all the laws he had broken in his term as minister.

"Do you admit that you took bribes to let criminals go free?"

"Yes."

"Do you admit that you took bribes to pass laws that suppressed minorities, even knowing it was against the Crown?"

"Yes."

"Then you admit to committing treason against the Crown?"

"Yes."

The questioning went on from there, but with that question that ex-minister had damned himself to Azkaban for life. The panel of judges only deliberated for a few minutes and passed judgement on him.

"Cornelius Fudge, despite all your other criminal acts, for the act of treason, you will be sentenced to death. You will be thrown through the Veil of Death," the judge said, banging his gavel and ending the trial.

Fudge did the only thing he could do at that sentence. He fainted. His sentence was carried out right away. He cried and fought with them to the bitter end, but he was toss in and gone in seconds. There was no one there to mourn the man. His wife was told of his sentence, but she declined to come and watch.

Hphphp

Dolores Umbridge was next. She was brought in and treated as a hostile witness.

"Dolores Umbridge, you are here because you have been accused of taking bribes and blackmailing government officials. There is now accusations of murder, your own father being one of them. You have not cooperated with the officers since your arrest, so you will be treated as a hostile witness. Therefore, you will not be given the choice of a vow or Veritaserum," Stevenson said, nodding to the Aurors to put her in the witness stand.

"You can't do this to me," she protested, struggling the whole way. "I am the Senior Undersecretary," she kept saying. "I have my rights."

"Give her the Veritaserum," Stevenson ordered immediately.

The bailiff stunned the woman midway through a yell and dropped the serum on her tongue and then unstunned her. He then stepped back and watched.

"Dolores Umbridge, you have been accused of taking bribes to let people out of jail. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"You have been accused of blackmailing government officials. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Name them."

So she named ten officials that she had been blackmailing and why.

"You have been accused of murder. Is this true?"

"Yes," she said, her eyes still glazed with the serum.

"How many?" was the next question.

"Ten," was the startling answer.

"Name them."

She listed the seven mudbloods she killed and two werewolves and her father.

"Where are the bodies?" was the inquiry. They wondered if the families could recover them for closure.

"I burned them," Dolores said, and there was a sadistic grin on her face indicating that the serum was wearing off.

"We need to confer," Stevenson said, shooting a binding spell on the woman's chair, making sure she didn't go anywhere. Ropes shot up and surrounded Dolores from every angle, wrapping her up tight.

The panel deliberated for around ten minutes and then released the bubble they were under. "Dolores Umbridge, you are hereby sentenced to two life sentences in Azkaban. You will not be eligible for parole. Ever.

"You can't do this," she said, struggling in her bonds. "I am the Senior Undersecretary," she said, again.

"Take her away," Stevenson said, waving to the Aurors that were waiting to escort prisoners.

"You would think the dementors were still at the prison they way they fuss," one of the judges said as they stood to leave.

"They don't know we got rid of them," Stevenson said with a knowing chuckle.

It was one of the many things that the Queen demanded. The dementors were to be taken care of. There was to be no torture for the prisoners under her regime. It had not been easy, but they had herded them all into one room via Patronus' and used napalm on them. The screams were something that was going to haunt his, and the others, nightmares for years to come. But it was necessary.

They now had goblin and human guards. The prisoners had rights, and there wasn't a death penalty anymore, not after Fudge. He was the last to go through the Veil. The Veil of Death was being studied and they still didn't know what it did, or where it went to. It was no longer used as a threat anymore.

That is not to say the prisoners were going to a five-star resort, but they weren't going to be treated like the former Azkaban prisoners. Those said prisoners were undergoing treatment, physical and mental, for the exposure of the dementors. Most were beyond saving, and would never regain any form of sanity, but it was mandatory that they get the treatment.

They would be separated from the general population. The likes of Bellatrix Lestrange would never rub elbows with Lucius Malfoy. Not that they would anyway. The females would be separated from the males. However, she and Umbridge would never meet.

Hphphp

The two horcruxes were easily obtained by the Unspeakables. Well, not easily, but they weren't that difficult once they got past the failsafes. The ring was the hardest, and it almost killed one of the men sent to retrieve it, but they got it in the end. The locket was much easier. All they had to do was ask Black if they could look in his house. The crazy house elf was a bit of a bother, but they bribed him and won out.

Now they had three pieces of the Dark Lord to play with. They combined them to one piece and now had something stronger to use on the winter solstice to call the rest with. It was going to be a powerful spell come that day, and they were waiting with bated breath. The prophecy was something they needed to take into account, and Harry Potter might need to be there. It was something they were going to have to take up with Black, who was the boy's guardian now.