Chapter 3

Chapter 3-OPENING STATEMENTS

HERMIONE GRANGER

The courtroom became quiet as Amelia Bones struck the gavel, motioning the resume of the trial, and she stilled as she saw Percy stand up with a nod. His face was impassive, yet she knew just how much he was suffering inside and just how much time he had spent to become the prosecutor in this trial.

Her own fists balled up as she thought about her departed friend, and her eyes shifted towards the person who had killed him. Crovus Lestrange sat in his seat. A single chain held him tied to his chair as he looked impassively at the proceedings.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, there are few times when a case is as simple as this, an open and shut case. I believe there would be few among us who aren't aware of the actions of Crovus Lestrange, so I will keep it all very brief and concise," began Percy Weasley as he walked to stand in front of the judges and jurors.

"The person sitting opposite there in that chair was the handpicked successor of the perhaps the most evil man of our generation. The list of atrocities committed by him is extensive, and I could spend a whole day mentioning the charges that have been brought against him, yet I won't do that," said Percy and then moved towards his desk and pointed towards a stack of documents.

"Instead, I will point you towards the heap of evidence that ties down Crovus Lestrange to all those allegations, ranging from murder to treason," finished Percy with a flourish as he looked towards Minister Amelia.

"That will be all!" he said and moved back into his seat as she heard the sound of quills scratching and cameras clicking, Daphne finally stood up from her seat and began to walk towards the jury as well, the click of her heels the only sound in the whole court as everyone held their breaths.

"I thank the prosecution for keeping their statements short," she began slowly and she watched as the whole Court hung at her every word, trying to piece out the reason for her presence.

"War is a terrible thing. Terrible," she began, her lips thinning,

"It brings with itself trying times. Times that test us all in every way possible, putting our very lives in the balance. Yet it also highlights the courageous among us, as they step out and take charge, and try to lead us into a better future," she said with a raised brow as she suddenly turned and pointed towards them.

"We call them heroes, and we honor them. Even right now, there would hardly be a child in all of magical Britain who doesn't know about the tales of Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley," she said. Hermione frowned, and she felt Harry shift as well, appearing confused by Daphne's actions, much like herself.

She had thought that she would try to lead the defense by using the defense of Crovus being underage, or a defense based on duress. She had helped Percy prepare against these lines of action herself, yet Daphne seemed to be ignoring these two avenues.

"Yet there are some heroes whose actions are never truly recognized, their names lost to the ravines of time, despite being nearly or sometimes even more important than those who bask in the light. I would like to honor them as well, honor Regulus Black, and Severus Snape," and she felt her heart thump in her chest as she mentioned those two names. For there was no way for her to know the truth behind these names. Since the truth had been declared as classified by the Ministry and would only be revealed after the trials had concluded. Yet Daphne had somehow, gotten her hands on it.

How? Her eyes shifted towards harry and he had a similar frown on his face as he shifted nervously beside her as well, as the reporters frantically captured this moment, and then she continued her voice louder than before as she turned to face her client.

0000

DAPHNE GREENGRASS

"…and Crovus Lestrange!" she finished loudly, and watched as pandemonium broke out in the courtroom. The jury was perplexed by her words and began to whisper among them, and Minister Amelia was forced to jump in as she tried to bring back order to the courtroom.

She looked towards the source of all this ruckus, and Crovus simply sat in his chair and seemed rather impassive though those few who truly knew him could tell at just a glance that he was very nervous, the biggest evidence of which was how his hands were constantly nibbling away at the skin on his right thumb.

"ORDER! ORDER!" shouted Minister Bones as she struck her gavel again, and the pandemonium began to die down, yet whispers still lingered, and questions began to appear in their eyes at her words.

Yet she was just beginning. She was going to turn the prosecution's case on its head.

"The actions of my client were never under question, and the defense will not argue about that!" She felt the court still at her words, surprised that she had just admitted to crimes of murder.

"Yet we shall shed light on the reason behind my client's actions. Reasons that have been kept secret until today for various reasons. Reasons that will shake the very foundation of our society and show us that oftentimes those whom we call heroes and laud as paragons of goodness are just as human as us all, if not even worse," she finished, and she saw Minister Bones frown, as she gave Edward a small nod reassuring nod as she moved back towards her seat.

The whole court was still quiet, and Minister Bones picked up her gavel and struck it as she stood up.

"We will have a sort recess before we continue any further," she then pointed towards them both and continued.

"And both of you see me in my office right this instant!" With her words, pandemonium broke out in the courtroom, and Aurors were forced to step in to calm down the rampaging reporters as she moved toward the Supreme Mugwump's chambers with a small smile on her face.

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CROVUS LESTRANGE

Crovus Lestrange rushed through the corridor as he made his way toward the Charm classroom using the shortcut Draco had told him about. The castle had been just as majestic and magical as he had expected, and he had been quite excited to explore the stories building, yet they were strictly prohibited from moving alone through the Halls because of the recent attacks on the students.

They had begun with the Filch's cat and then a Gryffindor student had followed, both of them petrified by the monster prowling in Slytherin's chambers. He felt a sense of anxiety ripple through him as he thought of all the voices he heard before an attack, yet his aunt had been very strict about him keeping his gift under wraps from everyone and so he had remained quiet.

And as he took a turn towards the major corridor, he slowed down as voices of shouting interrupted him.

"Why can't you understand? We cannot be friends!" came the shout from a voice he found quite familiar. He stopped and thought it better not to interfere as he heard the other person shout.

"But why? We got along so well, in the train," and this time, he recognized the voice easily, after all this same voice had always been following him around for as long as he could remember.

"Astoria! We were sorted into different houses! You are a freaking snake. I cannot be seen fraternizing with people like you," came the retort and he peeked out into the corridor his earlier guess was proven right as he found a girl with red hair talking with his childhood friend Astoria.

"What do you mean by people like me?" questioned Astoria, her voice shaky and sad.

"You know. People like you, like Lestrange and Malfoy," and he stilled as he heard his name getting called out like that.

"Just listen to me. I don't think that this is going to work out, so don't approach me again. We are not friends," said the red-headed Weasley, Ginny had been her name, as she walked away leaving Astoria alone in the corridor.

He took a deep breath and walked out of the corridor and found Astoria sitting there sobbing lightly, as tears dripped down her face. He saw her head snape towards him guardedly, though upon seeing him her face was filled with embarrassment.

"Crovus," she said with a hitched breath as he walked up to her and sat down beside her on the floor, wrapping his arm around the girl.

"I am sorry about Ginny," he apologized, feeling that perhaps things would have been different if she wasn't friends with him.

"No, No, you don't have to apologize for anything, it's just people being stupid," she said as she leaned closer, and both of them huddled together like they often did when she came to visit.

"We were so alike and had thought we could be best friends, but she now refuses to listen to me," she complained as she clung to him like a koala, her as he felt her nails dig into his side.

Ever since he had arrived at Hogwarts, he had been somewhat isolated. People usually fell into two categories, first were those who hated him because of his while the second were simply too afraid of him. Crovus had gotten used to this attitude from the people and had grown to appreciate the solitude. Plus, he didn't need them. Afterall, he already had a true friend.

Astoria had always found it difficult to make friends, especially with her condition. She had always been rather sheltered because of her ailment and had been very excited to come to Hogwarts, yet it seems she hadn't expected the stigma associated with their families and House unlike him. She continued to cry and he glanced at his watch and saw that they were already running late for class

"Okay, now I want you to stop these tears. This was just a small hiccup, you will find other people to become friends with," he tried to cheer her up as she took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away the tears from her face.

"Plus, even if you don't you will always, have me. So, you better get up otherwise your sister will tan both our hides for being late to class again this week," he joked and it worked as he saw a small smile appear on her face.

They both stood up and dusted off their robes and began to run towards the classroom, and he didn't miss Ginny vanishing into an obscure corridor along the way with a dazed look on her face, gripping an odd-looking book.

Later during the class, they would come to learn that another attack had happened. And Crovus couldn't quite get the image of a dazed red-head vanishing into the same corridor, with that odd-looking book in her hand, out of his head.

"It couldn't be!"

0000

AMELIA BONES

"I hope you know what you just did, Miss Daphne," she said as she pushed open the doors to her chambers, with the two young lawyers right at her heel.

"I know what I am doing, Minister," came the quick reply from the young lawyer in question followed by a derisive scoff from Percy Weasley.

"If by that you mean trying to defend a murderer," retorted Percy sharply as she sat down on her seat. And just as Daphne was about to respond, she cut in.

"I will not have a ruckus in my chambers, so both of you keep it civil," she said, giving Percy a small glare. The young man flushed yet nodded his head, as she motioned for them to take seats opposite to her desk.

Her eyes then moved toward the person behind this ruckus.

"And Miss Greengrass, I want you to understand, the line of defense you are choosing is extremely dangerous. I hope you understand that the implications of such allegations would be disastrous for your client," she said to the young woman whose lips thinned yet she nodded.

"I know, but I have adequate evidence to prove that my client's actions were deliberate and that everything he did was because of a reason," and Percy Weasley flushed in rage at those words.

"Reason. Your client is a murderer. He killed my brother, I don't even understand why you are defending scum like him," he said derisively.

"I had thought of better of you." He finished, and she shook her head. Though Greengrass didn't back down and turned to face Percy Weasley and retorted in a sharp voice.

"And so had I, yet here I we sit holding Corvus's trial a year after his imprisonment just so he could be tried as an adult," cut in Greengrass and saw Amelia felt her head snap towards her as well as she finished those words.

"The crimes for which Crovus is being prosecuted were all committed while he was underage, yet the Ministry chose to wait a year for his trial just so they could prosecute him as an adult. That is biased behavior," argued Daphne before she could reply.

"Because he deserves it! He should get the kiss for all he has done instead of the prison sentence he would have gotten had he been prosecuted as an underage wizard!" cut in Percy Weasley heatedly.

"ENOUGH!" she cut in before the Greengrass girl could reply.

"I am fining both of you fifty galleons each for this behavior," she said as she picked up her quill to write the short order for this.

"The information you tried to use today in court when you named the late Professor Severus Snape is still considered classified. Is there any reason I shouldn't have it taken out of the record," she got to the real reason she had called them to the meeting.

Percy wasn't surprised by the truth about his late potions professor and had probably been told about it by either Harry or Hermione. Yet Greengrass had somehow gotten her hands on confidential information that the Ministry was yet to reveal.

"I believe the Ministry had the intention to reveal all the information regarding the true role of Severus Snape after the trials, and since Corvus's is the last Death Eater trial, I believe it is appropriate enough that the truth be made public now," argued the young woman as she took out a piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to her.

"This is a motion to declassify the details of the death of one Severus Snape. I was appointed as his attorney and have a document attached there to show the transfer of power of attorney," she said and Amelia frowned as she skimmed through the documents.

"That cannot be legit!" cut in Percy but the young woman simply shrugged.

"You can have a look yourself," she said as she handed him a copy of the motion and young Weasley read the motion and the other motion with a frown.

"Is this even legal?" he questioned.

"It is, I checked. There is even a receipt of fund transfer from his account to mine, attached there," pointed out the young Greengrass, and she was right. There was Gringott's slip attached there as well.

"I will have to see about this. But for now, both of you are dismissed," she said, and the two young lawyers moved out of her room as her eyes finally landed on the name of the person who had acted as a witness for Severus Snape's motion for the transfer of power of attorney.

Albus Dumbledore

"What plots are you weaving now, Albus?" she whispered as she put down the motion, and took a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair, thinking about the young woman's opening statement.

Was she telling the truth, had Crovus Lestrange been a double agent all this time? But why would he even agree to do something like this? And more importantly, who would even use someone so young for a task like this?

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