Sirius shifted in his seat as Bootle stood up and declined to question Rowle with a sneer at the quivering wreck in the defendant's chair.
Albus nodded. "Do either of my fellow judges have anything they would like to ask the defendant?"
Gideon and Daniel shook their heads.
"Then as the defendant has pled guilty, my fellow judges and I will deliberate the sentence." Albus raised a powerful privacy bubble which obscured the judges from watching eyes as well as listening ears. It was an impressive bit of magic.
Sirius felt himself being watched and turned with a frown to see Bootle glaring at him. He glared back and was happy to see Bootle drop his gaze.
The deliberation didn't take long. Albus dropped the privacy bubble and turned to Rowle with a compassionate grandfatherly expression.
"Mister Rowle, you have pled guilty and confessed to conspiring to commit a terrorist act and being part of a terrorist organisation. The last war took many lives and we cannot allow this terrorism to take hold again; as a society we cannot tolerate such outright attacks on our government and the peace so many fought so hard to achieve. Yet your defence has offered some mitigation for both charges and you have expressed regret. Keeping this in mind, this tribunal sentences you to ten years imprisonment in Azkaban's minimum security wing." Albus said gravely.
Rowle burst into noisy tears as the Aurors were ordered to take him from the courtroom.
Sirius knew he would have been tempted to sentence Rowle much more harshly but he was satisfied and certainly judicial process had been followed.
The next prisoner was brought in.
Arnold Jugson showed none of the hysterics of Rowle; instead he remained stoically grim-faced through the confirmation of identity.
Amelia's prosecution was swift; she called Wood to testify that he had arrested both Jugson and MacNair at the World Cup, and submitted the forensic tests of both wands and the muggle victims which supported the written statements from Harry and Ron and their accounts of coming across two robed and masked figures torturing muggles.
It was at that point that Dotts got to his feet and objected to the absence of Harry and Ron. Sirius noticed the surreptitious look his way that the solicitor threw him and figured he was expected to leap to his feet and protest loudly at the idea of having Harry testify, voiding the trial with his non-sanctioned interference. So instead he smiled at Dotts and let Amelia eviscerate Dott's argument as spurious as everyone had been notified of the decision not to have them as witnesses and all solicitors had been given the offer to interview the boys before they had left for Hogwarts and declined.
Dotts sat back down defeated.
It was the beginning of the end…Dotts tried to get the conspiracy charge dropped on the basis of lack of evidence but Amelia produced the surveillance photos of Jugson at his meeting with Dennis Travers – the entire reason why the tribunals were sealed because the photos gave away that they were watching the former Death Eaters. The Imperius curse defence was countered by a Ministry Healer who testified.
Sirius watched in satisfaction as Jugson was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to ten years in the maximum security part of Azkaban – where Sirius had formally resided. Jugson didn't say a word as he was led out.
The recess Albus called was welcome since the ever-full mug of hot chocolate had produced a natural consequence that had Sirius finding the nearest bathroom as soon as the doors to the courtroom opened up. He decided to get some fresh air and made his way through the corridors of the Ministry to a little known balcony off on the top level, wrapping around a corner of the building, completely invisible to muggle eyes. He and James had discovered it the second week of their training as Hit Wizards and had used it as an escape to talk occasionally.
Sirius closed the balcony door, and walked around the corner to what he considered his usual spot. He had usually lounged back against the building while James had perched on the metal railing. If he closed his eyes…
He gulped in air and tried to ignore that his shivering wasn't just due to the icy wind that blew across his cheeks and sent his hair flying.
Bloody Dementors, Sirius thought tiredly.
A scuff of the door opening on the other side of the building had Sirius straightening and he squared his shoulders to be polite to whoever was about to disturb him.
"Damn it, Amos! What has gotten into you?"
Leonard Abbott's voice carried around the corner and Sirius shrank back against the building's side, quickly casting a disillusionment charm. He needn't have been worried; neither Leonard nor Amos Diggory walked around to his side of the balcony.
"Are you trying to get arrested?" Leonard continued harshly.
"I just wanted to talk to Walden!" Amos replied heatedly.
"He's about to go to Azkaban!" Leonard stated bluntly. "He's a Death Eater for Merlin's sake! What in the name of all things magical were you thinking?"
"I've worked with him for years, Leonard! He's sat at my table and talked to my son about Quidditch!" Amos replied. "I just wanted to know why! He's not a bad man; he's always been good at his job."
Sirius understood Amos's bewilderment; hadn't he felt the same with Peter? The need to know why had been a nagging constancy of Sirius's thinking on Peter ever since he'd realised Peter's betrayal.
"And now we know why! He's a murdering bastard!" Leonard snarled.
"We don't know what he's done beyond attacking the muggleborn family." Amos said defensively.
Leonard made a scoffing sound. "You must be kidding me, Amos. You forget I've seen some of the creature executions MacNair has carried out. I saw him put down a sixteen year old wizard without pause."
"A sixteen year old werewolf." Amos corrected.
Sirius shuddered, unable to do anything but picture a sixteen year old Remus in the place of the unnamed executed boy.
"I will never agree on your agenda there, Amos." Leonard said firmly.
Amos snorted. "Well, of course not! Not now Black with his pet werewolf has your balls in the palm of his hands!"
"Amos!" Leonard snapped. "We have been friends for too many years to count but you go too far!"
There was a tense silence.
"I apologise, Leonard," Amos said gruffly.
Leonard's sigh was heavy and loud enough to travel to Sirius. "What is going on with you, Amos? You haven't been right since…since you didn't get the Wizengamot seat."
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