(Gilderoy Lockhart)
Another chair materialised beside Peter's with a sharp crack of displaced air.
Sirius lowered himself into it with deliberate calm, crossing one ankle over his knee as if this were an afternoon meeting rather than a trial that would decide the course of history. His jaw was set, but his hands rested loosely on the armrests. Only the slight tension in his shoulders betrayed him.
Amelia stepped forward personally, a small crystal vial held between her fingers. The chamber fell into an expectant hush.
Even the enchanted torches seemed to burn more quietly.
She uncorked the vial and tilted Sirius's chin upward with two fingers, brisk and efficient.
"Three drops," she announced clearly.
The transparent liquid shimmered as it fell onto his tongue.
One.
Two.
Three.
Sirius swallowed obediently, and a ripple passed through the benches.
Several members leaned forward in anticipation.
Peter began breathing faster, his fingers digging into the armrests of his own chair.
After a few seconds, Sirius's expression softened. The sharpness in his eyes faded, replaced with a distant, vacant calm. His posture relaxed entirely, as though invisible threads had been cut.
Amelia nodded once.
"What is your name?"
"Sirius Orion Black," he replied evenly.
"When were you born?"
"November third, nineteen fifty-nine."
A few members scribbled notes.
"Are you or have you ever been a Death Eater?"
"No."
The reply was firm and immediate.
Several red-faced members of the Dark faction shifted in their seats.
"Did you betray James and Lily Potter?"
"No."
The word rang through the chamber like a bell.
"Who was their Secret Keeper?"
Peter lunged forward in his restraints.
"Stop!" he screamed, voice cracking. "He might have Obliviated himself! He could be mistaken!"
The sudden outburst sent a wave of murmurs through the chamber.
Amelia narrowed her eyes at Peter, her expression turning glacial.
Then she turned back to Sirius without missing a beat.
"Do you believe you have any missing memories, or suspect that your memory has been altered in any way?"
"No."
A breath passed.
"And the answer to the previous question," Sirius continued calmly, "is Peter Pettigrew."
The chamber exploded into gasps and sharp exclamations.
Someone dropped a quill.
Peter began shaking his head violently. "No, no, he's lying!"
Amelia raised her wand slightly, and silence fell again.
"Mr. Black," she said, "please narrate the events of the day you were captured."
Sirius began at once.
"That day, I went to Peter's house because I had a bad feeling. But he wasn't there."
His voice remained steady, empty of inflection.
"So I went to the Potter cottage to see if he was there."
The chamber suddenly felt colder.
"When I arrived, the house was partially destroyed. James and Lily were dead. And Rubeus Hagrid was there, holding baby Harry."
A collective inhale swept through the room.
"At first, I tried to take Harry, since I am his godfather, but Hagrid refused. He said he was under orders from Dumbledore to deliver the child to him."
Sirius's eyes did not even flicker toward Dumbledore. The Veritaserum left no room for subtlety.
"I believed Harry would be safe with Dumbledore for a time. So I gave Hagrid my motorcycle and left to find Peter."
He paused only because Amelia lifted a hand for him to continue.
"I finally found Peter on a Muggle street."
Peter whimpered.
"I demanded to know why he betrayed them."
Sirius's voice did not change.
"But he began shouting. Accusing me of being the traitor. Doing his best to draw attention."
Several members frowned.
"Then he cut off his own finger."
A horrified murmur rippled outward.
"And detonated a gas pipe."
Some of the older members visibly stiffened at the memory of that explosion.
Silence pressed in.
"For a long time, I believed Peter died there too."
A muscle in Sirius's jaw twitched.
"I laughed. I was half-mad with grief and found it funny that Peter died to his own spell. The Aurors arrived then. They stunned me immediately, and the next thing I knew was that I woke up in an Azkaban cell."
Peter had begun sobbing openly at some point.
"I waited for a trial for a long time," Sirius finished. "But it never came."
The words lingered heavily, and Amelia inclined her head.
"Why did you not escape sooner? Surely you could have done so?"
"I felt responsible," Sirius answered immediately. "I was the one who convinced James to change the Secret Keeper. It was I who suggested we use Peter instead."
Several members shifted uncomfortably.
"One day," he continued, "Minister Fudge dropped a newspaper in my cell. There was a photograph on the front page. It was a family who had won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize, and on the shoulder of one of the boys, there was a rat, missing a toe."
Fudge visibly paled.
"I recognised it immediately as Peter's Animagus form."
Sirius's voice grew firmer.
"The traitor was alive. So I knew I couldn't remain in prison while he was free."
"And how did you escape?" Amelia asked.
"I transformed into my dog form. Slipped through the bars and swam from the island. Dementors ignore animals, you see."
A few horrified whispers broke out.
Amelia allowed herself the faintest arch of her brow.
"Thank you for informing this body of a serious security vulnerability," she said dryly. "That will be addressed."
Several Wizengamot members coughed awkwardly.
"That concludes my questioning."
She administered the antidote, and within moments, clarity returned to Sirius's eyes. He blinked once, then twice, realising what he had just publicly declared.
The chamber erupted again, though this time the murmurs were different.
Sympathetic.
Outraged.
Vindicated.
Amelia turned toward Peter.
"Is there anything you wish to add to your defence, Mr. Pettigrew?"
Peter burst into tears.
"I didn't want to do it!" he wailed. "But he was too strong! The Dark Lord would have killed me! I was afraid! I had no choice!"
His words rang hollow against the stillness.
Dumbledore rose slowly.
"The testimony under Veritaserum is clear."
He surveyed the chamber.
"We shall now vote on Mr. Black's innocence. Those who consider him innocent, light your wands."
For half a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then…
There was light.
Dozens of wands ignited across the chamber, glowing in unified brilliance.
Over three-fourths of the room shone brightly, while only a handful remained dark.
Fudge shifted nervously.
Dumbledore nodded.
"Very well. Sirius Black is declared innocent."
A wave of applause broke out.
Sirius exhaled sharply, a breath he had likely held for twelve years.
"Regarding the matter of illegal Animagus transformation," Dumbledore continued, "the standard sentence is five years in Azkaban. Given that Mr. Black has already endured twelve years of imprisonment without trial, that sentence is considered fulfilled."
A pause.
"The Ministry shall compensate him one hundred thousand Galleons per excess year served."
Fudge winced visibly, knuckles whitening around his hat, but wisely chose to remain silent.
"You are free, Mr. Black."
Sirius let out a sharp bark of laughter and rose to his feet. Applause filled the chamber again, stronger this time.
Dumbledore raised a hand for quiet.
"Now," he said softly, "we turn to Peter Pettigrew."
Augusta Longbottom stood first.
"Give him to the Dementors," she said coldly. "Let them Kiss him."
A wave of red anger rolled through the chamber.
"Agreed!"
"Justice!"
Peter shrieked and began begging for mercy.
I chose that moment to rise to my feet, attracting everyone's attention.
"I believe," I said mildly, "that granting the Dementors such a reward would be… unwise."
Brows furrowed.
"After their recent failure during the breakout, their loyalty is questionable. I do not believe they deserve such a gift."
Peter stared at me with wet, desperate hope.
Sirius stared at me in betrayal.
I smiled faintly.
"I am not proposing leniency. Only a different form of finality."
A beat.
"I propose we cast him through the Veil of Death."
The room fell silent for a moment, then there was a collective intake of breath, and even the torches seemed to flicker.
Dumbledore studied me carefully.
"Very well," he said. "Red for the Dementor's Kiss. Green for the Veil. White for lifetime imprisonment."
The chamber immediately exploded into color.
All the wands shone in a mixture of red and green lights.
But there wasn't a single white one.
The lights pulsed and flickered as members committed their votes.
When they settled, green outnumbered red by only four votes.
Dumbledore inclined his head gravely.
"Peter Pettigrew, for the betrayal and murder of James and Lily Potter, the murder of twelve Muggles, the false incrimination of Sirius Black, illegal Animagus transformation, and being part of the organisation known as Death Eaters…"
His voice grew solemn.
"Your Order of Merlin is revoked."
There was a collective murmur of approval.
"And you are hereby sentenced to death through the Veil."
Peter's screams echoed long after the gavel fell.
…