After reading out the statement, Fudge raised his head and said, "Have both sides understood clearly?"
"Understood clearly," the two responded.
"Next, I will state the plaintiff's litigation request, facts, and reasons on their behalf," Fudge said as he put down the text.
"The plaintiff, Harry Potter," he continued, "accuses the defendant Peter Pediru, as the Keeper of the Sword of Loyalty Spell, of betraying the friends who asked him to keep their secret, James Potter and Lily Potter, by revealing their hiding place to Voldemort..."
When mentioning Voldemort's name, Fudge shuddered almost imperceptibly, but he concealed it well.
As Minister of Magic, anyone could say "You-Know-Who," but only he was not allowed to say it in public.
As Minister, not daring to say the enemy's name... Isn't that a great shame?
"After this."
Fudge quickly recovered, his pause well-disguised, just like a regular speaking pause—this is a basic skill of a seasoned politician.
He continued, "Sirius Black learned of Peter Pediru's betrayal, pursued Peter to a Muggle street, where Peter used a Magic Spell to blow up the street, causing the death of twelve Muggle onlookers, and then escaped, framing Sirius Black... Defendant Peter Pediru, do you have any objections to the plaintiff Harry Potter's accusations?"
Peter opened his mouth, glanced at Harry with his small eyes like green beans, but then sighed.
"No," he said.
He knew for sure that even if he escaped the judgement of the Wizengamot, Harry would definitely have a hundred ways to make his life a living hell.
Rather than fall into Harry's hands, he might as well go to Azkaban—after all, he's an Animagus and has ways to escape from there.
Thinking this, Peter felt slightly more at ease.
"I have a question," Lady Burns suddenly said, "Regarding the matter of the Keeper, I remember saying that the Potters' Keeper was not Sirius Black? Why did it suddenly change to Little Dwarf Star Peter?"
"Defendant, can you explain the situation?" Fudge asked.
"Yes," Little Dwarf Star Peter shuddered, "It's, it's all Sirius's fault."
Even now, he wanted to shift the blame onto someone else: "He and James suggested that he had already angered the Death Eaters and the Black Demon, was now being hunted, so they handed the secret over to me—they always viewed me as insignificant, as timid as a mouse, so they weren't worried about being targeted by the Death Eaters. In their view, no one would think James would give that secret to me, after all, I'm... so inconspicuous."
As Little Dwarf Star Peter said this, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.
"But what they didn't expect was that I had long since defected to the Dark Demon King—understand? I was truly afraid of death, so I defected to the Dark Demon King, but I only wanted to live, what was wrong with that!"
"Plaintiff." Fudge turned to look at Harry, "Do you have anything to say to him?"
"Pediru." Harry looked at Peter, his gaze calm: "He trusted you so much, and what about you? You say you feared death, but you were able to turn into a rat and live silently in the Weasley family for twelve years, and live quietly under Dumbledore's nose for nearly seven years—from the time you became Percy Ignatius Weasley's pet, and entered Hogwarts with him; this is enough to prove your ability to cling to life, but you still betrayed my father, is it truly fear of death driving you?"
Harry's words were undeniably flawless.
Everyone knew about Dumbledore's abilities, being able to turn into a rat without being discovered by Dumbledore, which proved he had the ability to slip away right under Voldemort's nose unnoticed.
He said he feared death, couldn't he secretly turn into a rat and hide?
No one believed Voldemort could find him.
"I, I..."
Peter opened his mouth, dumbfounded.
He had no idea what to say; it seemed all defenses at this moment appeared pale and powerless.
Indeed, James trusted you so much, and your ability to transform into a mouse...
If you just hid away, you surely wouldn't have...
So why?
Lady Burns raised her thick eyebrows high, she very much disliked this timid, Animagus rat, Peter Pediru in front of her.
"Since the defendant has given up on defending," Fudge began to announce the final judgement: "According to the law, I hereby sentence Peter Pediru to life imprisonment in Azkaban! And revoke his Merlin Order First-class Medal!"
"Additionally," Fudge supplemented, "I declare, Sirius Black... not guilty!"
With Fudge's final judgement, Little Dwarf Star Peter seemed to lose his spine, slumping into his chair.
He had long known this day would come, but when this day truly arrived, he still felt a bit... hard to accept.
Soon, Little Dwarf Star Peter was taken away by Aurors.
"Now I declare, this trial is concluded," Fudge announced with satisfaction.
However, he felt the only flaw was that Sirius Black was not in the judgement room now, otherwise the reporters could witness a scene of touching sincerity and beauty.
Harry immediately stood up, extending his hand toward Fudge.
Fudge understood, giving a signal to the reporters from the Prophet Daily.
The reporters understood, immediately gathering forward.