Wizengamot

St Mungo's Hospital.

Lucius was telling two Aurors about the tragedy that had befallen his family.

"Murphy Darkholme! It was him! He used Fiendfyre and some kind of explosive dark magic and blew up my house! My family and I nearly died. And my unfortunate friends were all buried in the flames!"

"He's a dark wizard who kills without blinking! You have to bring him to justice!"

He was still denouncing him at the top of his lungs when he looked up and saw Scrimgeour enter the ward with four or five Aurors, followed by that Murphy Darkholme.

Hm?

The Aurors moved this fast?

I haven't even finished stating my grievance, and the criminal's already been arrested and brought in?

"Scrimgeour, he—"

"Lucius. If you have anything to say, say it in court."

"..."

Lucius was a little confused. The Aurors were being unusually efficient today.

He stood up, only to see two Aurors come forward and take up positions on his left and right. One Auror said, "Hand over your wand."

Lucius was baffled. I'm the plaintiff—why are you taking my wand?

"Scrimgeour, what exactly is going on? What is this supposed to mean? Aren't you taking me to court to testify?"

Scrimgeour glared at him coldly. "Lucius, you are accused of being a Death Eater and of currently engaging in dangerous activity. You have to come with us."

"What?"

Lucius was stunned.

A Death Eater?

How long ago was that?

The trial ended ages ago!

"According to the Purge Act, the trial of any suspected Death Eater, even one proven innocent at the time, may be reopened once new evidence appears. Lucius, come with me. Your trial has been reopened!"

The Wizengamot courtroom.

Looking at the witches and wizards packed three layers deep inside and out, filling the entire courtroom to the brim, Murphy suddenly felt that this time, things might have gotten a bit too big.

In fact, he was right. For an ordinary wizarding trial, only more than one-third of the Wizengamot members needed to attend. For major cases, more than half were required. But once the Purge Act was involved, unless there were truly exceptional circumstances, every member had to be present.

Lucius was now shut inside an iron cage of thorns in the very center. He looked badly frightened, his whole body uneasy and panicked.

It seemed that his first trial back then had left him with a fairly serious psychological shadow.

Viewed that way, his report this time had not been entirely useless after all.

Once everyone was seated, they all waited in silence for a while. Then, suddenly, the space not far in front of Murphy twisted, and a tall figure appeared before his eyes with his back to him.

The man wore a pointed hat and a blue wizard's robe covered in bright, glittering little stars.

"I'm terribly sorry, everyone. I'm late. There were some matters at the school that delayed me a little. Shall we begin now?"

Murphy listened to that familiar voice in astonishment, and ten thousand alpacas stampeded through his mind.

Merlin's hairy balls!

How the hell did I forget about him?!

Dumbledore!

He was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot!

How could he possibly not come to an occasion like this?!

After more than half a year, seeing this kind headmaster again did not make Murphy feel the same steadiness he had felt at school. Instead, he tensed up involuntarily. After all, in a little while he was going to tell quite a few lies, and the man before him, even if he was not the smartest person in the entire wizarding world, was at least in the top five.

This was Dumbledore!

Whether in his past life or this one, he was synonymous with wisdom and power.

A man like that was absolutely someone you did not want as your enemy.

But today, Murphy really did have to deceive most of the people present.

"Rufus, in your letter you mentioned new evidence..." Dumbledore said as he turned around. He caught sight of Murphy and clearly hesitated for an instant, but very quickly continued, "Can you show it to us?"

"Let the provider of the evidence, Mr. Murphy Darkholme here, demonstrate it himself."

As he spoke, Scrimgeour gestured for Murphy to step forward.

Taking a deep breath, Murphy tried hard to calm his emotions.

Fuck it!

No matter!

At this point, even if Voldemort were standing ahead of him, he had no choice but to go forward!

His gaze hardened in an instant, and he walked to the podium beside the judges' bench and stood there.

"Everyone, my name is Murphy Darkholme."

"You may not have seen me before, but many of you here may be familiar with my parents."

"Yes, they were both Death Eaters."

The wizards in plum-colored robes began whispering among themselves.

But Murphy paid them no mind. "Because of them, I spent a lonely childhood. Because of them, I was bullied relentlessly at school. Because of them, I was always penniless."

"However, I do not blame them. They were guilty of countless crimes, reaped what they sowed, and have already paid the price for what they did."

"However, not all evildoers have been punished."

"This man! Lucius Malfoy!" Murphy pointed at Lucius inside the iron cage of thorns. "He was a Death Eater, just like my parents! But he escaped trial! He committed countless evils, yet slipped through the net! Today, I am here to expose his true face!"

"What evidence do you have that he was a Death Eater?" someone on the judges' bench immediately asked.

"I have two pieces of evidence," Murphy said, drawing a letter from his robes. "I found a secret letter in my old family home."

"This is a letter written by a Death Eater to my father, Sanders Darkholm. It was this very man who invited my father, won him over, led him to join the Death Eaters, and promised him, 'When that lord rules over everything, we will become his right and left hands, and obtain power and wealth no one has ever enjoyed before!'"

"Everyone, please look." Murphy unfolded the letter. "This is that letter, and the signature at the end is L.M.—Lucius Malfoy!"

"Lies! Fraud!" Lucius roared. "I never wrote any such letter! That insect of a father of yours wasn't worth my effort to win over at all!"

One judge took the letter from Murphy and passed it around among the others.

At that moment, however, Murphy took out a second letter. "I knew you wouldn't admit it so easily, but surely you'll admit this letter was written by you?"

Murphy unfolded the second letter. There were only a few brief lines urging repayment, yet at the end, just like the first letter, it was signed L.M.

"This..." Lucius grew nervous for a moment. "This was only because I lent Sanders two hundred Galleons and asked him to pay me back! What does that prove?"

"First, it proves my father and you were on good terms. Otherwise, why would you lend him two hundred Galleons? Second, this letter was written in your own hand. All we need to do is compare the handwriting on the two letters, and we'll know whether the first letter was written by you."

As he spoke, Murphy handed the second letter to the judge as well and let him continue passing it around.

"This proves nothing!" Lucius bellowed. "That letter is fake! The handwriting was forged! The Duplication Charm! Yes, it must be the Duplication Charm!"

"The Duplication Charm could not achieve such an effect, Mr. Lucius," Murphy said. "Besides, how could anyone forge the material of that letter paper, the traces of age after several years, and that handwriting identical to yours?"