The Tenth Underground Level of the Ministry of Magic
Night.
Hermione tossed and turned in bed for a long time without falling asleep.
The conversation Defense Against the Dark Arts kept replaying in her mind.
"I'd rather destroy all books that record Dark Magic, but that would only make wizards more repressed—"
Grindelwald and Voldemort are both typical rebels.
They all believed that magic was free and should not be avoided by Muggle like rats.
As long as wizards live under oppression, rebels with more extreme ideas will surely emerge again.
She couldn't refute Vincent at the time.
Even as dawn approached, she couldn't come up with a single excuse.
Who is right and who is wrong, the answer may only be left to the future.
"The Greengrass Family is just the beginning..."
Filled with anticipation for the future, she slept lightly for more than three hours.
At 9:00 AM, in the Great Hall.
Fred and George couldn't help but joke when they saw those big dark circles under his eyes:
"Oh dear~ Weren't you so excited you couldn't sleep?"
"After all, it's an expedition to Bat Cave —I can understand."
Hermione took a vicious bite out of her toast. "He's already left?"
"Half an hour ago," Cedric said, holding up the Mithril Briefcase, "He said all the tools were in there, and that he would try to hold them off as long as possible."
"Oh." She took a sip of milk with peace of mind and finished the toast in no time.
"Let's go!" Rolf carried the now-chubby Groot and walked at the front.
The "Three Alls" campaign officially began.
The Ministry of Magic is located on the ninth basement level.
Passing through the corridor leading to the Department of Mysteries, and going down one more floor, you'll find the Wizengamot Trial Chamber.
Vincent followed behind Dumbledore and Snape, feeling that the black tiles and walls here were very out of place.
The walls were bare, without any decorations or windows.
In the dim light of the torches, he felt that the Department of Mysteries was more like a top-secret base than an ordinary research department.
"Professor, what are they researching?"
Dumbledore glanced at Snape first, "Some things we still cannot fully understand, such as death, such as love."
Vincent roughly understood why it was a black-themed style.
Muggle also have a similar organization called "CERN," short for Europe Organization for Nuclear Research.
Some of the research topics there are extremely dangerous, such as black holes and antimatter.
If the Large Hadron Collider does successfully create one of these black holes, poor Earth might be sucked up before the black hole disappears, or it might be completely annihilated by the antimatter.
Although the probability is low, these possibilities do exist.
Therefore, a statue of Shiva, symbolizing destruction, stands at the entrance of CERN's headquarters.
Wizards worship Merlin, which is magic itself.
Black can only symbolize nothingness.
Vincent, standing in front of a black door, seemed eager to go inside and take a look.
"Professor Dumbledore, are there any requirements for working there?"
"A brilliant mind, and a mouth that can never be pried open."
You cannot discuss your work or reveal any research topics.
The most fitting term for them is "Silencers".
Vincent withdrew his gaze with little interest.
Rather than trying to sneak in by working, he preferred to walk in openly and honestly like Dumbledore.
We don't have enough achievement points yet, so let's keep our expectations high.
Not far to the left of the Black Gate, there is a gap in the wall, which is the only staircase leading to the tenth floor of the Ministry of Magic.
Inside were rough stone walls, and the brackets and torches were older than those in the Department of Mysteries on the upper floor.
The corridor was devoid of decorations and windows, except for heavy wooden doors leading to the individual trial rooms.
Four members of the Wizengamot, dressed in purple-red robes, stood in the innermost room.
Seeing the three people walking towards them, the two at the back gently pushed open the door.
The walls were made of black stone, and the torchlight was dim and eerie.
The Courtroom Ten is surrounded by rows of benches arranged in a tiered fashion.
The most eye-catching thing is a chair with a chain right in the middle at the bottom.
Lockhart will soon be seated there to be tried by the Supreme Wizarding Court and the Wizengamot.
Vincent's eyes swept across the rows of benches, settling on the audience section at the very top.
The room was packed, and well-known reporters were indeed present.
Those in the middle should be the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families.
The short, stout, middle-aged wizard sitting next to Lucius is most likely the Old Parkinson.
He looks Pansy Pansy.
Further out, the two figures, so tall they didn't look like wizards, could only be Old Crabbe and Old Goyle.
In that instant, Vincent seemed to see the future.
The middle-aged Draco had smooth blond hair, and sitting next to him Pansy, who had inherited her father's "good" genes...
He instinctively shivered and, under Snape's mocking gaze, followed Dumbledore to sit in the witness stand in the first row on the left.
I had barely sat down when the door was pushed open again.
They were twenty members of the Wizengamot, dressed in crimson robes, and representatives of the Supreme Wizarding Court, which had legislative and judicial functions.
Dumbledore was one of the members, but he appeared in court this time as a witness.
His replacement was special advisor Elphias Doge.
They sat in the second and third rows on the left, and Vincent spotted quite a few familiar faces among them.
A few minutes later, members of the Wizengamot, dressed in black robes, arrived.
Leading the way was Fudge, followed by Amelia Bones Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Walking beside her was a thin, middle-aged male wizard with his short, gray hair neatly combed.
Dumbledore noticed Vincent's curiosity. "He is Barty Crouch, the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."
This is a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Their curiosity wasn't extinguished; instead, it grew even stronger.
"Barty used to be the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but unfortunately he was transferred to another position twelve years ago because of his son's problems."
Twelve years ago, it could only have been Voldemort's doing.
The only way to remove the elderly father from his position of power is to join or participate in the actions of the Death Eaters.
He saw an unconcealable sadness in Dumbledore's eyes.
They were either exposed by outsiders, chose to protect themselves, or sacrificed their own family for the greater good.
Vincent nodded secretly.
Barty Crouch's meticulous and orderly demeanor made him seem unlike a smooth and worldly person.
"The initial hearing of the Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets case has officially begun—"
Belous Ogden, a veteran of Wizengamot, stood up.
"The accused person is requested to attend."
Dressed in plain linen, Lockhart was escorted by two wizard guards to sit in the chair in the center of the courtroom.
The chains wrapped around itself automatically.
"Raise your head, accused person."
As soon as Ogden finished speaking, everyone could see Lockhart's pale and thin face.
Half a month has passed, and he is no longer the famous wizard with a plethora of titles.
Even though she looked extremely haggard, her eyes were full of stubbornness.