July 20.
The weather in London was gloomy that day. Dark clouds hung low overhead, with occasional flashes of lightning, as though foreshadowing something.
The people of England, however, were long accustomed to weather like this in London.
In the wizarding world, though, something momentous really was happening.
England's Ministry of Magic lay underground in central London, but that day, the area above it had been covered with numerous Muggle-Repelling Charms. Every shop had closed for the day.
Whenever ordinary people tried to enter the area, they would suddenly and inexplicably remember some other urgent business and hurry away.
Yet crowds of strangely dressed people behaving oddly were pouring into the area.
These people were, of course, all wizards. They included not only locals from England, but also foreign wizards who had heard the news over the past five days and come to watch the spectacle.
In groups of three or five, they chatted as they approached a circular, open-air structure that had been hastily erected, then noisily queued to enter.
Numerous Aurors and Hit Wizards stood at the entrance, maintaining order and guiding the more than ten thousand wizards arriving in a steady stream into the venue.
The purple-uniformed Patrol Team, however, was absent for the moment.
Inside the Trial Venue, numerous Undetectable Extension Charms had greatly expanded the space.
The venue was high around the edges and low in the center, with concentric tiers of seating. At its very center stood a seat for the accused, surrounded by a ring of seats for the judges.
Wizengamot members wearing tall hats and V-necked robes, along with officials from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, already occupied those seats.
Bones and Pierce, the department's head and deputy head, were both present.
Quite a few of the members were restless, their