Algie thought nothing of Pierce and cut him off loudly.
"You're Shawn's lapdog. You're not fit to speak to me."
Then he shouted defiantly at all the wizards.
"Yes, I used my position to make things easier for my own business, and I took a few bribes to reduce other people's sentences. But isn't that how things normally work?
Don't most Ministry of Magic officials and Wizengamot members do exactly the same thing? Why am I the only one being tried? I won't accept this.
My Longbottom family has contributed so much to the wizarding world over the centuries. Why shouldn't we receive a little preferential treatment?
The ordinary people under our protection ought to support me. That's only right!"
Bones barely recognized her former colleague. For a moment, she could not find the words.
Every Wizengamot member glared daggers at Algie. He was hurting everyone without helping himself, trying to drag them all down with him.
The ordinary wizards throughout the venue erupted in an uproar.
"Ah, damn him!"
"I can't believe the Longbottom family produced someone like this!"
It was bad enough that this Longbottom, once considered one of the good ones, had confessed without even being pressed.
But his air of entitlement was even more chilling.
Everyone knew that the Ministry of Magic was rotten to the core, rife with officials shielding one another, bending the law, and abusing their positions.
Still, seeing it laid bare in broad daylight was horrifying.
Algie Longbottom's behavior surprised Shawn too. The man lashed out at anyone within reach. Madness clearly ran in his blood.
Shawn suddenly remembered that Algie's maternal bloodline seemed to come from the Blacks.
Well, that explained it.
His behavior had thrown off the rhythm of the Public Trial Assembly.
Shawn glanced at Dumbledore, whose expression was