Wizengamot Courtroom.
Lin Ze was sitting in the back row of the auditorium, holding a cup of coffee brought from the tea room.
The courtroom was very lively today.
The gallery was packed with people, and reporters crowded in the front row.
"Lin."
Kingsley's voice came from the side. He changed into a dark blue robe today.
"Coming?" Lin Ze took a sip of coffee.
"Well, today is probably the last trial of the Black case." Kingsley sat down next to him.
Lin Ze glanced in the direction of the trial seat.
Barty·Crouch is sitting in the position of the chief examiner, with a thick stack of documents spread out in front of him.
Next to him sat several Wizengamot judges, all of whom had very serious expressions.
There is one more seat in the middle today.
Peter sat there huddled in a ball.
He was wearing a clean gray prison uniform today and his hair had been combed. He looked much more respectable than when he was left on Crouch's desk yesterday.
On the other side of the auditorium, Sirius was escorted in by two Auror.
His eyes were locked on Peter from the moment he entered the door, and he did not move away for a second.
Peter clearly felt that gaze.
His shoulders tightened even more, and he wanted to squeeze himself into the gap in the chair.
"All stand."
Crouch knocked the gavel, and the dull sound echoed in the courtroom.
"Today, the trial continues on the case of Sirius·Black suspected of betraying the Potters, killing Muggle and murdering Peter·Pettigrew."
He paused and glanced at the auditorium, "In view of the emergence of new evidence in this case, Wizengamot has decided to list Peter·Pettigrew as a co-defendant, and the two cases will be tried together."
A buzzing discussion broke out in the auditorium.
The pens in the reporters' hands almost left an afterimage.
"Please keep silence in the audience, everyone, please take a seat." Crouch knocked the gavel again, and then turned to the dock.
"Peter·Pettigrew."
Peter shook violently.
"Based on the evidence submitted by Special Operations Team, you are accused of leaking the hiding place of the Potters as the real Secret Keeper of the Potters Exposure to Dark Lord directly led to the death of James·Potter and Lily·Potter."
Crouch's voice echoed in the courtroom, and every word was like a nail nailed to Peter.
"In addition, you also caused an explosion on a Muggle street in Westminster, London, killing thirteen Muggles, and faked the scene of your own death to evade capture. Do you plead guilty to this?"
Peter's lips trembled for a while before he managed to utter a word.
"I... no... I didn't do it!"
His voice was high-pitched and thin, like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on.
There was an explosion in the auditorium.
Some people loudly called him a coward, others booed, and the female reporter wearing glasses in the front row was so angry that she broke her quill.
Lin Ze is not surprising.
Just kidding, it would be weird if Peter confessed honestly.
This guy has been able to pretend to be a rat for so many years in Weasley family because of his thick skin and strong psychological quality.
It's just that the way Peter defended himself in court is a bit ridiculous.
He seemed to have completely forgotten that he was shivering just now.
In the blink of an eye, he began to vividly describe how he was hunted down by Sirius.
"He chased me all night!" Peter said sharply, with a cry that made people crawl.
"I fled from Godric's Hollow to London, and he was chasing me like crazy! I can only... I can only defend myself..."
"Self-defense?" Crouch's eyebrows almost reached the hairline.
"You mean you blew up an entire Muggle street and killed thirteen Muggle out of self-defense?"
"I didn't mean it!" Peter's voice sounded higher.
"I'm just... I'm just too scared... Black He... He's going to kill me..."
He pointed at Sirius and did not mention his betrayal of the Potters at all. He only accused Sirius of chasing him.
Sirius said nothing.
He just stared at Peter with a weird smile on his face, as if he was watching a monkey performing acrobatics.
"As for the Potters..."
Peter's voice suddenly dropped, taking on a hint of sadness.
"Dark Lord He... he is too powerful... I... I am just an ordinary wizard..."
"He... he used Imperius Curse on me..."
His tears came at every turn, big tears rolled out of his mung bean eyes and flowed down his chubby cheeks.
"You won't understand... you haven't faced him..."
His voice echoed in the courtroom, causing the noise in the auditorium to gradually quiet down.
The expressions of several audience members began to become complicated. The anger on the face of the female reporter who broke off her quill in the front row was slowly replaced by an expression that was unclear whether it was sympathy or confusion.
Lin Ze has to admit that Peter's acting skills are indeed first-rate.
It's just that Peter Pettigrew was never forced from the beginning.
He took the initiative to find Voldemort and took the initiative to tell Dark Lord where the Potters was hiding.
"Black, what do you have to say about Pettigrew's remarks?"
Sirius finally looked away from Peter.
"I apply to use Veritaserum." Sirius didn't say any other nonsense.
The court fell silent for a moment.
Even Peter stopped crying, widened his red and swollen eyes, and looked at Sirius in disbelief.
"Veritaserum."
"Are you sure?"
"OK." Sirius's voice was calm.
"I don't want to talk nonsense to him. Use Veritaserum. Give it to me and give it to him. Let everyone listen to what the truth is."
There was an explosion in the auditorium again.
The reporters were writing like crazy. One chubby male reporter was so excited that he knocked over his ink bottle and spilled ink all over the pants of his colleague next to him. But that colleague didn't notice at all and just craned his neck to look forward.
Crouch whispered a few words to the judges around him, and then nodded.
"Approved."
He knocked the gavel and said, "Adjourn the court for thirty minutes and prepare Veritaserum."
Lin Ze leaned back on the chair, picked up the almost cold coffee and took a sip.
Kingsley said in a low voice next to him, "You don't seem to be surprised at all that he is so crazy?"
"What's so surprising about this? Isn't Black family full of lunatics?"
When Veritaserum was brought up, the entire court was so quiet that one could hear everyone's own heartbeat.
A transparent crystal vial, containing half a bottle of colorless and odorless liquid, glowed with a faint silver light under the illumination of the magic light.
A pharmacist in a white robe divided Veritaserum into two portions, poured them into two small cups and handed them to the two of them.
Peter looked at the glass of clear liquid in front of him, and the pitiful expression on his face turned into real fear.
His hands were shaking so much that the cup almost slipped from his fingers.
"Please take it yourself, otherwise it will be enforced."
Peter closed his eyes and drank the cup of Veritaserum like he was drinking poison.
As time passed, Peter's eyes changed obviously.
The fear and calculation flickering in those mung bean eyes disappeared, replaced by confusion.
Sirius also drank Veritaserum. His reaction was almost exactly the same. His eyes were unfocused, his facial muscles were relaxed, and he leaned back in the chair, as if he had entered some kind of half-dream and half-awake state.
After confirming the status of the two people, the pharmacist nodded to Crouch.
"Veritaserum has taken effect. Please start asking."
Crouch turned to Peter and asked the first question, "What is your name?"
"Peter·Pettigrew."
The sound of Peter is flat without any fluctuation.
"Were you Secret Keeper to the Potters?"
"Yes."
There was a suppressed commotion in the auditorium. Although everyone had already guessed this result, but hearing Peter admit it with his own ears, the impact was completely different.
"Did you inform Dark Lord of the Potters's hiding place?"
"Yes."
A tear fell from the corner of Peter's eyes, but his facial expression remained blank when he spoke.
"Why?"
"I want to live. Dark Lord is too powerful. Ministry of Magic can't hold on anymore. James and Lily are on the wrong team. I don't want to die with them."
"Did you cause an explosion on a Muggle street in London City of Westminster?"
"Yes."
"How did you do it?"
"I used my wand to release Exploding Charm, then deliberately detonated my wand to blow up one of my fingers, and then turned into a mouse and escaped into the sewer."