"From beginning to end, did you do these things voluntarily?"
"Yes."
"Did anyone force you?"
"No."
"Has anyone ever used Imperius Curse on you?"
"No."
"Did you take the initiative to tell Dark Lord where the Potters was hiding?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what this means?"
"I know, they will die." Peter's tone did not change from the beginning to the end.
The audience began to whisper.
"Beast, not human at all!"
"Poor the Potters..."
"I heard that he is also Potter's friend..."
"This kind of person should let Dementor give him a kiss!"
Crouch turned to Sirius.
Sirius's eyes were also distracted under the influence of Veritaserum.
"Sirius·Black, are you Secret Keeper of the Potters?"
"It used to be." Sirius's voice was hoarse.
"Did you reveal the Potters's hiding place to Dark Lord?"
"No."
"Did you cause the explosion at London City of Westminster?"
"No."
"What were you doing the night the Potters died?"
"I'm chasing Peter."
"I chased him all night, from Godric's Hollow to London, from London to that Muggle street."
"What did you mean when you just said it was Secret Keeper?"
"Originally Secret Keeper was me, but I cleverly changed Secret Keeper to Peter."
"Why?"
"Because if Dark Lord knew that Secret Keeper was me, he would come after me. I thought this could protect them. I thought..."
Even under the influence of Veritaserum, Sirius's voice still couldn't stop choking.
The auditorium was extremely quiet, and even the reporters who had been frantically taking notes stopped writing.
"I thought... even if I was caught by Dark Lord, James and Lily would not be in danger..."
"But... I didn't expect that Peter would become a traitor among us..."
"..."
Crouch and other pharmacists confirmed the status of the two people and nodded. "Veritaserum's testimony has been recorded and will be accepted by this court."
He stood up, holding the gavel in his hand, and scanned the entire courtroom. "Based on the testimony of Veritaserum and relevant physical evidence, this court makes the following judgments on the two cases."
"All charges against Sirius·Black are not established and will be released in court."
A burst of cheers erupted from the audience, but it was quickly suppressed by the sound of Crouch's gavel.
"Peter·Pettigrew, betrayed Ministry of Magic and the Potters during the war, provided intelligence to Dark Lord, created a large-scale explosion that killed thirteen Muggle, and faked the scene of his own death to evade capture. He is punished for several crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment for Azkaban."
The gavel fell with a thud, which seemed to bring an end to everything.
Peter is still slumped in the seat.
His eyes were still blank, but his mouth began to make a strange sound, like laughing or crying.
Two Auror stepped forward to pick him up and dragged him out of the courtroom.
Lin Ze did not go to see Sirius, but turned around and left the trial court directly.
Kingsley followed him and walked out together.
"Malfoy Is there any movement over there recently?" Lin Ze asked in a lowered voice.
"It's still the same."
"The little moves he made with Wizengamot were quite diligent. Although the motion to limit law enforcement authority was blocked by Crouch, he changed his tactics again and started to promote the proposal of the Auror Law Enforcement Oversight Committee."
"Supervisory Committee?" Lin Ze frowned.
"Yes, it is said that Auror's law enforcement behavior should be subject to stricter supervision to avoid 'unjust, false and wrong cases'."
"It's a pity..." Kingsley drawled slowly.
"Unfortunately, the director of Department of Magical Law Enforcement is now Crouch. He wants to take away part of the power from Crouch, but I'm afraid he won't be able to do what he wants." Lin Ze directly said what Kingsley wanted to say.
"That's right!"
On the way back to the office, Lin Ze found an excuse to go to Records Management Office.
Pick is still sitting in his old chair, drinking tea.
"Hey, isn't this Deputy Team Leader Lin? What kind of wind brings you here?"
"Mr. Pick, you helped me inquire about Karkaroff last time, but I haven't thanked you properly yet." Lin Ze took out a paper bag from his pocket and placed it on Pick's table.
Pick Open the paper bag, and inside is a box of beautifully packaged black tea, with a French label printed on the jar.
"France goods?"
"Well, I brought it back when I went to Marseille last time, but I forgot to give it to you."
Pick picked up the tea can and looked at it, nodded with satisfaction, and then stuffed it into the drawer under his desk, crowded with a bunch of miscellaneous things.
"You have a conscience." Pick leaned back in his chair, took off his glasses and wiped them with his cuffs.
"So? What's going on today?"
"Haha, you are really good at predicting things."
"Hmph, I don't understand you anymore, kid~" Pick enjoyed Lin Ze's flattery very much.
"Can you get the escort time and specific route of the prisoner sent to Azkaban?"
Pick put away the smile on his face and looked at Lin Ze seriously.
"What do you want this for?"
"It's just that... I doubt someone will intercept me halfway."
"Really?"
"Really!"
"Okay, tell me your name."
"Peter·Pettigrew."
The trial is over.
The effect of Veritaserum gradually disappears.
The first thing Sirius did was to find Lin Ze.
At this time, the seat in the back row of the auditorium was already empty.
There was only one paper cup left standing alone on the armrest of the chair.
"This guy runs pretty fast..." Sirius muttered.
But he didn't care too much.
He believed that Lin Ze would find a way to handle the escort route.
"Mr. Black! Mr. Black Look here!"
"What do you want to say about today's verdict?"
"Will you sue Ministry of Magic?"
The surrounding flashlights crackled and exploded.
He raised his arms to cover his face and squeezed out of the crowd under the escort of Auror.
12 Grimmauld Place's door opened with a "squeak" sound.
A rotten smell hit his face, choking Sirius and sneezed twice in a row.
The curtains in the living room were tightly drawn, and the old gas lamp cast a dim yellow halo on the wall.
The severed heads of House-elf are still hanging on the wall of the stairwell.
Sirius sat down on the old sofa in the living room and leaned back.
The sofa raised a cloud of dust.
He coughed twice and fanned the dust in front of him with his hand.
Since the last owner of Black family passed away three years ago, this ancestral house has been assigned to his name. However, he has been running against Voldemort in these years and has never had time to take care of this house. It is estimated that only Kreacher and the damn House-elf are left in the house.
There was a rustling sound from the corner of the living room.
Sirius turned his head and saw House-elf wrapped in a dirty tea towel slowly moving out of the shadows.
"Oh... it's dirty..."
"Shut up! I am the owner of this house now, and also your owner! If you dare to scold me in front of me again, just cut off your head and hang it on that wall!" Sirius blocked its mouth with words before Kreacher could finish speaking.
"Yes... yes... young master..." Kreacher said through gritted teeth. House-elf could not disobey his master's order.