The evidence had been heard. Sirius Black's testimony to Amelia Bones had been read out, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger had all been questioned to see if their stories corroborated with the information Black had provided, memories drawn from the mind of Severus Snape had been seen and memories of that fateful day in which thirteen muggles lost their lives had been pulled out of the archives and examined thoroughly.
There was nothing more that could be done. They just had to wait for the Wizengamot to return from their deliberations. Fudge had granted them an hour and that hour was almost up.
Harry shifted nervously in his seat next to his Godmother. He had never known an hour take so long to pass. He looked around the courtroom, trying to gauge the mood of the audience.
There were a lot of people here who quite clearly did not care about the fate of Sirius Black, probably because it did not directly affect them. If he was found innocent he would be set free and if he was found guilty he would be placed back in Azkaban. Neither result had much impact on them.
They were here for the trails that were to come after.
But there were others who were clearly waiting anxiously for news of Sirius' fate. The reporters were waiting on the edges of their seats, and with good reason. If Sirius was found innocent, then a precedent would be set – There were many wizards and witches locked up in Azkaban. If Sirius was found innocent then there would be a surge of people demanding reviews of how their friends or family members ended up behind those cold stone walls. Whether a prisoner received a trail or not would ultimately be inconsequential – if the Ministry could make a mistake with Sirius Black, then what's to say that there wasn't a similar mistake made with someone else in Azkaban? It could be lack of a trial or false evidence or any number of other possibilities. If Sirius Black was found innocent, the Ministry would be swamped with requests for retrials.
And if he was found guilty, well, that made a nice headline too, didn't it?
There were people in the crowd of the general public who were clearly waiting for that aforementioned precedent to be set.
Other than Harry and those seated immediately around him, the only others waiting for results of the trail were the Weasley siblings and Hermione. Of them, only Ron and Hermione had been able to provide anything useful for the Wizengamot, having been there with Harry in the Shrieking Shack when the truth about Sirius was first exposed. Both had given their testimonies, though it was clear that they hadn't been given must training in how to deal with the situation, unlike Harry who had spent several hours being coached by Sarah and Edward on what would be expected of him in the courtroom.
Nevertheless, their testimonies had stood up in comparison to that which Harry and Sirius had each given and everyone had seemed satisfied.
As Harry watched them, Hermione turned slightly and for a moment their eyes locked. She tried to offer a smile, but her nerves prevented her from pulling it off successfully. Harry knew what she meant, however, and answered with a nod before turning his eyes back to the Wizengamot seats.
A moment later the door to the side of the room opened and Minister Fudge led the Wizengamot members back into the room, their deliberations over. From Harry's point of view, they seemed to take forever to find their seats.
Once the entire Wizengamot had resumed their seats, Fudge called out to Sirius to be brought back in. Harry turned towards the doors again to see Sirius being led in by Dawlish and Proudfoot.
Harry suddenly felt like a lump the size of an apple had grown in his throat.
This was it.
Once Sirius was seated, Fudge cleared his throat and stood up. "Sirius Black, the Wizengamot has heard the evidence provided in favour of your innocence and reviewed the evidence of your guilt. They had had an hour to deliberate. They will now reveal their verdict."
He turned his back on the courtroom at large to address those seated behind him.
"Those in favour of upholding the Ministry's original decision, please raise your hands?"
In total, thirteen people raised their hands, causing Harry's stomach to flip.
"And those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?" continued Fudge.
The question was not needed because the stance of the majority had already been shown, but as all but thirteen hands were raised into the air. Harry was pleased to see that Edward Abbott, Dolores Umbridge and Augusta Longbottom were all in this second group.
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