"Clank, clank!"
The heavy rattling of chains echoed through the dead-silent courtroom.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, surrounded by Aurors, a dark-haired boy walked forward. He was bound tightly from head to toe in thick chains that weighed down on him oppressively.
With every step, they let out a loud clank, clank.
It was as if the chains weren't restraining a teenage boy, but a terrifyingly ferocious beast!
The courtroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Countless pairs of eyes watched as the boy stepped into a cage lined with inward-facing iron spikes. This was the holding cell meant for the most heinous, vicious criminals; one careless move, and you would be impaled. The former Death Eater and now-fugitive Durmstrang Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, had once sat here to confess the crimes of Barty Crouch Jr.
The crowd watched the rusty iron door, stained with specks of dark red, slowly click shut.
Then, no one knew who started it.
In the spectator stands, arms began shooting up into the air, one after another! Index fingers pointed straight up at the magnificent golden ceiling, standing tall like a volley of sharp arrows as if trying to pierce right through it! They glared with furious eyes at the stiff officials sitting on the judges' bench!
Journalists scribbled furiously, acting like hyenas that had just caught the scent of blood, their Quick-Quotes Quills swishing non-stop!
—The trial hadn't even begun, and the courtroom was already descending into chaos!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
Minister Scrimgeour angrily slammed his gavel down hard. His face cold and dark, he gave a sharp gesture to the side.
Immediately after, the glowing white Patronuses slowly dissipated, and the Dementors hovering near the ceiling swooped down! From beneath those terrifying hoods, waves of bone-chilling cold radiated outward!
"How can the Ministry of Magic use Dementors to intimidate the public?!" Hermione yelled in shock, keeping her voice low. "This is completely unjust!"
But clearly, the Ministry—led by Minister Scrimgeour—intended to suppress the crowd by force.
Frost and panic crept through the courtroom. The crowd stirred uneasily for a moment before, buckling under the overwhelming pressure, they reluctantly lowered their arms.
"...Then, let the trial officially begin."
Minister Scrimgeour spoke slowly. His hard, cold gaze looked down at the dark-haired boy in the cage as he read from the official document:
"Attacking Gringotts and blowing up Azkaban, causing unquantifiable property damage and casualties! Furthermore, using demagogic rhetoric to incite the masses, causing massive social unrest! Ethan Vincent! Do you plead guilty?!"
His majestic voice echoed through the courtroom. With a rap sheet this long, the criminal shouldn't even think of hiding anything. Minister Scrimgeour couldn't imagine what kind of trump card Ethan could possibly have left to turn the tables!
However, right at that moment.
His gaze shifted slightly, and he inadvertently locked straight onto those cobalt-blue eyes!
—Cold. Indifferent.
His impassioned and indignant accusations just now were like a pebble tossed into a vast ocean. They hadn't stirred a single ripple. Even though Scrimgeour was looking down from the elevated bench, in that split second, he felt like he was the one being looked down upon!
"...Yes, I did all of that."
The boy's clear voice rang out across the courtroom, instantly sparking a cacophony of shocked murmurs!
Before the corners of Minister Scrimgeour's mouth could even curl up into a victorious smirk, he heard the boy suddenly let out a soft scoff:
"What a familiar question... Years ago, when I first enrolled at Hogwarts, a judge asked me this very same question."
Ethan raised his head, but he didn't look at Minister Scrimgeour. Instead, using those sharp, bright cobalt-blue eyes, he gazed out at the crowd in the spectator stands! He opened his mouth and declared loudly, his words ringing with absolute conviction:
"And my answer remains the exact same as it was that day—"
"If I am guilty, then my crime is defending the rights of all victims in the dark!"
Whoosh! Suddenly, a blinding, radiant light erupted from Ethan's body!
In the blink of an eye, the cage shattered! Shards of black iron flew in all directions, and the shackles binding Ethan clattered uselessly to the floor. Dust and smoke billowed up.
Amidst the panicked shouts of the Aurors, Ethan raised his arm high, pointed straight at a pale, furious Minister Scrimgeour, and demanded:
"Let me ask you! Why was a dragon—a rare magical creature—illegally imprisoned beneath Gringotts?!"
"Why does all that plundered wealth still lie quietly in the vaults below?!"
"I merely ripped off the fig leaf covering this darkness, and you arrest me on charges of destroying public property. Tell me, whose interests am I really damaging?!"
Word by word, each question fired like a sharp arrow directly at Minister Scrimgeour!
It caused an absolute uproar in the courtroom!
"Exactly!" "On what grounds are you arresting our savior?!" "The ones you should be arresting are those unrepentant goblins!" "Release Ethan!"
"Ethan's words are just as inspiring as always," Lupin sighed softly.
He looked at Ethan, who was clearly the accused on trial but was acting as if he'd been invited to give a keynote speech. Even someone as mild-mannered as Lupin couldn't help but feel his heart pound with excitement, the blood surging hotly through his veins.
...This kid is a born orator.
But Lupin's expression turned serious. Minister Scrimgeour wasn't Cornelius Fudge; he wouldn't be easily swayed by public opinion. In this battle, words alone wouldn't be nearly enough!
Sure enough.
[Hiss——]
The freezing chill of the Dementors swept in. It was like dumping a massive bucket of ice into a boiling pot; the fiery atmosphere instantly died down. People retracted their arms, staring in terror at the Dementors gliding overhead. As their pitch-black cloaks brushed past, the spectators couldn't help but shudder.
Only then did Minister Scrimgeour speak: "Silence. The next person who makes a disturbance will be 'invited' to leave the court!"
"Ethan Vincent, your little speech just now was nothing but pure sophistry. Even if you could barely justify Gringotts, what about Azkaban? You destroyed the most secure prison in all of Britain, leading to incredibly severe consequences! From this day forward, there is absolutely no guarantee of keeping criminals locked away—"
Before he could finish.
A lazy drawl floated down from the spectator stands: "You might have forgotten, Minister. It wasn't the most secure."
"I broke out of Azkaban myself, after all."
Everyone turned their heads. They saw the protagonist of a legendary miscarriage of justice, Sirius Black, leaning casually against the railing. He wore a smug, mocking smirk on his face.
Minister Scrimgeour's mouth twitched, and he said hoarsely, "As long as the Dementors are there, it is almost foolproof. And Mr. Vincent has completely destroyed—"
"It's not foolproof."
His words were cut off once again. This time, Minister Scrimgeour's face turned completely black as a cauldron. He snapped his head around, glaring at Ethan Vincent.
"I've been meaning to ask this for a while..." Ethan mused. "Why do wizards place so much trust in creatures they themselves are terrified of? Especially when they're so prone to betrayal."
Ethan raised his arm, curled the corners of his lips into a chilling smile, and said softly:
"Go. Go give our beloved Minister for Magic a 'passionate' kiss."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Dementors suddenly paused mid-air. Then, they abruptly turned around!
Abandoning their aimless wandering, they flew with a clear, targeted purpose—straight toward Minister Scrimgeour!
?!!
Everyone's eyes shot wide open, their faces displaying a shock so intense it was almost tangible!
—The Dementors were actually moving on his command!
The Aurors froze for a second before snapping out of it. Raising their wands, they shouted in a panic:
"Expecto Patronum!"
"Swish!"
Several beams of silver-white light erupted, blasting the Dementors away like a raging torrent. A swirling, protective barrier formed right in front of Minister Scrimgeour.
[Hiss]
The Dementors hovered just outside the barrier, shrieking unwillingly. Their featureless faces stared dead at the Minister, radiating a thick, palpable malice.
Inside the courtroom, you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone watched this scene dumbfounded, absolutely unable to believe their own eyes!
—At Ethan's single command, the Dementors had actually attacked the Minister for Magic, the very man they were supposed to be "loyal" to!
"Bloody hell, since when could Ethan control Dementors too?" Ron's jaw dropped so wide you could have stuffed two massive turkey legs into his mouth.
After a brief, stunned silence, the crowd boiled over once again!
"Merlin's beard! That boy actually did it!" "Haha! Didn't the Ministry pride itself on being able to control the Dementors? How did they end up getting attacked instead?!" "Speaking of which, wasn't there a Dark Wizard prison break a little while ago... only it seems the Ministry forcibly covered it up."
Amidst the noise and cheering, Minister Scrimgeour looked like he had swallowed a Dungbomb. He gripped his gavel so tightly his knuckles turned stark white! He glared at the shrieking Dementors hovering just ahead. Even through the barrier of the Patronus Charms, he could feel the freezing, deathly chill washing over him.
"Look."
The main culprit stood right in the center of the room, spreading his hands with a look of total innocence:
"What did I tell you? You folks at the Ministry can't control the Dementors at all."
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