Chapter 277

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-Back to the Courtroom-

"Well, thank you for your testimony Auror Williams, you may return to your seat" Mrs. Stoppard said, having just questioned the last witness for the case against Pettigrew.

Many people were questioned, but none of them had much to say, and the only one who brought any relevant information to the case was Amelia herself.

Amelia told everyone about how she received a clue from reliable sources about where she could find Pettigrew, and that after following the clues given by this person she ended up finding the traitor unconscious in an old cabin in a forest in the south of Scotland.

And of course that was all a lie... Well, not entirely, since when Pettigrew was found by Amelia and other Aurors he really was unconscious in a cabin in Scotland, but that was part of the plan.

Amelia had to find Pettigrew, but it had to be done in a way that didn't show that she was working with the others to exonerate Sirius or reveal that she already knew Pettigrew's whereabouts beforehand.

But returning to the trial, Mrs. Stoppard finished arranging some papers on her desk, which were some additional notes on the case.

Having finished organizing everything, she looked back around the courtroom, seeing all the journalists writing furiously while members of the Britain's leading and most influential houses whispered among themselves.

And seeing all this, she knew the ministry was in for a big headache once this trial was over.

'Well, in that case I better finish this soon, now I just want to go back to my office to have some hot tea and rest' Mrs. Stoppard thought, sighing.

"Ahem" she cleared her throat getting everyone's attention, "As this was our last testimony, I think it's about time we questioned the one who is why this whole trial is happening"

And after saying that her gaze fell on Pettigrew, who was still under a silence spell and trembled at the hundreds of pairs of gazes that were now on him.

"Please bring the truth serum and cancel the silence spell on Mr. Pettigrew" Mrs. Stoppard ordered, and two Aurors came to Pettigrew's side, with one of them having his wand in hand while the other carried a small glass vial.

With the Auror canceling the silence spell on Pettigrew, the pudgy rat-faced man immediately began to open his mouth to plead, but none of the authors had the patience for his whimpering.

The Auror who canceled the spell immediately grabbed Pettigrew's face, forcing his mouth open so the other Auror could drop a few drops of Veritaserum into his mouth.

After dripping 3 drops into Pettigrew's mouth, everyone could see how he stirred before he stiffened, and after that he relaxed, gaining a distant and confused look.

Seeing this, Mrs. Stoppard nodded to the two Aurors, who returned to their seats.

"Ahem, to test if the potion worked we are going to ask Mr. Pettigrew three simple questions" she said to everyone, and then her gaze focused on the rat who had a glazed look.

"Mr. Pettigrew, what is your full name?"

"Peter Billy Pettigrew" he replied in a monotone voice.

"When you were born?"

"March 11, 1960"

"What are your parents' names?"

"Chuck e Margareth Pettigrew"

"Well, it looks like the serum is working perfectly" Mrs. Stoppard said after Pettigrew finished answering the last question.

Seeing that the potion had taken effect and not wanting to delay any longer, Mrs. Stoppard decided to ask the question everyone wanted to know, and taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"Mr. Pettigrew... Are you or were you ever a follower of You-Know-Who?" she asked.

And with bated breath everyone anxiously awaited Pettigrew's answer.

"Yes" he replied, still with an unfocused look as if he was in a trance.

And with that response the entire courtroom was thrown into chaos, with everyone exclaiming, yelling and whispering, with journalists writing while having hungry eyes, realizing that coming to this trial was the best choice of their lives.

Hearing Sirius say that Pettigrew was a follower of Voldemort and hearing it from the damn rat's own mouth under the truth serum were two different things, and that's why people reacted more strongly this time.

"Mr. Pettigrew, were you the real secret-keeper of the Potters' secret?" Mrs. Stoppard asked another question.

"Yes"

Taking a deep breath, Mrs. Stoppard decided to ask the last important question, which would remove all doubts about this case.

"Mr. Pettigrew, did you kill those 12 Muggles 12 years ago and frame Sirius Black?"

"Yes, I killed those 12 Muggles and framed Sirius Black before fleeing" Pettigrew replied.

"And how exactly did you do it?" Dumbledore asked, and as the serum made the drinker answer anyone's question, Pettigrew answered it.

Mrs. Stoppard didn't like someone interrupting her interrogation, however it was Albus Dumbledore himself who did that, and she wouldn't want to go against him as she respected him so much, and besides that she was also curious to know about that day from Pettigrew' s point of view.

"After finding out that James and Lily were dead and the Dark Lord had fallen, I knew everyone would eventually find out about my betrayal, so I ran away, but Sirius started hunting me and he managed to ambush me in a Muggle street" Pettigrew began to say.

"He was itching to kill me, and I knew it, and in a quick thought I shouted for everyone to hear that he had betrayed James and Lily before using an explosive spell to blow up a gas pipe, and I used the explosion as cover to cut off my finger and transform into my rat Animagus form to escape through the sewers"

"Hmm, I see" Dumbledore said with a thoughtful look, folding his hands in front of his face.

To all Dumbledore was calmly analyzing the situation, appearing unflappable as ever, but Nick and Penny knew him too well to know that in truth he was too distressed and stressed.

And completely unaware of Dumbledore's inner conflicts, Mrs. Stoppard continued the judgment, "Well, I guess then that ends the questioning, so I—"

"I'm sorry your honor…" Sirius said as he stood up, interrupting her, "But could I ask him a question?" he asked, spitting out the word 'him' with extreme hatred and disgust, resisting the urge to curse the traitor.

Upon hearing this request, Mrs. Stoppard looked at Sirius for a moment in conflict, but seeing the anguished look in his eyes she realized that he deserved at least that much after everything he'd been through.

"Sigh... Yes you can" Mrs. Stoppard said, "But that question will have to be relevant to the trial," she reminded him.

"Thank you" Sirius said, and then he turned to Pettigrew with a murderous glare, but taking a deep breath he managed to control himself to ask his question, "When did you become a follower of Vold..." Sirius began his question, but upon seeing the others' startled glances at the name he rolled his eyes, "of You-Know-Who?"

"I sought out the Dark Lord to become one of his followers 1 year after I graduated from Hogwarts" Pettigrew replied, and Sirius scowled at that.

"So you betrayed us before we even joined the order" Sirius muttered to himself with a furrowed brow, wondering if Pettigrew had ever really been their friend.

And Dumbledore scowled slightly at this revelation, realizing that if he had been more vigilant and meticulous in choosing and accepting members of the Order many deaths could have been avoided.

"Any more questions Mr. Black?" Mrs. Stoppard asked, but Sirius just shook his head and sat back down.

She then looked around the courtroom, "Anyone else want to ask any questions? No? Perfect" she said, ignoring the journalists who had their hands raised to speak.

"In this case, give the antidote to Mr. Pettigrew" Mrs. Stoppard ordered, but then she looked at him for a moment, "And silence him again," she finished.

After the Aurors did as they were ordered the courtroom fell silent, which was broken by Dumbledore.

"I think it's about time we ended this trial, Mrs. Stoppard," he said, and she nodded.

"Yes" she said, and then slammed her gavel down on the table, "As Chief Warlock Dumbledore has said and in light of all the evidence and testimony presented to us I think it is time for us to give our verdict"

Mrs. Stoppard then looked around the room, analyzing everyone's reaction to the discoveries and information they had just received.

"I know that's not why we're having this trial, but I think we need to make this clear to everyone," she said, giving Sirius a quick glance.

"Anyone who still thinks Sirius Black is a criminal and should be arrested, raise your wand" Mrs. Stoppard said in a loud and clear tone, and after a few seconds of hesitation 9 wands were raised with their tips glowing red, and it was no surprise to see that the people who raised their wands were from the dark faction.

Obviously there were people from the neutral and light faction who still wanted Sirius arrested, but given all the evidence and Sirius' own testimony under the magical oath they realized that it wouldn't be good for their reputation to vote against Sirius.

Seeing the small number of wands raised caused a small, almost imperceptible smile to appear on Mrs. Stoppard' s face, for she knew what this meant.

"And anyone who thinks Sirius Black is innocent and therefore a free man, raise your wand" Mrs. Stoppard said, and almost immediately a sea of ​​green dots emerged, with almost everyone in the courtroom raising their wands, with the exception of the 9 who voted against and a few other wizards who chose to abstain from voting.

"Well, seeing the results of the vote, and with the legislative power in my hands, I declare Sirius Black innocent of all charges against him!" Mrs. Stoppard said loudly, slamming her gavel on her desk, putting an end to Sirius' case.

And listening to her Sirius felt as if his legs had turned to jelly, because he lost all the strength in them and he would almost fall to his knees if Andromeda hadn't been by his side to hold him, hugging him so tightly and in tears, ceasing to aside all his serious and cold appearance.

Those who genuinely felt sorry for Sirius and sympathized with his plight cheered a bit too, with the less vocal smiling softly at the scene of the two cousins ​​hugging each other as they cried.

'Finally!' Sirius thought, hugging Andromeda tightly, feeling a few tears trickle down his cheeks.

End.

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(End AN: Today would be a beautiful day... if I didn't have a headache.)