Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 189, Section 188: Crouch's Defendant and Hagrid's Testimony

The case back then was full of doubts. Even if you think about it from the perspective that Death Eaters are crazy and irrational and their behavior is unpredictable, it doesn't make sense. The reason why no one has raised any objections over the years is simply because no one cares about someone that everyone thinks is a Death Eater.

But now, as long as the matter is brought out into the open for discussion, it doesn't take much effort to find many inexplicable aspects.

“Professor Dumbledore, I think we should now summon someone who played a crucial role in Sirius Black’s trial,” Fudge suddenly turned and said with a smile, “Mr. Barty Crouch.”

“Of course,” Dumbledore nodded slightly. “It is necessary… Summon Barty Crouch.”

As Dumbledore spoke, a side door to the First Trial Chamber opened, and a middle-aged man with neatly combed short gray hair and wearing a black suit was brought in, led by the Strikers. He looked very serious and had a stern face.

“Barty Crouch!” Fudge called out first. He quickly explained the doubts he had found during the previous trial and then asked, “...It’s clear that you overlooked too many doubts in the trial of Sirius Black twelve years ago. Well, I almost forgot, you didn’t even conduct a trial before sending him to Azkaban, which led to such serious consequences.”

Fudge's delight and eagerness were so obvious that even the batters standing by the door of the courtroom could see it.

“Oh, don’t rush, Cornelius,” Dumbledore reassured him, “nothing is settled yet.”

“I think—the matter is clear enough, isn’t it?” a sweet female voice suddenly said. “Chief Crouch placed his will above the law, deliberately ignoring the doubts in the case because of his own emotions, thus imprisoning an innocent person in Azkaban for twelve years.”

Dumbledore looked toward the source of the sound.

“Excuse me, I am Dolores Umbridge, Senior Assistant to the Minister for Magic. It is my duty to advise the Minister,” Umbridge said, covering his mouth with one hand in a gesture of rudeness.

He was clearly very old, with loose skin and wrinkles, but he was wearing a pink outfit and spoke in a very high-pitched voice... Harry didn't want to judge a book by its cover, but he really found it hard to like someone like that.

Niu Niu's first reaction was that she felt a little nauseous.

“Oh, shut up, Dolores,” Fudge said, feigning a scolding, but his blissful expression and affectionate address clearly showed he agreed with everything Umbridge said, which was exactly what he wanted to say.

The accusation of placing personal will above the law, dereliction of duty, and wronging innocent people is extremely serious for someone working in the government.

What made Crouch's supporters grim was that Umbridge's words were not entirely a lie.

“I think I understand the responsibility you bear, madam,” Dumbledore said with a smile, not angry. “But before that, I’m afraid we should hear Mr. Crouch’s own answer—do you acknowledge Ms. Umbridge’s description of you, Crouch?”

All eyes were on the man who stood upright in the center of the courtroom.

"In the case of Sirius Black... I admit," Crouch said firmly after glancing at Sirius, who was tied to a chair beside him, "that I did not conduct a trial according to normal means and procedures."

Crouch's words caused an uproar in the stands, but Crouch's next loud words forcefully drowned out the noise.

"But have you forgotten how bad the situation was back then?! The sudden downfall of Mystic forced us to divert our already limited manpower to capture those Death Eaters. After being captured, not many Death Eaters would admit their identities. They would say that they were controlled by the Imperius Curse or that they were threatened."

"Some might ask why we don't use truth serum for interrogation. I must explain to those who have this question that the use of truth serum is strictly controlled within the Ministry of Magic, even during wartime. It cannot be used without the approval of senior officials—and most importantly, it is not absolutely reliable."

"First, the Truth Potion is ineffective against well-trained Occlumency practitioners who have used Occlumency. Both Mystic and his core Death Eaters, such as Bellatrix, are proficient in this magic, which makes it impossible for us to accurately verify it after capturing some core Death Eaters."

"The second point is that sheer willpower can also resist the effects of truth serum."

Without the slightest hint of stage fright, Barty Crouch displayed none of the panic of the accused. Instead, he strolled through the center of the courtroom, eventually standing before Sirius Black, bending down, and gazing into his eyes as he continued:

"A man who has survived for twelve years in the deepest part of Azkaban, surrounded by Dementors, without going mad—I have no doubt about your willpower, Sirius."

“Thank you for the compliment,” Sirius grinned, revealing a bright smile. “But you could have given more examples, like your son, Crouch Jr.—he’s Voldemort’s most fanatical Death Eater, isn’t he? I heard he even calls him father.”

Crouch held his breath. Harry noticed the old chief clench his fist tightly, then released it, straightened up, and stopped looking at Sirius without responding.

"...In short, during that period, most of the time we could only imprison a person based on factual evidence, and we couldn't follow legal procedures at all," Crouch said expressionlessly to the jury in the stands. "I urge you to recall the predicament during the war. During that period, as long as the Death Eaters could be defeated and those people could be punished as they deserved, then any means were permitted."

“Aurors are allowed to use the three Unforgivable Curses. As long as the facts are conclusive, no matter how the captured Death Eaters defend themselves, they will be thrown into Azkaban—only in this way can they be guaranteed to receive the punishment they deserve. But even so, many Death Eaters still escape punishment.”

“You’re twisting the facts, Mr. Crouch,” Harry said calmly in the silent trial room. “Sirius has no criminal record. During the war, he fought on the front lines against Voldemort. And your so-called solid evidence is full of doubts—but you’ve chosen to ignore them.”

He was not affected at all by Crouch's words.

Crouch whirled around and stared at Harry, his gaze sharp, while Harry met his gaze back without flinching.

"Is there a problem?"

Silence followed for several seconds. “…No,” Crouch said, still serious. “At the time, I thought the evidence was conclusive. Peter only had one finger left, and Sirius didn’t deny killing Peter or defend himself, so I just threw him into Azkaban.”

Crouch was describing the norm during wartime, just as Mr. Weasley had previously described to Harry in private; Crouch was ruthless during wartime.

“My judgment was wrong, and I made a mistake.” Although he was admitting his mistake, Crouch’s words showed no weakness. “But I do not regret it. At that time, this was the only way I could ensure that those who had really made mistakes and committed murder would not escape punishment and would pay the price for their actions.”

Crouch's words amplified the murmurs in the stands.

In fact, even Crouch himself knew that he was doomed to lose today, or rather, he agreed with the fact that Sirius was innocent—who can deny the evidence provided by the deceased himself?
But he still doesn't regret his actions back then.

He always believed that it was a necessary means, but Sirius... he was not so lucky.

“It seems the case is quite clear now,” Fudge couldn’t help but say. “Even Crouch himself admitted it—I mean, I admit that using special methods was necessary during that particular period, but it’s clear that Sirius’s case is completely different from those Death Eater cases. He didn’t do anything wrong before the incident, did he?”

“Since he hadn’t done anything wrong, he should have handled the situation more carefully after such an accident happened… Clearly, Crouch didn’t do that; he didn’t even consider the obvious suspicions or look for any evidence.”

"Doesn't this completely contradict his own claim that there is established factual evidence?"

Crouch had stopped talking, but Fudge became more and more excited as he spoke.

"In any case, in order to ensure fairness and justice in the magical world, and to quell the anger of the wizarding community, Crouch needs to pay the price for his past actions... Well, this is something that the people of Wizengamor should carefully consider."

“Don’t rush, Cornelius,” Dumbledore said, still maintaining his calm demeanor. “Since this is a retrial, everything must be done according to procedure.”

“Alright, you’re right, Dumbledore,” Fudge said with a relaxed expression. “Then let’s continue.”

“I know what you are waiting for,” Dumbledore said, looking around the room. “James Potter’s soul, his own words, recounting the secrets hidden beneath the common understanding of the past—frankly, setting aside the fact that the soul of the dead is personally testifying, even I think that with the current evidence, it is too weak to prove Sirius’s innocence simply by his actions and behavior back then, and his self-clarification cannot be taken as complete evidence.”

“Here, I think it is necessary to call a witness—please bring in Rupert Hagrid, thank you.”

'Hagrid?' Harry looked at the door of the courtroom with some surprise. He hadn't expected that Hagrid would be involved in this case.

The atmosphere in the trial chamber was so terrifying to Hagrid that this burly man, who was clearly much stronger than others, now looked somewhat timid. He nervously dealt with the gazes directed at him, and only felt a sense of relief when he stood next to Harry.

“Don’t be afraid, Hagrid,” Harry patted his friend’s arm. “No one here can hurt you.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Hagrid said quietly. “I mean—uh, well, long time no see? Sirius?”

He greeted Sirius Black, who was sitting on the chair next to him, with a complicated expression.

"Long time no see, Hagrid," Sirius said, unable to raise his arm, he blinked as a greeting. "How's my motorcycle? Is it still riding well?"

“Of course,” Hagrid grinned. “It’s fantastic.”

"That would be perfect."

"Rupert Hagrid," Dumbledore's voice interrupted the tense reminiscing between the two. He asked seriously, "Twelve years ago, on the night the mysterious man disappeared, you saw Sirius Black, didn't you?"

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore,” Hagrid said nervously, clutching his coat. “He found me on his motorcycle and handed Harry over to me. Uh, he was the one who told me that the Man from Nowhere killed James and Lily, and that Harry was the only one left alive in the room.”

"He didn't hurt you? He didn't hurt Harry either?"

“No,” Hagrid shook his head vigorously. “To be honest, if you hadn’t all said later that Sirius betrayed the Potters, I wouldn’t have believed it. I remember it very clearly. That night, after Sirius handed Harry over to me, he only said ‘Give him to Dumbledore’ and then left. His face was terrifying.”

"To be honest, for all these years I've wished I could have punched that traitor to death back then—well, of course I know he's not a traitor now, but I didn't know about the past—I mean, sorry, Sirius," Hagrid stammered, speaking off the cuff.

“There’s no need to apologize, Hagrid,” Sirius grinned. “We’re still friends, right?”

"Of course, of course!"

“You can catch up after the trial; there’s plenty of time,” Dumbledore said with a touch of humor. “So, Sirius, do you accept everything Hagrid has said?”

“I confess,” Sirius Black was forced to recall his most painful memory, his voice hoarse as he said, “I thought Peter would go to find Voldemort’s remnants… I had to kill him.”

"So we can piece together what happened back then from a timeline," Dumbledore said loudly. "Voldemort killed the Potters and then was killed by the Killing Curse that bounced back from his own hand. Sirius, upon learning the news, went to the Potters' old house, found Harry, and entrusted him to a trustworthy person. Then Sirius set off to find Peter Pettigrew. In the end, Peter's curse, which he used to kill himself, only killed him. Sirius, who was determined to atone for his sins, did not put up any resistance and was sent to Azkaban."

(End of this chapter)