The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

They walked down the steps and then along a corridor.

This place looks a lot like the basement of Hogwarts.

The walls were made of rough stone, torches were stuck in brackets, and all the doors were heavy wooden doors with iron bolts and keyholes.

“I remember… it was the tenth courtroom.”

Dumbledore muttered something and then led Scott to a gloomy black door with a large iron lock on it.

He turned the heavy iron handle on the door and walked into the courtroom, with Scott following closely behind.

This was a dark, deep room. The walls were made of black stone, and the torches on the walls did not illuminate much of the space, making the whole room appear dim and gloomy.

Inside, there were rows of benches on both sides of the room, which were now sparsely occupied by a few people.

Directly in front, the tallest benches were almost full of people, who seemed to be whispering and talking amongst themselves.

Scott looked up and saw about forty or fifty people there, all wearing crimson robes with an exquisite silver [W] embroidered on their left breast.

Scott and Dumbledore's entry into the trial chamber seemed to go unnoticed by everyone, who all stared down at the sunken center of the trial chamber floor.

In the center of the room, Carlo, about to be judged, sat with his head bowed, surrounded by thorny iron chains.

“I have to go to the front,” Dumbledore said to Scott in a low voice. “Find a place to sit yourself.”

“Yes, Professor,” Scott replied.

Dumbledore continued walking forward, and his wizard robes, covered in star patterns, suddenly turned into the same crimson robes worn by the people above him.

Scott watched him walk up the steps directly in front of him, then turned around and walked up the steps next to him. After passing several wizards who were watching him coldly, he walked to the edge of a row of empty seats and sat down.

Just then, a short, stout figure stood up from the seat in the center above the courtroom.

It's Fudge, the Minister of Magic.

“Very good,” Fudge said in a loud voice, “Everyone is here, let’s begin.”

Of course, no one objected.

Fudge continued speaking.

"The trial on April 15 will focus on Elijah Jaden Caro's serious violations of multiple laws."

"The interrogator..."

"Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge."

"Amelia Susan Bornes, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Albus Percival Woolfrick Bryan Dumbledore, the chief wizard of Wizengamor."

"Trial recorder: Jeremiah Oliver Grevis, Principal Secretary of the Secretary's Office."

Scott, sitting in the corner of the courtroom, followed Fudge's gaze to the front side of the courtroom, where Milton's father, Mr. Grevis, sat as the recorder.

Although he was just a recorder, he dressed very stylishly and looked very confident.

Seemingly sensing Scott's gaze, he looked up at Scott from afar and gave him a slight nod.

But before Scott could respond, he looked away again.

Just then, Fudge, who was in the center of the front of the courtroom, sat down again and picked up a stack of documents.

"The trial begins." He read aloud from the document, "The charges against the defendant are as follows—"

"At 9 p.m. on April 1, the defendant murdered Caitlin Roll at Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and then secretly fled back to the United Kingdom."

Just then, Scott heard a woman sobbing sadly from a few rows ahead.

Fudge continued, "At 10 p.m. on April 8, the defendant illegally broke into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and attacked an innocent student."

For a moment, many eyes, intentionally or unintentionally, were focused on Scott.

Scott kept his eyes fixed on Fudge ahead.

The Minister of Magic was glaring sternly at Rol below.

“Are you Elijah Jaden Caro?” he asked.

"Yes," Carlo replied, his voice sounding somewhat weak.

Fudge then asked, "Do you admit to the charges brought against you by this court?"

“I don’t admit it,” Carlo said. “I didn’t do it.”

His answer immediately sparked a discussion among the people in the courtroom.

Everyone knows that the crimes he is accused of are true.

Although everyone knows that the defendant is very likely to struggle to plead not guilty during the trial, Caro's outright denial at this point is enough to make many people uncomfortable.

"You're lying!" a shrill female voice suddenly rang out.

Scott looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged witch dressed in a simple black robe standing up excitedly.

"It was you! You're a monster!" she cried. "You're the one who killed my daughter!"

It turned out to be Luo Er's mother.

Almost everyone was startled by her shrill voice.

Then, a robust young witch stood up.

“You can’t just say things like that without evidence, my dear cousin.” She wore an awkward smile on her ugly face.

“Alector!” Rol’s mother turned around and roared at the young witch with hatred in her eyes, “You damned…”

"Silence!" Fudge's angry voice rang out. "Sit down! No one is to disturb the trial proceedings without a valid reason!"

The two witches glared at each other, then obediently sat down slowly, while Roll's mother leaned on her husband's shoulder and continued to sob.

Once the courtroom had quieted down again, Fudge spoke up once more, "Call the plaintiff's witness, Leonie Zimmerman!"

Scott looked around but didn't see anyone stand up, so he looked at the door to the courtroom.

“Summon the plaintiff’s witness, Leonie Zimmerman!” Fudge spoke again.

But there was no movement at all when I opened the door to the courtroom.

Scott heard someone chuckle softly.

At this moment, his magical perception permeated the entire trial room, and he accurately located the person who was laughing.

It was that burly young witch who stood up to defend Carlo just now.

"What happened? Where's Leoni?"

Luo's mother sensed something was wrong and stood up again.

She was so anxious that she wanted to turn around and look for the witness named Leoni, but her husband quickly pulled her back.

"presiding judge."

Just then, Carlo, who had been sitting quietly in the center of the courtroom, raised his head.

He said, "Since the plaintiff's witnesses are not present, can we call on the defendant's witnesses?"

Above, Fudge clearly hadn't expected this turn of events.

“Oh, you, the defendant, do you have any witnesses?” he asked.

“Of course, it’s a witness who can prove I didn’t kill Caitlin Roll,” Caro said with a smile.

Upon hearing his words, Fudge quickly glanced at Amelia Bornes, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to his left, and then at Dumbledore to his right.

"Invite the defendant as a witness," Ms. Burns said decisively.

Dumbledore nodded as well.

“Summon the defendant as a witness!” Fudge’s voice was clearly tinged with displeasure.

Scott turned back to look at the door of the courtroom, eager to know who the witness who could prove Carlo did not commit murder would be.

He never expected that this trial, which was originally a foregone conclusion, would take such an unexpected turn.

Chapter 390 You are the Hidden Poison Wizard

The Tenth Trial Chamber of the Ministry of Magic.

At that moment, everyone, including Scott, was looking at the tightly closed door.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the door was pushed open, and a tall, thin, middle-aged male wizard walked in.

He wore a long robe decorated with fur, had short white hair, and a goatee with small curls at the ends on his thin chin.

"It's you!"

Mr. Roll, who was supporting his wife, said the name of the person who came in great surprise.

"Igor Karkarov!"

Upon hearing the name, Scott couldn't help but frown.

Karkaroff's appearance caused a stir among the people in the trial room.

If Carlo's request to call a witness in his favor was surprising enough, then the identity of the witness who subsequently entered the courtroom was undoubtedly even more unexpected.

Igor Karkaroff, the current headmaster of Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is a traitorous Death Eater. Many people present knew his background.

Scott also heard the whispers of those around him.

"Kakharov? How could it be him?"

"In order to exonerate himself, he betrayed many of his Death Eater companions to Crouch."

Scott had also heard of Karkaroff's exploits.

Logically, now that Voldemort, who was hiding behind the scenes, has gradually surfaced, Karkaroff, the former traitor, should be hiding far away.

No one expected him to appear here, as an exonerated witness for the descendant of a Death Eater who committed murder.

Of course, it's also possible that they were threatened.

Scott coldly watched as Karkaroff strode forward and stood beside Carlo, who was being interrogated.

"I object!"