Chapter 238: Truth Serum and Judgment

"No, he's crazy, this Black - he's crazy." Peter said fearfully, "Who knows what you just drank? What if it was poison..."

"This is not your level, old Peter." Sirius said hoarsely and flatly, "I drank it myself. You can find a better excuse."

Peter said sharply: "You may have drunk the antidote in advance! And - maybe - who knows - it may be a poison specifically for me!"

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows and snorted in question. Crouch's face was very ugly, and he looked at the panicked Peter with a heavy look.

Sirius whispered: "It's a big loss, Peter."

Ms. Bones also said: "I haven't heard of any poison in the world that is specifically targeted at someone."

"It may be rat poison." Another person said sarcastically.

Peter glanced at the dozens of people above, trembling all over, as if they were asking him to commit suicide.

"Okay, okay." Peter said tremblingly, as if he had made up his mind, "I drink it, I am willing to drink it."

Fudge leaned forward with interest: "Are you willing?"

"I am willing... but!" Peter said, "But you must control Black - you saw that he wanted to kill me. If you don't tie him up tightly, he will definitely take advantage of no one's attention, when everyone's attention is on me... when I look up to drink the medicine..." He raised his tearful eyes and looked at people's faces eagerly, seeking assurance.

Fudge said: "I don't see the need to do this. In my eyes..." He looked in the direction of Crouch seemingly inadvertently, "Black is very clear-headed and will never want to kill someone in public. Isn't it, Black?"

Sirius said calmly: "I do want to kill him. He makes me sick. As long as he dares to get close to me, I will knock him down and bite his neck with my teeth." He moved his legs slightly, stretched out his hand to fiddle with the ropes on his body and the chair, as if trying to break free.

Fudge stared at him with his mouth open, and finally said, "Okay... In that case, control him."

More ropes and spells fell on Sirius, almost turning him into a statue.

As if thinking that Sirius had already broken free once, Fudge gestured to the two Aurors standing in the corner of the room. They slowly walked to Sirius and pointed their wands at his neck and head.

Under everyone's gaze, the truth serum in Sirius's hand floated up and floated to Peter's side. Peter looked at the small bottle in front of him and took a deep breath. The buzzing discussion of the judges sounded again.

Peter stretched out his hand-the iron chain on his arm jingled back, waiting for him to touch the small bottle-his hand shook so much that the bottle shook violently and almost fell to the ground, so Peter stood up, stretched out his arm, as if trying to grab it back-the iron chain on his leg was also retracted-

Peter jumped up suddenly and rushed to the small door in the corner of the room. That's where he was brought up, and the Auror guarding the door was now standing next to Sirius.

Sirius let out a roar, and Peter rushed to the small door, too fast for him to be fast - but Lupin was faster.

Anthony had just touched his wand when Lupin's spell hit Peter. Almost at the same time, spells from the Aurors and the judges also hit him. Several wizards and witches stood up, and Professor McGonagall also raised her wand, her chest rising and falling rapidly, as if she was restraining herself from throwing a curse.

Fudge finally reacted and shouted loudly, but no one could hear what he was shouting.

The ice around Peter caused an Auror who rushed over to slip. Kingsley quickly bypassed the slippery ice, but a wall of fire suddenly ignited at the door of the small door in the corner of the room, almost scorching the corner of his robe. Fortunately, Peter's two feet had already stuck to the ground, and at the same time, his legs swelled strangely, and some strange things like rat tails emerged. Roger Old Snake was wrapped around his neck, and one of his hands was bent at a strange angle, and the bones inside must have been broken. He hunched over in pain, holding the hand holding the truth serum on his stomach, as if his intestines were knotted. Tears crackled on the ice.

A gray-haired witch shouted loudly: "Contempt of court!" She aimed at Peter and swung the gavel through the air to throw Peter's sparse hair on the top of his head, which immediately turned red.

...

Peter was pressed into the chair with chains again, and Fudge ordered angrily: "Pour the truth serum into his mouth!"

"How much truth serum did Snape prepare?" Anthony whispered to Professor McGonagall. After the fight just now, he doubted how much potion would be left.

Professor McGonagall frowned and did not answer him.

The Auror snatched the truth serum from Peter's hand, forcefully opened his mouth, and held the small bottle upside down - Peter turned his head and bit him, the Auror exclaimed, and the small bottle suddenly fell into Peter's throat.

Amid the exclamation, Peter coughed and made a choking sound. He stretched his neck to vomit, and the Auror reached out to take it out - but Peter's throat made a gurgling sound, and the next moment, with a gulp, he swallowed the whole bottle.

The courtroom fell into a brief silence.

Peter's face was pale, and he said in a trembling voice: "I didn't..." A trace of joy flashed across his face, and his voice gradually became louder, "I didn't betray James and Lily, I didn't defect to the mysterious man... I didn't!"

Lupine said softly to Anthony: "It doesn't look like much."

"Is there any credibility for what such a person says?" Fudge asked loudly, gesturing towards the ground and doorway where traces of the curse remained.

"Do you deny the charges against you, Peter Pettigrew?" Crouch asked.

"Yes, I deny it," said Peter.

His expression suddenly became dazed, and his eyes became hollow, but Crouch was looking down at the documents and didn't notice.

Ms Bones asked: "So, what happened when Sirius Black and you met on the street in 1981?"

"Sirius stopped me and said he wanted to kill me." Peter said in a very steady voice, "I said: 'Those are Lily and Potter, Sirius, how could you do it?'"

Crouch raised his head and looked at Peter critically. The people in Wizengamot also frowned and started talking in low voices.

"Is this the truth?" A wizard with a long beard asked in a hoarse voice. He put a monocle on his eyes and leaned forward to look carefully at Peter below. "What you are telling you now is the truth. ?, Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes," Peter said flatly.

"Who are you?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

The bearded wizard nodded and announced, "The Veritaserum is working. He's telling the truth."

"It's the Veritaserum that finally leaked out," Professor McGonagall said in a low voice.

A member of the Wizengamot next to him asked in surprise: "What about before? Was it also before? He didn't take refuge in that person who cannot even be mentioned?"

Fudge turned his head quickly and looked at Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't speak. He held his fingertips together and looked at Peter very calmly.

Umbridge asked in the innocent tone of a little girl: "But, Mr. Ogden, how can you tell whether the Veritaserum is working? By answering your own name?"

Crouch interrupted Umbridge: "The potion issue can be left to be discussed later. I trust Mr. Ogden's judgment. Continue, Pettigrew."

"Then I took out my wand, and he took out his," said Peter unemotionally. "I knew I had to do it very carefully... I blasted the street away, clearing out any possible areas nearby. All the Muggles that happened were killed, and the sewers were blown up. Then I cut off my fingers, threw them into the rubble, and turned into mice and ran away along the sewers. The whole process went as I expected-"

Someone asked: "Did you expect it?"

The members of the Wizengamot obviously realized that the Veritaserum was only taking effect at this time, and they all listened with bated breath.

"Of course." Peter said, his eyelids trembling. "Before anything happened to James and Lily, ("How dare you call them by their names!" Sirius said.) I had already packed my things before the mysterious man went to find them. , ran away from home. I knew that Sirius would not let me go, and the Order of the Phoenix would not let me go. Fortunately, none of them thought of visiting me. What I didn't expect was that the mysterious man failed like this. It turned out that not only Sirius was looking for me, but the Death Eaters were also looking for me... I immediately went back to confirm the news, and then the whole night, I was thinking about how to pretend that I was dead. I was extremely scared. ”

"Bah!" said one of the witches.

A smile actually appeared on Peter's face: "What surprised me was that Sirius didn't tell anyone that I was the real secret keeper. He went crazy and kept looking for me, but he didn't expect that I turned into a mouse. , following him... He always ignores me, so this time is no exception. He didn't expect that I would have the courage..." Sirius struggled in his chair, and Peter's eyelids twitched again, "Of course , I was indeed very scared, but the more scared I became, the clearer it became that this was the only thing I could do. I followed him to a suitable Muggle street, then turned back into human form and acted out the play with him. "

Professor Boubaji said coldly: "A Muggle street suitable for killing people."

Peter continued: "The Ministry of Magic came as slowly as I expected." Fudge's smile faded a little, "If Sirius hadn't been standing there laughing all the time, he would definitely not have been caught. I originally thought Sirius would Continue to chase me. By the time he comes to his senses, the Ministry of Magic has already learned the 'truth' from the Muggles who heard my cry. The Order of the Phoenix will also think that he is absconding in fear of crime. He will definitely spend a lot of time to prove himself. Innocence. By that time, I had escaped.

"After I learned that he was arrested, I was worried for a while, always afraid that he would tell me about changing the Secret Keeper under the interrogation of the Ministry of Magic. I lived in the sewers for a while in fear, and fought with another rat. They fought, robbed its nest, and then - something that surprised me even more happened, Sirius was imprisoned in Azkaban without any trial!

"In this way, I wandered around as a mouse for a while, stealing food from the kitchen of Muggle restaurants, or returning to the wizarding world, climbing to the roof and peeking at the Daily Prophet from above people's heads. , until a wizard family adopted me. From then on, I lived a life without worrying about food and drink."

Crouch stood up: "Before this trial, I didn't want to believe that someone could be so shameless and commit such a heinous crime. He was not only a follower of the man whose name cannot be mentioned, but also a despicable traitor and a cunning person. Liar!" The muscles on his face twitched, "I'm ashamed of my wrong verdict eleven years ago! What happened back then is very clear - I ask the Wizengamot to severely punish such a shameless person! "

He sat down.

Fudge said pleasantly: "Don't worry, Barty, we all know very well how much you hate dark magic, and we also know that you definitely didn't mean to make such a mistake. Of course, sometimes, being too impatient does lead to a little trouble. question……"

Little Question was sizing up Peter, still looking like he wanted to bite his throat open.

"Thank you, Minister," Crouch said. "I think the vote can begin."

Ms. Bones said: "Raise your hands if you think the accusations against Peter Pettigrew of betraying the Potters to You-Know-Who, murdering Muggle witnesses, illegally becoming an Animagus, and stealing items from wizarding households are not true."

Peter's dull eyes looked at the few hands raised in the Wizengamot, seemingly unaware of what this meant. As he looked over, one hand hesitated and then put it down. Crouch had a look of deep hatred on his face.

"If you agree with the accusation, please raise your hands."

More hands went up, almost like a forest. Dumbledore also raised his hand.

Fudge looked extremely satisfied. He looked around and said in a loud voice: "The accusation is established! I propose that Sirius Black be acquitted and Peter Pettigrew be punished for several crimes and be sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss!"

"I agree," Crouch said.

Peter's eyelids twitched again and he squirmed in his chair. Sirius looked at him, then back at the audience. Anthony also turned to look at Lupine and Professor McGonagall: Professor McGonagall was looking up in the direction of Dumbledore, while Lupine looked at Peter and sighed softly, as if he couldn't bear it.

"I object," said Dumbledore. Crouch and Fudge looked at him at the same time, seeming to suspect that they heard wrongly.

"What did you just say, Albus?" Fudge asked.

Dumbledore repeated very clearly and slowly: "I object."

A wizard sitting below them turned his head: "I agree with the accusation, but I propose that Sirius Black be sent back to Azkaban, and that Peter Pettigrew be booked into the most luxurious room in the Leaky Cauldron in recognition of his contribution. The intelligence led to the defeat of You-Know-Who," he asked in a very respectful tone, "What do you think of this, Albus?"

Fudge looked at him appreciatively.

"I am opposed to actively providing anyone's soul to the Dementors." Dumbledore said solemnly, "I think no one - no one - deserves this kind of punishment."

Peter Pettigrew looked up at Dumbledore expressionlessly. Anthony felt guilty that he didn't tell Dumbledore that he could eat souls.

"I'm afraid this is not something you can decide on your own." Umbridge said sharply, "Since Black was wrongfully imprisoned for eleven years because of Pettigrew's lies..." Crouch snorted. He groaned, "I'm afraid more severe punishment is needed to calm people's anger."

Sirius said gloomily: "Let me kill him, and you won't have to worry about souls or unjust cases."

But the members of the Wizengamot in purple robes were whispering to each other, and no one paid any attention to him. Lupine put his hand on his wand again.

After a few minutes, Ms. Bones announced: "The vote has begun. Please raise your hands if you agree with the verdict of Peter Pettigrew's Dementor's Kiss."

Anthony looked up. First one hand, then three or four, hesitantly, but still raised.

Fudge said: "If such a despicable crime can be pardoned with the Dementor's Kiss, what dignity does the law have?"

More hands slowly rose. Ms. Bones nodded: "Okay, thank you. Please raise your hands if you object to Peter Pettigrew's kiss from the Dementor."

Only Dumbledore raised his hand. His hand paused firmly in mid-air for a moment. After a while, two more hands were raised reluctantly. The two members looked at Dumbledore with an expression that basically said "this is purely for your sake".

Fudge said happily: "The vote is over, Dementor's kiss! Take this person -" he gestured to Peter, "bring him to Azkaban to await formal execution."

The members of the Wizengamot began to organize the files. Dumbledore put down his arms, stood up, and said calmly: "Since this is the opinion of the Wizengamot, I will not interfere."

The Auror picked up Peter and carried him to the small door in the corner of the room. Anthony stood up and greeted Professor Bubaji who came to him. Professor McGonagall and Lupine quickly walked down the steps and came to Sirius' side.