The Wizengamot in Session. Part 2
As Hagrid entered the courtroom, he was extremely nervous; he kept tugging at his clothes, which were the most presentable ones he had for this occasion, and he was holding a stack of papers that were surely the notes the girls had given him. He became even more nervous under everyone's gaze. The papers slipped from his hands and fell to the floor, and he clumsily tried to gather them with trembling fingers.
Meanwhile, the Minister called for the initial testimony, and none other than Mr. Crabbe, the father, stood up from his seat in the Wizengamot. His face showed great worry and seriousness as he glared at Hagrid, before quickly glancing lightly toward Carrow, who gave him a small nod.
"Honorable members of the Wizengamot, I come here not as a member of this tribunal, but as a concerned father. My son, Vincent, was brutally attacked by a wild creature under the supervision of Mr. Hagrid, the professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and during his very presence. My son, the poor boy, who is far too weak to face such an animal, was nearly gravely injured. According to information written in the books of Newt Scamander himself, hippogriffs are classified as dangerous XXX beasts. As a father, how am I supposed to trust in the safety of my child when faced with a professor who, obviously, places them before such a dangerous creature without proper safety measures? I believe there was no responsible oversight. Thank you very much for listening to me," said Crabbe Sr., before looking toward the French Minister of Magic for a moment and nodding at him.
Truly, a first-class actor; as if his son really were a poor innocent child who had fallen victim to the bad teachings of a terrible professor.
Sirius, who had been watching the others, made a slight mocking face upon seeing how the dark faction nodded with apparent solemnity, while Carrow smiled with such pride that he looked as if he had already won. Others stared at Hagrid with a particularly striking hatred. It didn't go unnoticed; it wasn't only the dark faction. Even some members of Dumbledore's own side wore similar expressions.
"It seems someone made sure they all knew, right?" Narcissa said suddenly to Wanda, who had a calm but serious expression as she nodded.
"Mm? What are you talking about?" asked Sirius, confused.
"The professor of Care of Magical Creatures, do you have any words?" Fudge suddenly said, looking toward Hagrid with sharp intent, while everyone's stares made Hagrid even more nervous. Hagrid opened his mouth, trying to speak, only for strange sounds to come out, completely mute.
"It seems he doesn't have many words to say," Fudge said as he looked at Hagrid as if the trial were already decided.
"If I may speak, Minister," Dumbledore said suddenly. He had been silent until now but rose slightly to make his presence known.
Fudge showed, for just an instant, a look full of annoyance, as if being forced to say yes. Obviously, he had to appear polite.
"Please, Headmaster," he said nevertheless, with false courtesy.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said before looking toward Hagrid with total calm, meeting his eyes directly. "Hagrid, relax, don't be nervous. Here in the Wizengamot we also exist to help you explain your side; that is the purpose of a trial. You must say what you prepared. I am sure that will help the members and jurors understand your point of view as a professor," Dumbledore said softly.
Hagrid nodded quickly toward Dumbledore, then began preparing his papers and cleared his throat.
"How fake," Sirius muttered, looking toward Dumbledore. After all, the resentment he had toward him was on a level that even he himself could barely tolerate seeing him sitting there. But even if they were enemies, Hagrid was a friend of Harry and the others; and if they were asking him to help, even if it meant a slight alliance with Dumbledore's faction, he would have to endure it.
"I… I only tried to teach them how… how to approach… and Vicente… I mean, Vincent… well, he didn't follow the instructions… he didn't greet Buckbeak properly… I said it several times… he… he shouldn't have approached. Harry… yes, Harry was happily riding Buckbeak, and he did it correctly," Hagrid said, stammering at first, but upon mentioning Harry—almost as if he suddenly felt calmer—and with a smile remembering the boy's happiness riding Buckbeak, he relaxed and was able to continue. "As the Care of Magical Creatures professor, I did my job; I put my own body in the way to protect the student. I didn't let him get hurt. I told him several times, I shouted for him to step back, but he still kept moving forward, wanting to touch Buckbeak," Hagrid added, remembering everything the girls taught him. Hermione told him several times not to forget to mention that Crabbe had been warned, but he ignored it anyway.
"Are you saying my son threw himself to his death on his own? Do you think he's an idiot?" Crabbe Sr. suddenly shouted, standing up furiously.
"I don't think your son is an idiot, sir; but I do think he lacks discipline to listen to his professors," Hagrid added, completely nervous, but as if he had the exact words recorded in his mind—exactly what Daphne had told him to say in case Crabbe Sr. reacted this way, which he now had. This greatly surprised Hagrid, as it seemed Daphne had truly predicted this would happen.
And Daphne really was very intelligent, even if she didn't like showing it and always acted so carefree. After all, she was the daughter of Selene and Edward Greengrass, two truly powerful figures in the political and business world.
"What!?" Crabbe shouted, even more furious at Hagrid's response; he even looked like he was about to draw his wand at such blasphemy.
"Ah, yes, I have…" Hagrid dug through his papers until he finally found the one he needed.
"These are complaints from other students about the student's ongoing bullying. Someone told me it might help, since it really shows he needs discipline. Many of these cases of bullying are bordering on criminal behavior. Although I know this won't help defend Buckbeak, I would also like to show that the student is quite…" Hagrid forgot the word he was supposed to use, so he fell silent for a moment as he tried to remember, but couldn't. "Thick-as-a-troll," he added. These reports had been obtained by Fleur to help Hagrid even further, since she reminded him quite a bit of Madam Maxime from Beauxbatons.
Many people—especially members of Dumbledore's faction who were determined to help Hagrid—held back laughter, while Crabbe Sr.'s face turned black with rage, since out of the whole room, Sirius was the only one openly laughing, loud enough to be heard in every direction.
"Ppff." Sirius kept laughing, seeming to want his laughter to echo even more just to further infuriate Crabbe.
Meanwhile, Wanda, Pandora, and Narcissa shifted a little away from him so they wouldn't be directly associated with such a loud display.
"Order!" Fudge shouted while striking his gavel.
This made Sirius stop laughing so loudly, though he still wore a mocking smile directed at Crabbe Sr. and Carrow.
Even so, that didn't seem to bother Carrow for some reason.
"May I say a few words, Minister?" suddenly asked a woman at Fudge's side. She had a shrill voice.
Fudge turned slightly toward her and looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Dolores, you may speak," Fudge said.
"Thank you, Minister. And welcome to the French Minister; it is an honor for us to have you here," she said, looking toward the man seated on the opposite side, who raised a hand, smiling and nodding with a courteous greeting.
Then she directed her gaze toward Hagrid for a moment, displaying clear disdain.
"Hagrid, correct?" she said, without giving him the respect of calling him 'Mister.'
"Uh… yes," Hagrid replied, not realizing the slight.
"Aren't you the son of Fridwulfa, a giantess?" she said suddenly, which truly unsettled Hagrid as some people even stood from their seats with obvious expressions of shock upon hearing such information laid out so openly. But these were obviously the same people who had previously looked at Hagrid with hatred and contempt; clearly, they already knew, but stood now for dramatic effect, shouting 'What? How can this be?'
That also left Hagrid completely shaken, making him even more nervous.
"Excuse me, Madam Umbridge, but that has no relevance in this trial," Dumbledore said quickly, rising to his feet.
Meanwhile, Hagrid, completely out of sorts, began trembling slightly, fear evident in his eyes.
"This trial is being held to determine whether… this one," Umbridge said, looking at Hagrid plainly, "is fit to be a professor, correct? The son of Fridwulfa," she added softly, though merely hearing that voice made it sound even more repulsive.
Many who had been prepared to support Hagrid from both the neutral faction and Dumbledore's faction, upon learning this, wore confused and terrified expressions, beginning to feel that they couldn't allow such a being to teach at Hogwarts.
Hagrid felt a mix of shame, pain, and fear.
"I… I never… I would never harm a child…" he said, almost stammering again, losing the confidence he had before.
Narcissa crossed her legs with elegance.
She looked at Umbridge as if she were street trash.
She knew all of this was political and carefully staged.
"That's what I meant," she murmured, looking toward Sirius, who now also had a slightly surprised expression upon learning that part of Hagrid's past, as if he had never realized it.
While everyone returned to murmurs and noise, Fudge struck the gavel against the table again.
"Silence in the chamber. Silence," he repeated once more.
Then, a hand suddenly rose into the air as if they were in class, and all eyes turned toward Pandora Lovegood, who was taking Selene Greengrass's seat between Wanda and Narcissa.
"Excuse me, but… what does the size of his mother have to do with the intelligence of her son? After all, he's been the forest's caretaker since we went to Hogwarts, and he was always very kind; especially protective of the animals, with great affection. And it seems many animals love him. Not even you are loved by animals as much as he is," she said softly, with innocence, as if the affection of animals automatically defined someone as a good person, and Hagrid was good because of that, while others were not. And she couldn't have been more correct.
Wanda smiled slightly at Pandora's reasoning; it truly was something endearing about her.
But those words genuinely made others think, remembering what it was like when they passed through Hogwarts grounds and encountered the gentle giant.
Umbridge looked toward Pandora with anger for a moment before remembering something.
"Are you speaking of the same creature-loving man who, due to his actions, caused a death at Hogwarts when he was just a student, releasing the beast from the Chamber of Secrets? Which is why he is now forbidden from using a wand. Who's to say he couldn't do it again?" she said, with that disgustingly sweet tone directed at Pandora, who looked at her calmly, as if she didn't feel the venom in her words.
"Ah… now that I think about it," Sirius said suddenly, as he rose slightly with exaggerated noble manners, as if mocking the entire courtroom. "Wasn't the creature actually a basilisk? And wasn't it the young lady here—Wanda—who found it and destroyed it completely?… So in that case, the trial that found him guilty was also wrong, wasn't it?" he said suddenly. The worst part was that, coming from Sirius, those words carried even more weight.
"What do you mean, Mr. Black?" Umbridge asked, slight nervousness showing in her eyes.
"Oh… could it be you didn't see the information I, as representative of the student council, sent to the Wizengamot months ago? The reason for the castle's reconstruction was due to the dangers hidden within, where the creature from the Chamber of Secrets was found. As the representative of the school board, I expected a new trial to be held to pardon Hagrid. We found plenty of evidence that pointed clearly to the real culprit. And now that we're here, and you yourself mentioned it, perhaps we can also bring out that information," Sirius added with a mocking smile.
Carrow and several others immediately turned their eyes toward Umbridge with anger, for having used the tactic poorly and now causing it to backfire.
At that moment, Fudge struck the gavel again, having completely lost control. Especially because information had just been revealed that the Ministry itself had been hiding to avoid appearing incompetent—just like what happened with Sirius Black and his release. And now the same man who embarrassed them last time had done it again, and in front of the French Minister no less.
Who was now watching Sirius with interest and careful attention.
Meanwhile, Sirius glanced subtly at the palm of his hand, where he had written the information Harry told him to use. He checked it one last time to make sure he had done it right.
"I'm sure Selene will be upset for missing such a trial full of twists and excitement," Pandora said suddenly with a smile, while Wanda felt that she definitely would be.