With the agreement reached in the Wizengamot court, and the completion of the spell checks by several Aurors, they returned to Dumbledore, Fudge, and others, presenting the results to all the wizards and members of the Wizengamot jury present.

"No Imperius Curse, no Cruciatus Curse, no Confundus Charm, no Veritaserum, no…"

Cornelius Fudge nodded with satisfaction, his mood slightly improved.

At the same time, Amelia Bones, who was beside him, also showed a slight relief.

Clearly, Hogwarts and Dumbledore had given the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot court enough respect, and had not conducted any private trials before the public trial began. More importantly, this meant that Dumbledore had not overstepped his bounds by interrogating Peter Pettigrew about the whereabouts of the embezzled funds in advance, eliminating the risk of embezzlement.

This was consistent with the Ministry of Magic's previous assessment that Hogwarts' demands would not conflict with those of the Ministry.

The two Ministry of Magic officials exchanged glances. Amelia Bones nodded, took a small bottle of clear potion from her robe, stood up, and handed it to Snape, who was guarding Peter Pettigrew, solemnly instructing him.

"Three drops, Professor Snape, only three drops are needed…"

"Don't worry, Director Bones. As Potions Master at Hogwarts, I understand how to use Veritaserum…"

Severus Snape opened the potion bottle, gently fanning it under his nose. A look of disdain appeared on his face. After a slight pause, he spoke in his usual slow, sarcastic tone.

"By the way, too many Diricawl feathers were added to this Veritaserum during brewing, making the potion's effects unstable. Any wizard with a little knowledge of potions can successfully resist its effects before they take hold. Perhaps that foolish potioneer thought it was like diluting coffee, increasing the potion's potency?"

"Is that so? I will pass that on to Madame Levina Rosier."

Amelia Bones raised an eyebrow and lifted her chin slightly, replying in a measured tone.

"So, Professor Snape, are you saying that, in your judgment, this potion may not have the effect we expect? It's a pity, if that's the case, then our trial may have to be slightly delayed. Without proper testing, potions from Hogwarts cannot be used as official magical evidence in court."

"No, Miss Rosier’s Veritaserum is barely adequate… it just needs some…"

Snape shook his head, casually drew his wand, and, without warning, pointed it at Peter Pettigrew behind him.

"Stupefy!"

A dazzling red light shot from Snape's wand, striking Peter Pettigrew directly. The powerful impact of the spell sent him crashing heavily against the back of the chair, making a dull thud.

"…a special method of administration. And unconsciousness is undoubtedly the most ideal."

Severus Snape put away his wand as if he had simply swatted away a mosquito. Amidst the astonished gazes of the Aurors and wizards, he walked expressionlessly towards Peter Pettigrew.

Snape reached the unconscious Peter Pettigrew, roughly grabbed his chin, pried open his mouth, dripped three drops of Veritaserum into it, and then held his wand against Peter Pettigrew's chest, taking a deep breath.

"Ennervate! Sonorus!"

Peter Pettigrew twitched all over, as if just waking up from suffocation. He laboriously opened his eyes, staring blankly ahead, his face slack, devoid of the previous apprehension and nervousness.

Snape bent down, examined Peter Pettigrew's eyelids, turned and looked at Dumbledore and the others.

"You can begin asking questions, everyone. The potion has taken effect – the duration is approximately one hour."

"Thank you, Severus. We'll take it from here."

Dumbledore nodded calmly, his gaze from behind the distorted lenses of his spectacles falling on Peter Pettigrew's face.

"First, tell the court your name. Who are you?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Peter Pettigrew's eyelids flickered as he replied.

"Then, Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore took out a piece of parchment from his robe, glanced at it quickly, and continued in a gentle tone, "What was your role during the First Wizarding War? And where have you been all these years?"

Peter Pettigrew trembled all over, took a deep breath, and then began to speak in a dispassionate, wooden tone. His voice, amplified by magic, reverberated throughout the Quidditch pitch.

"I am a Death Eater. During the First Wizarding War, I was secretly lurking in the Order of the Phoenix, secretly passing information to the Dark Lord, devising plans for the Dark Lord to conquer the wizarding world. Since the Dark Lord disappeared, I have faked my death and hid in the Weasley family as the rat Scabbers, waiting for the Dark Lord to return."

Peter Pettigrew's words caused an uproar throughout the Quidditch field.

The quills of the reporters gathered around the main judging platform almost flew off the parchment. A hero of the resistance against the Dark Lord, awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, was actually a Death Eater. This was sensational!

Bang!

In the stands, in the seating area for Hogwarts professors and Ministry of Magic officials, Professor McGonagall slammed her fist on the railing in anger, her lips trembling with rage. She looked at the small wizard in the field, her eyes flashing with a terrible light.

"So it was you, Peter! So many innocent people sacrificed, and it was you who betrayed them!"

"A spy?! Didn't Professor Dumbledore discover it?"

Amos Diggory, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, frowned and asked in surprise.

"No, Dumbledore has been investigating and searching," Professor McGonagall said grimly. "In fact, long ago, Professor Dumbledore had already begun to suspect that someone among us had betrayed us, providing the Dark Lord with a lot of information – but Peter Pettigrew was too inconspicuous, and no one ever suspected him…"

"In my house… ha… he hid in my house for ten years!"

If Professor McGonagall's face was grim, then the Weasley family's expression could be described as extremely distorted.

With Peter Pettigrew's answer, and the statements of Ron and Percy, the Weasley family had to accept this terrible fact – that a vicious Death Eater had lived in their house for ten years.

Most importantly, for ten years, their family had fed and cared for that disgusting rat.

Arthur Weasley didn't even dare to turn around and look at the gazes of the other wizards around him. His only thought at that moment was to pull out his wand and rush down the stands, casting the Avada Kedavra curse on Peter Pettigrew to prove his family's innocence.

Meanwhile, the trial interrogation in the center of the field was still proceeding at a leisurely pace.

"Then, why did you hide in the Weasley family?" Dumbledore continued to ask.

"Because the Weasley family is the magical family you trust the most, and no one in the magical world would care about such a poor but conscientious family of fools. Moreover, I can stay in touch with the magical world at any time, and I can present a great gift to the Dark Lord after learning of his return – the lives of the Weasley family. No other Death Eater can do this. Besides, so many Weasley children allowed me to hide safely in Hogwarts…"

"Enough! That's not what I need you to answer. I'll ask a different question. Why did you hide?"

Dumbledore waved his hand, frowning, and interrupted Peter Pettigrew, his tone becoming stern.

Suddenly interrupted, Peter Pettigrew seemed to be in a daze for a moment, but then he took a deep breath and continued to answer Dumbledore's question in that wooden, flat tone.

"Because the Dark Lord went to the Potters' house according to my information… I originally planned to leave the Order of the Phoenix after that and publicly announce my support for the Dark Lord. But, I never expected that the Dark Lord would be defeated there by the boy Potter. Countless Death Eaters in the know were looking for me, wanting to torture me, to take revenge on me, because they thought I had betrayed the Dark Lord…"

"Your information?! Potter? James Potter?!" Cornelius Fudge stood up in shock, looking incredulously at Peter Pettigrew not far away. "But that wasn't Black…"

But this time, Peter Pettigrew's voice was not interrupted. He trembled all over and continued.

"The most terrible thing was Sirius Black! Because only Black knew that I was James' Secret-Keeper. If the Dark Lord found James, then I must be the traitor. I knew that after learning of James and Lily's death, he would come looking for me, he would do anything to catch me, to kill me! Fortunately…"

"That's right, at any cost, I will kill you!"

At that moment, an angry roar suddenly rang out from the edge of the Quidditch field.

Even the voice of Peter Pettigrew, who was under the influence of magic, was almost drowned out by this terrible roar. Everyone who was concentrating on listening to Peter Pettigrew's confession was startled and instinctively looked in the direction of the roar.

They saw a disheveled man, so thin that he was almost skin and bones, break through the wooden fence and rush out of the player tunnel on the edge of the Quidditch field. His tattered robes billowed, as if he were a large dog pouncing on its prey.

And close behind him was a Ministry of Magic Auror, grimacing and rubbing his wrist.

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Chapter 2! Mom, yeah!!!