"Sirius Black, stop right there!"

Kingsley Shacklebolt flicked his wrist, marked with a row of teeth marks, drew his wand from his robes, and aimed at the figure running ahead. The expression on his face was one of helplessness—besides Sirius, there were also Wizengamot members, media reporters, and Ministry officials present. If a magical battle broke out here, an accidental injury could occur…

However, before Kingsley’s spell could be cast, "Dumbledore," who was interrogating Peter Pettigrew, turned his head, glanced at the man rushing straight towards Pettigrew, frowned, and with a flick of his wrist, casually waved his wand.

"Stop."

With the old wizard’s calm voice, a mass of stagnant air enveloped the running Sirius Black.

He felt as if he had suddenly sunk into an invisible quagmire. No matter how much force he used, how violently he struggled, he could not move half a step closer, like punching a sponge with all his might, to no effect.

"Sirius Black?"

"That mass murderer from ten years ago?"

"Good heavens, what’s happened to him!"

"This is Black? The last of the Black family?"

The reporters surrounding the Wizengamot court acted like sharks smelling blood, quickly turning to face Sirius Black. A series of flashes illuminated the man’s twisted face, making him look particularly eerie.

However, compared to the excitement of the news media, the Ministry officials clearly wore less pleased expressions.

Cornelius Fudge frowned, looked at the Auror behind him, and scolded with considerable dissatisfaction.

"Kingsley? What is the meaning of this!?"

"Minister, I didn’t expect him to suddenly bite..."

"It's alright, Cornelius, no need to get so worked up… this might be for the best."

Dumbledore glanced at Otto Apocalyps, who stood beside Peter Pettigrew, noticing the old man subtly shake his head. A trace of understanding flashed in his eyes, and he advised in a gentle tone.

"Besides, some of the upcoming questions require Sirius as a witness. Since he's already here, we might as well clarify the untold stories of the past!"

As he spoke, Dumbledore walked in front of Sirius Black, gazing into his deeply sunken eyes.

"Long time no see, Black," Dumbledore said softly.

"Professor, please, let me go… let me kill him. I was imprisoned for this murder..."

A twisted expression appeared on Sirius Black’s face. His gaze passed over Dumbledore, fixating on the small, listless wizard with sagging cheeks behind the old man. His breathing grew increasingly rapid.

"Indeed, ten years have passed. But you still owe us an explanation, Black."

In the old wizard’s eyes was a coldness and calmness that Sirius Black had never seen before—no disappointment, no anger, and no joy or guilt. That look was as if he were looking at a stranger.

This made Black, who had been entirely focused on Peter Pettigrew, flinch inwardly, his gaze instinctively averting.

"Look up at the sky, Harry—the Weasleys—so many in the wizarding world—have the right to know the truth! All you lost was ten years of freedom, while many others lost their lives, their families…"

Dumbledore spoke calmly, his tone devoid of any emotion, carrying a chilling composure.

"Moreover, there are some aspects that even I don’t quite understand. For example, why did the Fidelius Charm fail? What exactly happened between the two of you after James and Lily were killed? Peter Pettigrew is behind me, under the influence of Veritaserum. If you can calm down, you can stand before him and confront him, helping us understand what happened back then."

"If you can’t do that, and continue to be trapped in your own logic, naively believing that killing Peter Pettigrew will undo past mistakes, compensate for all the tragedies, or engage in any other behavior that disrupts the order of the trial..."

Dumbledore raised his arm, pointed to the direction Sirius had rushed from, and the Auror Kingsley standing behind him, and said without emotion, "Then you will be sent back to Azkaban now, and after the trial is over, you can learn about the beginning and end of this public trial that has nothing to do with you through newspapers or Wizengamot resolutions. Listen, there are more than just you who want Peter Pettigrew dead, but if he dies unclearly, the truth will be forever concealed."

"James, Lily, Longbottom, Prewett, Bones..."

With Dumbledore’s voice, Sirius seemed to calm down slightly. The man looked up at the names shining in the sky, and whispered in a choked voice, sounding like a whimpering dog.

After a long time, Sirius Black took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze from the sky, looked directly at Albus Dumbledore’s face with his sunken eyes, and nodded slowly, saying in a hoarse voice.

"I understand, Professor Dumbledore. I will help the court interrogate Peter Pettigrew."

"I'm sorry, Black, you may have misunderstood… you are not the judge or the accuser."

Dumbledore shook his head, casually waved his wand, dispelling the magic binding Black's body, stepped aside to clear the path ahead, and pointed to the direction where Peter Pettigrew was sitting. "You were brought out of Azkaban to provide some important evidence and event details, as… one of the defendants being questioned."

Saying this, Dumbledore cleared his throat, turned to face the Wizengamot court behind him.

"According to the Wizengamot Rights Charter, I request the court to allow Sirius Black to testify, assist in the interrogation of Peter Pettigrew's case, and also, based on the high degree of overlap between the two cases, merge the 'Sirius Black Explosion Case' from ten years ago with this case for a joint trial and verdict."

"Indeed, there is such a provision. I agree to merge the two cases for trial."

Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, nodded and replied calmly.

Dumbledore turned back, looking kindly at Sirius Black behind him.

"Then, Black, please take the stand and be tried."

"It seems that today’s trial isn't just prepared for Peter alone, huh? But that makes sense..."

After a moment of silence, Black suddenly grinned, and replied in a hoarse voice.

Then, the man turned around and quickly walked towards the position where Peter Pettigrew was bound in the witness chair, his moist, sunken eyes suddenly burning as if they were on fire on his face, radiating a terrifying light.

"Peter Pettigrew, my old friend, it's been so lo..."

"Stay back! Black, no need to get so close."

Before Sirius Black could get close to the witness chair, a cold voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and a pale face filled with hatred appeared before him, his eyes filled with disgust and hatred that almost solidified.

"Listen to me, Black."

Snape raised his wand, aimed it at Black’s brow, and said softly in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"If you give me a reason to act, I swear I will not hold back. In my eyes, you are no better than Peter Pettigrew. Now, face the Wizengamot court and answer the questions… loud and clear!"

At the same time, over at the main trial, Dumbledore's conversation with Fudge and others had just ended.

Cornelius Fudge adjusted his collar, walked to the center of the main trial platform, picked up a piece of parchment, examined it carefully, cleared his throat and read aloud.

"Sirius Black, ten years ago, you were sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban wizard prison for defecting to the Dark Lord and blowing up thirteen Muggles and Peter Pettigrew in the street—now, due to the emergence of Peter Pettigrew, an important witness from that time, there may be significant deviations in the true facts. The Wizengamot court has decided to retry that case from that year."

"I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, as the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time and the current Minister for Magic, am responsible for all the questioning of this case. Now, please answer the following questions truthfully."

"Sirius Black, from around 1980 to the present, have you ever joined the Dark Lord’s forces or provided information to the Dark Lord, and did you know that Peter Pettigrew had become a Death Eater?"

Cornelius Fudge asked, staring at Sirius Black from above the parchment.

"Me? A spy for Voldemort?!"

Sirius’s face twitched violently, as if someone had whipped him.

"I would rather fight Voldemort to the death than kiss that perverted madman’s robes. As for Peter, ha, if I had known he was a spy from the start, he would never have lived to this day."

"Peter Pettigrew, is what Sirius Black said true?"

Cornelius Fudge shuddered uncomfortably, his gaze shifting to Peter Pettigrew next to him.

"Yes," Peter Pettigrew replied.

"Peter Pettigrew, I hope you can tell us why the Dark Lord was looking for the Potter couple at the end of the First Wizarding War, how Dumbledore organized the resistance during this process, and what role you played and what you did?"

Cornelius Fudge scanned the contents of the parchment, suddenly raising his eyebrows, putting down the parchment in his hand, and continuing to look in the direction of Peter Pettigrew, taking a deep breath and asking quickly and loudly.

As the Minister for Magic, Fudge never considered himself to be Dumbledore’s puppet.

There wasn’t much to care about in the questioning of Sirius Black. At worst, it would just be a reversal of an old case. Anyway, he wasn't the Minister for Magic at the time, and this was the pre-arranged outcome of the performance.

Compared to that, Cornelius Fudge was more concerned about what exactly had happened back then, especially the content that Albus Dumbledore had vaguely mentioned over the years, as well as the "Dark Lord Resistance Army" rumored to be directly under Dumbledore’s command.

Albus Dumbledore and Hogwarts had always been a worry for Cornelius Fudge.

And this public trial was undoubtedly a perfect opportunity to inquire.

However, what Cornelius Fudge did not notice was that as he asked this question, the expression on Dumbledore’s face behind him did not show the offended anger that he had imagined. He had his hands clasped on his lap, watching the front with interest, as if he too was very interested in what Fudge was asking.

On the contrary, the "Otto Apocalyps" professor who was standing next to Peter Pettigrew, responsible for magical protection, had a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.

With Fudge’s voice, the old wizard glanced at the small wizard next to him with an unkind expression, and the right hand holding the wand moved slightly almost imperceptibly...

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Goo ah~ A bit of writer's block~