The spacious Quidditch pitch was deathly silent.

For a moment, only Peter Pettigrew's low, dull voice remained in the entire field.

"It was originally such a perfect plan. Overnight, I presented the great Dark Lord with his two most troublesome wizards, James Potter and Lily Potter, and that dangerous child mentioned in the prophecy... After the Dark Lord eliminated the Potters, Sirius Black, realizing something was wrong, would definitely be the first to arrive at the scene, or maybe that fool Hagrid... In any case, the Order of the Phoenix would be in chaos... But, but..."

"Shut up! You bastard! You despicable, filthy traitor!"

Hagrid Rubeus suddenly roared, his half-giant face covered with anger, and he furiously raised his fist and slammed it hard at the small wizard bound to the judgment chair, the huge fist bringing with it a whistling sound.

On the other side, Sirius Black let out a terrifying growl from his throat, as if he had lost his mind, and lunged fiercely in Peter Pettigrew's direction, the man's face seeming to grow black fur.

Behind him, Snape also raised his wand sharply, aiming it forcefully at Peter Pettigrew.

"Enough, everyone, calm down!"

"【?〈thurisaz〉】【?〈kenaz〉】!" (Click to view annotations)

Before anyone could react, two old and powerful voices suddenly rang out at the same time, and a fierce ring of fire suddenly erupted centered on Peter Pettigrew, instantly blasting the three wizards who were lunging towards Peter Pettigrew away.

Immediately afterward, the smooth ground of the Quidditch pitch suddenly twisted and moved, the earth neatly sinking down, burying the three wizards up to their waists. Three pairs of rough arms made of stone and soil held down the struggling trio.

Two old wizards raised their wands high, standing side by side in front of Peter Pettigrew's judgment chair, like an insurmountable wall, exuding vast magic that made people feel despair, and calmly looking at the surrounding wizards.

"Continue the questioning, Minister..."

Albus Dumbledore looked up at Cornelius Fudge, who had a panicked expression in the distance, and smiled slightly.

"You can ask whatever you are interested in, no need to rush..."

"Uh—yes—uh, good—I—thank you—you two, maintain order—"

Cornelius Fudge glanced at the three wizards who had been subdued in less than a second, and the circle of wizards around him who had been pushed away by the fierce fire wave. He swallowed hard, his previous carefree expression instantly disappearing.

It looked like a proud balloon had suddenly had the air let out of it.

Apart from Dumbledore, who disappeared from his side in an instant, the power displayed by the old wizard suspected of being "Paracelsus" was equally shocking. At least he still didn't know what spell the other party had used—when the ring of fire ignited, even from a distance of seven or eight meters, he felt a sudden palpitation.

Not only Snape and others, but even many of the media reporters standing on the outer periphery were also staggering and huddled together in a mess, looking particularly embarrassed, because they had been slightly affected by the afterglow of the fire wave.

"It's okay, I just hope the Minister can understand that Hagrid and the others were a little too excited for a moment."

Dumbledore smiled kindly, and as he spoke, the old wizard's gaze lingered on the parchment in Cornelius Fudge's hand, and he said meaningfully, "In any case, the main business is still important, please continue the questioning..."

"Ahem!" Otto Apocalypse raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat softly.

"Or, should I temporarily ask about what happened afterwards?"

Dumbledore, who was about to leave, suddenly changed the subject, paused his footsteps, and instead of continuing to walk towards the main judgment platform where the Wizengamot members were, he stood in front of Peter Pettigrew with Professor Otto Apocalypse.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, looked at the wizard in front of him with a hint of disgust, and said softly.

"Alright, we've heard enough about the tragedy of that night... Peter Pettigrew, now tell us what happened when you met Black again, until you turned into a rat and ran away."

As if he hadn't seen everything that was happening outside, Peter Pettigrew continued to answer in a flat tone.

"The Dark Lord failed. I knew that Sirius Black would go mad looking for revenge after he came to his senses, but the Dark Lord, who could have provided me with shelter, was gone. I had to find a way to survive on my own—simply hiding and running away was useless, because Dumbledore was still there, so I had to die once."

"To make sure Black could find me as soon as possible, I didn't hide my tracks. Instead, I swaggered through the streets, pretending to be looking for someone. As expected, Black blocked me at the first opportunity. However, before he could speak, I preemptively scolded him loudly for betraying Lily and James, and then used the wand hidden behind my back to blast open the street, killing all the Muggles within a twenty-foot radius—and then I crawled into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Peter, you despicable, shameless bastard, how long have you been pretending?"

Sirius Black gasped heavily, letting out a low roar.

As his unsuccessful Animagus transformation broke, the spell Snape had cast on him was broken, and Black glared fiercely at Peter Pettigrew, as if he was meeting the man for the first time.

"It's not your fault, Black," Dumbledore shook his head, saying calmly, "As you can see, Peter Pettigrew successfully deceived everyone. He is much smarter than we thought, and much more dangerous. In fact, in addition to betraying the Order of the Phoenix, he later committed even more unimaginable evil acts."

"Other...evil acts?"

Sirius Black frowned and asked subconsciously.

However, Dumbledore did not immediately answer his question. Instead, he first straightened his body, scanned the surrounding stands, and a gleam flashed in his blue eyes. He nodded calmly.

"That's right, this is also the second part of our trial today—mortgaging Hogwarts."

"Mo-mortgaging Hogwarts?! What's that..." A look of surprise appeared on Black's face.

However, Dumbledore was no longer standing in front of the judgment chair. The old man turned his head and exchanged a look with "Otto Apocalypse", then turned and walked towards the silent main judgment platform behind him.

As he passed the wizards trapped on the ground, Dumbledore waved his hand casually.

"By the way, Hagrid, Severus, you two take Black to rest aside for now. Given the previous situation, the protection here will temporarily be handed over to Professor Apocalypse and the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic."

Accompanied by Albus Dumbledore's voice, the stone and earth arms that had bound the three people instantly melted and re-entered the ground. In less than a few seconds, the Quidditch pitch was restored to its previous smooth and clean appearance.

This...this is...

Cornelius Fudge's pupils widened a few points, and he was even more shocked in his heart.

Compared to the previous chaos, this time people finally saw Dumbledore's casting process with their own eyes. Even though everyone had focused their attention on Dumbledore, they still didn't see how he completed these spells.

No incantations, no gestures, not even using a wand, but simply waving his hand casually, he completed so many high-difficulty transformation spells that changed the terrain in small areas...

Is this Albus Dumbledore, the true strength of the legendary wizard at the very top of the entire magical world?!

On the other side, in a place that no one noticed, Otto Apocalypse sighed helplessly and slowly stopped the movement of his wand hidden in the wide magic robe—Gellert's damn desire to show off, never changes.

If it were him, he really couldn't make such a natural feint.

……

"Profess-Professor Dumbledore, this is your parchment."

As Dumbledore returned to the main judgment platform, Cornelius Fudge reflexively dodged back a little, then immediately reacted and quickly handed the parchment in his hand to the old man, to cover up his momentary gaffe.

"Thank you, Minister."

Dumbledore smiled and took the parchment, saying with humility and courtesy, "I hope you won't mind my unauthorized casting behavior just now, and the matter of conducting the final questioning in your place. Now, would you please adjudicate the final verdict?"

"Professor, please call me Cornelius as usual, no need to be so formal."

Cornelius Fudge waved his hand, his voice changed slightly.

After a slight pause, Cornelius Fudge glanced at Sirius Black in the distance, and Peter Pettigrew, who was still sitting blankly on the judgment chair. He took a deep breath and said in a loud voice.

"As the Minister of Magic, and the questioner of this public trial, I announce the withdrawal of all charges against Sirius Black from ten years ago, and at the same time, all original charges will be changed to Peter Pettigrew, and Peter Pettigrew's Order of Merlin, First Class, will be revoked... Now I ask the jury to vote. Those who agree with this verdict, please raise your hands!"

In the next moment, the Wizengamot members sitting behind Cornelius Fudge and others all raised their hands in unison.

The wizards in the surrounding stands burst into warm applause and cheers. People cursed Peter Pettigrew loudly, while praising Sirius Black who was leaving the center of the field, to vent their accumulated emotions.

"Very good, very good... Unanimously approved."

Dumbledore nodded happily, then his voice became solemn, and a dangerous smile flashed across the corner of his mouth.

"Then, let's begin the trial of the second case."

"Peter Pettigrew, regarding your actions of infiltrating Hogwarts Castle, stealing the Slytherin family's land deed, going to Gringotts Wizarding Bank for illegal mortgages, attempting to destroy the friendship between human wizards and goblins, and disrupting the peace of Hogwarts, do you admit it? Please tell the court truthfully, what your motives and the entire criminal process were!"

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Chapter Two! Oh my!!!