Mysterious Journey

Chapter 1301: The Day of Public Trial

Chapter 1301: Day of Public Trial

Hogwarts, day of public trial.

Having experienced the last public trial, the young wizards were no strangers to the process.

In fact, for most underage wizards, watching the adults' public trials in advance was clearly more interesting than Quidditch matches.

After all, only two teams could participate in a Quidditch match at the same time.

For instance, when Gryffindor and Slytherin were facing off, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were somewhat unable to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the field.

Watching a public trial didn't have this problem.

Even though, theoretically, apart from the members of the Wizengamot court, none of the audience present had the right to vote, all the spectators would feel that they were an important part of the trial—at least as witnesses.

On the other hand, compared to the last public trial of Peter Pettigrew, the number of magical people who came to watch the trial had increased several times over.

This morning, even before the students woke up from their dreams, reporters from the major mainstream newspapers, radio stations, and magazines of the wizarding world had already arrived at their designated positions on the Quidditch pitch, beginning to adjust their equipment. Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Magic, such as Cornelius Fudge and Amelia Bones, appeared in the Great Hall halfway through breakfast, blending into the meal in an incredibly natural manner.

As time passed, an emotion of excitement, like a tangible cloud, permeated around the Quidditch field.

Hundreds upon thousands of wizards Apparated into Hogsmeade Village and then walked to the Quidditch pitch. Aileen originally planned to provide paid magical carriage transportation for the visitors, but under Professor McGonagall's strong opposition, she finally abandoned the idea.

It wasn't that magical carriages couldn't be provided to people from outside the school, but mainly because Aileen's idea was for magical carriages that could carry both passengers and cargo.

After all…

"What are these people doing here?" Cornelius Fudge said with a frown.

The number of people present was much larger than he had imagined, and they looked much stranger than he had anticipated.

Every few steps, there were vendors pushing carts and holding trays, peddling strange things.

Some were glowing magical badges, some were simply cooked dishes, snacks, and treats, and there were even magical hats of various colors.

Besides these, there were telescopes, small statues, various simple toys, and magical bubbles… This almost made the Minister think he had come to the wrong place, that this wasn't the site of a public trial, but a joyful and relaxed festival—like—the site of the Quidditch World Cup.

"Do they really know that this is a public trial and not a noisy, casual fairground?"

"Well, I think they should know, Minister," Amelia Bones said softly, glancing strangely at the nearest vendor.

In the vendor's cart, there was a pile of glowing magical badges.

In the brief interval while they were talking, the vendor was introducing his merchandise to other wizards, which seemed to be a controllable magical button:

Press it once, it would turn green, displaying "Innocent." Press it again, and it would turn red, with the words "Guilty" appearing on it.

"This is outrageous! What are the students doing? What are they up to?"

Cornelius said angrily, turning his head to look in another direction.

More than a dozen Gryffindor students were riding flying brooms, swooshing past them.

Each of them held their wands tightly in their hands, looking as if they were about to go to war.

They looked down seriously, scrutinizing the people constantly entering the Quidditch pitch.

"Oh, they are patrolling their potato fields. The area next to the Quidditch pitch is Gryffindor's own potato field. Last time, during Peter Pettigrew's trial, a few adult wizards trampled the potatoes in the field, and they almost got into a fight, don't you remember?"

This time, it was Professor McGonagall who took the initiative to answer Cornelius Fudge's question.

She looked up at the students nervously patrolling in the sky and sighed helplessly.

Compared to the students of the other houses, the Gryffindor students were clearly a bit clumsy.

For example…

"What are those students over there doing? What are they selling?"

"Oh, Ravenclaw, their orchard had a bumper harvest this year, and they plan to take this opportunity to deplete some of their stock."

Professor McGonagall shrugged and explained without hesitation, "As for Slytherin and Hufflepuff, they have cooked some special dishes that are only available in their own houses and plan to take this opportunity to earn some pocket money for themselves. I think that's a good thing."

"…I don't think so. A trial is a serious and solemn matter, and now…"

Cornelius Fudge frowned heavily, seeming as if he wanted to give a good scolding.

However, he stopped halfway through his words.

Because a group of reporters suddenly appeared in front of them, Cornelius Fudge skillfully smiled at the camera lenses.

"Minister, what is your opinion on this public trial? Will this become a new form of trial for the Ministry of Magic in the future?"

"If necessary, we will consider it. Next question."

"Compared to the last public trial, the number of participants this time is significantly higher. What do you think this represents?"

"This is a very good phenomenon, indicating that all sectors of society are paying more and more attention to the changes that are happening in our society."

"Minister, I have a question too…"

As Cornelius Fudge and his entourage appeared at the entrance of the Quidditch pitch.

The reporters waiting around rushed up like sharks smelling blood.

However, Cornelius and his group didn't panic, because they had already seen most of the questions before they were asked, and the answers they were giving at this time were all prepared in advance before they came here. Everything was just a well-arranged performance.

As for those questions that were not in the plan, they could completely pretend not to hear them.

After all, there were simply too many reporters present…

…………

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Aileen was in charge of receiving and guiding the students' parents.

More precisely, a select group of important students' parents.

"Wait, is this the Quidditch pitch?" Lucius Malfoy looked up, staring in shock at the huge stadium in front of him.

From the outline, it did look somewhat similar to the Quidditch pitch in his memory, but…

"This should be a simple magical expansion, temporary—"

Mr. Weasley explained triumphantly, seeing the astonished expression on Malfoy's face.

"Malfoy, you really should learn about the latest magical knowledge. We use this kind of technology frequently now."

"The field can hold up to more than 100,000 people now—"

Aileen explained casually; she didn't want these two old enemies to start arguing again at the entrance of the Quidditch pitch.

"The field has been specially magically reinforced, and there is also magical protection from the castle's power. The space inside is actually about five times larger than it appears from the outside—future Quidditch matches are also planned to use this expanded field because future brooms fly too fast."

"Fly too fast?" Mr. Granger asked curiously, looking around.

"I've heard that some models can break the sound barrier—"

Before Aileen could speak, Benitez answered with concern while flipping through the pamphlet in his hand.

"Honestly, I don't think it's a good thing. Supersonic flight is a bit too much for a school sport…"

"Those are mostly rumors… The flying brooms at school are still normal."

Hermione glared at Aileen imperceptibly. Currently, the only known supersonic flying brooms were Aileen's Valkyrie Armors.

As for the conceptual models of the Sugoi flying brooms, although the theoretical values could be achieved, due to various reasons, they haven't been able to solve the problems of "human-machine interaction" and safety performance—after all, supersonic flight isn't just about going in a straight line; there are many unexpected situations in the air.

As they spoke, the group quickly arrived at the top-level box that Aileen had reserved for them.

Three house-elves stood at attention in various parts of the room, one standing at the door, one in the middle, and one by the stands.

The air in front of them had also undergone special magical treatment, forming a film similar to a transparent air barrier.

The image in the field below could be zoomed in, enlarged, and rotated at any time, and this film also had a certain degree of magical protection:

This was a new function that appeared after the "Magical Guidance" of Hogwarts Castle, which Aileen called the Hogwarts Shield.

"But speaking of which… Oh, thank you—"

Mr. Granger took a glass of iced lemonade from the house-elf's tray, looking a little confused.

"Does Hogwarts, well, I mean, does the magical world have this traditional culture of 'public trials'?"

"I remember there was one last time too—it seems like your government and school often organize students to watch trials or something…"

"Actually, this kind of situation is quite rare. Last time, it was because Peter Pettigrew happened to be arrested in the castle."

Aileen explained seriously, glancing at Mr. Abbott, who was also looking over curiously, and nodding politely.

"I heard the professors say that Peter Pettigrew was a very dangerous and cunning dark wizard. The Ministry of Magic and Professor Dumbledore were worried that he would escape during the transport or be silenced by others, so they made an exception and held the trial in Hogwarts Castle… By the way, they also commemorated the past heroes."

"And this time—"

"This time, well, it seems to be the result of discussions between the Ministry of Magic and Professor Lockhart."

Aileen tried to show a hint of confusion, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

"Professor Lockhart was previously our Grammar teacher; perhaps, there was some consideration in that aspect as well?"

"Because Gilderoy Lockhart wants to run for Minister of Magic—I bet Fudge would like to swallow him whole."

Just then, Lucius Malfoy said quietly, glancing at Mr. Granger.

If it were in the past, he wouldn't even stay in the same room with Muggles, let alone look at them or answer any questions.

However, times were different—Malfoy knew very well how to serve a Demon King.

Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to be close to Muggles, but at least he wouldn't deliberately provoke that young lady at this time.

"Fudge?"

"Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister of Magic. But he's in the middle of an impeachment—"

Lucius Malfoy explained casually, looking thoughtfully at the row of gold and red high-backed chairs below.

"Just watch. The Wizengamot is well prepared. If nothing unexpected happens, they plan to keep Lockhart locked up for life."

"Life imprisonment?! What crime did Professor Lockhart commit?"

Mr. Granger asked curiously, frowning and looking at the empty center of the field with suspicion.

There, a table looked a little uncomfortable, surrounded by fences.

This reminded him of the witness stand he had heard about in court from some of his customers.

"Did he kill someone? Or… rape?!"

"Oh, it's probably a million times more serious than that—"

Lucius shook his head, his gaze sweeping over Mr. Granger's exquisitely tailored wool coat, and said softly with a hint of amusement.

"Lockhart tried to make magic known to Muggles and break the International Statute of Secrecy. Half a century ago, this would have been a capital crime punishable by immediate execution!"

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Random drop: Pigeon meat x1…