Chapter 444 Day of Judgment

Chapter 444 Day of Judgment
The hall of the Ministry of Magic was as busy and orderly as ever.

The huge black marble walls soared to the top, and the walls were as smooth as mirrors, reflecting the figures of the wizards. The peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with glittering golden symbols, which kept moving and changing, like a huge bulletin board in the sky.

In the middle of the hall was a fountain. In the middle of a circular pool stood a group of larger-than-life gold statues. The tallest of them was a noble wizard, holding his wand high, pointing to the sky. Surrounding him were a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The centaur, goblin, and house-elf all looked up at the two wizards in admiration. Streams of sparkling water gushed from the tip of the wizard's wand, from the centaur's arrow, from the tip of the goblin's hat, and from the house-elf's ears.

Wizards were walking through the lobby in groups of two or three, with the lifeless expressions typical of the morning on their faces. Some were talking in low voices, while others were walking hurriedly and at great speed towards a row of golden doors at the other end of the hall.

On one side of the hall, several rows of golden fireplaces flickered with the light of Floo powder, constantly swallowing up wizards and witches in and out of the Ministry of Magic. On the other side, there was a long reception desk, where the staff of the Ministry of Magic were busy handling various affairs. Occasionally, someone came forward to consult, and those uniformed Ministry of Magic staff responded coldly.

When Schelling stepped into the hall of the Ministry of Magic, busy wizards were still shuttling back and forth. Occasionally, some of them looked at his badge with a bit of surprise, but no one dared to approach him directly. Although he was a celebrity in the British wizarding world, his appearance did not cause any commotion. Schelling had expected this, so he just smiled slightly and walked towards the elevator at a leisurely pace.

He caught a glimpse of a red telephone booth in the corner from a distance. When the door of the booth opened, two figures, one tall and one short, stumbled out. Both were acquaintances of Shalling - Remus Lupin and Harry Potter.

Seeing their predicament, Xie Ling couldn't help but laugh. He had read quite a lot of fan fiction in his previous life. He didn't know why, but many of the protagonists had to enter the Ministry of Magic through a telephone booth. It seemed that among all the time travelers, he was doing quite well.

Mr. Weasley did not come, but was replaced by Lupin. It seemed that after the career crisis, the former no longer dared to show up at the Ministry of Magic in public, and Nymphadora's relationship with the Order of the Phoenix was still not suitable to be exposed, so Lupin was the only candidate left in the Order of the Phoenix who could take over.

Sherin watched from afar as they separated themselves from the crowd of Ministry staff and headed for the security check desk under a sign that read "Security Check". A wizard in a peacock blue robe and with an unshaven beard used a long golden rod to sweep Harry's chest and back from top to bottom, and then threw Harry's wand into a strange-looking brass machine that looked like a single-pan balance. As a narrow strip of parchment spit out from the bottom of the machine, the process of registering the wand ended.

As the youth representative of the Wizengamot, he did not need to register his wand like Harry Potter in the original book. He walked straight to the metal gate without waiting for Harry and the others to finish. There were at least twenty elevators blocked by exquisite golden fence doors.

The people around him consciously made way for him when they saw his dark purple robe and the gray "W" silver badge. When they saw Schelling's still young face, many people recognized him - Schelling was really too young, and with his dark purple robe that symbolized the members of the Wizengamot, he stood out very much.

As a result, no one dared to rush up to Xie Ling, but instead they gathered in small groups and whispered to each other.

"He's the youngest member of the Wizengamot?"

"I heard that he is a magical genius. Even the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic have a new regard for him..."

"Not only that, he is also a business genius. I heard that he recently invested in the Tattershead Tornado Team. Although he is young, he has already made a fortune..."

Schelling turned a deaf ear to these discussions and just waited patiently for the elevator to arrive.

With a series of ding-dong and clacking sounds, the golden gate slid open gently. Xie Ling stood there, politely waiting for the people inside to come out first.

Several wizards who had just walked out of the elevator paused for a moment and cast their gazes at him unconsciously.

Xie Ling paid no attention to the looks from the people around him. He walked leisurely into the elevator, leaned against the inside of the elevator, and waited leisurely for the arrival of his destination.

When the metal fence closed and the elevator began to slowly sink, Xie Ling found that the wizards who were riding with him seemed to have become quiet at the same time. An old wizard standing nearby secretly looked at him several times, as if he wanted to talk to him, but in the end he just coughed dryly and lowered his head to fiddle with his briefcase.

A young female clerk stood in the corner, holding a stack of parchment in her hand, but she was obviously distracted - her eyes kept inadvertently glancing in the direction of Xie Ling, with a faint blush on her cheeks. She seemed to be hesitating in her heart whether to say hello, but Xie Ling did not even give her a side glance, just quietly looking at the elevator gate.

The lobby was located on the eighth floor of the Ministry of Magic, and Sherin's destination was the ninth floor, which meant that he only had to take the elevator down one floor to reach his destination. As the gears turned, the elevator began to slowly descend, and the chain outside kept clicking.

"Department of Mysteries." After a while, a cold woman's voice sounded, and the golden fence door slid open again, revealing a dim and deep corridor. There were no windows on the walls on both sides. At the end of the corridor, there was a simple black door. A gap next to the black door quietly led to a deeper underground place.

Xie Ling stepped on the cold rock stairs, making clattering sounds, and muttered, "A place that can't even be reached by the elevator, it's really..."

When he reached the bottom of the stairs he had to walk down a gloomy corridor exactly like the one that led to Snape's dungeon - rough stone walls with a torch stuck in a bracket, and all the doors he passed were heavy wooden doors with iron bolts and keyholes.

Sherin stood quietly in front of a gloomy black door with a large iron lock. He knew that this was the Tenth Courtroom that had not been used for many years. He had visited it once when he was selected as the Wizengamot alternate.

He casually adjusted the hem of his clothes, his fingertips sliding over the delicate embroidery, and then raised his hand to brush the collar, slightly adjusting it to ensure that everything was appropriate and perfect. His posture was calm, and there was an unquestionable calmness and confidence between his eyebrows. Then he stretched out his hand and pushed the door open, as if he was about to face not a trial that might determine Harry Potter's future, but just an ordinary routine meeting.

When Xie Ling stepped into the Tenth Courtroom, he felt the heavy and majestic atmosphere. Under the high ceiling, the black stone walls were gloomy and cold. The torches around burned quietly in the windless environment, casting long shadows on the reliefs on the wall. The judges were arranged in a circle, and a row of dark purple figures sat in them. The silver "W" on their chests was reflected by the jumping firelight, revealing a certain coldness that symbolized judicial authority.

There were still fifteen minutes before the trial began. Xie Ling arrived relatively early. There were still many empty seats in the courtroom, but many people had already taken their seats. Xie Ling's arrival attracted a lot of attention. Some of them cast friendly glances at him, and some greeted him with a smile.

Sherin smiled and nodded, walking towards his seat at an unhurried pace. In order to avoid arousing suspicion, he avoided his allies or subordinates in the Wizengamot and chose to sit in the last row near the corner. The seat next to him was empty, and no one should sit there.

He looked around leisurely. There were many wizards walking in from the gate while talking. They were obviously friends he hadn't seen for a long time. This trial also brought together many Wizengamot members.

In the center of the courtroom, there was a chilling interrogation chair standing alone. It was made of black stone, with a high backrest and heavy silver shackles inlaid on the armrests, emitting suppressed magical fluctuations.

These shackles are not ordinary chains, but are cast with powerful binding magic. Once the prisoner is put on this chair, they will automatically bind the prisoner's wrists and ankles, and seal the prisoner's magic power, making it impossible for him to break free.

Those who have sat on this chair are all the most notorious criminals in the wizarding world - there have been Death Eaters sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban, and there have also been dark wizards who have been tried here and deprived of their magical rights.

In front of the interrogation chair, on the first row of high benches, three "interrogators" sat in the middle. They were the leaders of this trial and the most influential people in the entire Wizengamot.

Sitting in the middle was the somewhat obese Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. His face was gloomy, his brows were furrowed, his hands were crossed on the table, his fingers kept tapping on the wooden armrests, revealing a hint of impatience and anxiety.

On his right was a pale witch with a broad, flabby face and a big mouth that drooped down, making it impossible to see her neck. Although it was the first time Sherin had seen her, he had already guessed her identity - Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic.

She was also wearing the dark purple robe of the Wizengamot, but unlike the others who were dressed neatly, the cuffs of her robe were decorated with a few small pink laces. She had an indescribably sweet smile on her face, but that smile did not have the slightest warmth, but instead made people feel eerie.

Umbridge deliberately leaned back, sinking her body into the bench as much as possible, so that her face was covered by shadows, leaving only her slightly narrowed eyes flashing cold light in the darkness. Her fingers tapped lightly on the table, and occasionally she spoke to Fudge in a low voice, her voice as thin as a gossamer, like a poisonous toad lurking in the dark.

On Fudge's left was Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Law Enforcement. Unlike Umbridge, her dark purple robe had no decorations, her cuffs were neat, and her lapels were buttoned, showing her usual rigor and decisiveness. Her short hair was neatly attached to both sides of her cheeks. She wore a pair of monocles, her sharp eyes were fixed on the case files, her brows were slightly furrowed, and she was obviously concentrating on thinking. She didn't even notice when Shaylin came in.

Amelia had a thick stack of files neatly placed next to her. The corners of the parchment had been slightly curled up, indicating that she had carefully read all the evidence before the trial.