Chapter 232 Sentence

After seeing that the jury's mind was basically tilted towards Sirius,

Fudge immediately made the decision to end the questioning and enter the voting session.

This is also the way the Ministry of Magic affects judicial power.

The judicial power of the magical world in the underworld is indeed in the hands of the Wizengamot. Any case must be voted by the Wizengamot jury.

But this does not mean that the Ministry of Magic cannot exert influence on the case.

After all, the organizers of the court are the Ministry of Magic, and they can choose how to proceed with the trial.

This is like two people competing in running. You are chasing each other on the same track. When the race stops, whoever runs farther wins.

And one of them can decide when to stop playing,

He could have waited until he reached the front and then called stop immediately.

In this case, as long as your strength is not overwhelmed by your opponent, you can always find a way to win.

Now Fudge is playing this trick.

Hearing that there was going to be a vote, the Wizengamots in the stands began to whisper again, exchanging their views on the case.

In the dock, Blake looked at his toes nervously.

His heart seemed to swell greatly, beating wildly under his ribs.

He originally thought the interrogation would be longer, and he didn't know if he left a better impression - in fact, he didn't say a few words.

He should go into more detail about how he came to the decision to change the Secret Keeper, how he was tricked, how he was tricked in tracking Peter.

He looked up at Fudge twice and opened his mouth to speak, but his swollen heart made him unable to breathe. Both times he just took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at the shoes on his feet. .

The whispers died down.

Black wanted to look up at the judges, but found it much easier and easier to continue studying his shoelaces.

Fudge turned back and looked at the stands: "Now, please pay attention to the jury... Those who agree with Sirius' acquittal, please raise your hands..."

Blake raised his head and was pleasantly surprised to find that, except for Crouch, most of the jurors raised their hands. Some others hesitated and chose to follow the crowd after seeing so many people raising their hands.

Then, Fudge jumped to the next crime: "Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters; bombed a Muggle street, resulting in the death of a large number of Muggles; framed Sirius Black, resulting in his innocent being imprisoned in Azkaban for thirteen years... ..”

Levin noticed that Barty Crouch's face darkened even more horribly than Snape's usual expression when he heard "innocent being imprisoned."

Cornelius Fudge had finished listing Pettigrew's charges and said loudly, "Please raise your hands if you agree with the accusation."

Hands were raised one by one, and the number did not exceed 70%!

Blake's breathing became rapid and he wanted to count carefully, but before he could finish counting, Fudge said: "If you agree that the crime is not established, please raise your hands.

Crouch looked around and saw six or seven people looking at him. They were all his die-hard supporters and had never raised their hands before.

But in their faces, Crouch was in trouble.

His hand moved slightly, but in the end he did not raise it.

Seeing this, Fudge showed a victorious smile on his face, "Mr. Crouch, you (bcdf) didn't raise your hand twice? Do you have any other opinions on this case?"

Crouch seemed to have a big piece stuck in his throat and was speechless.

"Okay," Fudge's tone was obviously relaxed, and he didn't intend to further anger the other party, "Okay, then I can take it that you have no objection to their sentencing?"

Crouch took two deep breaths, and his voice became strange because he was trying his best to suppress his anger: "...of course."

"Great, we have reached an agreement on the outcome of the trial. Sirius will be acquitted and should receive reasonable compensation. We will discuss the specific amount of compensation after the meeting."

"And now we need to decide Peter Pettigrew should be punished."

After that, he looked at Gianna beside him: "As the deputy director of the Legal Enforcement Department, I need to ask for your opinion. According to the existing law, what crime should Peter Pettigrew be sentenced to?"

Jaina immediately realized that this was the final stage of this war.

The verdict against Peter Pettigrew actually represents the attitude towards Crouch.

It is enough to symbolically insult him, slap him in the face, and establish your own dignity.

We still have to completely defeat this opponent who has strong influence in the Legal Enforcement Department.

In one word of hers.

If she chooses the former, then Peter will receive a light sentence, such as life imprisonment or something.

If it is the latter, then Peter should be sentenced to death,

Only in this way can we prevent future overturning of the case to the greatest extent.

Jaina thought for a while, looked at Fudge again, and finally made a decision.

"He betrayed his friends, took refuge with the Dark Lord, and killed innocent Muggles for his own benefit, and framed his companions. All these cruel behaviors are really inhumane. Just being imprisoned in Azkaban is no longer enough to punish him." She shouted loudly. He declared, "I believe that Peter Pettigrew, for the crimes he has committed, should be sentenced to receive the most extreme form of Azkaban's "Dementor's Kiss!"

If Levin hadn't mentioned that Voldemort would return and the Death Eaters would reappear,

Jaina would not make such a decision,

At present, the first batch of graduates of the Erudite Society have not yet arrived, and her foundation in the entire Ministry of Magic is not yet solid.

If you rush to kill Crouch at this time, it is very likely that you will get huge backlash.

But combined with Levin's "prophecy", everything is different.

When the Death Eaters reappear and signs of Voldemort's return appear, the wizarding world will surely fall into chaos.

When the time comes, stability will naturally be paramount. Whoever can fight against the Dark Lord and provide stable order will be able to ascend to power.

In that case, doves like Fudge would be at a disadvantage,

Those hawks from the Law Enforcement Division will receive more support.

In this regard, Crouch and she occupy the same ecological niche.

She is also the one who advocated the fight against the Dark Lord, so why did others ignore Barty Crouch Sr., who had made outstanding achievements, and support her as a young man?

Therefore, the right way is to knock down Crouch before anything happens.

Even if he will be backlashed by this, when the crisis comes, the so-called backlash will naturally disappear.

On the other hand, Fudge's attitude obviously wanted to kill Crouch as well.

By making this decision on his own, he can achieve temporary cooperation with Fudge, which can slightly make up for the losses caused by the backlash.

Sure enough, Fudge was quite satisfied with Jaina's attitude.

He looked at the jury: "I personally agree with Deputy Director Jaina's judgment. Are there any different opinions on the Wizengamot? If you agree, please raise your hand."

The jury was silent,

The Dementor's kiss is really frightening.

But what Peter Pettigrew did was indeed too cruel.

"Would a punishment like the Dementor's Kiss be too much?" Professor Dumbledore suddenly said, "How about sentencing him to life imprisonment?"

Jaina glanced at Dumbledore,

The greatest white wizard in history must not be able to bear it anymore.

And he has always opposed cruel punishments such as the Dementor's Kiss.

But she did not directly reject Dumbledore's proposal, nor did she expect to interfere with his decision. Instead, she turned to the other members of the Wizengamot and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, think about the scene you just saw. Think about Sirius. encounter.

"What would have happened if instead of Levin Green capturing Peter Pettigrew and revealing these truths, Blake had been captured by the Dementors?"

As the deputy director of the Legal Enforcement Department, she had clearly opposed the emergence of dementors before.

This sentence is most suitable for her.

Everyone knows the answer to this question.

There is no doubt that once the dementors capture Black, what awaits him will definitely not be a trial like today, but a kiss from the dementors.

Fudge's face was a little livid. What he said just now was a bit of a slap in the face.

But it did convince a lot of people.

People in the jury began to raise their hands one after another, and more and more.

Mr. Crouch still did not raise his hand, but this time, everyone ignored his opinion.

"Then it's obvious," Fudge's face showed unprecedented determination and cruelty, "this punishment will be carried out immediately."

Suddenly a voice sounded.

It's Sirius Black!

"Blake, do you have any objection?" Jaina asked in surprise,

She never dreamed that it would be Blake who stood up to oppose him.

What did Levin do? Didn't he say that he had already taken care of Blake?

Pettigrew burst into tears and stared blankly at the man beside him. They were once good friends.

Hope shone in his eyes.

Black glanced at him with disgust, turned around, and said loudly: "I am willing to use all my compensation in exchange for a qualification."

Everyone looked at Blake curiously.

"I want to get the right to watch the execution up close in person! I want to watch him accept the kiss of the dementor with my own eyes!" Black said loudly, as if he was venting his grievances and resentment for thirteen years.

"Scare me, as long as it doesn't keep him alive." Jaina breathed a sigh of relief, and then looked at Fudge.

The Minister of Magic nodded without hesitation: "Of course, I think Mr. Black's request is reasonable and does not require compensation at all.

The people in the jury also nodded,

When it comes to things like Blake, let alone watching the execution, it's not too much to propose the execution in person. .