Chapter 25.4- Doom Days

“Noted. Now the Petitioner shall address this august body first.” Dumbledore said, waving a hand in my direction.

I stood, and audibly cleared my throat before turning so I was looking at the Representatives arrayed before me. They were the ones I needed to convince, not Dumbledore. The old man could do whatever the hell he wanted, but they were the ones that would vote.

“There is no greater privilege we enjoy as wizards and witches than liberty. We invented brooms and flying carpets to thread the skies, we invented ships that sail at the speed of sound to sail the seas, we invented portkeys, apparation, a million other forms of magical transportation because as a people, we value our freedom above all else. Now imagine if that freedom was taken away from you unjustly. That is exactly what the British Ministry of Magic did to Sirius Orion Black, Heir to House Black. He was arrested and placed in Azkaban, a prison so bad that the German Chancellor himself was quoted referencing it as an ‘abomination’, while Italy’s President referred to it as ‘shockingly inhumane’. He was placed in the care of dementors with no care given regarding whether he was innocent or not.” I took a breath before continuing.

 “No trial. No due process. Just being locked up and having the key thrown away. If we declare here that the British Ministry has the right to do such to him, what stops any other government from doing the same to her people? They did not stop at unjustly detaining Mr. Black, but when he escaped as was his right, they came to this very body and lied to secure an international warrant for his arrest. I have here the transcript of Warlock Mckinnon’s address of this body where he described Mr. Black as an escaped convict. Convict implies he was found guilty. He never received a trial of any sort, and so could never have been convicted. The defence is going to stand up and tell you all sorts of things. They may say his crimes were so bad that he could not be tried, but that did not stop them from trying Bellatrix Lestrange who massacred her way through a village in France. That did not stop them from trying and pardoning Igor Karkaroff whose carelessness led to the death of several Durmstrang students even as the British Ministry supported his ascension as Durmstrang Headmaster. If they had done their duty, he would have been behind bars not getting your children killed” I said, making sure to meet Mckinnon’s eyes as I said those words. Several nations had students in Durmstrang. While Hogwarts was seen as a British school, and Beauxbatons, a French one, Durmstrang was seen as a truly European institution.

Karkaroff had warrants out for his arrest in several European countries already, and no one was holding Magical Britain in very high regard right now. I hoped to take advantage of that fact.

“A ministry that fails to do its duty should not be defended. They failed you, the International Community, they failed your children, and they failed Sirius Black. Sadly, only one of those failings is in the power of this body to address. Please see to it that justice is served today, I beg you. Show the British Ministry that their days of laziness and incompetence are at an end” At the end, I had raised my voice so loudly that I was nearly shouting as I pointed right at where Fudge and his group were sitting.

“Thank you” I said, as I turned to take my own seat. I tried not to react as the representatives began to clap. I knew they weren’t doing it for me— Britain was extremely unpopular now, and they were showing their displeasure.