Harry Potter and the Stitch in Time

A Stitch in Time - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Harry was surprised just how quickly Crouch was brought to trial. Only a week after his confession, Harry and Charlus were both sent notices to appear for the trial: Harry as an injured party (having his name entered into the tournament) and Charlus as both Harry's guardian and as a member of the Wizengamot. The trial was set for the following weekend. When Harry asked his grandfather about why everything was moving so quickly, he got a lesson on politics for him, Hermione, and a poor Ron who hadn't run away fast enough. At the end, Harry was asked by his grandfather to sum up.

"There are two main factors in the trial being scheduled so soon. One is because the British wizarding world is so small compared to muggle Britain. The smaller size means that the systems in place just aren't as complex, so it takes things a lot less time to move through the system. The other main factor is politics. This is an international incident because of what happened to Krum, so because of that the Ministry is most likely under pressure from at least the Bulgarian Ministry to get things done to a reasonable conclusion.

"However there are probably other groups that add pressure as well, such as the international Quidditch League who have the influence to shape public opinion of Britain's magical society. This means Minister Fudge is likely putting pressure on everyone he can to get this matter pushed to the front of the queue." Harry summarised the past thirty minutes of lectures from his grandfather.

"Excellent Harry! Now, we will need to go out and get you some formal robes that would be appropriate to wear in front of the Wizengamot. Hermione you as well, I intend to take you along too. It will be a good opportunity to teach you the intricacies of the wizarding legal system. Of course I will need to get permission from your parents first, but that shouldn't be a problem," Charlus told them. He then turned to Ron and asked, "Ronald, do you want to come as well? I can always ask your parents if they will give permission."

"No thanks. I have had plenty of lectures from dad about how trials work, after all his job in the Ministry is also part of the D.M.L.E., so trials are part of his job. I would just be bored out of my mind," Ron explained.

Hermione was excited for the opportunity to learn by actually seeing the system. It was one thing to learn this stuff from books, but that was more about laws and rights; seeing it in practice would provide a lot of context the books left out.

This weekend was the second round of the chess tournament and Ron was playing again, this time up against a Bulgarian. Harry and Hermione had agreed to come and watch, though chess really wasn't a sport for spectators. No matter that one of the seventh years had enchanted the boards with a Protean Charm so that they displayed the current layout of the pieces on a poster, making the game much easier to follow for the people watching. It was still a game where one person told their piece what to do, and then their opponent did the same. Sure, there was a little entertainment when a piece was taken and you got to see the little enchanted figures fight, but it still got repetitive quickly.

Hermione had actually brought a couple of books with her and had ended up lending one to Harry, a well-thumbed copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Hermione had obviously read it more than a few times before, and Harry was surprisingly hooked after the first few sentences. They looked up to see that Ron of course won his match against the Durmstrang competitor, who actually looked rather impressed with Ron's skill at the game.

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On Monday morning Harry received a letter from Krum thanking him for the correspondence Harry had sent offering his sympathies. The letter was very formal and thanked Harry for not only the letter but for his recommendation that, if Krum wanted to get a legal representative to help sort out the mess he was in, Harry strongly recommended the services of Gripsack–Anne Twist. From Krum's letter Harry guessed he wasn't in the mood to be friendly. It didn't help Harry feel any better about the whole situation, but there really was nothing he had done to be blamed for or could do to improve the situation.