Longbottom was quivering in rage, staring back at Bones.
She then screamed, "He has my son! My son! I want him back!"
"As you seem to have lost control of your senses," said Bones. "I will call the vote. All those in favour of the motion... vote now."
Slowly wands started to rise. It took a long few seconds, but more than a clear half voted in the affirmative.
When it looked like no more wands would be raised, Bones snapped, "All those against the motion, vote now."
Far less than a quarter raised their wands.
Bones then snapped, "As the vote has fallen against you, Regent Longbottom, you are hereby stripped of the Chief Adjudicator's position of this matter. Lord Ogden, as you did just recently, would you do us the honour?"
Ogden stood and firmly stated, "I will."
As he started to move down to the Chief Adjudicator/Warlock seat, Longbottom stood there, unmoving, quivering in rage.
As Ogden moved to stand near her, he said, "Regent Longbottom, you stand relieved."
She gave an almost quiet cry of her rage and stormed off to sit in the Longbottom Seat. Unlike her normal behaviour, she almost dropped into it with a crash of her slight frame. Then sat there staring with hate at Harry.
He couldn't have cared less. Her claws would be stripped from her well before lunch.
'Make yourself comfortable, bitch,' he thought. 'The next hour or two will be the last time you ever sit in that Seat, if I have anything to do with it.'
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
With Ogden now installed as Chief Adjudicator, the trial commenced.
Bones was prosecuting as normal for a high profile case involving one of the Noble Houses and Harry was letting Ted deal with the finer points of law and objecting where necessary, as planned. He was after all a law-wizard, while Harry was not.
Sirius was even happily admitting to everything, even going so far as to talking about what enchantments he had placed on the motorcycle after he legally bought it, brand new, from a reputable Harley Davidson retailer just south of London.
"It's a 1981 Harley Davidson FXB 80 Low Rider Limited Sturgis Edition," Sirius almost excitedly said. "Sweeeet ride, it is! Had only six tenths of a mile on the odometer; and that was put on there during factory testing.
"Muggle avoidance, impact avoidance, muggle Notice-Me-Not in flight mode and even a temporary jet boost for those times you need to get out of an area with all due haste!
When Bones, confused, said, "Then, I do not understand. If you have admitted to breaching the law, why not just pay the fine and be done with it?"
Ted, not Sirius, responded, "That will be shown as part of the Defence's arguments, Madam Bones."
Completely confused with what she was hearing, as were all the Members, Bones soon rested her case stating, "Though he has pleaded not guilty, the defendant has admitted guilt in his own responses. Personally, I'm at a loss. The Ministry rests."
Ogden shook his head and said, "Mister Tonks and... Lord Potter. The Defence may begin its arguments."
Harry walked forward a few steps and laid his hand on Sirius's shoulder, where he sat in the accused's chair - the chains lazily draped over him.
"Thank you, Chief Adjudicator," said Harry. "I will begin by offering fair warning. You and the rest of the Wizengamot are about to be publicly embarrassed. You will be embarrassed because I, with the assistance of Mister Edward Tonks, am going to prove to you that this Statute, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Statute, under which my... client... has been charged is so ridiculously stupid as to beggar belief."
That earned him quite a few grumbles of annoyance.
"Through four examples, I will also be proving, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that the following are complicit in outrageously breaching that Statute themselves.
"They are: the legally defined body known as the Ministry of Magic, the legally defined body known as the Board of Directors of Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, the legally defined body known as the Board of Governors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, et al.
"Furthermore, I shall be proving that in two of the examples I will be presenting, the legally defined body known as the Ministry of Magic, while operating under the direction of the Wizengamot of the day, engaged in flat-out grand larceny of not one, but two, significant muggle artefacts as defined in the Statute, before themselves breaching the Statute even further by wilfully and permanently enchanting said muggle artefacts."
Harry had to stop because the noises of outrage coming from the Members was starting to drown him out. With a smirk on his lips, he looked pointedly at Ogden and negligently gestured to the members. That snapped the somewhat elderly man out of his shock
Sirius was laughing himself almost silly in his seat.
While he stood there as Ogden began to repeatedly bang his gavel, Harry was looking at the reactions of the Members. Specifically he was looking for those who had little to no reaction.
There was Longbottom, of course, who just sat there staring holes in him; but also Madam Bones, who was pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes scrunched closed as if in pain; Andi Tonks, of course, who had a 'fair idea' what he would do; and, he noticed, Madam Griselda Marchbanks, who was smirking back at him with a twinkle in her eyes.
He impudently grinned back at her, which had the old woman beginning to appear to chuckle. She was even tapping the cane she was holding upright between her legs, lightly upon the floor.
Once the noise settled with some of the Members glaring at Harry and some now confused and angry that they were, Harry said, "Chief Adjudicator Ogden, I must protest, most strongly, at the vociferous interference in my defence of Lord Black. The behaviour of a clear majority of Members, within seconds of me commencing my arguments, is most unseemly!"
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