The third year was of no interest to anyone, so what if the last male of a pure-blood family was sent to prison without trial and marinated there for twelve years? If he went there, he was guilty, how else could it be? Did they look for him, catch him with Dementors, and kill children in the process? Well, that's what happens every day. Anyway, enough of wasting time on useless, uninteresting trifles, let's get a white beard and drag it off!
Attention was drawn to this year, and one of the first things mentioned was that Albus Dumbledore was the person responsible not only for finding a parking space for the French coach and a berth for the Durmstrang ship, but also for maintaining security and order in the territory under his control. At this point, the High Enchanter tried to get up in arms, to make a speech, but he was stopped by the Senior Judge, and the others nodded and furrowed their brows.
The mere fact of an illegal entry into the Goblet of Fire is a sufficient threat to the authority of the entire state, because the case is international, and such a "joke" would have lowered the already not very high estimation of the British in the eyes of the world community. Well, I would even argue about the "world", because most countries do not care about the Tin Islands, as long as they do not get involved in new colonial plans in places where they were never expected. However, this argument would be completely useless, so let them imagine whatever they want. Meanwhile, Dumbledore continued to be trampled on.
If it had started with foreign interference because the old man was 'stuck' in a position of responsibility, now it had finally dawned on the locals that the chance to take Albus down was too good to ignore. So they took the matter seriously and pinned all their failures on the poor headmaster. There was not only political damage to the British authority, but also moral damage, and neglect of official duties, since he didn't make the guests feel comfortable in the castle, since they live in their own carriages/ships, and professional inefficiency, since he drew the circle and then calmed down.
Anyway, even that was enough to shake up the old "colossus". When it was over, people thought the accuser had said everything he wanted to say, but not so! The man just took a breather and went on talking about Harry Potter. As it turned out, this interview in France reached the very closed Britain, and people did not like a lot of things in the words of the boy, who naively laid out a lot of interesting facts to a strange aunt.
Up to that point, everyone had conveniently looked the other way, saying that the child was lying and that he was living well, because he assured everyone of that. And everything would have been fine, if there had not been a professional journalist who was not lazy enough to go to England, find the place described by the boy and then even talk to the Dursleys.
In general, not the best, but not the worst people, Muggles, without a drop of magic, so it is quite natural that the meeting with a woman asking about the "unfit boy" did not please them, and the Frenchwoman heard a lot of "interesting" about both Harry and his parents. And of course she did not hesitate to pass it on to her readers. And it would be all right if these newspapers were somewhere out there — far away, but no, people began to make noise, made a wave that washed away the voluntary blinkers of the locals, so they also began to "outrage".
But somehow, the public was told that we too were concerned about the hero, and it wasn't us who had written mountains of letters two years ago to remove this monster from the school, this "Heir of Slytherin".
In the best tradition of the Great One himself, the summary of allegations and accusations turned into a rousing speech, generously diluted with digressions into "his misunderstanding of what was going on" and expressions of personal opinion. The prosecutor's verbal outburst ended with the expression of his firm determination to deal with every point, not to allow concealment or confusion of the judicial investigation in this complex case.
The defense used its turn to good effect, presenting a huge canvas of reports that listed literally every needle and button used to repair Filch's clothes. I'm exaggerating, of course, but it came close. All the long speeches were made by Sam in person, which delayed the response of the "innocent by default" defense so much that they broke for lunch right after.
It should be added that while the first speech, the prosecutor's, was still relatively digestible, the defense of Dumbledore personally and his household in general was so boring and sleepy that most people fought back yawns, and some even openly tried not to tear their faces and dislocate their jaws.
And I myself soon realized that something "like that" was really "rolling in", and I had to overcome this weakness pathologically. After the break, not everyone came back — there were no free seats left from the morning, and some of those who came back looked so that just the sight of them made me want to go home, wrap myself in a blanket, and fall asleep quietly.
I was amused by the sluggish people, and especially by the wistful look on the judge's face, who himself did not want to go back and was openly considering postponing the hearing for another day, or better yet, a week. But somehow, and the case moved slowly, and smoothly came to what I was frankly tired of waiting for — the selection of the participants of the tournament.
— ...in addition to all that has been mentioned, within the walls of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry "Hogwarts" there was a precedent, which, I believe, will be written in many textbooks, not only in history, but also in law. — The style of our lawyer was very different from that of the prosecution and the defense: the man behaved vigorously, actively, his speech was clear, not boring, and all his behavior was very similar to those that can be seen on television in American lawyers, and all this awakened interest in people and chased away sleepiness.
This may be a bit premature, but I want to make it clear that in the magical world, a trial does not necessarily revolve around prosecution and defense. Often there is no defense attorney at all, and the prosecutor is someone from a powerful official who has an interest in the current case.
Hiring a lawyer is a personal matter, no one is going to support democracy or anything like that. Not less often it happens that the case affects the interests of several people at the same time, and the trial in such a case is not bilateral, but everyone participates, only the lists of those involved need to be approved in advance.