Chapter 32

                                        

                                              
Chapter 32
                              
Published: November 14, 2021
                              
Bang! Rang the gavel, and Harry winced. The Wizengamot was reconvening this morning, and Harry was up next. The trial had already gone on for two days with the Minister's Counsel, Prosecutor Bletchley, barely getting the facts into evidence and rarely objecting to Runcorn's unsubstantiated statements. Hermione had to push him every step of the way. The crime scene evidence was in, including the damning photo that McGrath had submitted to the Ministry himself.
                              
Hermione said that he was nailed on those counts, depraved difference, criminal neglect, and robbery. The Aurors had raided McGrath's home and found over fifty objects from the Manor that the Ministry had catalogued after Narcissa Malfoy's death. McGrath had yet to offer a valid excuse or defense on those counts. But the attempted murder charge wasn't proven, yet. McGrath was only looking at five years, with the ability to get paroled at two years. It was on Harry and his carefully written notes to prove that case.
                              
The chief warlock, Thaddeus FitzGibbons, called out, "Next witness, Counselor Bletchley?"
                              
"The Prosecution summons Healer Harry James Potter to testify."
                              
Harry, with two cups of spiked tea in him, walked toward the witness stand. He was still nervous, but managed to get through the swearing-in and introductions. Bletchley wasn't helpful in guiding him through what he needed to say, but Harry got the words out, anyway. He brought a large folder of evidence, including Draco's initial scans before he had even seen him. Harry explained the breaks, the muscle atrophy, and the pure inability Draco had to hold a wand, walk or even move his limbs.
                              
It was long, hours even, but he got it all into record that there was no way that Draco made it up the stairs, crawling or not. The chief warlock and the assistant chief warlock, Mafalda Hopkirk, asked many questions. A few trickled in from the rest of the court members, but he answered them all easily and with a mountain of evidence to support it. Runcorn tried a few times to stop the testimony, but Chief Warlock FitzGibbons had overruled him.
                              
Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he had gotten all of his evidence into the record, but Runcorn got up to cross-examine him. Grayson Runcorn was the brother of Albert Runcorn, convicted Death Eater. Grayson had managed to exonerate himself from any charges, but Hermione said that he was the scummiest defense attorney she'd ever seen. Harry breathed deeply and, as it had been a few hours, his tea was wearing off.
                              
"Mr. Potter..." Runcorn started.
                              
Kingsley, another paneled judge of the trial, leaned forward. "That's Healer Potter, Counselor.
                              
"My apologies. Healer Potter...now, let me get this straight... you talked a long time today... but did you actually submit evidence that my client... did something?"
                              
Harry grimaced. "No."
                              
"So that three-hour presentation was for nothing?" he sneered.
                              
"No, it was to prove that Mr. Malfoy, the victim, was physically incapable of harming himself, as you have tried to insinuate."
                              
"Let's stay on point, Healer Potter. You have no evidence that my client was even there when this accident occurred?"
                              
"I presented evidence to remove Mr. Malfoy from consideration of how the assault occurred. Counselor Bletchley has already offered evidence that the wards were up and barely anyone knew Mr. Malfoy was home."
                              
"But you don't have any proof... in that whole folder that there's evidence of my defendant causing the accident?"
                              
"No, but your client's bloody fingerprint on the window is evidence."