CHAPTER 95: NIHIL SUPERNUM, PT 2

When Herimone's eyes opened, and she saw the gray air with a tiny bit of sunlight filtering through, her first emotion was surprise.

I'm... alive?

And then she registered what else was in the limit of her vision. Six Aurors in their purple robes, surrounding her. All of them were looking very grim. And all had their wands pointed at her, ready to fire.

Oh no...

"Hermione Granger," the foremost one spoke. "You are under arrest for jailbreak, attempted assisted mass-jailbreak, and destruction of national weapons."

She was tied up, she realized. And of course they had taken her wand. But on her shoulder, bright and warm, the phoenix still sat.

"You will be taken in custody in the Aurors' rooms in Azkaban," the man continued. "Where you will be interrogated under three drops of Veritaserum."

"No!" she gasped in horror. Of course this would happen. "Not veritaserum! It's dangerous!"

The man smirked, obviously unimpressed. "For your helpers, certainly. For yourself I daresay it will hardly matter."

"No! It's..." she searched her mind for something to say, remembered Professor Quirrell's formulation in the special lecture. "I used magics not to be spoken of with those who cannot cast them!"

The man just smirked. "Nice try. Take her up."

They levitated her from their brooms, onto the roof and toward the door to the Auror Headquarters. Hermione desperately tried to think of ways to make them not do this. But what could she say that they would listen to? She was a convicted attempted-murderess who had just broken out of prison, she didn't get to frame the conversation or pose any conditions. And ten days of Occlumency training from a book would be nowhere near enough to resist Veritaserum.

Then they took her through the door, and she saw the ancient wizard, standing among several men and women in Auror garb, as he gazed at her with a look of concern in his eyes.

"Professor!" she yelled. "Help! Please tell them they must not make me explain what I did!"

The Auror guiding her pushed her in a chair roughly, and the ropes binding her shifted to include the chair. "Give it up," he sneered.

"What's this?" A woman stepped forward. Hermione recognized her from the trial. She had been one of the few to vote against imprisonment.

"The girl obviously doesn't want to reveal her helpers, Madam Bones," the leading Auror said. "She claims she has dangerous knowledge, so we shouldn't interrogate her."

"That is easy to test, Auror Gutierrez. When a witch or wizard tells you they know of magic that is not to be spoken of, you do not force them to, unless you know they are lying. A single drop of Veritaserum will be enough to confirm."

The bottle was brought forth. "Open your mouth, girl."

She did so. One drop would be fine. She could at least still refuse to answer, then. She tasted the slightly-bitter liquid on her tongue, and swallowed.

"Now, Miss Granger," the woman asked, in a crisp voice. "Would it be hazardous for me, personally, if I were to give you a second drop?

Could the woman cast a Patronus? It was likely, if she had come to Azkaban at all, that this was the case. "I think so."

The woman – Madam Bones, Susan's "auntie", she knew – turned to the other Aurors. "We will keep it to the single drop. I will perform the interrogation myself, just in case. Do you have any cell blocks free? Without holes in the wall, that is?"

"A block, third level," the one-handed Auror Hermione had only met once before answered. The woman nodded, and Hermione floated loose from the chair at a flick of her wand. "Let's go." She turned to the bird, then. "And I suppose you may fly along. Not that your kind cares about permission."

Harry quietly cursed the situation as he sped away from Azkaban in a random direction. Why now?

He'd known the plan to help Hermione was dangerous from the start. He'd seen half a dozen ways for it to go wrong: they could have been caught going to Azkaban, the Aurors might have suspected something was up because Hermione wasn't going insane, they could have caught her reading when she wasn't expecting it, she could lose control of her Patronus... but it hadn't occurred to him that she might do something like this.

You really should have seen it coming, Gryffindor pointed out. You told Hermione Granger how to destroy Dementors, and then left her inside Azkaban. If anything, we should be surprised that it took her so long.

Hermione had done the right thing, the thing Harry should have done a long time ago. The frustrating part was how close his careful planning had come. Just yesterday, Padma had managed to perform the True Patronus Charm, and they had spent the rest of the evening considering their options. In a week, he could have bought Hermione out of Azkaban; with the promise of asking Hermione's parents for the money, Dumbledore would likely have consented. And then, with three True Patronus casters and Lesath helping out with sleeping hexes, they could have attacked Azkaban without dying. Today, Padma had started brewing Polyjuice Potion. In a month, when the potion would be ready, they could launch their attack together. The plan wasn't complete, but they'd have a month to refine it, prepare, and look up relevant spells. Four children, polyjuiced as toddlers, would fit together under the cloak. If they got caught, Harry could take all the blame – Padma had found an old spell, binding people in servitude to a Noble House, which would legally exonerate them from anything Harry ordered them to do. And if anyone could deal with the political fallout that would undoubtedly follow, it was the Boy-Who-Lived, scion of a Noble House, who just so happened to be in debt to Lord Malfoy by such a significant amount that the man would have a powerful motivation not to press for his execution or life-long imprisonment.

Hermione did not have those protections.

But she seems to have a phoenix now, which is a rather powerful symbol in itself, Ravenclaw pointed out. And we only had half-hearted plans. How sure are you that you could have kept the others out of trouble? How sure that three Patronuses could have taken down Azkaban without anyone dying, or without the Aurors stopping us too early? How sure that Lesath would have been prepared to come willingly, not just because we asked? And if we truly consider Hermione our equal, isn't it better to have a 100% chance of trouble for Hermione than a 20% chance for each of Hermione, Padma and Lesath and 80% for ourselves?

The prisoners are safe now, Gryffindor added. Would you really have preferred them suffering for another month?

Besides, Slytherin spoke. It will be significantly easier to achieve our political goals if we are not perceived as irresponsible. As it is, we will not need to go into debt, and in the aftermath of this, it should be easy to approach other countries and offer to get rid of their Dementors. Will that not be worth it?

Harry gritted his teeth, and his inner Hufflepuff spoke in one voice with the central Harry as they answered.

Not unless Hermione survives.

Amelia Bones levitated the girl into the middle cell of the designated cell block, locked the grate, and cast Bulbali. Three bulbs of soft yellow-white light appeared in the air, illuminating the area. Then, she waved her wand, and the ropes binding the prisoner fell away.

"I am sorry for the harsh treatment, Miss Granger," she said, in a gentler tone than she had used before. Her niece had told her about Hermione Granger, who was a friend of hers, and it had sounded very much like, well, like the kind of girl to whom a phoenix would come to help other prisoners, and not like a crazy murderer. "I realize that you are not a bad person. But you have shown magics today that should have been impossible, and caution seems prudent, even when you are wandless. Would you see any way of escaping if I allowed your phoenix into the cell with you? Phoenixes cannot use their particular Apparition-like magic within the boundaries of Azkaban."

The girl shook her head. "I don't think I can do anything without a wand."

Amelia nodded, and reopened the grate for a moment. The phoenix flew in and settled itself in the girl's lap. She'd have to check what the protocol said about prisoners with phoenixes – as fas as she knew, the question hadn't come up since Azkaban was first built – but for now, she didn't want to deal with the ruckus of keeping the creature away from its master.

"Now, there's a lot of questions I have for you." She took her notebook and ballpoint pen from her pocket. Muggle technology could sometimes be very practical, for example when you didn't want to carry around an ink well. "And while I won't give you any more Veritaserum, don't think you'll get away with not answering a question, we have procedures for that. First of all, what was that spell that you used to destroy all the Dementors here?"

"It's a version of the Patronus Charm," the child whispered.

"Did you discover it yourself?"

She shook her head.

"Who, then?"

"Harry Potter. He didn't want to tell me at first, because it was too dangerous, but he gave me a note to explain it in case I ever needed it. I read it when I was here."

"I see. So I guess you're not going to tell me how you did that."

She shook her head again. "That would be a really bad idea."

"Very well. Will you tell me, then, how you got your hands on a wand?"

The girl took a deep breath. "There was an otter –"

A sick, twisting feeling, like a thousand wriggling worms, was squirming in Li's stomach.

He knew what was going to happen next. He'd known from the beginning that they couldn't keep protecting the child forever. Sooner of later, the massive breach of protocol would be discovered. And then heads would roll, starting with his. They had all been part of it, but Li had started the whole thing and he would step up and take all the blame. He'd planned that from the first day, when he found the others joining in, and they had all known that he would. He had counted on getting a dishonorable discharge, even though he quietly suspected that Madam Bones would be understanding; the others would not have much more to fear than a formal warning. And that was worth it, to be able to look into the mirror and see a man with some shred of honor left.

But this... This was rather more severe. Someone had smuggled a wand to the girl, and she had used it to break out and somehow destroy all Dementors and nearly allowed other prisoners – dangerous ones – to escape, and the fact that that was supposed to be completely impossible didn't do anything about the point that she would not have been able to do it if there hadn't been a Patronus in her cell day and night.

Leela glanced at him briefly, an unreadable look on her face. Every once in a while one of his colleagues would look over. Guilty, pitying looks, which nevertheless admitted of no doubt: he would still take all the blame. One target would be enough to take Lucius Malfoy's anger at hearing about the events surrounding his prisoner. One Auror who would stand trial alongside the child. She would undoubtedly receive the Dementor's Kiss, phoenix and obviously good intentions or not. Was the same fate reserved for him, for unwittingly accommodating the outbreak? Or would he be sent back to Azkaban, to serve as a prisoner instead of a guard? It was scant comfort that there were no Dementors around the place anymore. He knew that it would not last long.

The six of them – the Aurors who had been in their waking period at the time of the Event – were sitting together in the Aurors' Headquarters, keeping a studious look at the screens showing the Azkaban surroundings, which had just been extended to also show Disillusioned objects. So insufficient were the wards of the prison, now that its Dementors were gone, that to see what was happening, they had little better to rely on than their eyes. The Ministry's best casters were strengthening the wards, but it would still take days to get something resembling actual security again. Other Aurors were patrolling the halls, or flying around the building. But the Azkaban Aurors were kept here, together, undoubtedly by design. It would not be long, now, until Director Bones returned, and placed them all under arrest.

Li waited.

The child finished explaining about the mysterious memory.

"I see," Amelia said slowly. And she did. The memory-plant was well-done. Not only did it completely hide the identity of the girl's benefactor, it also reinforced the idea in her mind that someone might have memory-charmed her before. If required to state again under Veritaserum whether she had tried to kill Draco Malfoy, Amelia suspected the girl would say no. Not that this was important enough to warrant testing, right now. There were more pressing matters, little though she liked them.

"What concerns me is how you managed to cast your Patronus. Even with a wand, your magic should have been drained in your sleep, and you look far too mentally healthy for a first-year child who has spent the last week and a half exposed to Dementors, even only during the nights. You had Auror protection, didn't you?"

The girl fidgeted. But she had to answer, just like Amelia had had to ask, even if she completely understood why some Azkaban Aurors would have sent a Patronus to guard the child during their hours. She might have done the same in their place, but the Minister of Magic, Lucius Malfoy and other important officials would never accept a non-prosecution in this case.

"I didn't need Auror protection," the child said eventually, weighing her words exactly. "I could sleep in the cloak."

Amelia's hand paused on the paper. "Cloak?"

Harry couldn't check his watch, not without getting out from under the cloak, and that would just be stupid. But he was pretty sure he'd flown for twenty minutes at least, more likely half an hour. So he halted the broomstick in mid-air, put his hand in his pouch and whispered "deck of cards".

Oh. Right. This was going to be tricky without seeing them. He carefully removed the cards from their carton, and then put both the cards and the carton back into the pouch. Then he whispered "King of Hearts".

A playing card shot into his hand. Taking a deep breath, he tore it in half.

The girl had been given the Cloak of Invisibility, which had shielded her from the Dementors' gaze. She had left it in her cell, wrapping it around the pouch. Which was interesting, as the cell had been searched while the girl was brought in for questioning, and only the pouch had been found. It was a moderately powerful device, but her best spellcheckers had nevertheless been able to find the secret enchantment on it.

It was quite obvious that the girl was hiding something, and Amelia had a pretty good idea what that was. But she made very sure not to ask questions that couldn't be dodged. The girl's tone and little hesitations might give the truth away, but the words were innocent enough, and those were the only ones she needed to transcribe. It might not be entirely proper, but she would honestly be able to say that she had written Granger's exact words down, and the girl would be able to confirm that much under Veritaserum.

"So," she summarized in the end. "You have told me what you know of the night of your arrival, and I have a pretty good idea of how you managed to resist the Dementors' drain. Now, tell me about today."

"I just couldn't bear it anymore," Hermione Granger answered. She looked Amelia straight in the eyes. "People should not be fed to Dementors, no matter what they've done." Her voice had grown stronger, commanding, like you wouldn't normally expect to hear from a twelve-year old child. "And I realized that there was something I could do about it. I thought it would kill me, but that would be worth it. And then there was suddenly a phoenix in my cell."

Amelia nodded. She had heard a little of phoenix-lore, although no phoenix had ever come to her. "And I bet the creature encouraged you. But a phoenix could not get you out of the building. How did you make that hole?"

The girl bit her lip. "I'm not sure I can say."

"You're not sure? Would it be dangerous for me to hear?"

"I don't know! I had to promise not to tell anyone, but I don't know why not."

"I see. Who did you promise?"

She hesitated, but then lowered her eyes. "Professor McGonagall."

Interesting. Albus Dumbledore was sure to know more about this. "Very well. What happened after you created the hole?"

"The phoenix took me outside, carried me down to the pit, and I cast my spell. I was sure it would kill me. I was supposed to die, so I wouldn't... Anyway, it flew me down so I would be as close to the Dementors as possible. I felt myself fading, but somehow my strength kept coming back, but the Patronus only got larger and I couldn't control it anymore even when I stopped feeling the Dementors, and... And then I must have passed out."

Amelia nodded again. "I suspect the phoenix sustained you, crying on you from above, and thereby stopped you from passing out earlier or dying." For a while, at least, she mentally added.

"I didn't know it would do that."

"Few people do, beforehand. When did you contact Harry Potter?"

She started, at that. "Just before I finished the hole. I wanted to say goodbye."

Amelia noted that down, too. "I think I've got a pretty good overview of the events now. Did anything else happen that you think I would like to know about?"

She stated the question very deliberately, hoping that the girl would pick up the hint.

"I also sent my Patronus to the other prisoners in my corridor and the corridor below a few times," Hermione confessed.

Another note. "Anything else?" The girl shook her head. "I don't think anything else happened that you would want to know." She smiled very weakly at that.

"Then I suppose we are down to the question of your anonymous benefactor. I know you must hate telling me, but do you know who it was?"

She hesitated, for a moment. "I don't know who it was."

Nice try. "Who do you think it was?"

The girl bit her lip and rocked back and forth, but she knew she couldn't escape answering the question. "Harry."

Amelia Bones sat back. "Harry Potter is a first-year child. He does not have the sheer power to break through the walls of the fortress and restore them afterwards, never mind making a pouch like yours. I imagine he'd have trouble even getting out of the school." But Hermione Granger was intelligent, wasn't she? She would have known this. "Tell me why you suspect him."

"He would do anything to save me. He always does. Unless I tell him not to."

"As you did in the trial." She had had her doubts, from the beginning, whether that was really a bluff like Albus Dumbledore had claimed. Obviously this child had fully believed the boy. And the threat had just been a little too mad to expect to be taken seriously, even for an 11-year-old who had just promised House Malfoy his enmity. Too mad, unless he fully expected to be able to follow up on it. "Any other reasons?"

"The otter knew about the Patronus Charm, it warned me about the dangers, and Harry never told anyone, he only gave me that piece of paper."

"But you also knew about the Patronus Charm, and you do not remember putting the books and the wand into the pouch in the first place. So, you were obviously Obliviated. It could simply be that you tried casting the Patronus Charm before you were Obliviated, almost died, and then left this as a warning to yourself."

"That's possible," Hermione conceded. But she didn't seem to believe it. "Any further reasons?"

"The science books. Harry has lots of those. And one of them was on timeless physics, and – and Harry uses that, in a special magic of his that I shouldn't talk about."

Which might have something to do with the hole in the wall or the Patronus, she thought. Or something else. Just how many things has the boy discovered?

"Did you ever see him with any of those books?"

"No."

Amelia Bones nodded slowly. It was a reason for suspicion, but it wasn't evidence, it would never stand up for the Wizengamot. If the girl was right, and the Boy-Who-Lived had played a part in her rescue, then he was certainly very cunning for a first-year child. That, or his helpers had been.

"Any other reasons?"

"He has an invisibility cloak. I used to think that it was the Deathly Hallow, but then, the one I got felt differently."

"But you think it was the same one after all?"

"I don't know what I should think!" the child exclaimed. "How do I even know whether my memories are real?"

It would be checkable, at least, whether the boy still had his cloak. Two weeks might be too brief to buy a new one, as rare as they were. Although, given the pouch, a fairly powerful witch or wizard must have been involved anyway.

A name came to her mind then. Albus Dumbledore. The weak-hearted old fool might well have cared enough about the innocent child to come to her aid. Would he have taken that kind of risk? It seemed a bit foolhardy, even for him, to risk everything for a Muggleborn child, bright and sweet and brave, but ultimately not important, not even a pawn in the war that was lying before them. But then, would it be a risk to him? Nothing in all that Hermione knew could possibly identify the witch or wizard who had helped her. Indeed, if it was Dumbledore, he had even cast the pouch's protections weaker than he could have.

"Any other reasons?" The girl obviously wasn't going to volunteer the most incriminating parts while there were other answers she could give. Three drops of Veritaserum were a lot more convenient when interrogating suspects, but then, there were some upsides to not having the girl forced to blurt out any relevant details she could think of.

"No," Hermione whispered.

Madam Bones stood up. "Thank you for your explanation. I shall now go back and discuss what must happen."

And she stood up and left the cell block, locking the metal door behind herself.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Harry blinked in disorientation as he arrived in a different place. A weathered-looking room, but serviceable, with a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. And in front of a chair, his wand drawn, stood –

Harry drew off his cloak. "Mr. Lupin?"

"Harry?" the faintly scarred man in the old clothes asked with a start. "What are you doing here? Did you run away from Hogwarts?"

"No, I – it's complicated. I need to get back to Hogwarts. Are you the one who sent me the cards?"

"Cards?" Mr. Lupin asked, confused. "No, I never sent you anything. But I can send back you to Hogwarts, after I make a few checks that it's really you." He started speaking incantations.

Harry wasn't just going to leave it at that. "Where am I?"

"Polyfluis Reverso!" said the man. "This is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Metamorphido!"

The headquarters of Dumbledore's allies? But... Santa Claus had always seemed opposed to Dumbledore. And Professor Snape had said that the portkey just led to an empty house. But he was in the order of the phoenix, so he must have known more...

Could Snape have been his anonymous ally? But Snape was supposedly loyal to Professor Dumbledore, or at least had been so at the start of the year, when Harry had been sent his father's cloak with the first note from Santa Claus. And why would he have James's invisibility cloak? He had hated James, and Lily had not spoken to him since they were in school. Besides, Dumbledore had told Harry to use this portkey. He must have known, too.

If you see a plot, look at who ends up benefiting, and assume it was the intended result. That was one of Draco's lessons. He had never really used it, but, he realized now, he should have. The note with the Invisibility Cloak had told him to be suspicious of Dumbledore. The later note had repeated those warnings – for strange reasons, Dumbledore was not the kind of man who would take a child's heirloom away, no phoenix would accept that. If Dumbledore did evil, then it was because the war had driven him to weigh his actions in logical, heartless calculations. And so, the only effect of the vain warning with the cloak was that Harry had ended up trusting Dumbledore more.

"Veritas Occulum! And that's the last one, you really are who you seem to be. Would you like to go back now or is there anything you want to discuss first?" The man's face showed concern. Of course, he would not have expected Dumbledore's pet hero, who was supposed to be carefully guarded in the school, to pop in all of a sudden.

He really should go, if he wanted to meet Dumbledore half an hour before his departure of Azkaban and still have five hours of his Time-Turner remaining just in case. But he also wanted to know.

"You were a friend of my father's, right?"

The man nodded.

"Do you recognize this cloak?"

"Of course," Mr. Lupin said. "I've been under it quite a few times."

"Do you know whether Professor Dumbledore had it in his possession when my father died?"

Mr. Lupin frowned. "Yes, he did. Didn't he say so when he gave it to you?"

Why me? Harry thought with a mental groan. But instead he just shrugged, and said: "The Headmaster asked me to meet him in his office. Do you think you could send me there?"

"Why am I not surprised to see you here, old meddler?"

Albus Dumbledore had been waiting for her in the corridor. "I care for the child. And it seems that your Aurors have the situation well under control."

"That remains to be seen." Amelia moved her wand. "Expecto Patronum. Tell Scrimgeour to pass the warning to all patrolling crews that an intruder might still be in Azkaban. Make sure no one goes in or out without permission."

"You believe that she had help?"

"She had an invisibility cloak. A special one, apparently, that kept Dementors from affecting her. It disappeared from her cell in the five minutes between her escape and the cell being searched."

"Ah. Do you mean the Cloak of Invisibility? For that is the only one I know of which might have any such power."

She gave him a searching look. That was quite an inference. "What do you know about that?"

"The Invisibility Cloak of Ignotus Peverell, long-since lost track of, is one of the three Deathly Hallows. Many properties are ascribed to it, although few confirmed. Depending on the source you read, it hides the wearer even from Death's gaze, provides impenetrable shields and stops aging in whoever wears it. I would not believe those so lightly, but almost certain is that it does not degenerate with time, cannot be directly targeted by magic, knows its owner, and, some way or other, always finds a way back to him or her. I have not heard anything about Dementors, but such an ability would certainly not be incongruent with the various tales of its powers."

If that were true... Could the cloak have somehow taken itself back to its owner? Or was Dumbledore just trying to sell her onto some idea to hide the far more obvious truth?

"You suspect me?" the old wizard asked at her searching look.

"I would not put it past you to help an innocent child, no."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Amelia, but in this instance I am quite guiltless. Please, feel free to search me. I do not have the Cloak."

"I would not ask –"

"But you think. I do not mind it, and it might be better to clear this up immediately. I realize that I am an uninvited intruder in this place."

She nodded, and started her incantations.

"So tell me," the old wizard asked carefully. "Is there any chance, for the girl?"

"You know the law, Albus. Any escape from Azkaban is punished with the Dementor's Kiss. No excuses. There won't even be a trial. The only reason not to do it on the spot is that we may need to interrogate her further, and that the only Dementor left in Britain is the one we keep in the Ministry. The certainty of the Kiss for any escape is one of the most important things that keeps the prisoners and their friends from ever contemplating escape: the knowledge that worse is possible, and likely."

"She did not mean to escape, I think. Harry Potter seemed convinced that she was going to die."

"Intent is not the point. She left her cell, so she did escape." She sighed. "I want the girl to lose her soul as little as you do, Albus. I don't think we have ever done that to someone with a phoenix, let alone a child who shouldn't have been here to begin with. But unless the honor of a Noble House is involved, my hands are tied. I don't suppose you have kept any Noble connections hidden?"

"None. I am certain that the young scion of Potter would accept her service if she were to swear to him, but –"

"– the Wizengamot will not accept that if the contract was not in place at the time of the crime," she finished his line. "But speaking of Harry Potter, young Miss Granger did seem to believe that he was the one who gave her the wand and the cloak."

"You would have him executed too?" the old wizard spoke with a pained voice.

"No. In fact, I don't think we can prove anything against him. And since the Boy-Who-Lived enjoys a certain popularity, a mere accusation before the Wizengamot will not lead to a conviction, no matter how much pressure Lord Malfoy might apply. But if he were indeed involved, if we could prove that, then he could ask to have his case brought before the Wizengamot. And in that case, I suppose that I, as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, could judge the girl's crime to be inextricably linked to the boy's, and relinquish the right of judging her to them."

"Ah."

They walked in silence through the last corridor. The old wizard looked conflicted.

"You consider asking him for a confession?" She wasn't sure whether she wanted it. The hope of seeing the girl released, or at least saved from the gruesome fate of the Dementor's Kiss, was enough to make her wish for it. But what would the two children's chances be? If they involved the boy, the most likely path would lead to two innocent souls being lost.

"It would be foolish to the extreme," the Hogwarts Headmaster bit. "We need him; if anything the last week has made that clear. Lord Voldemort has returned, and he has started lashing out, for purposes unknown. Harry Potter is the only one who has a chance of defeating him for good." He sighed. "But he has made it clear that he does not wish to follow my command, and he cares about the Granger girl more than anything in the world. Who am I to make the choice for him?"

He gestured with his wand, and the silver phoenix sprang into existence. "Go to Harry Potter," he instructed, "and say this: Harry. As you feared, Miss Granger has attacked Azkaban, and destroyed all its Dementors. She has survived, given testimony, and will likely be executed before the weekend is over. There will be no trial, as she is no part of a Noble House. Tell me, Mr. Potter. Were you involved in this?"