Harry Potter : Bloodraven-Chapter 217: The Trial and the Turmoil (X) (CH - 237)

"I have been advised, Adjudicator, that an understanding had been duly reached with my predecessor—had it not? To let this matter rest, as compensation for Mr. Sirius Black's twelve years of wrongful imprisonment..."

Barty Crouch's recommendation to press the charge of illegal Animagus transformation did not catch many in the assembly off guard.

In fact, when recalling the events of the night the Potters were killed—and when he had chased and confronted Peter Pettigrew—Sirius, under Veritaserum, had inadvertently revealed he was an Animagus, making the charge technically valid and its addressing inevitable.

However, the matter had already been communicated to the Ministry before Sirius turned himself in, since, naturally, how he escaped Azkaban would come up and he had to be forthcoming. The then-Minister, Cornelius Fudge, was, of course, shocked by how anticlimactic it was, but regardless, he had promised that the matter would not be pursued.

Fudge, along with Rufus Scrimgeour, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement, had personally vouched that the charge would not be pressed—at the very least, as a small compensation for Sirius's wrongful imprisonment of over a decade. This had also been addressed to Barty Crouch, and he had verbally agreed—but it now appeared that may not have been the case.

So when Barty began going off the rails, Minister Greengrass immediately rose to his feet and addressed the assembly, loud and clear, effectively cutting off his attempt. While the deal may have been communicated with Jameson's predecessor, the agreement was still with a sitting Minister of Magic.

Below, Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour both furrowed their brows, eyes fixed on Barty Crouch. After all, they had been the ones to mediate between Black and the Ministry before he ultimately turned himself in. To see their former supervisor act unilaterally, blatantly ignoring the agreement they had all reached, left them visibly displeased.

Barty, however, seemed utterly oblivious to the Minister of Magic's argument and to the pointed scrutiny of his two former top employees. His cold, impassive gaze was fixed instead on Sirius Black, who stood in the witness dock looking equally caught off guard. For the first time that day, things had veered off the script he had been given, and he had no idea what was happening.

"Sirius Black, I assume you are aware that the Ministry of Magic has long enforced strict laws regulating the dangerous and complex Transfiguration magic of Animagi, correct?"

"Yes, I'm aware…" What else could he say to answer such an obvious question?

Having answered Crouch, he couldn't help but glance toward the three highest seats, brows furrowing as they landed specifically on Maverick. He wasn't sure whether this was part of the plan or if something had changed that he wasn't aware of.

His confusion only deepened, seeing Maverick sitting so coolly beside Dumbledore, utterly unfazed by the turn of events.

Could it be… that I've been set up? he thought, if only for a brief moment.