"Muriel? Are you... awake?"
"… wide awake?"
Muriel seemed a little weak, and she was barely leaning against the wall. If Martin hadn't supported her, she might not have been able to stand at all.
After a period of inexplicable confusion, she seemed to finally remember something and nodded lightly.
"Yes... there was something... it seemed like a shadow..." Muriel murmured in a low voice, frowning slightly, "yes... then the shadow pounced on me, and then I didn't remember anything..."
"shadow?"
Martin only paused for a moment, then quickly shook his head and put the matter aside.
"Anyway, the most important thing for us now is to get out of the Ministry of Magic. We can talk about other things after we leave here." He grabbed Muriel's wrist and lowered his voice as low as possible, "Muriel, try it. Can you walk by yourself?"
Muriel was obviously not clear about the situation in front of her.
In fact, it was as if her brain was rusty now and she couldn't move at all. Don't tell her what she should do. Even where she was, it took her a lot of effort to realize.
So when Martin asked her to try to see if she could walk, she did it almost subconsciously.
One step, two steps, three steps... Martin found that if he pressed against the wall, he would still take a few trembling steps. But this is not so much walking as moving bit by bit.
In this state, if you try to pass by others through the security check channel, you will definitely be noticed by others no matter how you think about it, not to mention the time limit.
"Okay, let's take a rest first!"
Martin quickly stretched out his hand to support Muriel to prevent her from leaving this corner too far and being seen by others.
To be honest, given the current situation, it is really unlikely that they can escape. But the good thing is that Muriel has woken up now.
Although he didn't know why Martin's full-body binding spell failed so quickly, at least he didn't have to risk being discovered by continuing to cast the spell.
When I thought of this, the original thought came to mind again - let's wait until Parkinson comes up and let her protect him and Muriel!
At least, the need to leave is no longer as urgent as before.
…
"...To sum up, because the suspect Iluli...well, Miss Iluli is not guilty of participating in an illegal black wizard gathering, she should be released in court as a rule. However, because the suspect escaped for some reason during the detention and investigation —Although it was found that he was mistakenly arrested, he should still be sentenced to 15 days of standard imprisonment to police the public."
In the courtroom, Ms. Bones, seated in the front row on the other side of Scrimgeour, was announcing the verdict. Her speech was clear and her tone was steady, with an obvious sense of objectivity and fairness in her voice.
As for the "standard imprisonment" she refers to, she actually refers to ordinary prisons that are different from "Azkaban imprisonment". The cells where they were imprisoned were naturally the underground cells of the Ministry of Magic opposite the trial room.
After announcing the court's decision, Ms. Bones continued:
"Then, if you are in favor of the sentencing proposal, please raise your hands—"
As soon as he finished speaking, the wizards sitting around him raised their hands. At a glance, it turned out that far more than half of the people agreed with the verdict, and Scrimgeour had a subtle look on his face.
And then, as everyone lowered their raised hands one after another, Ms. Bones said again:
"If you don't agree with the proposed verdict, please raise your hands—"
In fact, after more than half of the hands were raised for the first time, the second time had no impact on the result. It’s just that according to regulations, in order to show fairness and justice, the voting process must be completed.
But when everyone saw that no one raised their hands in the second vote, Scrimgeour's expression suddenly became more subtle.
As you can imagine, this means that except for those who were in favor of the proposal, the rest of the audience actually abstained, and there was not even one person who opposed it.
In fact, one thing is obvious about today's trial. That is, the sentencing proposal put forward by the interrogation panel for Iluli is indeed a light sentence.
If he was really sentenced for escaping from prison, he would not be sent to Azkaban, but it would not be enough to be locked up for only fifteen days.
As for why the interrogation bench issued such an obvious light sentence, and why the subsequent vote was almost unanimously approved, Scrimgeour knew very well in his heart - it was entirely because of Maca McClain's attitude.
Fortunately, let's not mention these members of the Wizengamot who are usually very different from each other, but today they are surprisingly in harmony. At least MacLean had saved enough face for him, the Minister of Magic, by not coming to attend the trial.
Just thinking about another trial that would be even more heartbreaking than this one, Scrimgeour couldn't help but have a headache.
"Well, forget it... I can still sit so securely in this position. After all, it is mostly thanks to McClain... Not to mention, since I took office, he has given me a lot of political achievements. "
Scrimgeour's ability to be a minister is not sufficient, but he can at least see clearly which path he should take. This alone is sometimes enough.
"Mr. Scrimgeour, the vote has ended, the verdict has been completed -" Ms. Bones said, handing the document written by the recorder in front of him, "Look, if there are no other questions, please sign Bar!"
"Oh," Scrimgeour nodded, "Okay, um..."
He didn't know how he felt at the moment - to be honest, it felt like he was being ignored, but in the current situation, it was not necessarily a bad thing.
He casually signed his name at the bottom of the document, and the trial was over.
"Then, the case of Yiluli, a suspect in the eighth trial room, participating in an illegal assembly and escaping from the dungeon without authorization is over! Let's disperse..."
Scrimgeour stood up and said something, but then smiled and said:
"... Although I really want to say that, it is obvious that we have another trial that needs to continue. So, please move to the ninth courtroom - the trial will start in twenty minutes!"
Of course, the subsequent trial has nothing to do with Pansy.
During the trial of Iluli's case, she served as a witness and proved that Iluli did not participate in the gathering of dark wizards... I have to say that it sounds like a joke to have someone who also participated in the gathering testify for another participant. .
And it’s still the kind that makes people laugh.
"Iluli...seriously, I should accompany you..."
Before leaving the courtroom, Pansy stood next to the trial chair in the center, looked at her good friend and said softly.
And among the complex emotions in her heart at this moment, how much of it stemmed from the guilt of friendship, and how much stemmed from regret for making various mistakes, even she couldn't tell.
"Maybe!"
Iluli did not deny Pansy's words this time, because she understood that none of the wizards who participated in that gathering was truly innocent.
"But," she paused, and then said slowly, "just as Mr. MacLean said... Now that things are like this, we are destined to carry the weight of our hearts throughout our lives. And compared to this weight, Fifteen days is nothing."
"Well," Pansy nodded slightly, "I will pick you up in fifteen days and take you to Hogwarts."
Kingsley, who was still sitting on the interrogation table, looked at the two girls. After they finished speaking, he stood up and walked forward to greet them.
"Just fifteen days, it will pass quickly!" He waved and said, "Ms. Parkinson, let's go! I think it's time for you to go back to school to pack your luggage and prepare to go home and enjoy a relaxing vacation."
Students who did not participate in the study tour had to go home during the holidays, and Pansy was no exception. After things at the Ministry of Magic were over, it was time for her to go back.
Kingsley knows this much better than many people.
"There's still a little while before the next trial starts. Let me send you out! You know, we'd better move quickly!"
Hearing this, Pansy nodded hurriedly—her mission today is not over yet!
"Iluli, goodbye!"
After saying a final goodbye to her friend, Pansy followed Kingsley's footsteps and left the courtroom.
When passing the cell where Muriel was held in the dungeon corridor outside, both of them briefly glanced inside. Although they all discovered that there was still a figure inside, and it was no different from Muriel, they did not think that Martin's rescue plan had failed.
Especially Kingsley, who had fought against that guy before and knew the opponent's strength very well.
Although it was difficult to rob a prison during the current martial law period, there were only three guards in the dungeon, so he didn't think Martin, who was in the dark, would be unable to deal with them.
As they speculated, the figure in the cell might just be the product of the transformation technique prepared before Martin arrived, right
Thinking of this, Kingsley secretly accelerated his pace even more - he was sure that such a sophisticated transformation technique would not be able to last for too long.
Not long after, Pansy and Kingsley took the elevator back to the atrium, and deliberately found an excuse to linger near the security passage for a while.
Sure enough, Pansy soon heard an extremely subtle voice coming from behind her, but she was stunned after hearing it.
"can not walk?"
"Don't talk! Don't look back! Just listen to what I say..." Martin's voice sounded a little urgent, as if he was suppressing a strong sense of irritability, "Yes, Muriel can't walk... For more details, please wait. We’ll talk about it after we get out, you first think of a way to get us out.”
"Well… "
After hearing this, Pansy hesitated for a moment in embarrassment, but finally nodded in agreement with her lips pursed.