Okay, I'm just guessing what a court would be like - I do watch law enforcement programmes and I'm guessing a wizard court would be the same except with more judgement so I'm hoping this is good for you guys and acceptable. Let me know what you thought.
Chapter 8: Christmas, Present, Defending.
They were making their way down to Hagrid's hut. They had received a letter from him asking them to meet him there.
"What do you reckon it's about?" Ron asked as they trudged through the snow. They were all dressed up in their heavy cloaks, hats, scarves and gloves.
"It's probably due to Buckbeak. The Ministry is more than likely to have been in contact about him by now, wouldn't they?" Hermione asked as they moved closer to the hut. Mia walked up the steps and knocked on the door.
The door creaked open and Hagrid's face came into view.
"I was wondering when you were coming up," Hagrid told them as he stepped to the side and allowed them to step into the warm interior.
"Oh, this is nice and warm," Hermione moaned in delight as she shed her jacket and winter stuff before sitting on the couch. Harry agreed and did the same before sitting next to her while Ron and Mia sat in the chairs at the large table. Hagrid sat back on his large chair.
"So, what did you call us here for?" Mia asked, curious to the letter that Hagrid had sent them. Hagrid just bowed his head, unable to say anything. Harry and Hermione shared a look and so did Ron and Mia. They all knew it meant something bad and hoped that they would know how to help him.
"What happened, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"The Ministry owled me. They are putting Beaky on trial - Lucius Malfoy made a complaint on the behalf of the Parkinsons," Hagrid told them.
"Oh my," Hermione whispered.
"I have to go in and present my case," Hagrid told them. Mia looked at Hagrid with a serious look on her face before she made a choice.
"I'll do it," Mia spoke up, causing Hagrid, Hermione, Ron and Harry to look at her. "I'll defend Buckbeak, providing Hermione helps me out with the research," Mia announced and Hermione nodded.
"I can help you there," Hermione promised her.
"I can't drag you kids into this," Hagrid told her but Mia was firm.
"You have no choice. Besides - it's personal for me and I really want to do this. Can you please just let me try?" Mia asked. Hagrid just stared at her for a long length of time before finally nodding his consent.
"Okay, you can do the defending," Hagrid told her and she smiled.
"Thank you," she told him. Ron looked at his watch as it started beeping.
"We better get back up to the castle - the Dementors will be coming down soon and I'd rather not be caught out by them," Ron told them and got agreements in return.
"We'll come back down when we have more information. We can plan on what we are going to do. Has the Ministry set a date yet?" Mia asked. Hagrid nodded.
"Yeah, in April," Hagrid told her and Mia smiled.
"That gives me more than enough time to get ready," Mia told him as the kids stood up and pulled on their winter clothes before they left the hut into the cold air outside to make their way back up to the castle.
Hermione and Ron hurried up to their dormitories the second they entered their common room. They both wanted to jump into a hot shower and get warm again. Mia was about to follow Hermione when Harry snagged Mia's elbow, bringing her back to face him.
"Mia, what's up with you asking to defend Buckbeak?" Harry asked and Mia sighed.
"I wanted to try and find out if I could see a career in being a lawyer," she admitted to him. Harry smiled.
"You would make a brilliant lawyer," Harry told her and she looked at him, stunned. "What? Did you think I was going to laugh or something?" he asked.
"Kinda," Mia admitted and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Draco and I had a bet going. I thought you would think of a career as a lawyer, while he thought maybe a police officer - we both went with the law enforcement careers because of your desire for true justice," Harry explained.
"Nice to know what I've been gambled on," Mia grumbled to him and Harry grinned.
"Hey, you placed a bet on the girls, so we placed a bet on you," Harry retorted.
"Very funny," Mia informed him before shoving him and making her way up the stairs to her room. Harry just shook his head before he smiled and headed the other way up to his room. He had a feeling things were going to get even more interesting with the Ministry soon.
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Christmas had finally arrived. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Mia had stayed at the castle for Christmas Break while Ginny, the twins and Percy had headed home. Ron had said that he wanted to stay behind because he wanted to have some peace and quiet over the holidays for once.
Harry made his way down into the common room, rubbing a hand over his hair and making it messier than usual. He was dressed in dark green bottoms and a grey t-shirt. He made his way over to the couch and smiled when he saw that Hermione was already up. She was under a couple blankets to shelter herself from the chill so early on the early winter morning.
"Happy Christmas," Harry greeted Hermione. Hermione looked up from where she was curled up on the couch watching the Christmas tree and smiled when she saw Harry.
"Hey, Happy Christmas," greeted Hermione and Harry sat down next to her. Hermione lifted up her covers and Harry grinned as he slipped himself in next to her. He tried not to think about what he had seen once she had lifted the blankets - a pair of baby pink bottoms and strapped top with a grey kitten pictured on the front. Instead he wrapped the covers around them tighter and joined her in watching the Christmas tree.
Harry thought back to his talk with Lupin before he took his eyes off the tree to look at Hermione once more. Hermione, sensing Harry was looking at her, turned to face him and noticed the serious look on his face. "Harry?" she asked, concerned.
Harry leaned in once more and his lips almost touched hers when the sound of footsteps hurrying down the stairs reached them. Harry and Hermione froze in place as they stared at each other.
"Happy Christmas!" Mia greeted as she entered the common room. She arched an eyebrow when she saw how close Harry and Hermione were sitting together. "The mistletoe is over at the door people... if you wish to snog, at least find an excuse." Harry and Hermione pulled away from each other and glared at Mia.
"Ha flaming ha," Harry shot at her sarcastically as Mia rounded the couch and settled on the floor next to the tree. Hermione had to cover her smile when she saw Mia was dressed in red PJs with white snowflakes on them. Her hair was pulled up in a messy twist with a clasp holding it up.
"Well, don't you look Christmas-sy?" Hermione teased, fondly. Mia just looked at Hermione.
"Is there a problem?" Mia teased back. Harry and Hermione just smiled as Ron came down the stairs. He was dressed in grey bottoms and a red t-shirt.
"Merry Christmas," he greeted as he slumped on the chair next to the couch.
"I'll play Santa!" Mia spoke up with excitement bubbling in her voice as she raked through the stack under the Christmas tree. "This is for Ron from Harry." She handed Ron the parcel and he opened it to see that he had gotten a new chessboard.
"All right mate, this is brilliant!" Ron exclaimed as he examined the pieces. He was truly happy with the gift since his had started to get a bit worn down from all the games that they had been playing.
"This is to Harry from me," Mia called out as she threw a parcel at Harry, who tore into it and smiled when he held up the CD.
"Alright, the Fray!" Harry exclaimed.
"The who?" Ron asked, puzzled.
"It's a muggle band that Harry likes - they have some really good songs. We'll see over the summer about getting you to listen to it and see what you think," Mia told him and Ron nodded.
"How did you get this?" Harry asked, confused to when she had gone into the muggle world.
"I got it when Hermione and I went shopping that time we were staying at dad's house," Mia replied as she dug under the tree again and pulled out another parcel. "This is to me from Harry." She tore into the present only to gape when she saw it was the leather jacket that she had been admiring in one of the shops in Hogsmeade. Hermione nudged Harry's side.
"Told you she'd like it," she told him and Harry just smiled at her before he looked at Mia once more.
"Is it the right size?" Harry asked and Mia nodded.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed and Harry shook his head.
"I know what you are like with leather - besides, it saved me from getting a headache this time," Harry told her. Getting presents for Mia was always a nightmare for Harry - he never knew what to get his sister because she always seemed to have everything that she wanted. Mia rolled her eyes as she pulled out another parcel.
"This is to Hermione from Ron," Mia told them as she handed the parcel to Hermione, who took it and carefully unwrapped the present. She ignored the teasing from her friends about her delicacy before her eyes widened when she saw the title of the book inside.
"Oh my, thank you Ron," Hermione told him and Ron shook his head.
"I told Bill that you were looking for this book, and he managed to find it for me and sent it over," Ron told her. Hermione just smiled as she ran her hand over the covering of the Ancient Runes book. Ever since she started taking the class, she found herself fascinated with the subject but the school only had the more recent versions - the one Ron had gotten her was quite old.
"Okay: To Ron from Hermione," Mia called out as she handed the present to him. Ron took it and tore straight into it only to grin.
"Alright, the chess master book!" he exclaimed.
"I know how much you love chess and you always seem to want some new moves. So this should be able to keep you happy for a while," Hermione told him. Ron just sent her the okay sign while flipping through the book, stopping at a page every now and then to scan it more closely.
"This is to Hermione, from me," Mia told them as she threw the parcel at Hermione, who took it and opened it slightly faster than her first package.
"Oh my…Mia," Hermione gasped out as she opened the box and saw the silver necklace. It had a Moonstone Crystal hanging on the edge.
"It's a crystal that's related with water," Mia explained and Hermione nodded as she smiled at Mia. "Okay, this is to me from Hermione." She opened the present to see that Hermione had gotten her an ankle bracelet. It had the Chinese sign for wind on it. It also had the symbols for friendship, trust and love.
"I know how much you hate bracelets but this one you can wear on your ankle," Hermione explained.
"I love it!" Mia exclaimed as she clipped the anklet on her ankle. "Okay, this is Ron's from me." She threw the parcel at Ron, who caught it deftly.
He opened it to see that it contained a watch.
"Mia…" he started but Mia got up on her knees and moved over to the ledge of the chair.
"It's a multi watch - it tells you the time, then you have the hands underneath that tells you whenever one of your family or us is in danger. It is also linked to our watches," she lifted up her own watch to show him. "So if you're in danger, we'll know it. We know how much you worry about your family so I wanted to give you some peace of mind."
"Thank you," Ron told her and Mia waved her hand.
"Don't worry - okay, this is Harry's from Ron," she handed Harry the parcel before moving over to the tree once more. Harry opened it to see it contained two books - one was filled with the different weapons that were found throughout the world and the other book contained all creatures that were connected to fire.
"Oh wow," Harry told Ron, who grinned.
"Dad helped me to find the weapons book - he's nuts about them," the girls laughed at that. "Charlie helped me to find the animal books -apparently someone he knew was an animagus that had a fire animal form. They didn't know a lot about their animagus form to begin with and used that book for research, so that book should be able to help you," Ron told him.
"Thank you," Harry told him and Ron waved it off. Meanwhile Mia dug out the last two presents under the tree.
"Okay, this is to Harry from Hermione, and Hermione's from Harry. Both of them were stuck on the branches," Mia explained as she handed them their respective gifts and sat back, eager to see what they had gotten each other.
Harry and Hermione opened their presents. Hermione let out a small gasp when she saw a small charm of a cat to go on her charm bracelet that Harry had gotten her last Christmas. He had also gotten her a sliver necklace that had a sapphire crystal adorning the middle.
"Oh Harry," she sighed as she fingered the necklace.
"It's your birth stone," Harry told her and Hermione smiled. "And I think you can guess what the cat is for." Hermione laughed slightly as she watched Harry open his present. Harry saw it was large photo frame with a picture inside. It was of his first Christmas, with Sirius holding baby Harry while Lupin was sorting out the tinsel and smiling at the pair. The one thing that got him choked up was his parents; his parents were sitting next to each other as they overlooked the scene with love in their eyes.
The other thing that Hermione had gotten him was a plain sliver bracelet. Underneath it on the inside was written 'Harry and Hermione -October 31st'. Harry looked up at Hermione and smiled brightly. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you," he told her, hoarsely. Hermione just smiled back. Ron and Mia looked at each other with happiness shining in their eyes - it looked like Harry and Hermione were getting ever closer in admitting their feelings for each other.
Everyone was following Harry up into the boys' dormitories to let him put his presents away when they saw that Hedwig was sitting on her perch and hooting softly at a long, thin parcel that was on Harry's bed.
Harry, frowning, made his way over to the bed and picked it up.
"Who could have left this?" Harry asked.
"Maybe someone sent it via owl - your window is still open," Hermione pointed out.
"Open it," Ron encouraged. Harry looked at the parcel once more before he ripped the paper off.
"Oh…my…god," Hermione breathed out when she saw it. Harry's jaw just dropped with shock while Mia and Ron shared a look of amazement.
"Harry…that's a Firebolt," Ron uttered out in awe and Harry nodded.
"Who sent it to you?" Hermione asked. Harry looked through the papers until he found a small tag.
"Thought you might need it. Snuffles," Harry recited as he read it off. Mia and Hermione shared a look of amazed wonder while Ron looked at Harry, confused.
"Snuffles?" Ron asked.
"Sirius," Harry mouthed and understanding dawned on Ron as he nodded to Harry, catching on.
"Oh, this is wicked. You are going to beat everyone's pants in Quidditch!" Ron whooped, causing laughter from Harry, Hermione and Mia.
"Looks like you don't need to look for a new broom," Hermione told Harry, who was beaming as he placed the broom on the bed.
"Come on, we'd better get ready - we have to go out there have a snowball fight!" Harry exclaimed. They all agreed and went their separate ways to get ready.
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At dinnertime the four found themselves starving as they re-entered the castle. They had had their snowball fight and then explored the castle to see if anything new had popped up. They then visited Hagrid and Buckbeak and found that both of them were having a brilliant Christmas. Exchanging gifts with Hagrid had taken a little while, and now everyone was famished after the busy day.
They entered the Great Hall and saw to their surprise that there was only one table in the middle of the room. Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Filch, Snape and two other students that had stayed behind for the holidays were already seated.
"Happy Christmas everybody! Come and sit down!" Dumbledore greeted as he waved them over to the table. "As there aren't many of us, it seemed silly to be sitting at separate house tables."
The four of them walked over to the table and sat down. Professor Trelawney came out of nowhere and was about to sit down when she noticed something.
"I can not sit here!" she exclaimed.
"Why ever not?" McGonagall asked in a scathing tone.
"Because there it would make thirteen at this table and that is extremely bad luck!" Trelawney told her.
"Oh do sit down!" McGonagall snipped. "I'm sure it'll be fine!" Trelawney sat down with her eyes clenched shut as if she expected a bolt of lightning to hit the table. Harry and Ron shared a look together while Hermione just rolled her eyes. Mia, however, was too busy tucking into her dinner and asking Professor Flitwick some questions.
"Is Professor Lupin going to be joining us?" Trelawney asked Dumbledore.
"No, he is feeling a little under the weather. He will go to the kitchens if he feels hungry," Dumbledore told her. McGonagall eyed Trelawney.
"Surely you knew that," she asked and the divination teacher sniffed slightly.
"Of course, I just hoped that I could have been wrong. Though I'm afraid that he might not be with us for much longer," she informed them.
"You can say that again," Mia mumbled under her breath as she took a sip of her juice only to find that everyone was watching her. "What?" she exclaimed.
"Do you have the sight my dear?" Trelawney asked, peering at Mia through her thick glasses.
"What? No!" Mia exclaimed.
"Why did you agree with her?" Professor Flitwick asked and Mia arched an eyebrow.
"Hogwarts doesn't really have a good track record when it comes to DADA teachers you know? One was possessed and ended the year as a pile of dust. Another one was a fraud and ended up with his memories removed. I only hope that Professor Lupin comes out of this year unscathed," Mia told them.
"Honestly Mia," Hermione scolded. "Start being nice." Mia arched an eyebrow at her.
"I am being nice!" she protested only to get a snort of disbelief from Harry, whom she shot a glare at.
"Tell me," Professor Sprout spoke up. "Lupin had told us all about your fears with the Boggarts - I had heard that you changed yours into Sirius and Mr. Potter having a food fight?" Mia grinned.
"Yeah, back when we were about eight or so - Dad did something to Harry... I think he changed Harry's hair colour when he was sleeping?" she looked at Harry, who nodded.
"Yeah, bright pink - said it would suit my eyes," Harry reminded her. Mia laughed as it came back to her.
"Yeah, anyway, Harry shot Dad with a spell that made him tell everyone he saw that he loved them - attracted quite a lot of attention at primary school - and our teacher thought that dad was a bit mad. Dad got his revenge by rigging a bucket above the front door and setting it up to cover Harry in honey when he walked through the door. That started a huge food fight and they both slipped up in the mess they made," Mia finished.
McGonagall had tears of laughter in her eyes when Mia was finished.
"Your father sure did like to create pranks when he was at school - your mother on the other hand, she was quite a smart one," McGonagall told her. The kids leaned forward, interested.
"Do you think you could tell us?" Harry asked causing startled looks from the teacher. "Aunt Callie was the first person Uncle Sirius saw when he arrived at my house back - he finds it hard to talk about her."
"Oh my," Sprout whispered as she held a hand to her heart. "Sirius loved Callie very much - she was the only one who could keep him on his toes."
"Your mother was smart enough to pull pranks and not get caught. No one would actually suspect her and if people did, she was smart enough not to leave any evidence behind that would point the finger at her," Flitwick spoke up.
"Yes, I vaguely remembered a time where an older boy had said something that Callie didn't like. Of course, she got her revenge by sticking him to the ceiling near the Great Hall doors - quite a drafty spot, if I'm not mistaken. You should have seen Lily's face when she came down the stairs to find the boy stripped down to his boxers, spread-eagle with the saying 'I must respect muggleborns' written on his chest in black ink - took a while to get that ink off, too," Sprout told them.
Harry and Mia were laughing together while Ron was howling with laughter by now.
"What did the boy say to get her so worked up?" Hermione asked through her chortles.
"Apparently, she had said something about Lily being something - of course, no one would tell us teachers what had been said," McGonagall told her and Hermione nodded.
"We need to get a pensive set up so you all can put some of your memories in them - we only get one viewpoint from Uncle Sirius, so it'll be nice to see other people's experiences of them," Harry told them.
"That'll be wonderful," Flitwick squeaked with excitement. "You let me know when and I'll be there."
Everyone else just smiled at Flitwick's obvious excitement.
Soon dinner was over and the students found themselves walking up to their Common Room.
"You know what?" Mia started and they looked at her. "I never thought I'd say this, but that was actually quite fun."
The other three grinned in agreement at her.
"You're right. It's nice just to find out more about your family," Hermione told her as she squeezed her arm around Mia's middle, hugging her.
"Come on, let's get to bed - I'm knackered," Harry told them as he wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders. Ron wrapped an arm around Mia's shoulders and they made their way up to their dorm rooms, enjoying their wonderful day.
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Christmas was finally over, much to everyone's annoyance - it meant classes were starting up again and that exams were getting closer. Hagrid was beginning to get pretty nervous with the case coming up, despite Mia's assurances that everything would go well.
Harry made his way into Gryffindor Common Room and looked around to see Hermione sitting at the table next to the window. A closer look told him that she was sleeping and was using one of her books as a pillow.
Harry sighed as he moved closer and sat down on the chair next to Hermione before sitting back and eyeing the younger girl. He had to admit that this was the only time he had seen her look so relaxed.
Harry jumped slightly when he felt something rub against his shin and looked down to see a furry orange cat winding his way through Harry's legs. Harry smiled.
"Hey buddy," greeted Harry as Crookshanks jumped up onto his lap and Harry scratched his ears. "I don't suppose you could tell me what's up with Hermione, could you?" Crookshanks just let out a small meow before he rubbed his head against Harry's chest. Harry ran his hand through Crookshanks' fur before while studying Hermione's face once more.
He could see the tired lines around her eyes. The bags under her eyes were beginning to look darker than they had earlier. Harry reached out and shook Hermione's shoulder gently, causing her to bolt up in her seat. Her brown eyes looked around the room with a dazed look in them before they landed on Harry.
"Oh, Harry, what time is it?" Hermione asked through a yawn.
"Time for you to tell me what's going on," Harry told her. His eyes narrowed when he saw a red line on her cheek and realised it was from the book.
"I'm just tired due to the studying and looking for information for the case," Hermione told him as she pulled her books toward her, causing Harry to place a hand on top of hers, stilling its movement.
Hermione stared at the hand for a short moment before she brought her dark eyes up to meet his.
"You are running yourself exhausted. You are coming into classes even when I know you didn't enter them with me. You are going to all your classes somehow... I have overheard most of the teachers complimenting your work, yet I know you're not going to some of those classes because you are in my class at that time," Harry told her, his voice low and steady as he continued to stare into Hermione's eyes.
"Harry…" she started but stopped when she saw the shuttered look in his eyes and he removed his hand from hers.
"I get that you can't tell me but I'm not going to stand by and watch you do this to yourself. I care about you too much to let you." With that, Harry stood up, placing Crookshanks on the chair that he had just vacated and left the common room, leaving Hermione alone, staring after his back with a gaze that was filled with internal struggle.
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Before they knew it, the date set for the court case was upon them, which set Hermione into a frenzy to sort out everything in time for their defense. Mia had tried countless times to calm Hermione down, but in the process ended up nearly tearing her hair out. She then sent Harry in to deal with the worked-up teenager while she went off to get ready for the trial.
"Calm down Hermione," Harry soothed as he placed his hands on Hermione's to prevent them from madly flicking through the books on her normal study table.
"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione hissed as she looked up at him with wild eyes. "I have to finish researching!" Harry pulled Hermione off the seat and led her over to the couch while she struggled to get back to her books. Harry gently sat her down on the couch and sat down across from her.
"You need to calm down," Harry told her before he reached out and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Take a deep breath and let it out, slowly," he coached. Hermione did so and soon her body relaxed, causing Harry to smile as he continued his own slow breathing to help her.
After a few minutes of breathing calmly, Hermione gave him a smile. "Better now?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded.
"Yeah, thank you," Hermione told him and Harry shook his head.
"Hey, it's no problem," Harry assured her before they turned to face the doorway when they heard the portrait open.
"Hey, I thought you guys were supposed to be leaving by now," Ron told them as he came into the common room and saw that Harry and Hermione were sitting on the couch.
"We're going to be leaving in a minute," Harry told him. "Mia needed to get changed and I had to calm Hermione down."
"Cool," Ron understood as he moved over to the chair and sat down just as footsteps came down the stairs. They turned to see Mia making her way over to the fireplace in front of the couch and chairs.
"So, how do I look?" Mia asked as she spun in a circle so that the gang could see her. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a white blouse with a black suit jacket over it. Her black hair was twisted and pulled up into a clip. She wore black high-heeled shoes, which added a few more inches to her height, and skin-tone tights. She also wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses over her eyes that made her blue eyes look more intimidating.
"If I'm ever up on trial, I want you to defend me," Ron informed her. "Bloody hell, you look scary." Mia grinned at him.
"That's the effect I'm going for," Mia told him.
"I gotta take a picture of this, Uncle Sirius is so going to want to see you like this," Harry informed her before he rushed up the stairs to his bedroom. He came back down the stairs with a camera in his hand. "Strike a pose," Harry told her.
Mia just planted her hands on her hips before rolling her eyes as Harry took a picture.
"Excellent, can you get us copies? The twins will never believe me," Ron told Harry, who nodded.
"I'm gonna make everyone copies," Harry promised him and Mia threw up her hands.
"Come on! We're gonna be late if we don't get a move on," Mia informed them as she lead the way out of the common room. Ron stared after them with a smile before he shook his head and turned back to the fire.
The Ministry didn't know what was going to hit them!
Hagrid, Mia, Hermione and Harry made their way over to the telephone box that visitors used to enter the Ministry. Mia picked up the phone.
"Full name and state your business," an automatic female voice spoke up.
"Mia Black, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Rubeus Hagrid - Court order business," Mia stated into the phone.
"Thank you," the female voice spoke. There was a clattering sound and four nametags fell into the coin change slot. All four of them put theirs on. The floor beneath them started to whir and they all found themselves being led down the chute until they finally arrived at the ministry building.
Hermione stepped forward first and found herself awestruck by the sight. The building was large with lots of people and several Aurors walking around. Mia led the way over to the counter.
"We are here for the court case of Buckbeak vs. Pansy Parkinson," Mia informed the female behind the glass window. The female was about 25 years old just looked at Mia before scoffing and turned back to what she was doing. Mia grit her teeth as she stated again. "We are here for the court case of Buckbeak vs. Pansy Parkinson."
"Look, I'm not here for your amusement. You are not here for anything so why don't you go back to school where you belong, little girl," the woman sneered. Mia's eyes narrowed before she slammed her hand on the window, causing everyone nearby to look at her.
"Why don't you go back to school and learn some damn manners? I'm here for the court case of Buckbeak vs. Pansy Parkinson because we were requested to come down here," Mia informed her as she grabbed the letter and slammed it against the window for the woman to look. "And if you don't get a move on, I will call your boss and make sure that he fires your ass out from that chair and into the gutter!"
"First floor - take the right then take the left," the woman squeaked out. Mia straightened her outfit out and smiled sweetly at the young woman.
"Thank you," Mia informed her before leaving the area with Hermione clinging onto Harry as he and Hagrid followed after her.
"What did her father teach her?" Hagrid whispered to Harry.
"Not to act like that, for sure," Harry whispered back as they finally came to the room that they were supposed to be in.
They entered the room. There was a large semi-circular table taking up the end of the room with chairs arranged behind it. There were two more tables sitting across from the large table with two chairs behind each table.
Behind the smaller tables was a wooden barrier with a small gate in the middle and rows of seats going back further indicating that they had indeed came to the correct room - the court room.
Harry looked around and she saw that Lucius Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were standing next to the table to the right with two older adults, who, Harry assumed, were the Parkinsons.
Fudge was sitting in the middle of the large table with several other people sitting in the rest of the chairs. Each of them was looking at the students confused as to why they would be there during a trial.
A muttering started up between the Ministry members, causing Lucius to look up at them before he followed their gaze towards the doors. His eyes widened when he saw the newest arrivals.
"Why are those students here?" Lucius demanded.
"I'm Miss Mia Black, and I'll be defending Buckbeak on behalf of Professor Hagrid," Mia informed them. She moved forward to where everyone else was and stepped through the gate, holding it open for Hagrid to follow. Harry and Hermione, meanwhile, stayed behind the barrier.
"You are just a child, there is no way you can defend anyone," Lucius snipped out.
"Actually I can. The law says that any person can act as a defender if they have the correct material and know proper court procedures. The law makes no mention of age restrictions and effectively says I can defend Buckbeak if I wish," Mia informed him.
Lucius just looked toward the Minister, who sighed.
"What she says is correct. Miss Black is well within her right to defend someone or something as she wishes," Fudge informed him. Lucius grumbled under his breath and sat down beside Pansy Parkinson, who was already playing up the victim for all she was worth.
Mia pointed to a seat at the empty table on the left and Hagrid nodded as he moved over and sat down once the chair expanded to fit Hagrid's height and weight. Harry and Hermione sat behind Mia's table to watch the show.
"This outta be good. The trial hasn't even started and she's already pissed of Malfoy," Harry whispered to Hermione, who stifled a smile and shot Harry an admonishing look.
"Behave," she scolded him. Harry just shot her a lop-sided grin before turning back to face the front.
Pansy's parents were in the process of sitting down in the first row of seats behind their daughter's table. They looked over towards Harry and Hermione and the male bent down to the female and muttered something in her ear. She looked closely at Hermione, up and down, and sneered in her direction.
Harry bent around Hermione to send a burning glare at the woman, causing her eyes to widen and her face to paled slightly before turning back towards the front.
Harry settled himself back in his seat and faced the front.
"Stupid purebloods," Harry muttered under his breath. Hermione just wrapped her arm around his elbow, calming him down.
"Ignore them. They'll gets what's coming to them sooner or later," Hermione whispered to him before she rested her head on his shoulder.
"Welcome to the Wizarding Court. Case #23764 - Buckbeak versus Pansy Parkinson. Buckbeak the Hippogriff is on trial due to the fact that he attacked Miss Parkinson during a class lesson, unprovoked," Fudge informed everyone as he read from his file that was on the table before him before he looked up. "Please announce yourself and your positions."
Lucius Malfoy stood up, straightened his black robes and cleared his throat.
"I'm Lucius Malfoy. I'm here to prosecute the Hippogriff for attacked this young woman, Pansy Parkinson," Pansy let out a small moan as she covered her still bandaged arm before she shot everyone a weak smile. "My intent is to prove that it is a dangerous creature and should be sent to death." He sat back down.
Mia just looked at him with a cold glare before she stood up, slowly and deliberately.
"My name is Mia Black," a few mutterings started up. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't blame the so-called sins of my father on me," she snipped at them, ceasing the chatter as they looked at her, shocked. "I'm here to defend Buckbeak. My intent is to prove that Miss Parkinson avoided heeding clearly stated warnings and wishes to pass the blame of her lack of understanding onto an innocent creature."
"You liar!" a female voice shouted and everyone turned to see Mrs. Parkinson standing as she glared at Mia. "My daughter is the smartest student at Hogwarts!" Mia smirked.
"Sorry, I think you mean Miss Hermione Granger - considering the fact that you daughter can barely pass Potions without upending the contents on top of her," Mia informed the woman before she turned back to the front. "If Mrs. Parkinson can not keep quiet during the proceedings, I request that she should be removed from the room."
"Very well, Mrs. Parkinson, please refrain yourself from speaking out again," Fudge told the elderly woman. Mrs. Parkinson sat back down with an air of royalty. Harry leaned back into Hermione.
"Make that two people," he whispered to Hermione, who stifled a giggle as she buried her face into his shoulder.
"You may continue," Fudge motioned to them. Mia sat back down and allowed Lucius to go first, but he refused.
"Oh no, Ladies first," Lucius informed her and she snorted.
"Actually, no, I would love to hear what you have to say," Mia informed him. "Besides, you're the Pureblood - surely you're better off going first?" she buttered him up. Lucius shot her a smug smirk as he stood up. "Yeah, head first into a volcano," she muttered under her breath.
Hagrid let out a cough to muffle his laughter while Harry was biting his bottom lip and Hermione still had her face in Harry's shoulder. Mia rolled her eyes as she realized that her last statement hadn't been said quietly enough.
Lucius stepped forward; again straightening his robes as he went along, thinking it would easy to get the conviction he wanted.
"Dear Ministry... Miss Parkinson was in her Care of Magical Creatures class when Professor Hagrid brought in a herd of Hippogriffs. Miss Parkinson had been given a book for the course but was never told how to open the book - the Monster Book of Monsters," Lucius lifted up the book that had a belt wrapped around it. "She had went to stroke the Hippogriff under the teacher's attention when it had viciously attacked her, leaving her with a lame arm. The damage is such that she can hardly do any work without anyone to help her." Lucius smirked as he dove in for the kill. "This creature should be put down; we can not have a dangerous creature like this on the run where it could attack more students. Professor Hagrid should be relieved of his position because of incompetence and negligence. Not only did he not give proper instruction, but did not control the creature and prevent the attack upon a young student under his care." He sat back down while Pansy looked mighty pleased with herself. Both of them were convinced that they were going to win.
"Buckbeak isn't a dangerous creature," Mia spoke as she stood up. She looked dangerous herself in her professional suit and high heels. "Professor Hagrid stated very clearly that you couldn't insult a hippogriff because they are very proud creatures. Even if Miss Parkinson couldn't understand him, she could have read it in the book that was issued on the course book list we get every summer. She insulted Buckbeak, knowing that he would take offence to her action and would act defensively out against that action."
"She said she didn't know and the teacher should have announced it very clearly," Lucius told her.
"Why didn't she know?" Mia asked. "Did she not read the book that she was told to collect over the summer? She had plenty of time to read the book and gain the required information. The professor made it very clear at the beginning of the lesson. He said, and I quote, 'The one thing you must never do is insult a hippogriff - it may be the last thing you ever do'. If that's not clear enough, then I don't know what is."
"Look like she's good," Harry whispered and Hermione nodded.
"She couldn't read the book as she had no instructions on how to open it safely. And, by his quote, you just said that the professor knew that hippogriffs are dangerous animals yet still brought them into the school. All while knowing that they could attack any students whenever they felt like it!" Lucius argued heatedly.
"She could have gotten information on how to open the book if she had just asked shop keeper. If you like, I can supply you a list of witnesses who did ask the shopkeeper who supplied the books on how to open it properly. Miss Parkinson neglected to do that," Mia informed him. "And I didn't say that Hippogriffs are dangerous animals and neither did Professor Hagrid. He just merely informed the students that you have to be careful. It's the same with any creature out there in the world - they can turn on you if you treat them the wrong way. Professor Hagrid merely brought in animals that were instrumental in the course that he was to teach us. Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry had no problem in letting Professor Hagrid bringing in Hippogriffs to show to the class before the accident."
"He's running out of arguments," Hermione whispered to Harry, who shook his head.
"Mia will still lose. Malfoy doesn't like it when things don't go his way, and he'll bribe the jury," Harry told her. He knew that Mia knew it, too. But he also knew that Mia just wanted to have the upper hand on Malfoy. They could figure out another way to save Buckbeak later. There was no way in hell they were going to let an innocent animal be sent down due to the greed of another student.
"Your honour, if this creature was to live, he would attack another student. This time we were lucky that only an injury was the result. What happens if the next attack results in death?" Lucius asked. He knew he was running out of arguments, but he refused to let a half blood get the best of him.
"Your honour, that is merely theoretical. Unless Mr. Malfoy has been hiding the ability to see into the future, you have no proof that Buckbeak would ever become dangerous. Ever since the attack, Buckbeak continued to be surrounded by students and not one of them has been attacked. Miss Parkinson is the only victim, and she insulted the hippogriff to his face. Do you not find that curious?" she told him.
"Miss Black, it only needs to take one attack for the worst to happen," Fudge informed her and Mia's temper started to boil.
"Oh hell," Harry muttered. "Now he's done it." Hermione looked at him, confused.
"Harry?" she asked and Harry leaned into her so that no one else could overhear what he was going to tell her.
"Voldemort had been rising in power since our parents were in Hogwarts. He had been attacking more and more for years - Fudge saying it only needs to take one attack for 'the worst to happen' is being hypocritical considering the fact that the Ministry didn't do a damn thing to stop Voldemort on his first rise to power," Harry explained and Hermione closed her eyes.
"And now Mia is pissed," she whispered, finally understanding what was happening and Harry nodded.
"Miss Parkinson insulted the hippogriff to his face - after a severe warning from the teacher himself that it was not a good thing to do. She neglected to read the book that was issued to her so she could learn what was coming into class with a poor excuse that she didn't know how to open the book when countless of other students had no problems asking the shopkeeper for the answer. She went straight to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey fixed her arm up right away yet she keeps up the pretence that her arm is still in pain. I know students have gone to her with more serious injuries only to walk away the next day perfectly fine and at 100 percent," Mia informed him. "Lucius Malfoy is associating himself with a family who made themselves very clear that they back Voldemort - the same person who Lucius Malfoy claims he was placed under the Imperious Curse. Yet he's here helping the family prosecute an innocent creature." She slammed her notes down onto the table. "And you have the gall to sit there and tell me that it only takes one provoked attack for you all to take action when you all did nothing when Voldemort was running about loose killing muggleborns and purebloods who dared to stand up to him?"
"Miss Black," Fudge started but Mia was on a roll.
"You are willing to let an innocent creature get sent down for defending himself when he was insulted? I'm pretty sure if I was to insult you the same way Miss Parkinson insulted Buckbeak that you would probably try and attack me," Mia informed him. "If you let an innocent creature get sent down because you are too blinded by your own greed and bribes, then you are not worth the ground that Buckbeak walks on." With that, she sat down next to Hagrid, who just stared at her in shock at what she had just done. Harry and Hermione stared at each other open-mouthed while they stared in disbelief at Mia.
Pansy and Lucius were also staring at Mia and Pansy stared fixedly straight ahead; she had a feeling that she was going to be facing the rest of her school years in hell.
"Well…I…Miss Black…" Fudge stammered.
"No more questions your honour," Mia informed him. Fudge turned to Lucius, who just shook his head, indicating that he had nothing else to say.
"We, the committee, will retire to our chambers where we will discuss the case. You may return back to your schools or homes and you will be contacted about the action that will be taken," Fudge informed them as he stood up with the rest of the committee.
Mia packed up her notes and placed them in her bag before she and Hagrid made their way over to Harry and Hermione.
They left the courtroom and spilled into the hall.
"Bloody hell Mia," Harry finally spoke up, saying the first words that came to his brain. Hermione agreed with her eyes wide.
"I lost my temper," Mia told them with a sigh. "We'll be lucky if they even listened to me."
"Don't worry about it," Hagrid told her. "You did a good job, and it was about time someone told the Ministry what they really thought about them." Mia just smiled up at Hagrid as Pansy and Lucius walked out with Pansy's parents behind them.
"I'll just be a minute," Mia told them before she hurried over to Pansy. Pansy stopped warily and watched her parents and Lucius continue their way over to the elevator almost longingly. "I just wanted to let you know to watch your back from now on. You have pushed me to the limit and I will not be showing any mercy," Mia told her with a sweet smile, making everyone think it was a pleasant conversation. "Enjoy the rest of your night."
Mia turned on her heels and walked back over to the gang. "Let's go back to Hogwarts. I have a feeling we all need some sleep," Mia told them. They nodded as they hurried to leave the Ministry altogether, eager to depart.
Harry couldn't wait to get a hold of Ron and Draco to tell them what he had just witnessed. He wished that he had a pensieve so that he could show Sirius when they finally met back up again.
TBC
Mia's role has been kinda revealed in this story - take another guess and see if you can figure it out what it is. Most of you were pretty close the last time I asked you about her - although you kinda gave other peoples' roles to Mia.
Mia's quite scary, isn't she? (Whistles innocently)