DEVIL'S SNARE ━ james sirius potter ✓

▬▬ 25. NEVER ALONE

⠀⠀"You wanted to see me, Chief Warlock?" Galicia asked, her face turning serious. She had a thick Spanish accent.
⠀⠀"Yes, apologies if any work was interrupted," Fawley answered, "but Deputy Granger wanted to see you."
⠀⠀Galicia nodded, swiftly approaching Hermione and James. Hermione picked up the pumpkin juice bottle, which was still half full, holding it up for everyone to see.
⠀⠀"This bottle was the bottle of pumpkin juice that Mister Potter drank the night of the incident," Hermione said, putting it down for a moment. She tapped her wand briefly on James' lips. "If I tap my wand on the rim of the bottle and it turns green, it means that James did drink from it."
⠀⠀Hermione tapped the rim of the bottle and it turned green, causing a stir in the crowd. "Exactly. Now I brought Potionsmaster Galicia here to ask what the drink is made out of. Would you mind, Potionsmaster?"
⠀⠀"It's my job, Deputy Granger," Galicia agreed, joking with Hermione. She took the bottle, giving it a tap. Orange liquid burst from the bottle into the air, into a bubble that hovered around in front of Galicia as she examined it.

⠀⠀A half an hour passed and Galicia's eyebrows knit together in confusion. She gently lowered her wand so that the bubble went back into the bottle, giving it a little wave to close the bottle. Just then the doors opened and Fred walked in.
⠀⠀"Fred Weasley?" Fawley's voice boomed. Fred looked incredibly nervous.
⠀⠀"Yes, ma'am," he managed to say. "I'm sorry about being late."
⠀⠀"Please sit down," was all Fawley said. "You will be called up soon."
⠀⠀Fred nodded and scurried off to where the Potters and Scamanders were sitting, giving James' shoulder a warm squeeze before sitting down.

⠀⠀"You were saying, Galicia?" Fawley asked, turning to the Potionsmaster.
⠀⠀"Chief Warlock," Galicia stated, turning to Fawley, "I've never seen anything like it. It was definitely not a potion mixed in with the juice because my examination could not identify it...which leads me to the plausible conclusion that it was actually a spell that induced similar symptoms to that of Amortentia...perhaps a variation of the potion. But, there is no such spell."
⠀⠀"Exactly," Hermione said, waving her wand again at the papers on her desk, so that the three envelopes Laurel brought hovered in the air. "These three envelopes contain letters from Mr and Mrs Zox to their daughter—"
⠀⠀"What in bloody hell!" Theodore shouted angrily. "How did you get your hands on—"
⠀⠀Hermione ignored him. "They were found in the library by one of the students. It got to the hands of Miss Scamander who underlined a couple of sentences stating that it was Miss Mara Zox who illegally created a spell to drug, and date-rape other male and female students."
⠀⠀"This is an invasion of privacy!" Mara yelled, jumping up in her seat, slamming her hands on the table. "You have no right! Chief Warlock, please—"
⠀⠀"You dropped the letters!" James fired back. "If you wanted to cover your arse, you should've done a better job at it."

⠀⠀Before Mara could reply, Hermione had already begun to read the lines Laurel had indeed underlined in the letter in red ink.

⠀⠀"This letter was written the twentieth of February of this year," Hermione stated, her voice booming over everyone else's, "signed by Miss Zox's father, Mister Chairman." Hermione eyed Theodore who was cowering behind Fawley. "I won't read the entire letter for time's sake, but I will read parts that I'm sure will convince everyone that Mister Potter is innocent.

⠀⠀The Potters and the Weasleys have it far too easy, my dear Mara. Our plans should bring justice to the unfairness our family has received in the past...

⠀⠀...there are things I can't say because of my position in the Ministry, but all that Muggle blood in those families has tainted their views. They do not deserve the power they have. Magic belongs to only the wizarding families that go back to the ancients. You must remember that always..."