Peter's abnormality quickly attracted the attention of people around him, mainly because his current condition was too abnormal.

If Scrimgeour had not checked the other person's identity beforehand, some people would even think that he was created by Dumbledore using Transfiguration.

In other words, he was controlled by the Imperius Curse... Although this idea is a bit ridiculous, it is not impossible.

Soon, Scrimgeour walked over again.

But he was only an Auror after all, not a healer from St. Mungo's. Faced with this situation, he didn't know what to do specifically, so he could only use a few detection spells as usual.

"No problem." Scrimgeour shook his head and said, "I think he was probably stimulated by something and couldn't accept it for a while, so he became like this."

Fudge breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the situation he was most worried about did not happen.

"I suggest suspending the retrial!" Crouch suddenly said, "He is obviously in a state where he cannot be interrogated. I think we should send him to St. Mungo's first, and then retrial him when he can communicate normally."

On the steps behind him, some people immediately raised their hands to echo.

"I agree..."

"agree……"

"Let's send it to St. Mungo's first."

There are many supporters.

Fudge narrowed his eyes tightly and said, "Barty, I don't think it's necessary."

The reason why he conducted the retrial so suddenly was to catch Crouch off guard, so of course he would not agree to suspend the retrial.

"Amelia..." He looked at a witch wearing glasses next to him and asked, "I remember that truth serum should be used in this situation, right?"

Amelia Bones, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

Although truth serum is not a conventional trial method, it can be used if the person being tried refuses to cooperate or is unable to cooperate.

Or if you encounter cases with major impact, you can use it directly.

And these two...Peter Pettigrew seems to meet all of them.

"I object!" Crouch said angrily, "I don't deny that Director Bones is familiar with the Wizengamot Trial Act, but I think you must have overlooked one point, that is, more than half of the judges must agree to use the truth serum.

"Then let's vote now. I think Peter Pettigrew should be sent to St. Mungo's."

As he spoke, he raised his hand first.

On the podium behind him, people raised their hands one after another to agree with his point of view, but the number was not large, only about one-third.

"Don't forget..." A man sitting behind Crouch suddenly said, "Veritaserum also has its drawbacks. If Peter Pettigrew's memory has been modified by someone, then his words will become untrue. Sending him to St. Mungo's will just be a good opportunity to check his memory."

After a moment, more people raised their hands.

There is no need to even count the numbers; one glance is enough to tell that more people are now against the use of truth serum.

Seeing this scene, Fudge panicked a little and began to look at Dumbledore frequently.

But neither Dumbledore nor Sirius Black said anything, they just watched quietly.

Soon, the statistical results came out.

Of the one hundred judges present, fifty-nine were against the use of truth serum.

"More than half of the people are against it." Amelia said, "The motion to use the truth serum is dismissed, and the trial continues."

Fudge was even more panicked. He didn't understand. He had thought of everything... First, he exposed Peter Pettigrew's fake death in public, then used the truth serum to restore the truth of that year, and finally, when the dust settled, he dealt a heavy blow to Crouch.

But why did such a perfect plan go so wrong?

Now the truth serum is no longer effective. Once Peter Pettigrew is sent to St. Mungo's, who knows when he will be able to recover? If it takes a year or two... no, even if it's just a few days, giving Crouch time to prepare, then all his good cards will be completely useless.

He looked to Dumbledore again, seeking help.

But Dumbledore still didn't look at him.

"And..." After the reversal, the man continued with a smug look on his face, "Have you forgotten about Blake's escape from prison?"

"But he wanted to clear his name," said an elderly witch. "Dumbledore has already explained that he saw it in the newspaper and recognized Peter Pettigrew's Animagus, and wanted to..."

But before she could finish her words, she was rudely interrupted. The man said coldly:

"Whatever his motives, the incident itself has had a serious impact on the prestige of the Ministry of Magic. We receive at least three Howlers every week because of him.

"I suggest that our first priority during Peter Pettigrew's treatment at St Mungo's is to get him to reveal how he escaped.

Although he didn't say it explicitly, everyone present could hear that this person was just short of directly accusing Dumbledore of perjury.

It seemed that he had already tacitly accepted in his heart that Peter Pettigrew was the innocent man.

Implying that Dumbledore had altered his memory and given false testimony... How dare he do that?

Some people's faces turned ugly.

Even Crouch frowned, as if he felt that this was inappropriate, but he finally remained silent and said calmly:

"Then let's start the second round of voting. Should we suspend the retrial and send Peter Pettigrew to St. Mungo's first? After we have checked his memory..."

"Oh, sorry, wait a moment."

At this time, Dumbledore, who had been silent all the time, finally spoke.

He took a step forward and took a position in front of everyone.

"Mr. Bizita, I understand your concerns."

"Of course, you are right. Before the most authoritative examination, I personally have no evidence to prove that I have not modified Peter's memory."

When he saw Dumbledore stand up, Bizita was still a little panicked, but after hearing these words, he felt relieved and at ease.

In any case, as long as it cannot be proved that Peter's memory is fine, this retrial will not be able to proceed.

Even Dumbledore would not insist on having his own way, or he would take the initiative to break the authority of the Wizengamot. He would not and could not do that.

Bizita was quite confident about this, because the person standing there was Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard.

Fudge's heart sank to the bottom.

But just when everyone thought that this retrial would end hastily...

"But we don't necessarily need truth serum."

Dumbledore said calmly: "Any magic has traces to follow, especially magic like the Fidelius Charm, which involves the soul.

When a wizard decides to keep a secret within his soul, that secret stays with him for the rest of his life and can never be erased."

"What do you want to say?" Bizita looked absent-minded. "If you want to attend the class, I suggest you take that student back to Hogwarts..."

"Oh, you misunderstood."

Dumbledore said, "I just want to tell you that no matter how deeply hidden the magic is, it is not absolutely safe. There is always a way to find some traces, and the Fidelius Charm is no exception."

"That's impossible!" said Crouch. "As far as I know, there is no way to break the protection of the Fidelius Charm."

“That’s the normal situation.”

Dumbledore said, "But when the Secret-Keeper breaks his will and the secret no longer needs to be kept, then the spell is no longer unbreakable.

"Luckily, I happened to meet a nice friend before I came to the Ministry, and she agreed to help me with a small favor."

He looked at Foley and said cheerfully, "Connelly, can you let her in? I think she should be outside the door now."

"Oh, of course, no problem," Fudge said quickly.

The heavy door opened again.

A man in a black robe strode in. There was a circle of golden magic patterns on the cuffs and the edge of the hood of the black robe.

"This outfit... belongs to the Silent Man!" someone cried out.

Kyle's eyes widened as well, and his head felt buzzing.

He never thought that the person Dumbledore was talking about was actually Diana! "I'm so glad you can come." Dumbledore said with a smile, "The rest is up to you."

"Okay." Diana nodded and glanced at Kyle intentionally or unintentionally.

Kyle quickly shrank his neck.

Strictly speaking, his presence here constituted truancy.

Although he was brought out by the principal, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked when he was caught by his mother.

…

(End of this chapter)