Gideon listened as Montreaux addressed the room. It was clear which side of the argument he landed. The one where Gideon would spend years behind bars in Azkaban. A place no one came back from. His friend and Solicitor, at his side through it all, would finish off the trial. His life was in his hands.
Corvus stood before the members, slow and deliberate. Looking directly at the sea of red above him, his voice echoed through the room, clear and confident.
"Facilitator, Members of the Wizengamot.
You have spent the day dissecting seconds as if they were hours. You have listened to witnesses, asked questions and hopefully, you have received the answers that will help you come to a verdict.
Mr. Blackwood is charged with child endangerment. I ask you to think about this while making your decision. What is the greater endangerment? To act with force to stop a torture in progress, or to stand outside a door and listen to a thirteen year old’s mind break under the Cruciatus Curse? Would it have been better to negotiate with a lunatic? Giving in to demands by releasing Halloway, while listening to a second year fall to her death from a tower window.
They speak of child endangerment through omission, as if Gideon simply looked the other way while Thayer was allowed to run loose around the castle, but let's really think about the man in question.
Thayer was not a bumbling intruder. He was a master of deception. He did not break into Hogwarts. He was already there, hidden behind a mask of professional service that he had worn for years. You accuse Mr. Blackwood of negligence for failing to see through that mask in a matter of months, yet I must ask: Where were the Ministry’s own eyes during the summer audit? Elite members of Magical Law Enforcement interviewed the staff. They vetted every person allowed back into the castle. They pronounced the school safe and the staff cleared. If the Ministries investigators could not detect the evil living in Thayer, how was a Deputy Headmaster, tasked with rebuilding a broken castle, expected to detect the deception?”
Corvus stopped at the podium, shaking his head while he flipped to a new page in his notes. Silence floated through the chamber, Corvus letting the quiet hold a beat longer than was comfortable.
“The Facilitator says this is not a referendum on heroism. He is right. It is a referendum on reality.
Gideon was hired to protect Hogwarts and those living within its walls. Protection is not a passive state, it’s a series of choices. When he saw little Maevie Golding jumping on Thayer, he did not think about Magical Statute 102.A. He thought of a child who was about to be killed if he didn’t act. He used his body as a shield, because that is what a Head of House does. He used his magic to counter a blast that would have had devastating, deadly consequences, because that is what a soldier does.
If you find that his presence in that tower increased the risk to those children, then vote guilty. But if you find Gideon guilty, then you are saying those children would have been safer in the hands of a madman. If you call the rescue of those three girls manslaughter, then you are saying the life of Thayer, a corrupt heretic, was more important than those students.
Gideon Blackwood did not kill Thayer. There will be no apology for his death. He sits here today with a clear conscience because three girls are home with their families, rather than buried in the ground. His actions were not done with Ministry approval in mind. It was for their lives. Mr. Blackwood follows the law, but the safety of his students will always come first.”
Corvus resumes his seat, crossing his leg while keeping a stern look on the Wizengamot members. There were a few nods. Others wouldn’t make eye contact at all. Others seemed to ponder what he had said, which was all he could ask for in the end.
Corvus stood before the members, slow and deliberate. Looking directly at the sea of red above him, his voice echoed through the room, clear and confident.
"Facilitator, Members of the Wizengamot.
You have spent the day dissecting seconds as if they were hours. You have listened to witnesses, asked questions and hopefully, you have received the answers that will help you come to a verdict.
Mr. Blackwood is charged with child endangerment. I ask you to think about this while making your decision. What is the greater endangerment? To act with force to stop a torture in progress, or to stand outside a door and listen to a thirteen year old’s mind break under the Cruciatus Curse? Would it have been better to negotiate with a lunatic? Giving in to demands by releasing Halloway, while listening to a second year fall to her death from a tower window.
They speak of child endangerment through omission, as if Gideon simply looked the other way while Thayer was allowed to run loose around the castle, but let's really think about the man in question.
Thayer was not a bumbling intruder. He was a master of deception. He did not break into Hogwarts. He was already there, hidden behind a mask of professional service that he had worn for years. You accuse Mr. Blackwood of negligence for failing to see through that mask in a matter of months, yet I must ask: Where were the Ministry’s own eyes during the summer audit? Elite members of Magical Law Enforcement interviewed the staff. They vetted every person allowed back into the castle. They pronounced the school safe and the staff cleared. If the Ministries investigators could not detect the evil living in Thayer, how was a Deputy Headmaster, tasked with rebuilding a broken castle, expected to detect the deception?”
Corvus stopped at the podium, shaking his head while he flipped to a new page in his notes. Silence floated through the chamber, Corvus letting the quiet hold a beat longer than was comfortable.
“The Facilitator says this is not a referendum on heroism. He is right. It is a referendum on reality.
Gideon was hired to protect Hogwarts and those living within its walls. Protection is not a passive state, it’s a series of choices. When he saw little Maevie Golding jumping on Thayer, he did not think about Magical Statute 102.A. He thought of a child who was about to be killed if he didn’t act. He used his body as a shield, because that is what a Head of House does. He used his magic to counter a blast that would have had devastating, deadly consequences, because that is what a soldier does.
If you find that his presence in that tower increased the risk to those children, then vote guilty. But if you find Gideon guilty, then you are saying those children would have been safer in the hands of a madman. If you call the rescue of those three girls manslaughter, then you are saying the life of Thayer, a corrupt heretic, was more important than those students.
Gideon Blackwood did not kill Thayer. There will be no apology for his death. He sits here today with a clear conscience because three girls are home with their families, rather than buried in the ground. His actions were not done with Ministry approval in mind. It was for their lives. Mr. Blackwood follows the law, but the safety of his students will always come first.”
Corvus resumes his seat, crossing his leg while keeping a stern look on the Wizengamot members. There were a few nods. Others wouldn’t make eye contact at all. Others seemed to ponder what he had said, which was all he could ask for in the end.
