Courtroom 3: The Trial of Ophelia Fuilteach

[Griselda Marchbanks]

Rufus and Baron looked at her apparently expecting a reaction.

"Good", Griselda agreed, "we will invite Miss Black to the trial. She is to bring a sufficient amount of the potion, to last let's say half an hour. Then we might be able to evaluate the effect."

She wrote a pink memo, folded it, and made it fly out of the courtroom with a tip of her wand. A servant would bring hopefully the witness as soon as possible to the ministry.

"Could Miss Black possibly serve as character witness as well?", she asked Guilietta and Sanguini.

[Severus Snape]

Severus kept his gaze upon the court at the mention of his name, unflickering - dare he give away his misgivings on providing this... character witness.

[Gawain Robards]

*He raised his brow wondering how long it would take for the potioneer to arrive. He thought they may as well question the witness who was present already, but remained silent accepting his colleagues judgment.*

[Lucretia Black]

*After receiving the owl Lu dresses in her best, not-potion stained, robe, and walks over to the Ministry. After presenting her invite at the reception she asks for the courtroom.
An employee shows up and guides her through the maze of corridors, opens the door without making any noise and motions her to a seat in the background.
Muffliato'd, he tells her to wait until she will be called in front of the court.*

[Rufus Scrimgeour]

*As the new witness arrived he sat up and gestured that she step forward.*

Miss Black? Could you please describe to the court your intended treatment for Miss Fuilteach and also the effects that it should have on her?

If the court has any further questions for you, please answer as best you can.

*He took his quill in hand, ready to take further notes, seemingly ignoring the room.*

[Lucretia Black]

*walking down into the middle of the court, she looks nervously around before nodding politely to Rufus Scrimgeour. Almost imperceptibly she greets also Sanguini and the Dottoressa.
Then her eyes fall on Ophelia. Shocked by the haggard appearance of the once so goodlooking and bright woman it takes her a moment to compose herself. *

"Well, yes... Lord Sanguini told me his daughter seems to be two persons now, and I remembered a Dark Magic potion that causes a similar condition. It splits a wizards mind into completely different characters. It's not like a Horcrux where you have to store the parts of the soul outside the body, it's all in the same person. Sometimes the afflicted would even look different. All I tried was to recompose the potion, so it would reverse the effect. Norrmally it's not necessary to have an antidote, depending on the dosage the effect wears off after a while, the longest I have read about was six weeks.*

*Lu fumbles in her bag and produces a parchment.*

"I have written it down, if you'd like to have a look. Also, I have given a copy to Dottor de Medici."

[Dottore Giulietta de Medici]

Giulietta bowed her head respectfully to Madam Marchbanks, and said sweetly, "But of course. Miss Black and my patient have been friends for quite some time. In fact, I would even go so far as to call Miss Black something of a family friend to the Fuilteachs."

She watched Lucretia as she entered the courtroom, smiling despite her distaste for the mortal. Her dislike was born purely out of her hatred for mortal-vampire relationships, but from a professional standpoint, she admired the potioneer's skills.

She nodded, confirming Lucretia's statement. "It had the most marvellous effect on Miss Fuilteach. It resolved her issues, helped recall her memory, and indeed, made her something of the vampire she used to be, albeit one racked with guilt and remorse for the things she has done," she commented.

"Should I administer the potion to my patient, Minister Scrimgeour?" she asked.

[Ophelia Fuilteach]

Sickness stared intensely at Lucretia. Ophelia knew this girl, called her "friend" and loved her as one. So she was the one who had the cure. Sickness felt no small amount of fear. Could this whelp of a mortal really rid Ophelia's mind of Sickness for good?

"Tricky, tricky, tricky witches with their potions and lotions," Sickness crowed. "Force the cure on her, by all means, but Ophelia was not the first, and she won't be the last. Until vampires stop breeding with humans, there will be more like me. You can't cure us all."

[Kingsley Shacklebolt]

**Kingsley arrives silently. Pushes the door open with one hand while waving to the court with the other**

You must forgive my lateness... I was caught up in work.

**Cleares his way down the court and sits next to Robards**

My owl is quite old. I'm afraid she's not that fast anymore.

**Crosses his arms and watches the entire room moving with discomfort in their seats. That gave him the chills**

[Corban Yaxley]

He had observed, had closely listened to what the participants had to say.

As it was with any trial involving fellow Death Eaters, Yaxley felt the usual tension inside him. This was, however, nothing particularly new. Despite the fact they all had attended vampire trials, he knew that most of them were feeling a certain unease to say the least. For him though it had taken a while to get used to the tiny doctor. He did not know what to expect until she opened her mouth to address the court. Her words did definitely not match those of a little girl. What a relief...

Equipped with a quill and parchment Alistair had taken notes with, he continued to focus on the trial, still wondering if it had been a good choice to admit Ophelia Fuilteach's role in the so called crime. But that remained yet to be seen.

[Rita Skeeter]

Rita had sneaked into the trial, and was furiously taking notes at the back of the courtroom. The trial of the year! An auror murdered by a vampire, the vampire clearly insane, but well connected enough that she had been protected. Murder most horrid, scandal most shocking, and more to follow! Oh, her readers would gobble this up!
She wondered at what the defendant said about Snape. How intriguing! Maybe she could get another book deal out of this... She'd have to try to contact the vampire girl after the trial, see if she could use Veritaserum to get the whole story out of her. Rita was already planning the title of the book - "Ophelia Fuilteach - Crimes You Can Sink Your Teeth Into", perhaps... No, too wordy. She'd figure it out later. For now, she was perched at the edge of her seat, her venom green Quick Quotes Quill hovering over her notebook and ready to scandalise every word that was uttered.

[Lord Sanguini Fuilteach]

Sanguini nodded a greeting to Lucretia. If her testimony helped his daughter, he planned to deposit a substantial amount of galleons in the witch's Gringotts account. He wondered if she was doing this for the money, for the reputation it would give her, or for the fact that she and Ophelia were friends. Either way, he would reward her. Sanguini always paid his debts.

"Yes, someone please give Ophelia the damned potion already..." he murmured under his breath. Sickness was starting to wear on his nerves. One unfortunate slip of the creature's tongue, and Ophelia's defence would come undone.

[Jadrin G.]

*Jadrin patted Sanguini on the back, trying to comfort the vampire.*

"It's almost over, old friend. It doesn't look too bad. Stay calm."

[Rufus Scrimgeour]

*He sniffed slightly, looking over all the notes that he had made.*

I for one am satisfied that at the very least, the entity named 'Sickness' can be kept under control. What remains is the question as to whether Ophelia without Sickness is a danger herself.

*He raised his hand in gesture towards Lucretia.*

You have my permission to administer the potion. If the court has any questions for Miss Fuilteach, the floor is open. In the meantime I would like to call forward another character witness.

I believe Professor Snape knows the defendant. May we hear your statement?

[Cornelius Fudge]

*Watches the proceedings, feeling immensely uncomfortable still*

Yes, let us hear from Headmaster Snape! I'm sure we can trust his opinion on Miss Fuilteach's character.

*Peers at Snape*