The Banebrewer

CHAPTER FOUR

Adieu to all Judges and Juries

Thursday 23 August 1990

Courtroom Ten, the Ministry of Magic, London.

How hard is the place of confinement
That keeps me from my heart's delight!
Cold irons and chains all bound round me,
And a plank for my pillow at night.

- English folk song: "Here's Adieu to all Judges and Juries"

Rated PG for corruption.

"... That on thirty-eight separate occasions between Saturday the fourth of July 1987 and Saturday the seventh of July 1990, he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, cause to be brewed on the premises of St Mungo's Hospital, and then distributed to patients, the unpatented and illegal pharmaceutical known as the Wolfsbane Potion, which constitutes an offence..."

Remus found his attention drifting away even before the prosecutor paused for breath. He was sitting at the back of Courtroom Ten, hoping he wouldn't be recognised. Ariadne had promised not to attend Healer Smethwyck's trial, but he knew she wouldn't sleep at night if neither of them went. A curly-haired journalist had been swishing an acid-green quill even before the court was called to order; he could only imagine that she was describing the assembly, which meant that if he attracted any attention at all, she would describe him.

The Wizengamot was arrayed at the front of the courtroom. Cornelius Fudge, sitting in the middle of the front row, had pressed his pinstripe and polished his bowler hat. He had polished his smile too; this was the first sensational case to present itself since his appointment, and he was leaning forward with an interest that he would certainly never display towards petty theft or illegal Portkeys. Amelia Bones was not smiling. She looked aloof and professional, as if this case were exactly the same as the other thousand with which she had dealt in her career. Remus did not recognise the woman sitting in the shadow on the other side of Fudge.

Although Hippocrates Smethwyck was chained like a criminal to the arms of the great chair, he looked perfectly calm. His beard was neatly trimmed and his robes were clean, which meant that his wife had visited this morning. Remus tuned in again when he realised that Smethwyck was being addressed by the lawyer named Adripius Cavill.

"Have you ever brewed Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Yes."

"There you are!" exclaimed Fudge. "He admits it. Is it even worth calling in the witnesses?"

"Of course it is," said Amelia Bones. "Things are never as simple as they seem. Call in the first witness for the prosecution."

The first witness was a St Mungo's ward orderly who admitted to the name of Kate Skower.

"Since you work on the first floor, you must have frequently seen Healer Smethwyck at work."

"Yes, I often saw him with the patients."

"Did you see him distribute Wolfsbane Potion?"

Mrs Skower hesitated. "No-o. Nothing that he said was Wolfsbane. But there was a lot that I didn't see. Healer Smethwyck often asked me not to disturb his ward. I don't know what he was doing at those times."

Mr Cavill pounced. "Often, you say? Did these occasions coincide with the full moon?"

"I don't know. They might have. It was usually a night shift, anyway. I had to make sure no-one disturbed whatever was going on in there, so I'd keep the door locked. Healer Smethwyck obviously had something to hide."

"What did you think was happening?"

"Hmm." Mrs Skower was trying to be fair, but clearly this was a situation to be relished. "Let me put it this way. I'd go to clean up the next morning. And I used to find hairs on the floor. Coarse ones, like dog-hairs. I ask you, who'd let dogs into a hospital?"

The prosecutor looked suddenly eager. "Do you, by any chance, have a sample we could analyse?"

She bristled. "Of course not! I wouldn't leave muck like that around a hospital. Or anywhere. No, I cleaned it all out properly."

Healer Smethwyck looked close to smiling at her fervour. Perhaps Mr Cavill was losing faith in this witness, because he handed the floor to the defence lawyer.

Remus recognised this man: he was Ariadne's cousin, Dempster Wiggleswade. He looked almost jaunty in his very loud purple pinstripe.

"Mrs Skower, you don't actually know what Healer Smethwyck was doing behind those locked doors, do you?"

"No, not exactly..."

"Was Healer Smethwyck in the habit of discussing his patients' affairs with outsiders?"

"No."

"In other words, he kept their confidence, as a Healer should. Have you any reason whatever to believe that he had a guilty secret, beyond the usual matter of patient confidentiality?"

Mrs Skower was startled into silence.

"Mrs Skower, when those doors were locked... did you hear any howling?"

"What howling? No. It was quiet enough in there."

The curly-haired journalist seethed, and hissed to her neighbour, "They were howling. I could hear them from miles away!" If this was the same journalist who had written the article about entering the ward and counting the wolves, Remus understood why neither lawyer had called her as a witness.

Meanwhile, Mr Cavill was calling in Jason Borage. Jason had chosen unadorned navy business-robes for his grand appearance before the Wizengamot, and he looked very young and vulnerable.

"Mr Borage, I understand that you used to work in Healer Smethwyck's department?"

Jason stared around wildly, noted the respective positions of the men wearing wigs, and exclaimed, "Am I a witness for the prosecution? I thought I was doing the defence!"

Everyone did a double-take, but it was the smooth-speaking Mr Cavill who recovered first. "Just answer the questions, Mr Borage. How long did you work in the Creature-Induced Injuries Ward?"

"Just a couple of months. For most of my first year, I was with Spell Damage. But in May they moved me to Creatures for extra experience."

"While you were working under Healer Smethwyck, did you ever see anyone in his department brewing the Wolfsbane Potion?"

Jason hesitated nervously. "Yes, I saw it all. Once in June and once in July."

"Are you sure it was Wolfsbane Potion?"

"Well, Healer Smethwyck said it was. And it certainly contained wolfsbane flowers."

"Did you know it was illegal?"

"No. I assumed it was all right, because Healer Smethwyck's an important Healer. I didn't think he he would deliberately break the law. He's always been decent to me."

"Did you help with the brewing?"

"The first time I only helped Madam O'Keeffe with the distribution. The second time I brought up herbs from the Hospital garden, but I didn't give any other help."

"Did you ever see any of the werewolf-patients transformed under the full moon?"

"Oh, yes, I saw that. They definitely turned into wolves. And back to humans when the moon set."

"Did it seem to you that the potion was working?"

"Yes, it worked all right..." Jason trailed off, and cast a panicked glance at Healer Smethwyck, who still sat calmly in the chair. "That is, the wolves didn't do anything. They just lay quietly, without howling or becoming aggressive, and it seemed to me that they understood what we said to them."

"Did you worry about what would happen if one of those clear-thinking wolves attacked someone?"

"No, because the potion worked. They weren't planning to attack."

"But, Mr Borage, if a maliciously-inclined werewolf..."

Jason looked decidedly green. "I know," he whispered. "But I didn't think of it then."

Dempster Wiggleswade moved forward again. "Mr Borage, did you ever see Healer Smethwyck refuse to treat a werewolf patient?"

Jason shook his head. "I didn't see. It wasn't my shift. But Madam O'Keeffe says... yes, a man did once come to St Mungo's asking for the potion. And they wouldn't give him any because he wouldn't say his name."

Jason wasn't able to offer any more useful information to either lawyer, and they soon dismissed him. Cavill looked almost smug with confidence as he called in Damocles Flavius Belby, but Smethwyck for the first time seemed tense. Remus had to remind himself that he would not let himself be noticed. But it was a blow; while he couldn't imagine what Mr Belby knew about the case, his testimony was bound to be bad for Ariadne.

"... are you the apothecary who first discovered the Wolfsbane Potion?" Fudge was asking.

"I am." Belby swung a silver cane with dangerous exuberance, and silver spangles winked from his bright emerald robes.

"Question him, Cabal."

"Tell the court, Mr Belby. Did you discover the potion entirely on your own?"

"Oh, that never happens!" Remus was dazzled by a flash from the silver cane. "It was my brainchild, but of course I had my little team. The day-to-day trials were run by Arsenius and Belladonna Jigger. And I believe they had an apprentice to assist them for most of the time."

"And when your brain produced this child," continued Cavill, "was it your intention to feed your potion to real werewolves?"

"When is ‘when'?" Belby's smile was more dazzling than his silver cane. "Plans change, you know. At first I certainly hoped to produce a medicine that would benefit real werewolves - perhaps even cure lycanthropy completely. But the potion doesn't exactly work, does it? It enables werewolves to keep their human minds, but it doesn't alter the wolf's body, and it does nothing to sedate them. If they are aggressive or spiteful as humans, they remain aggressive and spiteful as wolves. As soon as I realised that, I gave up any thought of actually using Wolfsbane Potion as a medicine."

"Yet Healer Smethwyck admits to using it. How did he even know about it, if you did not collude with him?"

Damocles Belby gaily continued to perjure himself. "I have no idea. But the formula was published in the Western Journal of Apothecarism, so any unscrupulous subscriber could have stolen my idea."

Cavill faced the audience triumphantly. "Ladies and gentlemen, just one more question, which will establish the indirect but guilty relationship between the brilliant Mr Belby and the devious Healer Smethwyck. Mr Belby has mentioned an apprentice who assisted him with the development of the Wolfsbane Potion. This apprentice soon afterwards left Mr Belby's employ and went to work for Healer Smethwyck. Mr Belby, were you aware of Madam Lupin's movements?"

"No, I had no idea until I read it in the newspaper last month."

"Could this Madam Lupin have stolen your formula and made a present of it to Healer Smethwyck?"

Belby shrugged with magnificent indifference. "Certainly she could have. But it would be difficult to prove that she did, given the formula was also published in the journal."

Remus began to breathe more easily; Belby obviously had his own reasons not to draw too much attention to Madam Lupin.

Then it was Dempster's turn again; Remus hoped the Wizengamot didn't know that he was married to Ariadne's cousin. "Healer Smethwyck, it does seem a rather steep coincidence that the apothecary on your Wolfsbane team used to work for Mr Belby. Would you like to explain the situation?"

"It isn't a coincidence at all." For the first time, Smethwyck began to sound tired. "I began brewing the Wolfsbane Potion in July 1987, but it's a very complicated potion. When I heard that Madam Lupin was job-hunting I invited her onto my team at once, because I knew her presence would make the whole operation smooth and easy. She came to work for me in September."

"Did she express any disapproval of the fact that you had already been brewing an illegal potion for two months, and now wished her to become an accessory after the fact?"

"Of course she did. I had to tell her - and my assistant Healer too - that the Patents Office had re-assessed the potion and legalised it after all. They both believed me after I showed them a forged patent."

Dempster Wiggleswade sighed; he clearly hadn't wanted Healer Smethwyck to confess this part.

"In fact," continued Healer Smethwyck, "Mr Wiggleswade has the forged patent in his brief case."

Dempster Wiggleswade frowned very deeply, but when Amelia Bones held out her hand, he pulled out a manila folder and gave it to her.

Amelia Bones frowned too. "Healer Smethwyck, you are in chains before the Wizengamot on a charge of illegal brewing. Are you openly admitting to a completely separate count of forgery?"

Remus could only admire the aplomb with which Healer Smethwyck poured out his lie. "It seems necessary to confess the whole truth if I am to save innocent people from being condemned for my crime. Yes, I tricked respectable people into working for me. Yes, I had them brew an illegal potion. And I think I was justified - "

A sharp gasp cut him off. The woman on Fudge's right, who had been silent until now, was rising to her feet. She was very short and thick-set, and her face was wide and flabby. Madam Bones must have passed the forged patent along for her inspection, for she was now waving it angrily.

"Healer Smethwyck," she said, "you have signed this document with my name!"

"I've already admitted that it's a forgery."

"Perhaps you don't know who I am," she said angrily. "You see, I used to work in the Patents Office. And you clearly do know that, for you've used my name on your fake patent. Not my handwriting, of course! A very blatant forgery! But now I've been promoted to Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister for Magic." Her angry voice suddenly dropped to cloying sweetness. "So I do advise you, Healer Smethwyck, not to take my name in vain again. It really isn't a good idea to offend - ahem - important people."

Healer Smethwyck nodded just enough to indicate that he had heard her. Perhaps the Senior Under-Secretary had expected an argument; she looked slightly deflated as she resumed her seat.

"The case is clear enough," announced Adripius Cavill. "There is a potion that enables werewolves to keep their human minds. Healer Smethwyck admits to feeding this potion to no fewer than twenty-four werewolves. And they have been congregating at St Mungo's to pass the full moons together. I ask you, what greater threat to public safety could exist? Never mind the forged patents and duped employees. Think instead of the tremendous risk to the helpless patients at St Mungo's over a period of no less than three years. Healer Smethwyck, in all your bouts of lawbreaking, did you ever consider the possibility that a thinking werewolf would deliberately harm an innocent person?"

Remus found he was breathing easily again. The Prosecution had lost interest in Ariadne.

"Yes, of course that was a consideration," said Healer Smethwyck. "That's why it was a condition of medication that the patients would spend the night of the full moon at St Mungo's. I kept the ward locked, and required them to lie quietly."

"But the werewolves took the potion in small daily doses. What would have happened, Healer Smethwyck, if a werewolf had failed to turn up for that final dose on the day of the full moon?"

"That never did happen. The patients knew that they needed that final dose for any effect to take hold. If they hadn't taken it, then the rest of the week's medication would all have been wasted."

"And we do in fact have a witness to this," broke in Dempster Wiggleswade. Confidence was surging through him again. "If there are no more witnesses for the Prosecution, I would like to call in Latona Versipella Wildclaw."

The witness for the Defence was a petite, youngish witch with appealingly large, dark eyes. Her frayed grey robes and the grey streaks in her long straggly hair lent her an air of pathos. Remus knew that she was one of the werewolves who had accepted the Wolfsbane Potion from Healer Smethwyck, but her replies were so mumbled that probably no-one else in the court understood this.

"Speak up, speak up," complained Cornelius Fudge. "If you've anything worth saying, the court needs to hear it."

Amelia Bones pointed her wand at the witness and cast a Sonorus Charm.

"I said that I'm Latona Wildclaw." The witness was still mumbling, but at a magnified volume that enabled the clerk to take notes. "And I'm forty-one years old. Yes, I'm a werewolf; I've been a werewolf since Fenrir Greyback bit me when I was five. My parents didn't want me any more, so I became a Sylvanian - a member of Greyback's pack. I was a Sylvanian until two years ago."

"Tell them, Miss Wildclaw," prompted Dempster Wiggleswade. "Why did you leave the Sylvanians?"

"Fenrir Greyback said he would kill me if I came back."

"Keep talking," said Dempster patiently. "Why did Mr Greyback say that?"

"Because I was missing from his pack for three full moons. You can't miss so many full moons in the forest and come back." Miss Wildclaw wasn't mumbling any more; her voice was rising to a near-shout. "Greyback says that's divided loyalty, and he kills anyone who disobeys. He killed Neurius Conriocht and Dacia Garulf, and I knew he'd kill me too. I was in danger, I couldn't go anywhere near the forest even by full daylight..."

Madam Bones pointed her wand and reduced Latona Wildclaw's volume.

"What were you doing for those full moons, when you were missing from Greyback's pack?"

"I was at St Mungo's. I'd heard about Healer Smethwyck's Wolfsbane Potion... no, I can't tell you who told me, he'd be murdered... but I came, and Healer Smethwyck gave me the potion, and... um... I didn't feel like a werewolf any more. Even when the moon was full and bright, I didn't injure myself, and I didn't want to bite anyone else."

"How many other werewolves were in St Mungo's with you, Miss Wildclaw?"

"The number kept growing, but recently I've counted twenty-four."

"Were any of these twenty-four werewolves Sylvanians?"

Miss Wildclaw began to panic again. "I can't tell you! I mean, yes, some of them had been. But I can't tell you their names. Greyback would slaughter them if he found out where they were."

"And these werewolves - Sylvanian or not - did any of these other werewolves show any sign of violence?"

"One of them did. He used to bite himself, and he snarled at the rest of us sometimes. Healer Smethwyck had to cast Binding Spells over him, so that he couldn't move out of his square of the ward."

"Just one? What about the rest of you?"

"No, the rest of us usually just lay quietly and slept."

Adripius Cavill leapt to the front. "You say you were asleep, Miss Wildclaw?"

"Most of the time I was."

"Then how do you know what was happening around you?"

"Well... there weren't any noises. A fight would have woken us, most probably. And whenever I did wake in the night, it was always quiet. Healer Smethwyck never said there had been trouble in the ward, and no-one ever had wounds in the morning."

"You also say there were twenty-four werewolves on Healer Smethwyck's ward. Why have none of the others agreed to stand in the witness box?"

"We-ell." Latona Wildclaw's frightened gaze darted around the courtroom, and briefly locked eyes with Remus. She'll point to me, he found himself thinking, or she'll remind them that Lycaonia died. But she didn't. She looked at Adripius Cavill and told him, "I don't know. Perhaps because of Fenrir Greyback. But I'd imagine they're also afraid of normal people. It isn't good to let normal people know you're a were... a werewolf. I've just told everyone what I am, and that's going to be a bad thing for me. I don't blame the others for not wanting to."

For some reason, a deadly hush fell over the spectators. Cavill curtly thanked Miss Wildclaw, and Fudge told her that she might depart.

There were no other witnesses for the defence. I should have been down there, Remus couldn't help thinking. Smethwyck told me to stay away, but I should have spoken to Dempster anyway.

"... In sum, there is only one remaining question." Cavill's droning was about to reach the relevant part. "It is the question of whether any extenuating circumstances are possible. Healer Smethwyck, have you anything to say in your own favour? Why did you feel the need to brew this poisonous concoction? Do you think yourself above the law?"

All eyes were fastened on the man in the chained chair. There was a moment of deadly silence, long enough to acknowledge that the prisoner had permission to speak.

"Tell them, Hippocrates," urged Dempster Wiggleswade. "What good did you think might come from feeding Wolfsbane Potion to werewolves?"

"I thought it would prevent werewolves from harming themselves - and other people."

"You see," said Dempster. "That's exactly what Miss Wildclaw told us. The potion keeps everyone safe from werewolves. In thirty-eight full moons, not one medicated werewolf has caused any damage. It's the Sylvanians who present the only danger to society. And the Wolfsbane Potion is encouraging lycanthropes to abandon the Sylvanians."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Adripius Cavill. "Do we want Fenrir Greyback to abandon the Sylvanians in favour of dosing himself up with this mind-enhancer and prowling among our hospital patients?"

A ripple of chatter erupted. The curly-haired reporter leaned forward, while her acid-green pen flowed on without her attention.

"Order in the court!" commanded Cornelius Fudge. "No need to murmur when we can inquire openly. Mr Cadaver, have you any more questions for the accused?"

"On the subject of Fenrir Greyback," said Cavill, "I'd like to know the identity of the man who visited St Mungo's and demanded the Wolfsbane Potion from Healer Smethwyck on the first of July this year. What do you say about that, Smethwyck?"

"I say that I'd like to know too. But the man didn't tell us his name."

"Could he have been a Sylvanian werewolf?"

"Of course he could. Or he could have been an industrial rival, or a political spy, or a journalist, or an aspirant suicide, or simply insane. I've no way of knowing."

"Could he have been Fenrir Greyback?"

"I don't know. What does Mr Greyback look like?"

"Healer Smethwyck," chided Cornelius Fudge, "you are here to answer questions, not to ask them."

"And the question is," Madam Bones reminded them, "why Healer Smethwyck feels the community would benefit from his breaking the law. I repeat, Healer Smethwyck: do you consider yourself above the law?"

"No person is above the law, but right and wrong are above the law."

Cornelius Fudge frowned angrily. "Are you criticising our laws?"

Healer Smethwyck was almost shrugging - although his tight chains did not leave much room to move his shoulders. "The law can be mistaken, as the Ministry of Magic has in the past acknowledged. For example, there was once a law that forbade public revelation of chocolate's effectiveness in helping Dementor-victims for fear that relatives of prisoners might try to smuggle it into Azkaban. That law was repealed as soon as the Ministry recognised its inherent wrongness."

Madam Bones wrote something down, close to nodding, but Minister Fudge was bewildered with displeasure, and his Senior Under-Secretary was hissing something in his ear.

"It seems the accused agrees with the Prosecution," said Fudge. "He doesn't believe he ought to obey the law, therefore he has broken it. The Potion exists, and Healer Smethwyck has been feeding it to werewolves. He says he has taken a few precautions to protect public safety, but in fact there is a constant risk of infiltration and abuse by Sylvanians. Does anyone wish to summarise the situation in any other way?"

"I submit," said Dempster Wiggleswade, "that Healer Smethwyck has guarded the public against abuse very carefully. He restrains the aggressive, he locks the door of the ward, he only medicates those whose history he knows, and the potion has no effect on those who might plan to omit the final dose so they can spend the full moon in the forest."

"In other words," argued Adripius Cavill, "there are aggressive Sylvanian werewolves around, and there is no guarantee that they will never imbibe the Wolfsbane Potion for their own nefarious ends. The accused has today admitted to breaking several laws. I am very disinclined to trust that, should he be acquitted, he would cease his illicit brewing, let alone that he would distribute it responsibly in the future."

Fudge stared for a moment at the prisoner, but Smethwyck shook his head to indicate that he had no more to say. So Fudge opened his mouth. "We have heard the evidence. How many are in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?"

A dozen hands were raised. Remus counted Albus Dumbledore, Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden among Smethwyck's supporters.

"Those in favour of conviction?"

This time there was a forest of hands. The Court Scribe had to count twice before waving his wand to allow the number thirty-seven to erupt into the air.

Fudge opened his mouth again, but his Senior Under-Secretary tugged his sleeve and whispered something to him. Fudge nodded grimly and faced the court.

"Hippocrates Cheiron Smethwyck," he recited, "the Wizengamot finds you guilty of brewing and distributing an illegal potion. It therefore sentences you to a term of twenty years in Azkaban."

Remus froze, although Smethwyck remained calm even now. Twenty years? They had assumed the sentence would be five years or ten.

There was a great deal to tell Ariadne this evening.