The trial begins, a sham and nothing else. They put up a front for the press, but it’s all pretense. Ron and Hermione attest to his drift over the years. A bright and hopeful boy gradually turning to something...broken. They didn’t know why. Something wrong with him, they said, deeply wrong. After a great deal of recounting his first three years, pointing out the unfortunate things, the fact that he’s a parseltongue, they move on to a new witness. Dumbledore. He appears suddenly, as if he didn’t want to be seen prior to that. He steps forward and begins to spin a story that...Harry doesn’t know.