Chapter 164 - 164. Sleepless Nights
There was silence in the courtroom. Complete silence. Not even the usual random person coughing.
"Yes, that\'s about right. And I confess to all these crimes. Yes, I sold kids to all these men. I\'ve been doing it for years. I plead guilty." Oscar confessed loudly. He was too confident in the Ministry deal, not knowing the hell was yet to come for him.
But this was too out of the ordinary, however, the Judge decided why to argue if he was confessing to everything. This was just making it easier for him to decide on a verdict.
The judge nodded and started writing on the papers. The problem right now was, British High Court cannot dictate the lives of people around the world. They could only punish the ones in the country. Maybe force some weaker ones but that\'s about it. But a big one, like the United States, would have to do its own investigation and punish these people.
"After assessing the evidence submitted and the test results of the skeletons under Defendant\'s home, it has been found that Oscar Thumbling has committed Paedophilia, R*pe, Kidnapping, Child Trafficking, Murder of more than 600 people, by the personal account of Mr Thumbling.
"On all these charges, the court finds Oscar Thumbling guilty. And sentence him to a whole life term."
A whole life term means there\'s no minimum term set by the judge, and the person\'s never considered for release. They are to remain in prison until their death.
Then the judge continued, "All the British national who indulged in these inhumane crimes are to be penalised. Cases will be opened against each of them. And they are banned from leaving the country. Furthermore, we will share our evidence with the whole world so these monsters can be put behind bars. And at the government\'s behest, these people can be banned from entering our boundaries or doing business on our land.
"Deputy Commissioner and Crown prosecutor Hilton are dismissed from their offices and a criminal case will be filed against them. For assisting Oscar Thumbling and corruption.
"All the accomplices of Oscar Thumbling will get Life Imprisonment. Also, for all the children who were kidnapped, they will be provided with the best mental counselling so they can leave this incident behind and lead a happy life.
"Today, our country has faced this grave situation due to this small gang. The damage they did was like a leech, sucking off the blood of their host. He did the same, but he sucked the blood of the whole of humanity. It is the need of the hour that the police become more serious in protecting the children, so no new Oscar Thumbling can grow.
"I commend people like Tom, Magnus and Adrian who came forward and helped. Although I advise staying away from an armed conflict, but sometimes special circumstances require special bravery, and they showed it."
With the ending remarks of the judge. The trial came to an end. The people felt at ease, although they wanted death punishment for Oscar and a lot of them demanded that capital punishment be reinvoked. But, as always, certain human rights groups jumped ahead and came to oppose that, they\'d rather support a paedophile than see him die. Magnus noted all their names, he would deal with them later on.
They could rant all about their human rights in normal cases, but here, Oscar was no less than the devil, it was shocking they had the guts to come out in support. He was going to destroy their reputation around the world, that people would spit every time there would hear these so-called charity organisation\'s names.
Next, Oscar and his subordinates were to be taken to a maximum-security prison. But first, they needed to get out alive from the building, as thousands had gathered outside the court building.
"GIVE THEM TO US!"
"END THEIR LIVES"
"END CORRUPTION!"
Magnus, Adrian and Tom looked at all this happening from the balcony of the building.
"So what now? How will all those who helped him get punished?" Tom asked.
Adrian answered, "No need to worry about those inside the country. Those outside the country will be the problem. We can\'t just go there and use magic to kill people, their governing Magical body will come against us."
"I will publicise their names with newspapers, both muggle and magical. The rest is up to their abilities to deal with them." Magnus decided.
"What about these 6? How will you take them to your ministry?" Tom asked.
"Just wait and watch. I\'m sure the public will be very happy." Magnus muttered and they continued to look at the people.
Soon, the riot police covered Oscar and his subordinates and slowly took them to the transportation van. A lot of stones, eggs or whatever people could find were thrown at them. But eventually, they were safely boarded.
Not waiting for even a second, the convoy moved away. Slowly, the people there also dispersed.
"Uncle Tom, you must have a lot of work at the station, you should go. If anything happens, you will hear it in the news." Magnus assured him.
"I do. I\'ll probably be questioned by my superiors now." Tom said with a conflicted look. He had no idea what was going to happen to his job now.
The three of them got down from the building and headed to their car. But as they were going there, a few people stopped their path.
"Thank you for saving my daughter. You three are angels." A man from the crowd said.
Then another woman tearfully thanked them, "My son was saved thanks to you. I will never forget this."
And so, it took them about 2 hours to get into their cars. The crowd was continuously increasing there but they couldn\'t say no to them and run.
...
Magnus and Adrian returned to Magnus\' home. From there, they apparated to a large warehouse, which was in the middle of nowhere in the mountains in Scotland.
"They should be here at any moment," Adrian said while checking his watch.
"Moody is doing it, so it should have gone easy," Magnus added.
...
Just as Magnus had said this, something was happening in a prison outside London.
The convoy with Oscar and his men had just arrived at the prison. The normal routine security checks were going on. But then all of a sudden the driver and the guard left the van and went to talk to a prison guard.
Now, only Oscar and his men were left alone in it.
*POP*
Moody and another man appeared inside the van. Oscar smiled seeing him, knowing this was his way out.
Moody quickly grabbed Oscar\'s neck and ordered his subordinate, "Bring the other 5 along."
~WHAT? Why them?~ Oscar was shocked when he heard this. Why were they saving the muggles? He felt something ominous.
The next moment, just as they apparated away,
*BOOM*
The van got blasted, it flew a few feet in the air and immediately caught fire. There were now fake bodies inside, burning to ashes. The fire was not going to stop anytime soon.
...
At the Warehouse in Scotland.
*WOOSH*
Moody arrived with everyone else. The 5 muggles were not really that much in shock as they already knew about the magical world.
Oscar confidently looked around, "So, when is my trial at the ministry?"
"What trial?" Magnus asked him.
"No no no... don\'t go back on your words. I was promised by the Minister that if I cooperate with the investigation I will not be sent to Azkaban, and only be put in strict house arrest for life." Oscar madly blurted. His eyes were turning red, sensing the impending doom.
Moody laughed, "HAHAHA... you think we will let you go so easily? You only talked to the minister, not to me. In addition, Wizengamot has unanimously agreed to put you down. They didn\'t want your name to be attached anyway near them."
*THUD*
Oscar fell as he walked backwards. His face that had a smug smile not long ago was now looking gloomy. "NO NO... this can\'t be. I... I was promised."
Meanwhile, the 5 subordinates of his were already digging the ground. They were told that whoever completes digging first might get spared. They took the chance and quickly started digging.
"You dig with your mouth," Moody ordered Oscar, as he did not have arms.
Magnus was just silently looking at all this. This was Moody doing it, not him. He had just lobbied the Wizengamot to make a decision.
As soon as the 5 subordinates finished digging, with one of them winning. The winner was told to dig for Oscar too. He thought he was going to be let go and happily dug.
After another 20 minutes, all 6 holes were made. But, it confused all of them, they didn\'t look like graves at all, they looked like deep holes instead
Moody looked at George who was there, "Bring the bathwater."
And soon, a large container truck appeared, which started to unload some green liquid in the 5 holes. It looked as if it was boiling, but it wasn\'t really, it was just too acidic.
*Sigh*
Magnus knew what was going to occur now. He didn\'t feel like staying there anymore, his mind was already filled with screams of children, he didn\'t want to hear them more.
"George, let\'s go home. One Eye Moody, Adrian, goodbye."
And the next moment, as soon as he was gone, all 6 of them were thrown into the holes of magical acid, that burned you slowly but pained very much. Their loud screams were enough to destroy their own voiceboxes. The muggles were quick to die, but Oscar being magical had some resistance and died slowly, while screaming.
He was happy not long ago that he\'d get away from this. But it all came crashing now.
...
At Home,
The television was showing the news. A lot of people were cheering that Oscar died. Many were speculating that it was deliberately done, for revenge or something.
Magnus, Adam and Grace were eating dinner at home.
"Can\'t believe the IRA killed them," Grace muttered after seeing the news.
Magnus, who was silently eating his food, replied, "Not them, mum. It was the wizards. IRA is the cover. Oscar and his men had angered many people."
Adam spoke, "There are going to be some conspiracy theories now. But, the burnt bodies were found, now it must not be too hard for people to believe."
Grace decided to not talk anymore about this depressing stuff, "Mag, are you going back tomorrow?"
"Yes, I need to focus on my studies. Too much time was spent on this case." Magnus replied. He was not feeling very uplifting at the moment and didn\'t feel like talking much. He\'d never show this side of himself to outsiders though, but at home, he could be himself.
"Then I will send some food with you. Give it to Ragnar too." She said.
After dinner, they went to their rooms to sleep. But it was not going to be a calm night for Magnus. One of the drawbacks of Occlumency was that you don\'t forget things, and they remain in the head as good as new.
Now that he had dealt with Oscar and his goons, his mind was thinking about all those skeletons. All those kids who lost their lives, their cries for help were never heard, how helpless and powerless they must have felt. He wondered that he could have been one of them if he was not found that day when he was lost.
"Big brother, save me..."
"Help me,"
"I wanna go him,"
"It hurts,"
"Kill me, please..."
"Please help,"
Magnus moved side to side in his bed in sleep, his body sweated and his brows furrowed. He was hearing all the cries for help in his dream. They were real, as they were those he had heard in Oscar\'s head.
To him, all these voices felt as if they were blaming him for why he couldn\'t save them.
"HAAA..."
He woke up with jitters and breathed heavily. Looking around, he realised he was in his room. The moonlight was falling in from the window, what would normally look cheerful moonlight, today seemed very sad and gloomy.
He looked out, it was calm outside. Unlike his mind, chaotic inside.
*KNOCK KNOCK*
The door opened and Grace entered the room. God knows what instincts he gave to mothers, they often know when their child needed them.
Grace came to his side and sat on the bed and asked sweetly, "Not able to sleep, dear?"
Magnus quickly moved and put his head on her lap and hugged her waist. Very different from normal, his body was cold right now and still sweating.
She started caressing his hair. This always used to help him sleep when he was small.
"You did well, sweetie. You saved all those little kids. As Merlin said, now you will go to Heaven." She tried to cheer him up.
Magnus silently laid there with open eyes. "Mummy... can god send me back in time?"
"Why?" She inquired.
He hugged her tighter and closed his eyes, "I wanna go back, to that day I got lost. This time, I will not let your hand go."
Grace teared up, hearing his wobbly voice. She hugged his head, "What happened, sweetie? Did someone bully you?"
*Sniff*
"No... it\'s just... The magical world is not so... Magical."
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[A/N: I want you to imagine. Just like in Avatar the Last Airbender, there was a 12-year-old who had too many responsibilities, too many people had their hopes tied to him. A whole nation was trying to kill him. He felt sad, angry, and yet he was wise and happy with his friends.
Here, Magnus is facing the same problems. People are trying to kill him. Too much politics involved. Too many people hoping he\'d do something as he is Merlin and Arthur\'s descendant. He has too many responsibilities. Also, he has what Aang didn\'t, his parents, and with that, he has a fear that something might happen to them.
So, don\'t find it strange that he\'s wiser than normal kids of his age, because the situation often pushes you to grow faster. I\'ve seen kids who don\'t have parents learn to be independent at an early age because there is nobody to help them.
Just like that, Magnus has to become strong and smart, because there is nobody to help him. And if doesn\'t grow up quick, he\'ll die.]
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