“Mrs Gamp,” Enid Jingleberry smiled warmly at her newest witness. The grin, or rather, grimace, reminded Gen of a troll who’d just spotted an enormous rotting cow carcass on the floor. Gen was clearly the carcass about to be devoured. She crossed her arms in the large wooden chair. For this witness, unlike Kingstreet, no chains appeared to hold her in place yet she still shuffled uncomfortably. Her entire body felt store and stiff, perhaps due to the anxiety. “Thank you so much for agreeing to speak to us. It must be difficult for you, what with everything that you wrote in that delightful galleon making little book of yours.”

Gen shot a glance sideways to see Leo strapped into a chair very similar to her own. He was wearing a smart suit that looked too large for him. He met her gaze for only a moment, worry lines showing in his expression.  After a beat, he glanced down, and then away from her all together, back at the purple-cloaked members of the Wizengamot who sat so high above them.

“I didn’t have much choice.” The Editor said quietly, “You made it pretty clear what would happen if I didn’t.”

“So you didn’t wish to stand in for your husband’s defense, Mrs Gamp? 13 years ago you clearly felt the same, didn’t you?”

“What?”

“Well, you’re uninterested in defending him now, just as you were uninterested the first time around.”

Gen grit her teeth, looking like she wished she was anywhere but sat in this chair in this courtroom speaking for this husband.

“For the record, my client’s wife is choosing to remain silent.” Jingleberry, looking extremely smug, ploughed on. “Mrs Gamp, do you remember a wizard by the name of Shay Bagnold?”

Silence fell in the court for a moment as Gen once more scanned her gaze to meet Leo’s.
“Leo knew him from work. Some administrator, a ‘quill pusher’ Leo called him.”

“Did your husband ever mention him at home?”

Frowning, Gen looked at the lawyer. “Just the once. I told the court last time I was asked.”

“What was that?”

“He said he’d get what was coming to him.” Feeling a distinct chill in the air, Gen pulled her jaket tightly around her, hugging her body. A few beads of sweat were peppering her forehead. “I didn’t know what it meant. Leo said the guy had gotten himself involved in something that wasn’t his business. Started butting into a case he had. It wasn’t until the trial when Kingstreet told me what it was really about. That Bagnold was sharing information with the order.”

“So you didn’t know any different, Mrs Gamp?”

“I believed Leo. As far as I was concerned, he had no reason to lie to me.”

“You told the court about it, you were a witness for the prosecution.”

“I also told the court what my husband said about his colleague. He didn’t like him. The nickname ‘quill pusher’ surely tells you that Madame Jingleberry. That doesn’t make him a murderer or a traitor. I don’t like you and you’re still alive.”

Enid, clearly amused, laughed. Gen scowled.

“Ok, Mrs Gamp. Did you ever become suspicious of Mr Gamp, during the war.”

“He was working a lot of hours. Aurors do, he always did. But this was more. Late nights, coming home in a mood. I put it down to the pressure at the Ministry.”

“You never thought he was up to anything else?”

“No...Well…”

“Go on.”

“I once considered an affair.” She shrugged, refusing to glance towards her husband.  Leo sat very still, attention focused on the floor in front of him.

“Why?”

“He was just so distant, and we’d been together since we were kids. Maybe he’d decided enough was enough? He had this serious job that was only getting more intense and I was...well, I was me. A Hogwarts dropout who got to report on which villager from Hogsmeade won the pumpkin growing competition.”

“So you were never suspicious that Mr Gamp was breaking the law?”

“Never.”

“Have you believed it since?”

“Never completely. There’s always been a doubt.”

“Why?”

“In the original trial, people were talking about Leo as some school courtyard bully. Even his selection in Slytherin House was dragged through the mud as if just being in Slytherin makes you bad. But the wizard I knew wasn’t a bully. He lost his temper, everyone does. But he was the funniest, most caring wizard I’d met. He would have done anything for anyone.”

“You never said that in the original trial, Mrs Gamp. Is there a reason why?”

“I was scared.” Now, she did glance towards Leo. This time, after a beat, he met her gaze, his green eyes unreadable.  “I was forced to stand as a witness for Kingstreet. They’d arrest me if I didn’t. And I’d just found out about Dante.”

“Who is Dante, Mrs Gamp?”

“Our son. Mine and Leo’s.”

“But you never told your husband? Were you scared?”

“No. I didn’t want him starting a life sentence knowing about the son he’d never raise. Double blow of shit, isn’t it?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leo shift in his chair, his eyes still locked on her.

“Were you ever scared of the defendant?”

“Never.”

“Okay, Mrs Gamp. A month ago, you paid a visit to see Theodora Kingstreet, didn’t you?”

“I did.” Gen shifted in her seat again, twisting a ring around her finger.

“Why did you pay her a visit?”

“I heard that she was your main defense. I wanted to see for myself.”

“And?”

“She told me she’d arranged facts for the original trial. I tried to push for more but she started screaming, making out that I’d attacked her. The guard freaked out and blasted me into the wall.” Gen paused, frowning and brushing her hair back from her clammy face. “That same guard showed up dead a couple of weeks later. Someone stole a shoe from my flat and it was found by the guard.”

“Why do you think that happened, Mrs Gamp?”

“She wanted to scare me off because I’d found out too much.”

“Thank you, Mrs Gamp. That is all.”