wunderkind | (no subject)

wunderkind

STUFF GOES IN HERE

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From:

jurisimpudent

I've read the books, yes. But I also spent the first decade of my life amongst Muggles.

[He looks up.]

You know that it's not the seventeenth century any longer, correct?

From:

doggedly

Oh, really? No, I hadn't any idea--thanks for telling me, you're such a godsend--

[He folds his arms over his chest, scowling.]

What's your point, exactly? Is that the next thing you're setting your sights on destroying, the bloody Statute of Secrecy?

From:

jurisimpudent

[Edgeworth looks up to meet Sirius' eyes - and then, deliberately, pointedly, shrugs.]

From:

doggedly

[He holds his glare a moment longer, waiting for Edgeworth to back down--but he doesn't, and Sirius laughs, once.]

You're not serious.

From:

jurisimpudent

Do you know me suddenly as a jokester?

[He shakes his head, still just as stubborn.]

I do not like lying. I do not like secrecy. And I do not like the fact that someone like Voldemort was able to come along and just victimize people. Or that there's nothing to keep it from happening again.

[He crosses his arms.]

Or do you think the Ministry is suddenly going to start protecting Muggles?

From:

doggedly

[The obvious answer is no. There's a few crackpots out there who are adamant about muggle rights and protection--but only a few, not enough to be of any consequence in the Ministry. They all get shunted into departments that no one gives a damn about, where they're busy enough to feel as if they're doing work, but not influential enough to really get anything done. And they have to know, deep down, that they're inconsequential, that they don't actually matter--]

Fine. So you don't like it. And, sorry--what exactly would cocking up the Statute of Secrecy do to protect muggles?

From:

jurisimpudent

It would give them the ability to defend themselves.

[He nods, once, firmly, certain of himself.]

They'd not be caught up any longer in a war they don't even know exists.

From:

doggedly

No, then we could just have an actual war. That sounds so much better.

[They were nearly getting on, but Sirius glares over at Edgeworth with just as much intensity as he had before. And this is unfair to ask, this is a low fucking blow, but he says it anyways--]

If you found out who killed your father. What would you do?

From:

jurisimpudent

[He wasn't expecting that. He wasn't expecting that at all. If he were braced for it, then maybe he could handle himself a little bit better, but instead, the question catches him below the ribs like a physical blow. And he does flinch, physically, jerking away from him; at once, all his toughness and resolve melt away, and he just asks, unsteadily:]

What?

Edited (subject-verb agreement) Date: 2013-10-28 07:56 pm (UTC)

From:

doggedly

You heard me.

[He knows that Edgeworth heard it. It's not a what that requests clarification, or even an attempt to buy time. It just-- is. This is like sticking your fingers in someone's wound, like twisting a knife, and he does not back down.]

If you knew who they were, what would you do?

From:

jurisimpudent

I'd...

[He looks down at his hands. His voice is still faint, lacking conviction. It's not even unhappy. It's just dazed and distant.

He does have an answer. It's not the first time he's been asked this question. It is the first time he's been asked it in five years.]

I'd...ensure that they were in the grasp of the Ministry. For proper punishment.

From:

doggedly

You wouldn't.

[He sits back in his chair, tapping the ash from the end of his cigarette, a careful, practiced flick of his thumb.]

That's the answer you're meant to give, but you wouldn't.

From:

jurisimpudent

[And he shakes his head once, silently, staring down at his hands. Quietly:]

I wouldn't...murder him. I wouldn't kill him. If that's what you think.

From:

doggedly

Then what would you do.

[He's staring at Edgeworth, watching him watch his hands, his gaze narrow and focused.]

If you wouldn't kill him. But you wouldn't turn him in, either. So what would you do.

From:

jurisimpudent

[And Edgeworth - he doesn't meet Sirius' eyes. He keeps staring down, paralyzed by that question. What would he do? What would he do? He doesn't...He wouldn't kill him - or would he? He might; he's a killer now. But - ]

I...I would want him to be tried in Muggle court.

From:

doggedly

Why.

[The shame of it, is what he first thinks. A wizard forced to conform to muggle law, forced to bear a muggle trial--able to free himself but forced not to. But he waits, to hear what Edgeworth will say.]

From:

jurisimpudent

Because - it's right.

[He says that quietly; in spite of the absolutism of that statement, he has no idea whether or not it is. Yet as he speaks, his certainty grows:]

Because when a muggle is murdered, it's not wizardkind which is done an injury. So why does wizardkind get to exact retribution? I've seen those trials - bigots viewing the crime like the killing of a stray dog, having to be convinced that muggles are even people. How can we allow people who don't even think that justice needs to be done to be in charge of justice?

From:

doggedly

Muggles sit in muggle courts for their crimes.

[But how often does that happen? It's the other way around. It has been for ages, and ages, and Edgeworth is right, at least, on the stubborn blindness of those in charge of justice. His family is a part of that--if anyone knows it, it's Sirius.]

And how would they punish him, when they found him? What would they do? The shit they do to their prisoners, that wouldn't mean anything to a wizard.

From:

jurisimpudent

A loss of freedom is significant.

[But Edgeworth knows, perfectly well, that a muggle prison simply couldn't hold a wizard. There's no way. And the death penalty wouldn't be applied, and...then what?

He clenches his hands.]

He could be handed over to be in Azkaban after.

From:

doggedly

And that would be enough.

[He says it quietly. It lacks any of his previous sharpness--and he's still looking at Edgeworth, a long, steady stare.]

From:

jurisimpudent

[He's quiet a long moment, two, three, and then admits, his voice low and confused:]

No. There's nothing that would be enough.

From:

doggedly

[He nods, in response. That makes sense. And there's a beat of silence, again, between them, before he says:]

So. Do you think you're after taking down the Statute because of your father?

From:

jurisimpudent

[And there's a long moment of silence, and then he stirs unhappily.]

I...oughtn't be so selfish as that.

From:

doggedly

[He laughs, once, short.]

Just say you're doing it in his memory. Then it becomes less selfish. It's a bloody tribute.

[He ashes his cigarette again, slowly.]

But I don't think getting rid of the Statute would change anything. Not really.

From:

jurisimpudent

[Another moment, and then:]

It would give them the chance to fight back against us. After everything we've done to them, I think they ought to have the right to decide whether or not to retaliate.