This is a prewrite for my testimony in the trial against Death Eater Jayant Knight. He has been accused of torturing two Hogwarts students (who are Muggleborns) and killing one of the students by casting the Imperius curse on the other student and ordering her to kill the other. He has pleaded not guilty on the charges of the Imperius curse. I’m writing this to gather my thoughts on the matter.
My name is Mohini Maya Knight I am a 6th year student at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw house, and also studying as an Potions apprentice under Severus Snape. I currently reside in the Harrow area of London with my father, William Knight, and my mother ,Maya Mehra- Knight. I am 17 years of age, born on October 28th, 1964.
The defendant, known as Jay but formerly as Jayant Knight, is nearly 12 years older than me. My parents unexpectedly had him when they were 19 years old, and were unprepared to have a child to say the least. I’ve heard that from my everyone involved in his growing up. My parents were very concerned with finding a way to provide for themselves, then worried about him. (Though they themselves had just barely passed from childhood). It is said he was a unruly, difficult child, and my parents were too young to deal with him. He got what he wanted because my parents were not harsh enough.
My mother announced her pregnancy with me a couple of days after my brother received his Hogwarts letter. They became more concerned with my birth than his education. Jayant wrote in the journal that our parents said they would “raise this child correctly” and they could “have a chance at a happy home.” He was not very fond me of when I was very young, but I was enchanted by my older brother. I was even after he left. He took advantage of this and I would do whatever he told me too. I remember getting in trouble for this up until the time I was about 7. It stopped when my parents caught him then over his last Holiday break at Hogwarts. They had already been angry at the fact he was involved with the bad crowd in Slytherin, he was cursing students and had even poisoned one. My grandparents hushed up the situation with a donation to Hogwarts and promising it would never happen again.
My parents said he could not take advantage of me and yelled at him for trying to “ruin your sister, just like how you’ve screwed up.” My parents kicked him out of house, saying it was the last thing he would do to ruin the Knight name. That was the last time I saw my brother for years. My parents did apologize for their anger about a month later, but he wasn’t having any of it. As parents, they should not have done that, but he was acting like a young idiot. He had just come of age, but he was ruining his potential by spewing off things like blood purity and cursing students. He had the good name of Knight behind him, he could have gotten a job nearly anywhere after Hogwarts. But he didn’t want any of that he said, he wanted to be with “real purebloods.”
My family didn’t speak of him for years. I was just told to not be like my brother, for he was a true disgrace to the Knight name and went against the Knight ideal of purity of blood, body, and mind. Though, I must clarify, my family did believe in an inherit goodness to being “pure bloods” they did not hate Muggles nor Muggleborns, just less prestige.
My parents did learn Jayant had fallen in with some Dark Wizards immediately after he graduated Hogwarts in the 70s, they assumed it was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Things were fine without him, I was able to grow up happily and be a true Knight, and my daddy’s girl by making potions with him. My dad was proud when I told him I was sorted into Ravenclaw, just like him. I was asked by the Sorting Hat between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, for Slytherin could connect me with my desire to make a name for myself, while Ravenclaw could help me further my family and develop my mind. I chose Ravenclaw because my father said Slytherin would ruin me.
The next time I heard from Jayant was my 12th birthday, I was at first year of Hogwarts and at breakfast I received a book with a short letter attached, “To the young Knight, From your former Knight. The book will explain.” In my dormitory, I opened the book up. It was a Potions book with a history book cover. The potions inside were ones I had never seen before, they were what I knew to be classified as Dark potions because my father told me that I was forbidden from making these. However, the last half of the book was cut out. Inside of the cut out was a journal.
I opened the journal, and inside was a note from my brother : “Little sister, I’m sorry for not talking to you for years but I’ve been having fantastic adventures and learning of news things almost lost to everyone. I’ve made potions you haven’t even dreamed up, casted spells everyone else is to afraid to attempt, and met people who are wonderfully gifted and knowledgeable. I’ve achieved things from my own efforts, not by being handed things by the Knight name. It’s an exhilarating feeling, to be confident in one’s complete self and to be accepted for my deeds, not my name. I know, by now, Little Sister, that you’ve been told how awe-inspiring the Knight family is, how lucky you are because of your name. Little Sister, I know you have not been told how awe-inspiring you are for your deeds or for your own skills, or just simply for being an individual. But I will tell you now, you can make a name for yourself. I have. I no longer bear the name Knight, and I am proud to be recognized for my own accomplishments. The wizards people say are “Dark” are nothing but, I have a comradely and acceptance from then that I never had within your family. I write to you to tell you that whenever you feel pressured or overwhelmed, write in this journal, I’ve enchanted it so we can see each other’s entries. I’ll try to inspire you, teach you, and mentor you. I know this is sudden and unexpected, but I do love you Little Sister. Happy 12th birthday, Mohini. Write back to me as soon as you can, I’ll be waiting. Love, Jay. P.S. Keep this just between us. Mum and Dad would kill you for talking to me.”
After that, nearly everyday, we wrote to each other and he told me how to be great and of his adventures. I complained that I had no friends, that the Knight name was not earning me any respect at Hogwarts. I was being bullied by some kids for being odd and even by some for being mixed-race. He told me he would arrange some acquaintances of his to “protect and guide me” since he could not be present. I was then taken under the wing of some elder Slytherins who somehow knew who I was though they never had before. My parents found out I was hanging around with Slytherins after being tipped off by a Hogwarts staff member, as they had apparently asked the Headmaster to look after me as they didn’t want me going down the same path as my brother. I was forbidden to be seen with a Slytherin, so my father arranged for some of his former classmate’s children to hang around with me.
I continued to write to my brother, keeping it secret from my father. I lied to my father to tell him I was doing well in school, though I failed most subjects. I lied to my brother, telling him that I was practicing my magic and making a name for myself. My brother encouraged me to be with Slytherin to kep “good, encouraging company” so I snuck off with older Slytherins on weekends to discuss and to learn. They seemed to understand things about me that others didn’t, they knew things about me I had never told anyone but my brother (I later learned he had told them these things in order for them to gain my trust). I kept my good name though, by maintaining father-approved company during the week. I was trying to please both sides of myself: the side that felt an extreme dedication to my family name and the side that revered and was awed by my brother. I do admit that I experimented with many Dark potions during my first three years at Hogwarts. But my two sides caught up with me after my third year. My father found my journal that I had left in my trunk.
My brother knew my father well enough that he would snoop and find it eventually. It was a way to get my parents back, again, to show how much they much they failed at parenting. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t produce a model Knight because I was already “poisoned.” He was, in some ways right. I have developed an interest in creating a name for myself, but I also have a dedication to my family. My brother didn’t completely ruin me.
Since my father’s discovery I have continued to affiliate myself with some select Slytherins, but with a much more guarded mind. I no longer brew potions for the intent of letting others harm with them. I do still brew some “forbidden” potions because they all contain valuable knowledge if used for the right reasons. I am much more focused on my studies and apprenticeship though. While I’m afraid of doing much magic using my wand (as I’ve never been drawn to it/ I’m rather afraid of it to be honest because it’s not as obvious to me as Potions or History of Magic), I can now do some basic spells I was too afraid to do before.
At 12 years old, I had no idea they were both manipulating me for their own purposes and to “keep me safe.” My father wanted to protect our family name and save me from turning into my brother. My brother wanted to get revenge against my family name by turning me against it and save me from falling into the Knight family trap. Now that I’ve been able to realize parts of the truth, I’m trying to take pieces of the damned brother and the sacred family name to make myself a united person.
In the future, I will be dedicated to analyzing the intentions of those around me and also my art, which had suffered during the time
After rereading these thoughts it seems I’ve gone very off track. To finish, I must conclude that my brother is guilty of the crimes he is accused of. In our correspondence, he never seemed to be suffering. He was joyous of his discoveries and adventures. But I must say he should not receive the Kiss, it would be much more of a punishment for him to be conscious for he has expressed to me that he has regretted some of his actions.
Mechanical Woman Community Member 
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