Magical Projection do indeed have a remarkably realistic effect, but post-production is a rather complex task.
No more than 20 wizards in the entire British Wizarding World could answer this question; they were either scholars who had conducted in-depth research on Magical Projection or directors who had filmed big-budget TV series.
Seeing that Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr. were stammering and unable to answer, even a fool would know that there was a big problem.
"Witness, please answer the questions." Bones' tone was clearly impatient.
Fudge, whose face was extremely gloomy, could certainly tell.
Although a hearing is not a court of law, if a witness avoids such a crucial question, he cannot prove that the video footage is fake. Without proving it is fake, he cannot prove that Voldemort's return is a rumor. In that case, he would be making a wrong judgment, and the provisional Eleventh Decree would need to be re-voted by Wizengamot.
Not only that, but this hearing against Dumbledore Vincent will turn into a joke, and the public speech during the day will become an even bigger joke, and Cornelius Fudge will be completely reduced to a clown.
A small loophole could lead to a serious chain reaction, Fudge's resentful gaze once again focused on Vincent's face.
He was still so at ease, as if he held all the trump cards in his hand.
Fudge took a deep breath and raised his voice. "Since the witness is unwilling to answer, then we will skip this step."
Bones gave him a slightly displeased look.
Skipping this step would mean the hearing would return to square one.
After all the fuss, not only will Fudge become a clown, but all the members of the Wizengamot group will also become clowns.
Vincent and Dumbledore had no objections. Delores came over and took Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr.. away, but the Auror stayed behind.
Fudge took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and announced in a particularly unreasonable manner, "The topic of this hearing is not to discuss whether the Eleventh Decree is reasonable. As the hearing chairperson, I have an obligation to remind everyone of this."
Trying to get away with this? You've lost all sense of shame.
Elphias Doge, Marchbanks, and Ogden all seemed to have something to say, but Fudge silenced them all first.
"If anyone raises any questions that are unrelated to the topic of this hearing, I will expel them immediately."
He's the referee, the witness, and the witness; he even sets the rules. He can play however he wants.
Is it really okay to be so blatant?
Fudge knew that the reporters and broadcasters would secretly livestream, so he went to great lengths to completely cover up Voldemort's return.
Vincent shrugged at Dumbledore, then gave Fudge, who was standing right in front of him, a disdainful look, indicating that he had never seen such a shameless person.
Dumbledore suddenly put on a serious face, and it was unclear whether he was trying to suppress a laugh.
The interaction between the two once again drove Fudge to the brink of madness.
His cold gaze shifted from Vincent to Dumbledore's face. "I retract my serious accusations that the two parties to the hearing attempted to divide the British Wizarding World, but their spreading of rumors and causing public panic is an undeniable fact."
He pulled out another stack of parchment from the documents in front of him. "These are all the conflicts that have arisen in the British Wizarding World since June 25th due to the news of 'Voldemort's return'."
He passed the parchment to a Wizengamot member next to him, saying, "There were nine serious conflicts, the most serious of which involved the use of a poisonous curse."
The increasing conflicts within the British Wizarding World are undeniable, and focusing on the root causes of these conflicts instead of accusing them of splitting the Wizarding World is indeed a good approach.
"Given that the actions of the two parties involved in the hearing essentially resulted in multiple incidents—"
"I don't think it's a mistake," Dumbledore interrupted him. "The root of the conflict is Voldemort's return. Our focus should be on whether he has truly returned, not on the impact he has had."
"We—are—not—that—" Fudge shouted in exasperation, "We're not here today to discuss this unconfirmed issue; our focus should be on the rumors! Dumbledore, because of a casual remark you made, the Ministry of Magic has been running around like crazy for the past two weeks!"
"What's wrong with acknowledging the facts?" Dumbledore said calmly. "There are still traces of my battle with Voldemort in Little Hangleton. Does the Ministry of Magic have to deny even that? I think the Ministry of Magic should release the clues it has found so far so that everyone can make their own judgments."
"Dumbledore!" Fudge said gruffly. "What the Ministry of Magic does or doesn't do is not for you to decide!"
"Of course." Dumbledore as humble and polite as ever, but his words carried a chilling undertone. "The Wizarding World is facing a crisis. We should not hastily affirm something, much less deny its existence out of fear."
"Enough!" Fudge slammed his fist on the table, knocking over a bottle of ink. "The crisis facing the Wizarding World right now is something you created! Dumbledore, you keep claiming Voldemort is back, what good does that do you?"
"There is no benefit to it. I think everyone should be vigilant and not repeat the mistakes of the wizard war 25 years ago."
"No." Fudge hurriedly wiped away the spilled ink. "I know you're trying to prove your greatness through Voldemort, but I haven't even started talking about how you've made a mess of Hogwarts."
Dumbledore kept bringing up Voldemort, forcing Fudge to change the subject.
Vincent straightened up, his eyes wide with elation as he stared intently at Fudge, who was avoiding his gaze out of guilt. "Where is Hogwarts in such a chaotic state? Everyone remembers how the Ministry of Magic arrested Sirius Black Black last year, right? They not only stationed Dementors at the school gates, but also deployed a large number of staff there."
Fudge finally glared at him fiercely, "That's because of the Batman Family. Come to think of it, this matter seems to have something to do with you."
Vincent's eyes were full of mockery. "Hearing officer, this is a very serious accusation. What evidence do you have?"
The word "evidence" made Fudge blush again.
"No?" Vincent shook his head in disappointment. "If there's no evidence, we should get back to the main topic."
"Of course!" Fudge gasped for breath. "There's a very famous comic book in the Muggle world, and the Batman Family is derived from it. And the protagonist of that comic book just happens to have the surname Wayne."
"Pfft—" Fred and George in the audience couldn't help but laugh.
Fudge's attempt to keep the Voldemort discussion going was really ridiculous.
Logically speaking, even if Vincent were to do something bad, he wouldn't dress up as Batman; he should dress up as some other character to avoid suspicion.
"This is absolutely no coincidence." Fudge glared at Vincent, looking furious. "That Muggle comic book is the best proof!"