Just a Joke-How Could That Count as Evidence?

"That's how it is." Fudge looked at Marietta kindly. "My dear, you are very brave, and your actions were absolutely right."

Would you like to tell me what was distributed at the party? What was its purpose? Who were the members?

Marietta remained nervous, covering her face and shaking her head, unwilling to say another word.

Just by telling Umbridge about the existence of the Room of Requirement, her face became like this. If she were to reveal a few more details, who knows if she would be disfigured.

"Do we have a way to break the curse and deal with this? Something that will allow her to speak normally." Fudge was getting impatient. If the witness was like this, it would be better if there was no witness at all; at least it wouldn't be an eyesore.

"Not yet," Umbridge said somewhat awkwardly. "But it doesn't matter if she doesn't speak; we won't come away empty-handed."

As she spoke, she turned to Aaron, who was sitting in a chair Petting Dragon, and asked, "Gaius, can you explain how you ended up in the Room of Requirement?"

"This... can I not say?"

"I'm afraid that won't work."

"Alright!" Aaron sighed. "The only reason I was there was to practice Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Aaron," Fudge gave him a warning look, "I hope you'll be honest."

"I know what I'm talking about, Minister," Aaron said calmly. "I admit I may have made a mistake, but I didn't mean to!"

Professor Umbridge, the High Inquisitor you sent, only taught us theory in Defense Against the Dark Arts ..."

"That's systematic teaching," Umbridge interrupted. "It's for your own good. Classes are for preparing for exams, and it's also in accordance with the Ministry of Magic's Educational Decree."

"But half of the OWLs exams for Level 5 Warlock are practical," Aaron said directly. "By not allowing us to use magic in class, you're essentially sentencing our practical exams to death."

"Minister, you should know what the OWLs exam means for Level 5 students."

This relates to a student's future career choices; failing Defense Against the Dark Arts will deprive many of these opportunities.

Fudge blinked, speechless for a moment.

Did he know? Of course he knew, but in order to prevent Dumbledore cultivating forces to oppose him, he had no other choice but to resort to this tactic.

Sacrificing the future of a small number of children in exchange for a Minister for Magic who can bring prosperity and peace to the Magic World is absolutely worthwhile.

Besides, if failing an exam is just due to missing one Defense Against the Dark Arts, then the child isn't particularly talented, and it's not a waste of his potential.

Umbridge, seemingly noticing her superior's embarrassment, widened her eyes and pointed at Aaron, "Gaius, are you questioning the Ministry of Magic's decision?"

"Of course not," Aaron waved his hand. "To be honest, after learning about your teaching methods, I even wrote a letter home."

"What did Vico say?" Fudge asked immediately. He didn't care about the Ministry of Magic 'Aaron decision, but if the Gaius family had objections, it would be difficult to resolve.

"My dad's not here, my uncle received the letter," Aaron began, spouting nonsense with a straight face. "He meant that the Ministry of Magic's decisions have nothing to Knut with him, but I absolutely have to get an O in my Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, otherwise..."

Aaron paused for two seconds, his eyes slightly reddening, his voice filled with grievance and indignation, "Minister Fudge, our family rules are quite strict. If I don't meet the requirements for my Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, I'll definitely face serious consequences during my vacation."

"You, you..." Umbridge clutched her chest in anger. "Nonsense! Hogwarts ' mail delivery channels are closely monitored. I have no idea you've sent any mail home."

"Just because you don't know doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Aaron curled his lip in disdain. "I used Hogsmeade's delivery channels. No matter how capable you are High Inquisitor, you can't possibly have your hands sticking that far!"

The problem is, my Uncle Jeans happens to know someone in Hogsmeade. Is it illegal to ask him to deliver a message?

Upon hearing this, Umbridge's face twitched uncontrollably, Fudge also felt an immense headache coming on.

Everyone else was struggling to suppress their laughter, except for Marietta, who was now utterly dejected.

"Because of my uncle's letter, my requirements for Defense Against the Dark Arts are quite high."

Even so, I did not object to Professor Umbridge. I secretly trained her in a private place, just so as not to make things difficult for her.

But to my surprise, when I was training as usual, the door to the Room of Requirement was blown open by Blasting Curse.

I have no idea how I ended up here with Umbridge.

"Minister Fudge, I admit I violated school rules, but there are some extenuating circumstances," Aaron continued. "Besides, we had an agreement that I would decide my own Defense Against the Dark Arts during my time at school, and she had no right to interfere."

Fudge:...

Umbridge was stunned, and it took him a while to recover before he gave a hypocritical sneer, "That's just your side of the story."

"If necessary, Jeans can come and testify on my behalf."

Umbridge stared at Aaron in astonishment, not understanding where he got the audacity to say such a thing.

Jeans is nominally Aaron's uncle, but in reality he is just the Butler of the Gaius family; to put it bluntly, he is a servant.

How credible can a servant's testimony be when it comes to his young master?

"I won't stoop to your level," Umbridge said, barely containing his anger. Then, in a second, his tone changed completely. "Minister, you should remember that I reported to you that Gaius and Potter were having a party with many classmates at the Hog's Hog's Head in Hogsmeade."

"Do you have any evidence?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

"I have Willie Wedsing's testimony; he was drinking inside at the time." Umbridge seemed to be basking in the joy of being High Inquisitor, his face beaming with smugness. "Although he was quite well covered up, it didn't impair his hearing. He overheard their conversation and then rushed to the school to report to me."

"Oh!" Professor McGonagall seemed to have thought of something and suddenly realized, "That's why the Ministry of Magic dropped the charges against him for causing the toilet sewage to overflow. Our judicial system is truly eye-opening!"

"Disgraceful depravity," a portrait behind Dumbledore cursed. "In our time, the Ministry of Magic never made deals with despicable criminals. They would never do so."

"Thank you, Fawkes," Dumbledore said.

"Perhaps it's the criminal's heartfelt repentance, wanting to atone for his crimes!" Aaron said inappropriately.

"Yes, that's it," Fudge said.

Fawkes put him in an awkward position, clearly criticizing his inaction during his presidency, but if the criminals were to atone for their crimes through leniency, that would be a different matter.

Umbridge snorted, then looked at Aaron meaningfully. "These gatherings of students are Potter's way of persuading them to join an illegal group, the goal of which is to learn spells that the Ministry of Magic deems inappropriate."

"Yes, that's true," Aaron said sheepishly. "But it was only after the party that Professor Umbridge decided to ban all groups of three or more people."

This was a time lag, and thankfully we didn't violate Ministry of Magic regulations at the time.

Umbridge opened his mouth, remained silent for a few seconds, and then looked at Aaron with schadenfreude. "Widsin also mentioned to me that Gaius, you seem to have admitted in front of them that you saw the resurrection of the You-Know-Who."

Fudge's eyes narrowed, and his voice turned sharp. "Is that so?"

"How should I put it?" Aaron frowned slightly. "The situation at the time..."

"Tell me directly whether this is true or not?" Umbridge pressed.

She knew Fudge well enough to know that if Aaron dared to admit it, Fudge would definitely turn against him.

Then, she won't have to worry about anything when she wants to deal with Aaron.

She couldn't bear the humiliation she suffered during that time if she didn't leave a few scars on his arm after being confined to solitary confinement and forced to write sentences for a month.

"That's true, it's just that..."

"Haha." Umbridge just burst out laughing when she heard the word 'Yes', her heart skipped a beat, and her laughter stopped abruptly.

"What is it?" Fudge asked.

"Minister, are you sure you want me to speak here?"

"Right here, now, there's no time to hesitate." Fudge's voice was urgent; he wouldn't feel at ease until he understood Aaron's position.

"Damn it!" Aaron shrugged, turning to look at Umbridge, whose face had turned ashen as if he'd swallowed a dead fly. "I don't know Widsin, but he should tell you that I said something back then: I will never admit to the Dark Lord's resurrection once I leave the Hog's Head."

Fudge raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Let me give you a shout-out," Aaron said without batting an eye. "I don't know if the You-Know-Who You-Know-Who been resurrected, but if he has, it will undoubtedly motivate students to study."

I'm an adult, after all; making a few jokes shouldn't be a problem, right?

"This... can you joke about this?" Percy asked in astonishment.

"Why not? I've never admitted to such nonsense in front of a crowd," Aaron said defiantly. "Senior Percy, can you honestly say you never said you wanted to be Minister for Magic?"

Percy:...

Holy crap! What did I ever do to deserve this? Why would they go to such lengths to trick me?

He has his eye on that position, and to say that in front of the current Minister for Magic is tantamount to courting death.

Sure enough, several dark lines appeared clearly on Fudge's forehead.

I'm not even dead yet, and you're already thinking about seizing the throne? That's utterly rebellious!

A fierce glint flashed in Umbridge's eyes. She had worked so hard for Fudge for so many years, all for the sake of moving up to the second-in-command.

I never expected this! Now there's another competitor. This is intolerable!

Percy sensed the intense malice from both sides and immediately tried to defend himself. "Don't talk nonsense, I was just..."

"Just kidding, right?" Aaron said with a playful tone.

"I, I..." Percy stammered, "I just wanted to one day become a great person like the Minister who has dedicated himself to the Magic World, I had no other intentions."

"I have no doubt about that," Aaron said with a smile, then looked at Fudge. "I believe the Minister understands what I mean. I'm not like Harry Potter; I've never said a single word against the Ministry of Magic in public."

Fudge nodded blankly, feeling a little relieved despite his anger.

It seems the other party is still maintaining neutrality, which is enough; at least they are not an enemy.

"Minister, I..." Umbridge hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

"Alright, I know what you're going to say," Fudge said somewhat helplessly. "I believe Mr. Gaius has no objection to the Ministry of Magic."

Umbridge was still somewhat unwilling. Fudge had already made his stance clear, and she dared not disobey her superior's wishes, so she could only change the subject.

"Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four has been in effect for nearly six months. Even if their first gathering was not illegal, all subsequent gatherings will certainly be illegal."

"Well," Dumbledore smiled politely, "I don't deny that claim, but what evidence do you have to prove that there were any such gatherings afterward?"

If I'm not mistaken, Professor Umbridge, you seem to have only caught Mr. Gaius in the Room of Requirement!

Umbridge paused for a moment, then smiled broadly. "Perhaps there were some unexpected issues with this arrest operation. We have witnesses. Why do you think Miss Ekko is here?"

"Wait a minute," Aaron interrupted, a bewildered expression on his face. "Excuse me for interrupting, Professor Umbridge, you don't think we've been organizing these gatherings for six months, do you?"

"You dare say you don't?" Umbridge retorted.

"Of course not. We haven't organized any gatherings since the implementation of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four."

"Haha, Mr. Gaius, that's not up to you." Umbridge smiled at Marietta. "Miss Ekko, how many parties like this have they organized in the past few months?"

Marietta didn't speak immediately, but looked at Aaron through the slit in the window. When she noticed his confident demeanor, she felt a chill run down her spine.

"It seems you have some difficulty speaking."

Let me ask you another question: In the past six months, have such gatherings been held regularly?

You just need to nod or shake your head; I'm sure that won't activate the Curse.

Marietta hesitated for a moment, then nodded with difficulty.

"Ridiculous." Aaron curled his lip in disdain. "Minister Fudge, is this how the Ministry of Magic operates? Frame-ups without any evidence?"

"That's sophistry," Umbridge said. "Isn't Miss Ekko's face enough evidence?"

"Who knows if she drank the wrong Potions?" Aaron retorted. "I suggest Professor Snape check his storeroom; maybe one or two bottles are missing."

"I didn't," Marietta said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I didn't drink Potions, I really didn't."

"Well, judging from your expression, you're probably not lying. Something really did happen!" Aaron turned his face away with some disgust. "I can cure your face; it really doesn't count as evidence."