The Scapegoat and the Informer Caught in the Middle

"You... you said you could cure my molars?" Marietta asked incredulously. "Really?"

"Why would I need to lie to you?" Aaron said dismissively. "This kind of Curse might be troublesome for others, but it's just a matter of minutes for me."

Marietta was immediately thrilled; after all, she was a girl, and for a girl, nothing is more important than her face.

Her entire face is now covered in purple pustules, and after looking in the mirror, she felt like dying.

"However..." Aaron paused, then said meaningfully, "I don't know how to cure a habitual liar, so I don't need to remind you what to say next!"

Marietta stood there, stunned, on the verge of tears.

She really didn't want to go out and see people with this distorted face, but if she wanted to cure it, she had to follow Aaron's script and admit that she had lied and that there was no DA gathering at all.

But this would definitely make Umbridge hate her to death. This High Inquisitor is no kind-hearted person, and she wouldn't be able to withstand his revenge later.

"Gaius, what do you mean by this?" Umbridge shouted angrily.

"I was just encouraging Miss Ekko to tell the truth. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Umbridge:...

How can there be no problem? There's a huge problem.

Tell the truth? Only when you're satisfied can it be considered the truth!

"Minister, I suggest that Mr. Gaius begin treatment now. I believe Miss Ekko will not leave us with any hope."

"Mr. Gaius," Fudge gave Aaron a forced smile, "Miss Ekko is in such a pitiful state right now, why don't you treat her first?"

"I'm sorry, I can't comply." Aaron refused directly. "Minister, it's not that I'm not giving you face, but what if she wrongly accuses me after I've cured her?"

"The Ministry of Magic can heal her face without your help," Umbridge said confidently. "This kind of Curse isn't particularly difficult to remove; the healers at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries can handle it in a week at most."

"We'll see," Aaron said nonchalantly.

Umbridge glared at him, then turned to Marietta, "Darling, tell the truth, don't hold back."

"I also have the minister; we are all your support."

"But I..." Marietta hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

"Your face is definitely not a problem, I guarantee I can cure it." Umbridge smiled kindly. "Think of your mother, she still works at the Ministry of Magic."

Lying will have a very negative impact on her, but being honest might get you a better job.

"Tsk!" Aaron couldn't help but click his tongue. "What an eye-opener! What an eye-opener!"

"Professor Umbridge, although you haven't taught me any Defense Against the Dark Arts, I've certainly grasped the meaning of 'coercion and enticement.'"

Umbridge remained unmoved, and Fudge pretended not to hear anything.

"A party..." Marietta glanced nervously at Aaron, then mustered her courage and said haltingly, "It's basically once a week, at the Room of Requirement. Gaius is the leader, Potter is the assistant... They teach us some Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Pfft!" Aaron chuckled. "Sorry, I just thought of something funny."

"Minister," Umbridge breathed a sigh of relief, "This is the truth!"

"Minister, I admit that what Ekmo said is correct."

But as I said before, evidence is crucial. Without evidence, it's blatant slander.

"You want evidence, huh!" Umbridge calmed down. "No problem, we can interrogate each of the party members one by one, starting with Harry Potter. I don't believe not one of them will give in."

"Interrogation?" Professor McGonagall couldn't hold back any longer and cursed, "Dolores, if I didn't misunderstand, you're going to use torture to extract a confession!"

"I will not allow you to treat my student so roughly," Dumbledore said, the faint anger in his voice making Umbridge shudder.

"Calm down, Mrs. Umbridge," said the dark-skinned, bald Warlock. "You shouldn't be getting yourself into trouble now, especially with the minister still around."

Umbridge took a deep breath. "You're right, Shacklebolt, it's my fault."

She turned to look at Marietta, her voice icy. "Miss Ekko, I don't want to force you, but you'd better think about what other evidence you have."

Gollum!

Marietta swallowed hard, all eyes on her, making her feel like crying.

She was just an ordinary fifth-grade student; how could she possibly withstand such pressure?

"Evidence, evidence..." Marietta murmured to herself, her brain racing as she tried to recall all the information about DA. A dozen seconds later, a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes.

"I remember now, I have evidence."

"Really? Darling, I knew you wouldn't let me down." Umbridge's expression changed quickly, and she said gently, "Where's the evidence? Show it to me right now."

Marietta rummaged in her pocket for a while and finally pulled out a Gold Galleons.

Professor McGonagall's pupils contracted slightly. As a master of Transfiguration, she could clearly sense the traces of Transfiguration on the gold coin.

"This was made by Granger. She would notify us of the time of each gathering by displaying a number on this Galleon."

"Hahaha." Umbridge held the Galleon in his hand, unable to contain his excitement any longer, and laughed triumphantly. "Mr. Gaius, do you have anything else to say?"

Aaron was secretly plotting something, but his expression remained unchanged. "Can I see it? I didn't even know we had this kind of communication method."

"What kind of wicked idea are you hatching now? You think I'll let you succeed?"

"I didn't ask you." Aaron rolled his eyes speechlessly, then looked at Fudge. "Minister, since it has nothing to do with my reputation, I think I have the right to examine this so-called evidence."

Fudge's face showed hesitation. Like Umbridge, he was also worried that Aaron might cause another accident.

"Minister, besides being Hogwarts student, I am also the heir to the Gaius family," Aaron said solemnly.

"Let him see it," Fudge said with a hint of helplessness.

"Minister?"

I told him to show it to him.

With so many people around, Mr. Gaius can't possibly pull any tricks right under our noses!

Upon hearing this, Umbridge sighed slightly and handed the Gold Galleons in her hand to Aaron.

Aaron smiled and accepted it, while simultaneously using Illusion Magic to cover the entire Headmaster's Office.

He solemnly examined the Gold Galleons that had been enchanted with Transfiguration Spell, but in reality, the Gold Galleons was burned to ashes by the flames in his hand and replaced by a real gold coin.

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were able to see through the Illusion Magic, but seeing the performance of the others made them secretly alarmed. They hadn't expected Aaron's Illusion Magic skills to be so advanced.

However, they tacitly refrained from saying much, only nodding slightly to Aaron.

Seeing this, Aaron couldn't help but secretly complain to himself.

These two are quite old, so it's normal that the Illusion Magic couldn't fool their eyes.

If he hadn't broken through to the intermediate-level Archmage, he wouldn't have dared to use illusion Illusion Magic in front of so many people; if he were exposed, the consequences would be dire.

However, it seems that the effect is quite good. The two people that Fudge brought are not weak. They should be above the mid-level Archmage, but not by much.

They both sensed something was amiss, but couldn't quite put their finger on what it was.

Fudge, Umbridge, and Percy were completely unaware that they were in a hallucination, and as for Marietta... she was negligible.

Half a minute later, Aaron dispelled the Illusion Magic. He looked at the real Galleon in his hand with a furrowed brow.

"Minister, if I may be so bold, this doesn't seem fake."

"What?" Umbridge exclaimed in shock, quickly snatching the Gold Galleons from Aaron's hand and placing it on the table.

She drew her Wand and cast several spells on Galleon to distinguish between the real and the fake, but to no avail.

"How could this happen?" Umbridge was stunned, then pointed angrily at Aaron, "It was you, you must have switched it."

"Are you blind!" Aaron said with a half-smile. "Professor Umbridge, I admit I don't like you much, but that's no reason for you to slander me!"

"Minister, you're still here. Even if I wanted to pull some tricks, I'd need to have something to say about it. Or do you think Minister Fudge would lie through his teeth?"

Umbridge choked, a breath stuck in her throat, unable to come up or go down, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance, both seeing the speechless look in each other's eyes.

Although Slytherin are known for their ruthless methods, they have never seen anyone as shameless as him before.

"Enough, Dolores." Fudge sighed softly, his voice filled with disappointment. "This evidence is clearly fake."

Umbridge's face immediately fell, and she glared at Marietta, "Miss Ekko, you lied to me."

"I don't have it, that's the communication tool." Marietta was on the verge of tears.

"Today I've truly witnessed what it means to put up a last-ditch effort," Aaron added silently. "Perhaps she just doesn't like us and is trying to use Professor Umbridge to deal with us."

Umbridge's eyes lit up. Having failed to catch them in the act and lacking concrete evidence, she now had little confidence in 'breaking the criminal gang'.

But when Fudge was called over, he was disappointed, which was no different from being unreasonable.

She desperately needed someone to take the blame, and it goes without saying who it was.

I'm sorry, girl.

They pick on the weakest one, because they think you're the easiest to bully here!

Umbridge grabbed Marietta and turned her to face him. "Miss Ekko, I need an explanation."

"I really didn't lie to you, I've told you everything I needed to say," Marietta said, trembling.

"Then you'd better have other evidence, otherwise... deceiving the professor can get you locked up in solitary confinement."

When Marietta heard Cho Chang describe what confinement in Umbridge was like, she burst into tears on the spot.

Dumbledore flicked his Wand, and Umbridge stumbled back a few steps before stopping.

"This is the Headmaster's Office. Professor Umbridge, isn't it going too far to intimidate students in front of me, the principal!"

"Thank you, Headmaster," Marietta said gratefully.

"Dolores." Fudge glanced at Umbridge with disappointment. "If there's no other evidence, I'm leaving. As Minister for Magic, I'm quite busy."

"Wait, wait, Minister," Umbridge said hastily, as if he had just remembered something. "There's one more thing, another piece of evidence that you absolutely can't prove."

"Then bring it out, don't waste everyone's time."

Umbridge turned to look at Aaron, a fawning smile on her face. "Gaius, you have a list, right?"

"This..."

"Don't deny it." Umbridge's tone was urgent. "Wedsin told me that all the students who attended the party at the Hog's Head signed it."

"That is true, but that happened before the education document was released."

"Where's the list?"

"That's a joke. The Ministry of Education has explicitly prohibited organizing gatherings. Do you think there's still a name on the list?" Aaron scoffed. "Besides, Marietta signed it too. Wouldn't it be better to just ask her directly?"

"Nonsense, their autographs are quite different from what Marietta told me."

Aaron smiled without saying a word. You understand this principle, so why would you naively think that I would hand over the list to you?

Umbridge belatedly realized this, but now she was in a difficult position. "Dumbledore, as High Inquisitor, I believe I have the right to look at that list."

"Gaius first." Dumbledore sighed helplessly. "Give me the list, do me the honor!"

"Professor Dumbledore, I will certainly give you face." Aaron grinned, then looked at Fudge. "Minister, I hope you can make a promise that none of the people on the list have ever attended the party. I don't want anyone to cause trouble for them afterward."

Fudge was a little confused, but seeing Umbridge constantly giving him meaningful glances, he nodded. "I promise."

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and took out the list.

Umbridge eagerly unfolded the parchment. She didn't look at the names, but instead focused her gaze on the two letters 'DA' in the middle of the first line.

"Gaius -sen." Her lips curled into a wide grin that stretched to behind her ears. "Could you explain what DA means?"

Defense Association.

"No, this is Dumbledore's Army," Umbridge chuckled. "Miss Ekko told me that Dumbledore's Army is the real name."

Cornelius, I think you understand what I mean. Dumbledore trying to organize an army so that he can seize power within the organization.

Although he didn't succeed, he did have that intention.

Fudge's eyes brightened slightly, and a smile curved his lips. "Dumbledore, it seems you really are plotting against the Ministry of Magic."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, then shook his head with an embarrassed chuckle. "You figured it out. I am indeed very dissatisfied with the current state of the Ministry of Magic, but I haven't had a chance to take action yet!"

"It will be too late once you take action," Fudge scoffed. "I have the right to arrest you right now."