Vaughn glanced at Harry and Ron, then smiled as he answered Hermione's question.
"Fudge really wasn't involved in the Azkaban riot. He didn't even know the Pure-blood Alliance had gone over to Voldemort."
Vaughn looked rather rueful. "Our former minister was simply unimaginably stupid. He never intended to collude with Dark Wizards."
"But the Bellatrix Lestrange who gave that interview wasn't an impostor. She was simply under the influence of magic and had no choice but to say those things."
"I imagine she must be terribly annoyed right now-"
"What sort of magic?" Harry asked, his face full of wonder and curiosity.
"That's not important!" Hermione glared at him, then turned a serious look on Vaughn. "You shouldn't have told us. This could get you into trouble!"
As Hermione saw it, whatever the magic was, it already constituted a serious violation of the Ministry of Magic's regulations. Vaughn was already at the center of a storm. If word got out, someone would certainly use it as an excuse to target him.
"I don't suppose you'll report me, will you?" Vaughn looked at them with a smile-or, to be precise, he was looking at Ron.
"Why are you looking at me?" Ron glared back, his tone indignant.
As though he were the only one who might tell on him! "Of course," Vaughn suddenly drawled, "even if you do report it to the Ministry of Magic, it won't matter-"
"Because I wasn't the one who cast the spell on Bellatrix."
Vaughn did not pursue the subject. Not reporting him was not the same as keeping the information from leaking. Neither Ron nor Harry was good at keeping secrets, and there was no telling when they might let it slip by accident.
If that really happened, even Dumbledore would face plenty of trouble