Chapter 683: Fish: Is that all? (Edited)

The other day after the exams, Fish went to Albus's office to play with Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, and Albus brought Fish a bunch of cockroaches to eat, but Fawkes didn't like the snack very much and didn't join us. He seemed to prefer herbs instead...

(?ω?)

Fish's narration was the same as in the previous interview with Rita Skeeter, completely missing the point, or rather, the point perceived by Fish was not the same as that of others.

Only Fish's constant head bobbing, occasional ear movement, and cat tail with his own thoughts allowed Mrs. Bones and the rest of the jury to patiently listen to this "testimony."

The people present had no intention of urging Fish at all; instead, they all smiled and let him do his thing.

The only one who couldn't calm down was Fudge, but he had been bombarded with angry letters and had just been warned by several people with looks, so although he was agitated, he could only listen to Fish's incoherent "nonsense."

And after rambling on and on about how he ate and played with his friends and listened to Dumbledore's stories about his youth, Fish finally got to the point.

"... Harry appeared out of nowhere, saying that Voldemort was in the Department of Mysteries, and Fish wanted to fight him again, so he followed Albus, nya!"

(ΦωΦ)

The most important thing was explained in the simplest terms by Fish.

"What happened next was similar to what Albus said. As soon as we got out of the elevator, Fudge and the others appeared out of nowhere, but unfortunately, we didn't end up fighting. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to defeat Fish and Albus!"

(`´)

Fish said, looking up proudly.

"Wait a moment!"

Fudge ignored Fish's disdain for his strength and that of the Aurors and exclaimed, "Did you just say Harry, the one who gave you the information? That Harry Potter?"

"Yes."

"But how did he know that You-Know-Who was in the Department of Mysteries? That's an obvious lie!" A look of self-satisfaction crossed Fudge's fat, round face. "I even have reasons to suspect that it was a big lie told by Dumbledore and Harry together! Just to find an excuse to enter the Department of Mysteries. Harry must have also lied about the Dementor attack! And simple Fish fell for their trick!"

This time, cunningly, he took Fish out of the equation, thinking that the jury would not ignore Dumbledore's guilt because of Fish.

However, he had just made a superfluous reference to the Dementors and had managed to offend several members who had participated in the last trial, like Mrs. Bones...

Wasn't this an accusation that they had been unjustly convicted?

On Fish's part, for some reason, Dumbledore hadn't asked him to lie in his testimony, only to avoid mentioning Sirius.

So when Fudge questioned Fish, he honestly answered, "Harry dreamt it, and it was he who dreamt it when Arthur was bitten by a snake just before Christmas, nya."

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's mouth twitched slightly, exposing several members of the Order of the Phoenix in the Ministry to Fudge, but it wasn't a problem. He had been prepared for this when he asked Fish to tell the truth.

Fudge, on the other hand, burst into laughter. "Dreams? Dumbledore, did you just rely on a student's dream to assume that You-Know-Who has come back to life and wants to invade the Ministry?"

"But it's true that Arthur was bitten by a snake."

?ω?

Fish blinked and said, "Fish went to St. Mungo's and healed him afterward."

The jury, who had seen Fish at St. Mungo's, spoke up and confirmed his story. The fact that Fish had caused such a commotion that even those who weren't present knew he had been at St. Mungo's made his story even more credible when combined with Fish's previous testimony.

"That means nothing!" Fudge pounded the judge's bench with his fist when the jury showed signs of being convinced, refuting with irritation, "It's possible that Dumbledore's plan, starting from that point, began! It's possible that he was the one who attacked Arthur Weasley!"

"And what are my reasons for doing so?" Dumbledore calmly countered in turn. "If I could have attacked Arthur Weasley without a word inside the Ministry of Magic, why didn't I choose to go straight to the Department of Mysteries and steal the secrets you were talking about?"

Once again, Fudge was left perplexed, mouth agape for a long moment before asking again, "And what makes Harry Potter dream about what the Mystics have done?"

"It was Harry's scar," Voldemort had already discovered it, so Dumbledore stopped hiding it. "I have reasons to believe that the scar Voldemort left on his forehead in the first place established some kind of connection with Harry himself, and when Voldemort returned to life, that connection was activated in a similar fashion."

"Nonsense! All of this is your speculation! No! It's your excuse," Fudge angrily retorted.

However, Professor Tofty and the senior wizards wore thoughtful expressions.

"Believe it or not, that's why I came to the Ministry of Magic that night," Dumbledore didn't bother arguing with Fudge. "And whatever my reason for coming to the Ministry that day was, I never actually set foot in the Department of Mysteries, so your accusations against me are questionable."

Dumbledore pointed out the most crucial issue of the trial, that due to Fudge's "preparation in advance," he never had the chance to "commit a crime," and since he had eliminated the rest of the staff beforehand, it made sense for Dumbledore to be unseen. Dumbledore had good reasons to refute all the accusations made against him.

Fudge was obviously aware of this, so he had been trying to define Dumbledore's actions as a violation against the Ministry, but as things stood, his efforts were having very little effect...

"Those in favor of dismissing the charges, please raise your hand," Mrs. Bones said aloud.

Then, only a handful of people didn't raise their hand, but Mrs. Bones continued, "All those in favor of finding the defendant guilty, please raise your hand."

No one except Fudge raised their hand, not even the wizards who hadn't raised theirs earlier.

Fudge looked around at everyone, a large lump seemed to be stuck in his throat, then he lowered his hand and took two deep breaths. His voice became strained as he desperately tried to suppress his anger, "Very well, very well... the charges are not substantiated."

"Then, I bid you farewell." Dumbledore stood up, smiling. "May you all have a good day."

"Is that all? Fish still hasn't done anything!"

∑(ΦДΦ)

Confused, Fish stood up.

He thought Fish was important today! But had he only sat there for a while and said a few words?

Fish was perplexed.