Chapter 26: Let the Party Begin!

DMLE, Interrogation Chambers.

"Good morning Albus, thank you for answering the summons for the hearing and interrogation. Please have a seat as the Head of DMLE, the Minister, and the other bigwigs from the three factions arrive. Rufus is on his way with Aster and the boss." Kinsley welcomed Dumbledore to the room.

The old wizards sat in the defendant's seat and Kingsley stood behind him. The clock struck 10 and the doors opened and the Head of DMLE walked in, followed by the Head of the Auror Office. They were followed by the Minister of Magic and the leaders of the three factions, the light was led by Madame Longbottom<Neville's Gran>, the grey was led by Jacob Greengrass<Daphney's pops> and the dark came following Lucius Malfoy<Draco's daddy>.

Since Dumbledore and Amelia were the defendant and the plaintiff respectively, they could not hold their positions as the leaders of their factions and had to pass them to the deputies. But the situation was not fair, as Madame Longbottom was raging mad at Dumbledore for the incidents that tore her dear family apart, while Jacob was every bit of a businessman who could represent the grey faction and its ideals.

The dignitaries took their seats and sorted themselves to start the proceedings, the door opened by itself as the people inside saw a handsome man with blond hair and ice-blue eyes walk in with his suit slung behind with an annoyed expression.

Yes, it was none other than Aster who was annoyed because he was late and that entire mess that Madoka caused while trying her hand at making them breakfast. Not only did that end as a disaster, but Aster also had to rebuild 1/4th of the castle that she managed to destroy as she was making breakfast.

In the end, Aster had to do it by himself along with the castle rebuilding. The only good thing that came out of this was a single moment of Madoka's embarrassed face before she decided to blow up the castle walls in frustration. Not only did he not get to tease her, but he also had to console her and even make a detailed breakfast to cheer her up.

And when he was about to take the first bite of food, Rufus came knocking on the castle's door only to remind him that he was late before apparating away. yes, he was annoyed at the moment, he picked up a branch and used the leaves and his powers to fix him a nice shirt, suit, and tie as he walked through the DMLE halls.

He used his ice wisps to open the doors and entered the room full of old folks with the sole exception of Amelia, who was looking at him weirdly. He walked up to her and took his seat and started to skim the documents Kingsley placed on the table.

"Could the Minister ask Mr. Frost on behalf of the jury, why was he late to such an important occasion?" Lucius started with a scornful voice.

"Lucius, you better not rub me the wrong way today unless you ant me to make you the second Corner<you guys remember chub, right?> Now, sit like a good boy and let the hearing begin, and you better not poke your nose unless it's wanted there for today at the least." Aster glared at Lucius, while the latter could only shut up.

Lucius was a very powerful man with a lot of connections everywhere, a strong politician as well, but as things were now, he could not afford to offend Aster. None of the nobles dared, for they had seen the state pitiful Corner was in right now, a single raid, and the man was finished. Before this, no one dared to act against them for the problems they would face in the Wizengamont the day after.

But Aster on the other hand could not be bothered by their threats legally or the less than legal approaches they could take. He was a being that was stronger than anything they had seen so far and drawing the ire of such a figure was anything but a smart thing to do.

"Now, stop, the both of you and start the proceedings without making a racket. It's already late as it is. Plaintiff can start reading the crimes of the Defendant, let the proceedings begin." Fudge stopped the two from further squabble and got the show on the road.

"Honorable Minister, and the Jury, today I present you a man the world is familiar with for his feats of stopping not one, but two Dark Lords in a single timeline, but it seems that his age has taken a heavy toll on him as well. For the things he did warrant much suspicion regardless of the means." Rufus started his speech.

"Albus Dumbledore, the leader of light has made many questionable choices and decisions in his youth, and we can understand and forgive him for his past in light of his glorious deeds. But for the last two years, I don't think the man renowned as the 'Second Coming of Merlin' is actually wise anymore. He is a repetitive offender of vigilantism, neglect of duty, withholding crucial information, manipulation, deception, and making decisions that were never his to make."

"My lord, let me begin with his deeds from the last year, he hid a powerful magical artefact from a Dark Wizard in order to protect it from landing in the wrong hands, quite admirable. But where did he choose to hide it?" Rufus made a dramatic pause before continuing again.

"He had hidden it in Hogwarts, yes your honor and the respected jury, he kept it in the castle itself after he warned the student body about the painful death they would die if they were to visit the third-floor corridor. Now, we have a dark wizard after a very valuable relic that is hidden inside a castle full of children who have no sense to know any better than to check it out for a little adventure."

"From what I gather, the..."

"Objection!" called Dumbledore.

"Reason?" asked Jacob on behalf of the Jury.

"There is nothing to worry about, the stone was kept safe under the multiple layers of protection by the professors and myself. I can assure you no student was harmed in any manner by this." the old man said in order to defend himself.

"Yes, protection that a group of three first years got passed while two of them were raised by muggles. A fascinating amount of protection, right? What Albus Dumbledore should have done was to inform the ministry about this artifact and handed it over to us for safekeeping, which we could have easily and securely done, without endangering the lives of the children."

"Then, moving on to the next incident. A troll somehow managed to get into the walls of Hogwarts and then navigate through the halls without obstruction before it came upon a young witch who would have been dead if not for the reckless stunt pulled by two first-year wizards. May the defendant now answer to the Minister and Jury on how it happened." Rufus passed the ball in the headmaster's court.

"I only have to say that it was just a minor accident and nobody was harmed, for how the three first years passed though the security, it was just because it was a plan to lure the person behind it to try and fall in the trap."

"Thank you for proving my earlier words Albus, you neglected your duty as the Headmaster and planted a trap for a dark wizard in a school filled with children, do you have any idea of what could have happened if a student were to be harmed or taken hostage by the dark wizard, what would have happened if those two reckless boys did not come to face the troll before you manage to get there, how can you deny your incompetence?" Rufus pushed again.

"I only did what I thought was for the greater good." the old man spoke with a face of righteousness.