Chapter 682: Cornelius Arbitrarily Judged the Trespassing Case and Mrs. Bones Impartially Chose Fish (Edited)

"I... I forgot..." Fudge muttered through clenched teeth.

"Pfft..."

From the back of the jury, a soft and uncontrollable laughter could be heard, quickly suppressed by someone.

Fudge didn't look back to see who was laughing; he was so embarrassed about condemning Dumbledore and was willing to appear incompetent to achieve it.

Of course, he wasn't actually going to do anything. After all, if too many people resisted the Minister of Magic, he could be removed from his position.

So Fudge condescendingly looked at Dumbledore and forced himself to explain, "It was so urgent when I received the news that I didn't have time to think much about it."

"Well... understandable..." Dumbledore approved his explanation and then calmly asked, "So I'm sure Minister Fudge and everyone present here can understand my reasons for being invisible at that moment."

There was murmuring from the jury, and Mrs. Bones, one of the presiding members, nodded approvingly after a moment, saying, "Your response was reasonable, and it cannot be inferred that you were attempting to invade the Ministry of Magic."

"And how do you explain the fact that you went straight to the Department of Mysteries as soon as you arrived at the Ministry?!" Fudge shouted.

However, he didn't realize that his anger had caused discontent among many people around him.

In fact, this had already happened once during Harry Potter's trial last August when Fudge's behavior had also caused dissatisfaction among many jury members.

In any case, Fudge is the current Minister of Magic and represents the Ministry of Magic, but his behavior in the trial was shameful.

Some of the jury members had even begun to seriously consider the proposal that had been circulating privately in the Ministry of Magic lately.

Unaware that his tirade was further distancing him from his position as Minister of Magic, Fudge continued to aggressively question Dumbledore, "Even if you thought the Ministry of Magic had been invaded, why did you go directly to the Department of Mysteries? The first clause of the 'Secrecy Law' clearly states that wizards who are not part of the Ministry of Magic cannot enter the Department of Mysteries!"

Despite their displeasure with Fudge's embarrassing performance, the jury agreed that he was right, and they turned their attention back to Dumbledore.

"Just as Minister Fudge received information from unknown sources, I have my own," Dumbledore first jabbed at Fudge and then explained, "I received similar information to Minister Fudge's, that someone was going to invade the Department of Mysteries that night, and I hurried to the Ministry of Magic with Fish as soon as I received the information."

"Noticing the absence of Ministry personnel in the main lobby, I assumed that the Ministry had been invaded, so I cast an invisibility spell on myself and Fish and quickly headed to the Department of Mysteries... As everyone knows, we had just descended from the elevator when we encountered Minister Fudge with a group of Aurors."

He smiled at Fudge and defended himself with reason, "If I really wanted to invade the Ministry of Magic, why would I bring a young wizard? Although Fish is quite powerful, you should know that Minister Fudge accuses me of trying to steal something or a secret from the Department of Mysteries, so the fewer people, the better. And besides..."

Dumbledore pointed to Fish, who had fallen asleep out of boredom, and said, "Anyone who knows anything about Fish knows that this little guy isn't obedient, and he would be unhappy to bring him here to steal."

"Nya!"

∑(ΦДΦ)

Fish, with his head lowered, woke up abruptly and glared at Dumbledore, "Why should Fish listen to you? You're not Minerva!"

Fish puffed up his chest and defended himself, "If I were Minerva, Fish would have definitely listened... well... obeyed her in most cases, nya... Anyway, Fish is obedient!"

(`n´)

Dumbledore smiled as he watched Fish give his statement. Then he stood up and made a slight bow to the jury seated above him before sitting back down, still interlacing his fingers in that relaxed manner.

"Brave words! Strong words!" Fudge trembled with anger, but for a moment, he couldn't come up with anything to say to Dumbledore except shout, "He's lying! It's a blatant deception!"

Mrs. Bones furrowed her brow and said, "But I see nothing wrong with Dumbledore's testimony so far. If you have any other evidence, please present it instead of being unreasonable here, Mr. Fudge."

She had been a bit disrespectful to Fudge as the Minister with that comment, but that was always how Mrs. Bones was. Besides, she had already been a little annoyed by Fudge's unauthorized change of venue for Harry Potter's trial, but at that moment, she considered a change of venue acceptable as long as it was fair in its verdict. So she let Fudge create a scene about it.

However, this time Fudge was challenging the impartiality of the Wizengamot and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Not only Mrs. Bones, but many members of the jury frowned as well.

As for whether Fudge would retaliate afterward, Mrs. Bones was not concerned at all because the Department of Magical Law Enforcement held a privileged position in the Ministry of Magic. Many Ministers had worked in this department and enjoyed great prestige throughout the Ministry. It would be very difficult for Fudge, the current Minister, to target her, so she didn't need to pay any attention to Connelly Fudge at all.

Fudge's angry expression froze, and he turned his head incredulously to look at Miss Bones. Miss Bones returned his gaze without flinching.

But soon, he composed himself and, after a few hard and deep breaths, said coldly, "My evidence is the excuse Dumbledore used at the time! He said that You-Know-Who was attempting to invade the Department of Mysteries. Everyone knew that You-Know-Who is already dead. And if he was looking for You-Know-Who, what was he doing with an ungraduated student?"

Fudge, in a rare moment of quick wit, used Dumbledore's previous statement to attack himself.

"What's wrong with taking Fish? Fish is a great fighter! Voldemort can't defeat Fish."

(ΦДΦ)

Once again, Fish stood up in anger and shouted at him.

"Stop talking nonsense like that! If You-Know-Who had come back to life, it's impossible that you and Harry Potter would have returned alive in the first place!" Fudge snorted.

His attitude towards Fish, however, once again roused the anger of the wizards surrounding him, many of whom gave Fudge icy glances.

"That's not necessarily true," Professor Tofty defended Fish. "Fish is very strong, and many adult wizards aren't as skilled as him." As an examiner who had tested Fish not long ago, he had a strong voice. "Besides, his Patronus is very powerful. It's not impossible for him to escape You-Know-Who."

The rest of the examiners nodded, causing others to ask curious questions about Fish's Patronus and gasp in amazement at Professor Tofty's response.

"Silence!" Mrs. Bones thundered with a loud and deep voice. The members of the jury, who had been gossiping, immediately fell silent.

"Fish McGonagall," she said in the softest tone she could gather, "can you tell us everything about the night you followed Albus Dumbledore to the Ministry of Magic?"

"No problem nya! Fish is a great storyteller!"

(≧≦)

Fish said without a hint of self-awareness.