At first, the image reflected in the Pensieve was still somewhat blurry, but after a bit of adjustment from the gray-robed wizard, it soon became clear.
It was a typical old lady's room.
The wallpaper on the walls was faded with small floral patterns, and from the side came the gurgling sound of a teapot boiling.
An old cat slowly walked across the bottom of the image. Its fur looked a little strange, probably because of the warm orange-red light in the room.
At the very center of the image was a double glass window.
Unlike the slightly greasy wallpaper and the scratched wooden floor, the window was exceptionally clean, clearly scrubbed often.
Through it, everyone could clearly see the street outside, lit by streetlights. From time to time, a stray cat or two would pass by, their eyes reflecting green light, meowing at the room's cat as if asking if it wanted to come out and play.
Suddenly, a chubby boy appeared outside the window, chasing Harry Potter. The fat boy clearly enjoyed this kind of "exercise," laughing from time to time as he threw clumps of mud and small stones at Harry, completely unconcerned about whether he might hurt him.
Harry and the fat boy ran past the scene, but soon, they were running back the other way, much faster than before.
At first, Mrs. Figg didn't pay much attention. She'd probably seen scenes like this many times.
But then, two cloaked, half-floating figures appeared behind Harry and the fat boy.
As she watched those strange creatures chasing them, the image trembled twice, and a terrified moan escaped Mrs. Figg's lips.
That same moan echoed in the courtroom.
It came from some of the council members themselves.
Even though they were only seeing this through the Pensieve, they could feel the icy, decaying chill, and hear the dreadful creaking, sucking sound as the creatures devoured the air around them...
That was the horror of Dementors. They could drain away all joy.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A few older council members raised their wands, and with a flash of silver light, several corporeal Patronuses began circling above them. The icy chill in the courtroom quickly vanished.
At the same time, in the image, Harry was also casting the Patronus Charm.
But compared to those seasoned council members, his spell was clearly far less practiced.
The first two times, he only managed to produce a few flashes of silver light and mist. Not until the third time did a silver-white stag burst from his wand, driving the Dementors away.
Buzz!
The image abruptly froze. The gray-robed wizard drew the silvery memory thread out of the Pensieve and sealed it into a small vial for the record.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Figg was curled up in her chair, trembling uncontrollably. Since she had actually lived through it, the experience affected her far more deeply than the others.
After tidying the Pensieve, the gray-robed wizard carefully helped Mrs. Figg out of the room, he had no choice but to be cautious, since Dumbledore's eyes were on him the entire time.
The courtroom fell completely silent. After a long pause, Dumbledore finally spoke slowly, "I believe everything is clear now. Dementors appeared in Little Whinging that night, and Harry Potter used the Patronus Charm in self-defense. That falls under emergency justification."
Dumbledore's calm voice was like a signal. As soon as he finished speaking, murmurs spread among the council members.
"This... this is fake!"
Fudge suddenly shouted, his face red with anger. He pushed himself up from the table and yelled, "It was you! You tampered with it! How could Dementors possibly appear there? You must have altered that Squib's memory!"
Dumbledore didn't reply. He simply stood there quietly, a faint smile on his face, as if mocking Fudge's desperate outburst.
Similar smiles appeared on the faces of Link and several council members beside him.
To be fair, Fudge wasn't entirely wrong, Dumbledore, being a master of Legilimency, did possess the ability to alter memories.
But there was no way for Fudge to prove whether or not Dumbledore had interfered with Mrs. Figg's recollection. That was exactly why, the moment Dumbledore appeared, the members aligned with Link were certain they had already won.
The outcome had long since been decided.
"Dumbledore's part is done," Link said softly to old Barty with a smile at the corner of his lips. "Now it's our turn."
Old Barty smiled faintly at those words, then raised his voice toward Fudge.
"That was disgraceful, Cornelius."
"Crouch! You have no right to speak here!" Fudge snapped, his face growing darker.
But old Barty ignored him and went on, "As a member of the Wizengamot, I believe I have the right to ask, why were those two Dementors in that place to begin with?"
As soon as he spoke, the council members around Link and Barty began to echo him. Even the neutral members turned cold gazes toward Fudge.
"I already told you, it's all fake! That witness isn't credible!" Fudge said with a forced sneer.
"Dementors wandering into a Muggle neighborhood and just happening to find a wizard? That chance is nearly zero! Even that damn traitor Bagman wouldn't take that bet!"
"You're absolutely right," said old Barty cheerfully, snapping his fingers. "Which means we have every reason to believe that those two Dementors were not there by coincidence, but were sent there on purpose."
Bang!
Fudge slammed his fist on the table in fury. "Impossible! Every Dementor's movements are strictly monitored! If there really were Dementors in Little Whinging that night, there would be a record!"
"Well," said Barty, "if those two had been acting under orders from someone outside the Ministry, that would be another story. As I recall, Headmaster Dumbledore warned you months ago that Dementors were untrustworthy, prone to betrayal, wasn't it?"
"Yes, he did say that, but I had no reason to believe his nonsense!" Fudge flailed his arms as he spoke, then turned to the others.
"Please, believe me, the Dementors still obey our commands. They remain properly stationed at Azkaban."
"In that case," said Link coldly, his tone flat and emotionless, "can I take your words to mean that the two Dementors who appeared in Little Whinging on August 2nd did so under someone's order from within the Ministry? And that, after their attack on Harry Potter failed, that person erased all related records? After all, you just said they still obey the Ministry completely."
The room fell silent. Nearly every council member turned to look at him.
After all, as someone who had barely been granted entry by special permission, Link technically had no right to speak at all.
Under normal circumstances, such an outburst would've been enough for any member present to order his removal from the chamber.
But no one dared. They all stayed silent, just as they had silently allowed him to attend the trial and sit among the jury in the first place.
Fudge looked on the verge of collapse.
A thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and though his mouth opened and closed several times, not a single word came out.
It was obvious, he had no answer.
Seeing this, Link's lips curled upward slightly. Around him, old Barty and the others all wore similarly knowing smiles.
Fudge had walked straight into their trap.
Now he had only two choices.
The first was to admit that the two Dementors had acted on their own to attack Harry Potter, which would mean admitting that the Ministry had lost control of them and that Fudge himself was incompetent.
That would also confirm Dumbledore's earlier claim that Voldemort had returned and was trying to seize control of the Dementors, forcing the Ministry to act while further proving Fudge's incompetence and publicly disgracing him.
The second option was to insist that the Ministry still had full control over the Dementors.
That might deflect the immediate criticism, but it would also raise an even more dangerous question,
Who, then, within the Ministry had sent the Dementors to attack Harry Potter?
If Fudge chose that line, Link could easily steer the discussion toward Fudge's personal resentment toward Dumbledore and Harry, suggesting that the attack was deliberate retaliation.
Fudge clearly understood this. That was why he kept clinging to the idea that Dumbledore's witness was unreliable and the memory had been faked.
But as already established, he had no way to prove it.
Fudge was completely finished.
Realizing this, many of the council members around Link were breathing heavily, excitement building.
This victory would mark a historic turning point. From now on, it would be their time to take the stage.
"Enough!"
A stern female voice suddenly broke the tension in the room.
"I'd like to remind everyone," said Amelia Bones, rising to her feet.
"that the actions of those two Dementors are not the subject of this hearing. We are here to judge Harry Potter on charges of violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy! Everything else will require separate investigation. Now, those in favor of dismissing the charges, raise your hands."
The courtroom fell silent again. Many council members looked at Bones with confusion, while faint anger flickered in the eyes of Link and his allies.
Bones was clearly helping Fudge save face.
But why? She had opposed him just earlier, so why side with him now?
No one knew. And no one could stop her. Presiding over the hearing was her right as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
"I'll say it again, those in favor of dismissing the charges, raise your hands!"
Her voice rang out firmly this time. One by one, hands began to rise.
The result was obvious. After Dumbledore and Link's coordinated assault, most of the neutral council members raised their hands.
Combined with Link's faction, the raised hands easily exceeded half of the entire council.
"It seems there's no need for another round of voting," Bones said expressionlessly. "This court hereby declares that the charges against Harry Potter are dismissed."
She gathered her papers and swiftly left the courtroom.
From her expression, it was clear she couldn't stand to stay another minute.
"Excellent!"
Dumbledore said cheerfully. With a wave of his wand, he vanished the floral armchair he'd conjured earlier. "Well, I must be going. I wish you all a pleasant day."
Without so much as a glance at Harry, he nodded slightly toward Link, then strode out of the room.
On the other side, Fudge collapsed back into his chair, partly from relief, partly from despair.
Luckily for him, a few loyalists still had enough pride to act. A toad-faced witch hurried over in tiny steps, and with Percy's help, she assisted Fudge to his feet and quickly led him out.
Watching their retreating backs, Link and old Barty both smirked coldly.
Although Bones's sudden interference had prevented them from crushing Fudge completely, his political career was as good as dead.
His performance today had been utterly disgraceful, and it would cause his authority to plummet throughout the Wizengamot and the Ministry. Few would continue to follow him sincerely after this.
And besides, Link and Barty had already anticipated such a possibility. They still had backup plans ready.
"Well then," Link said with a cold smile, "I suppose I don't need to spell out what comes next."
"Of course not," said old Barty, also smiling.
"You can go home and rest. We've already summoned every major media outlet in the country, the Daily Prophet, the Owl Weekly, and others, for a press conference."
"I'll make sure to give our journalist friends a full account of Minister Fudge's performance today... and give him another chance to answer the questions he avoided."
As Barty spoke, the council members behind him all looked eager and energized.
Naturally, the press conference was only one of many follow-up attacks they had planned.
Soon, all those council members Barty had gathered would start using their influence to besiege Fudge politically.
Unless something miraculous happened, he wouldn't last long.
After all, in politics, loyalty fades as quickly as tea cools, sunny days bring favors, rainy ones take them away.
Given Fudge's current situation, few would keep standing by him.
"That's good," Link said as he began to walk toward the exit. He had to move quickly, many of the neutral members were already looking his way, clearly eager to approach and speak with him.
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