A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Why would I need to lie to you?" Aaron said dismissively. "This kind of curse might be a bit tricky for others, but it's just a matter of minutes for me."

Marietta was immediately thrilled; after all, she was a girl, and for a girl, nothing is more important than her face.

Her entire face is now covered in purple pustules, and after looking in the mirror, she felt like dying.

“However…” Aaron paused, then said meaningfully, “I don’t know how to cure a person who lies constantly, so I don’t need to remind you what to say next!”

Marietta stood there, stunned, on the verge of tears.

She really didn't want to go out and meet people with this face, but if she wanted to get rid of it, she had to follow Aaron's script and admit that she had lied and that there was no DA gathering at all.

But this would definitely make Umbridge hate her to death. This senior investigator is no kind person, and she wouldn't be able to withstand his revenge afterward.

“Gaius, what do you mean by this?” Umbridge shouted angrily.

"I was just encouraging Miss Ickmore to tell the truth. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Umbridge: ......

How can there be no problem? There's a huge problem.

Tell the truth? Only what satisfies you is considered the truth!

“Minister, I suggest that Mr. Gaius begin treatment now. I believe Miss Ekmo will not let us down.”

“Mr. Gaius,” Fudge gave Aaron a forced smile, “Miss Ickmore is in such a pitiful state right now, why don’t you treat her first?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t comply.” Aaron refused bluntly. “Minister, it’s not that I’m not giving you face, but what if she falsely accuses me after I’ve cured her?”

“The Ministry of Magic can heal her face without your help,” Umbridge said confidently. “This kind of curse isn’t particularly difficult to remove; the healers at St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Arts can handle it in a week at most.”

"We'll see," Aaron said nonchalantly.

Umbridge glared at him, then turned to Marietta. “Darling, tell the truth, don’t hold back.”

"I also have the minister; we're all your support."

“But I…” Marietta hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.

“Your face is absolutely no problem, I guarantee I can heal it.” Umbridge smiled kindly. “Think of your mother, she still works at the Ministry of Magic.”

Lying will have a negative impact on her, but being honest might get your mother a better job.

"Tsk!" Aaron couldn't help but click his tongue. "What an eye-opener! What an eye-opener!"

"Professor Umbridge, although you haven't taught me any Defense Against the Dark Arts, I've certainly grasped the meaning of coercion and bribery."

Umbridge remained unmoved, and Fudge pretended not to hear anything.

“The party…” Marietta glanced nervously at Aaron, then mustered her courage and said haltingly, “It’s basically once a week, at the Room of Requirement. Gaius is the leader, and Potter is the assistant… They teach us some Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

"Pfft!" Aaron chuckled. "Sorry, I just thought of something funny."

“Minister,” Umbridge breathed a sigh of relief, “this is the truth!”

“Minister, I admit that Ikmo’s story is well told.”

But as I said before, evidence is crucial. Without evidence, it's blatant slander.

“You want evidence, huh!” Umbridge calmed down. “No problem, we can call all the members of the party over for questioning, starting with Harry Potter. I don’t believe not one of them will give in.”

"Interrogation?" Professor McGonagall couldn't hold back any longer and cursed, "Dolores, if I understand correctly, you're going to use torture to extract a confession!"

“I will not allow you to treat my student so roughly,” Dumbledore said, the subtle anger in his voice making Umbridge shudder.

“Calm down, Mrs. Umbridge,” said the dark-skinned, bald wizard. “You shouldn’t be getting yourself into trouble now, especially with the minister still around.”

call!

Umbridge took a deep breath. "You're right, Shakel, I lost my composure."

She turned to look at Marietta, her voice icy. "Miss Eckmore, I don't want to force you, but you'd better think about what other evidence you have."

Gulu!

Marietta swallowed hard, all eyes on her, making her feel like crying.

She was just an ordinary fifth-grade student; how could she possibly withstand such pressure?

“Evidence, evidence…” Marietta murmured to herself, her mind racing as she tried to recall all the information about DA. A few seconds later, a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes.

“I remember now, I have evidence.”

"Really? Darling, I knew you wouldn't let me down." Umbridge's expression changed quickly, and she said gently, "Where's the evidence? Show it to me now."

Marietta rummaged in her pocket for a while and finally pulled out a Galleon.

Professor McGonagall's pupils contracted slightly. As a master of Transfiguration, she could clearly sense the traces of Transfiguration on the gold coin.

“This was done by Granger; she would notify us of the time of each gathering through the numbers on this Galleon.”

"Hahaha." Umbridge held the Galleon in his hand, unable to contain his excitement any longer, and laughed triumphantly. "Mr. Gaius, do you have anything else to say?"

Aaron inwardly cursed his miscalculation, but his expression remained unchanged. "Can I see it? I didn't even know we had this kind of communication method."

"What kind of wicked idea are you hatching now? You think I'll let you succeed?"

“I didn’t ask you.” Aaron rolled his eyes speechlessly, then looked at Fudge. “Minister, this concerns my reputation, and I think I have the right to examine this so-called evidence.”

Fudge hesitated for a moment, just like Umbridge, he was worried that Aaron might cause another accident.

“Minister, besides being a student of Hogwarts, I am also the heir to the Gaius family,” Aaron said solemnly.

"Let him see it," Fudge said with a hint of helplessness.

"minister?"

I told him to show it to him.

With so many people around, Mr. Gaius can't possibly pull any tricks right under our noses!

Upon hearing this, Umbridge sighed slightly and handed the Galleons in her hand to Aaron.

Aaron accepted it with a smile, while simultaneously using illusion magic to cover the entire principal's office.

To everyone else, he was solemnly examining the Galleon that had been enchanted with a Transfiguration Charm, but in reality, the Galleon was burned to ashes by the flames in his hand and replaced by a real gold coin.

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were able to see through the illusion, but the performance of the others made them secretly alarmed. They hadn't expected Aaron's illusion skills to be so advanced.

However, they tacitly refrained from saying much, only nodding slightly to Aaron.

Seeing this, Aaron couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart.

These two are quite old, so it's normal that the illusion couldn't fool their eyes.

If he hadn't broken through to the intermediate-level Archmage, he wouldn't have dared to use illusion magic in front of so many people. If he were discovered, the consequences would be dire.

However, it seems to be working quite well. The two people Fudge brought are quite strong, probably above mid-level archmages, but not by much.

They both sensed something was amiss, but couldn't quite put their finger on what it was.

Fudge, Umbridge, and Percy were completely unaware that they were in a hallucination, and as for Marietta... she was negligible.

Half a minute later, Aaron dispelled the illusion. He looked at the real Galon in his hand with a furrowed brow, pretending to be serious.

“Mr. Minister, if I may be so bold, this does not look fake.”

"What?" Umbridge exclaimed in shock, quickly snatching the Galleon from Aaron's hand and placing it on the table.

She drew her wand and cast several spells on Galon to distinguish between the real and the fake, but to no avail.

"How could this happen?" Umbridge was stunned, then pointed angrily at Aaron, "It was you, you must have switched it."

"Are you blind?!" Aaron said with a half-smile. "Professor Umbridge, I admit I don't like you much, but that's no excuse for you to slander me!"

The minister is still here. Even if I wanted to pull some tricks, I'd need the ability. Or do you think Minister Fouché would lie through his teeth?

Umbridge choked, a breath stuck in her throat, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance, both seeing the speechless look in each other's eyes.

Although Slytherins are known for their ruthless methods, they have never seen anyone as shameless as him before.

“Enough, Dolores.” Fudge sighed softly, his voice filled with disappointment. “This evidence is clearly fake.”

Umbridge's face immediately fell, and she glared at Marietta. "Miss Ekmo, you lied to me."

"I don't have it, it's just a communication tool," Marietta said, on the verge of tears.

“Today I’ve truly witnessed what it means to put up a last-ditch effort,” Aaron added silently. “Perhaps she just doesn’t like us and is trying to use Professor Umbridge to deal with us.”

Umbridge's eyes lit up. Having failed to catch them in the act and lacking concrete evidence, she was now losing confidence in 'breaking the criminal gang'.

But when Fudge was called over, he was disappointed, which was no different from being unreasonable.

She desperately needed someone to take the blame, and it goes without saying who it was.

I'm sorry, girl.

They pick on the weakest one, because they think you're the easiest to bully here!

Umbridge grabbed Marietta and turned her to face him. "Miss Ekmo, I need an explanation."

“I really didn’t lie to you, I’ve told you everything I needed to say,” Marietta said, trembling.

"Then you'd better have other evidence, otherwise... deceiving the professor can get you locked up in solitary confinement."

When Marietta heard Cho Chang describe what confinement in Umbridge was like, she burst into tears on the spot.

Dumbledore flicked his wand, and Umbridge stumbled back a few steps before stopping.

"This is the principal's office. Professor Umbridge, isn't it going too far to intimidate students in front of me, the principal?"

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Marietta said gratefully.

“Dolores.” Fudge glanced at Umbridge with disappointment. “If there’s no other evidence, I’ll be going back. As Minister for Magic, I’m quite busy.”

“Wait, wait, Minister,” Umbridge said hastily, as if he had just remembered something. “There’s one more piece of evidence, one that you will absolutely need.”

"Then bring it out, don't waste everyone's time."

Umbridge turned to Aaron with a fawning smile. "Mr. Gaius, you have a list, don't you?"

"this..."

“Don’t deny it.” Umbridge’s tone was urgent. “Wedsin told me that all the students who attended the party at the Pig’s Head Bar signed it.”

"That is true, but that happened before the education order was issued."