Chapter 1029: Hopping Mad
Chapter 1029: Hopping Mad
Ever since she was mysteriously ambushed and knocked out on the Quidditch pitch, Umbridge had been seething with anger.
Initially, she had intended to relish in Potter's frustration and fury by announcing a lifetime ban from Quidditch to McGonagall, hoping to alleviate her own irritable mood. However, she never expected that McGonagall's mention of Potter's existing ban would only serve to infuriate her further.
From the way Professor McGonagall addressed the situation, it seemed highly likely that she had anticipated Umbridge's punishment for Potter, knowing that she would strip him of his Quidditch privileges. McGonagall's deliberate action to preemptively enforce the ban, understanding the futility of attempting to change the ultimate outcome, only added to Umbridge's annoyance.
It was no surprise to Umbridge that McGonagall, who was no fool, could foresee this.
However, would she really go to such lengths? It didn't seem in her nature.
Umbridge found the whole situation odd, and she even suspected that McGonagall's statement was a spur-of-the-moment decision to vex her.
Regardless, nothing could change the fact that Potter would be permanently banned from Quidditch.
She believed that Potter's expression upon hearing this "good news" would be absolutely priceless.
As Umbridge prepared to return to her Defense Against the Dark Arts office, she suddenly caught a whiff of something burning in the corridor. The smell seemed to be coming from her office...
Outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Filch, the caretaker, was fiddling with a set of keys, attempting to unlock the door. He intended to rush into the room and extinguish the fire that had already ignited, preventing a potential disaster for the school.
Floating behind Filch was Peeves the Poltergeist, his face filled with schadenfreude as he clutched his stomach, mocking Filch for his inability to even open a door.
"It's burning, burning Filch's bum!"
"Professor, I think something's burning in your office," Filch said, relieved to see Umbridge returning. He quickly approached her to bring this to her attention.
"Damn it, what's going on here!"
Umbridge's expression contorted with rage as she stared at the smoking door.
"The office is on fire," Peeves said in a taunting tone, "If we don't put it out soon, Filch's bum will be well-done."
"Peeves, you little pest, is this your doing?" Filch glared at the poltergeist, his face twisted with anger.
Umbridge, however, had no interest in their bickering. She immediately drew out her wand and used the Alohomora spell on the doorknob, forcefully pushing open the office door. The sight that greeted her left her stunned—the room was engulfed in flames, and even the rug on the floor was ablaze.
"Cough, cough... Quick, put it out! Come and help me extinguish the fire!" Umbridge completely forgot that she was a witch, wand in hand, as she shouted at Filch.
"There's a toad hopping into the fire... " Peeves hummed gleefully, floating in the air and watching with delight as the two of them scrambled to control the blaze.
Glaring at Peeves, Filch, spurred on by Umbridge's shrill urging, grabbed a wet mop and began to vigorously slap it on the desk, attempting to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, only eliciting peals of mocking laughter from Peeves.
"...Slapping a wet mop on the fire... Put some muscle into it... Slapping a wet mop on the fire..."
Umbridge's screams attracted the attention of numerous students, who crowded the corridor, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the smoky office and pointing at the two people frantically trying to put out the fire. However, no one offered to help, nor did anyone suggest that they should use magic instead of a wet mop to douse the flames.
A few students even started humming along with Peeves' song.
Finally, a student from Slytherin, unable to bear the sight any longer, awkwardly pointed out that they should use the Aguamenti spell to put out the fire.
An awkward atmosphere hung in the corridor outside the office as the smoke billowed, and students began to disperse, carrying the news of what had happened to their respective houses.
Umbridge's questionable fire-fighting methods caused many to question her intelligence. How could she not think of such a simple solution herself and need to be reminded?
Of course, there were also those who believed that Umbridge had always been a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and her abysmal Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons were a testament to that.
Many doubted the veracity of the claim that Umbridge had graduated from Hogwarts with outstanding grades, and the students of Ravenclaw had already removed her name from their house records.
Fortunately, there were no Gryffindors among the crowd that had gathered to witness the commotion, otherwise, they surely would have joined Peeves in singing that ridiculous song, making the situation even more difficult to handle.
At that moment, the Gryffindors were in their common room, holding a celebration for their Quidditch victory. When the news of Umbridge's office being set on fire reached them, they excitedly discussed who could have done it. Upon hearing this delightful news, Harry's appetite only increased, and he helped himself to another slice of pie.
Initially, Umbridge had suspected that students were behind the incident, but it wasn't until Filch discovered a nest of Ashwinder eggs in the fireplace that they found the true "culprit."
Umbridge suspected that Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, the substitute teacher for Care of Magical Creatures, was responsible, as anything related to magical creatures inevitably involved the Care of Magical Creatures professor. However, Umbridge soon received word that Professor Grubbly-Plank had finished her temporary assignment and left Hogwarts the previous day.
Hagrid would be returning to school on Monday to resume teaching Care of Magical Creatures, and Umbridge suspected that he might be behind this incident. But the harsh reality was that Hagrid wasn't even at Hogwarts, and her suspicions turned once again, this time toward the Gryffindor students, believing it to be an act of retaliation. Yet, the cruelest twist was the rumor that the Gryffindors were using the Galleons they had won from the Slytherins to fund their celebration.
For some reason, Umbridge felt that everyone was a suspect, but she overlooked one individual, or rather, a being.
The truth was that Peeves was the culprit. The mischievous poltergeist had placed an Ashwinder egg under Umbridge's desk, and the resulting situation was exactly what he had hoped for. What was most impressive was that not a single person suspected Peeves of being behind this prank.
The inability to find the perpetrator left Umbridge seething with anger, and the next day, she summoned Harry, Fred, and George to her office, which had almost been burnt to a crisp.
Lifetime ban?
Confiscation of brooms?
In the face of Umbridge's heavy-handed punishment, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement rather than anger at her injustice.
To prevent themselves from bursting into laughter, the trio steeled themselves, maintaining straight faces as they confronted Umbridge.
"They don't know where I've hidden my bow and arrows."
Harry didn't ask Hermione or Ron to hand over his broom for him. He didn't want to put them in a difficult position, so he generously offered to let Umbridge accompany him to retrieve it, though he knew that entering the Gryffindor common room with her would likely result in another ambush. Ultimately, Umbridge decided against it, fearing that she would be attacked and knocked out by a Stunning Spell as soon as she stepped into the Gryffindor common room.
Unsurprisingly, Umbridge suspected the audacious Gryffindors, but she lacked any solid evidence.
In the end, Harry, Fred, and George personally handed over their brooms to Umbridge under the watchful eyes of most of the Gryffindor students, while ignoring Draco Malfoy and his cronies, who were enjoying the show.
Harry never worried about his Firebolt.
As Fred and George put it, "If the broom gets damaged, we'll just get the Ministry to compensate us with a new one."
Fudge would eventually step down, Umbridge would be kicked out, and the new Minister of Magic would need to curry favor with Harry Potter, the savior.
Did they really think that the new Minister would simply ignore the mess left by his predecessor? The world doesn't work that way, and even if the Prophet doesn't dare to report it, Sirius' Defense Guide will surely publish the news.
As for the mess Umbridge is creating now, everyone can see it, and it remains to be seen how effective her intimidation tactics will be.
At least Fred and George don't care, and while Harry was initially annoyed, a calming draught helped him cool down.
Right now, everyone just sees Umbridge targeting Gryffindor, favoring Slytherin, and punishing the victims instead of the bullies who started the whole thing.
Even if the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs could hold back their anger, it would still be a good thing to thoroughly anger the Gryffindors.
The current Harry also looked forward to the scene Fred and George had described—all the students of Hogwarts uniting to defy Umbridge. While such a prospect might be difficult to achieve, it would certainly be interesting to see Gryffindor rise up against her.
After Umbridge left triumphantly with Harry's, Fred's, and George's brooms, Gryffindor House exploded in outrage.
"It's so unfair! We must go to Professor McGonagall!" a student who couldn't stand Umbridge's actions any longer suggested loudly.
"Don't be foolish. Do you really think Professor McGonagall is unaware of what's going on?" Lee Jordan thought anyone who still believed that was stupid.
"How dare she! It's obvious that the Slytherins started this, and she's blatantly favoring them... We should go to Headmaster Dumbledore! We can't let that toad keep causing trouble!" Hermione was about to explode with anger, especially after seeing Harry hand over his beloved Firebolt.
"It's useless," said Lee Jordan calmly. He was one of the few people in the room who remained level-headed. "Don't you think Dumbledore knows everything? Umbridge has the Ministry's Educational Decree. Just wait, there will probably be a new decree soon."
As for Harry, Fred, and George, they were probably hiding somewhere, laughing their heads off and plotting their next move against Umbridge and the Slytherins.
"Are we just going to let this slide?"
The angry voices of the Gryffindors echoed in the common room.
"What else do you suggest?"
"Let's go to Mr. Anderson, he's the Head Boy. He'll definitely know what to do." A sixth-year boy proposed.
"Are you an idiot? If McGonagall can't do anything, what makes you think Albert can? Do you expect him to lead us in driving out Umbridge? Even if he dares, do you have the courage to wave your wands at Umbridge and those slimy Slytherins?" Lee Jordan scoffed, shaking his head in disdain. "Stop treating others like fools. You're nothing."
"If we're nothing, then what are you?" The boys were enraged by Lee Jordan's words and retorted sharply.
"The Galleons you enjoyed at the victory party were won by us four from the Slytherins. Now do you understand?" Lee Jordan pulled out a piece of parchment and slapped it on the table. "Twenty-seven people contributed less than two Galleons. Get my meaning?"
He didn't care about the angry glares he was getting and walked out of the common room, ignoring the crowd.
Someone needed to give them a wake-up call.
The Gryffindors were still too timid.
Shan took the parchment, glanced at its contents, and fell into a brief silence. The largest contribution was two Sickles from Ginny, while the rest were a Sickle or a few Knuts each. Altogether, there was only one Galleon, three Sickles, and five Knuts, despite the number of people who had initially agreed to chip in.
Everyone fell silent. Perhaps some wanted to argue, but this was the cruel truth. No wonder Lee Jordan looked down on them.
"We're doomed. Without a Seeker and Beaters, how is this any different from banning us from playing? They clearly want us to lose and embarrass ourselves." Angelina put her hands on her head, her voice hollow and tired. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
"Don't forget, Professor Trelawney predicted that Harry would be banned from playing," Shan said as she pinned the parchment to the bulletin board and stood next to Angelina. "Albert also warned you to stop the Quidditch games this year. I bet he foresaw this would happen."
The parchment on the bulletin board was eventually torn to pieces, and no one knew where it ended up, but the next day, it reappeared, a blatant mockery.
The news spread throughout Hogwarts that day. Perhaps to calm the anger, Umbridge eventually punished Malfoy and his gang.
She gave them a detention and made them write lines.
This was like a slap in the face to Gryffindor, and now the whole school knew that Umbridge was specifically targeting Gryffindor students.
Gryffindor's retaliation came the next day. The Slytherin team members were the first to suffer. Malfoy and his two sidekicks were found stuck in the toilets in the boys' bathroom, while Umbridge herself was hung on the notice board, surrounded by educational decrees.
Everyone knew it was the work of Gryffindor students, and they even suspected it was Harry, Fred, and George, who had been banned from playing. However, all evidence pointed to their innocence as they had alibis.
Umbridge was about to blow a gasket. She even considered interrogating every Gryffindor student, and if it weren't for Dumbledore still being the headmaster, she might have asked Snape to provide Veritaserum.
As for Professor McGonagall, who had received a pile of protest letters, she helplessly declared her powerlessness and suggested they write to the Ministry. The Head of Gryffindor House had essentially given up.
Now, things were getting very interesting. With the Head of Gryffindor House throwing in the towel, who knew what would happen next?
(End of Chapter)
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