Chapter 1067: Truly Terrifying
Chapter 1067: Truly Terrifying
"Ma'am, Peeves is hiding in an empty classroom on the fifth floor. He's gotten his hands on a batch of dung bombs, so please be cautious of his ambushes."
Filch, suffering from rheumatism, bent over as much as he could to show respect to Umbridge, while reporting the latest movements of Peeves the Poltergeist.
The Aurors following Umbridge looked uncomfortable as they recalled the recent incident where Umbridge and Fudge had been chased by dung bombs.
None of the Aurors wished to encounter such an embarrassing situation themselves.
"First, have Harry Potter brought to my office. Tell him I have some matters to discuss with him... What is that?" As soon as Umbridge stepped into the entrance hall, her attention was drawn to the peculiar statue placed there.
The Aurors followed Umbridge's gaze and spotted the extremely odd statue on the right. The statue emitted a strange, repulsive odor.
Their eyes shifted back to Umbridge, and it was clear that the statue's clothing was an exact replica of what Umbridge was wearing. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was a statue of Umbridge, except someone had replaced the head with that of a toad.
In fact, upon closer inspection, one could discover several "secrets" hidden within the statue. The toad's head bore a striking resemblance to the new Headmistress standing before them, and it even sported the emblem of "The Ministry is Might."
The overall image of the statue was that of a humanoid toad, and the model for this toad seemed to be none other than the infamous Senior Undersecretary, Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Headmistress of Hogwarts standing beside it.
Interestingly, the things hung on the toad statue were all the latest educational decrees issued by the Ministry of Magic, as if to emphasize the point. On the toad's chest was the decree appointing Dolores Umbridge as Headmistress, and the other plaques also displayed important educational decrees.
Under the toad's webbed feet was the name and crest of Hogwarts, and below that was a rectangular stone with lyrics to "The Umbridge Song" carved on it, along with Dolores Umbridge's signature and a list of her "valiant" deeds.
"Who... who did this?" Umbridge stared at the toad statue before her, her entire body trembling.
"I-I don't know... This wasn't here before, was it?"
Filch looked at the statue in a daze. He would bet his life that the statue had not been there just a moment ago.
"Unacceptable! It must be reduced to smithereens!"
Umbridge raised her wand and pointed it at the accursed toad statue, intending to blast it into a pile of ashes.
However, the moment the spell hit the statue, it was deflected as if a bullet had struck a thick steel plate.
Not only did Umbridge stare in disbelief, but the Aurors as well. They had all witnessed the strange statue bouncing off their spells.
"Ma'am, there is a strong enchantment on this statue that protects it from being damaged by spells." Gawain Robards eyed the toad statue up and down, and he could more or less confirm from this object how much the Deputy Headmistress was despised at Hogwarts.
He was starting to regret his decision! "Please help me get rid of this thing." Umbridge forced a smile as she looked at the Aurors, hoping they could solve her problem.
The Aurors glanced at each other and nodded. Without further ado, they drew their wands and aimed them at the toad statue, chanting spells.
One after another, blasting curses hit the toad statue.
However, contrary to their expectations, the statue remained intact, and the protective enchantment mercilessly deflected the blasting curses.
Not only did it cause a terrible explosion in the entrance hall, sending shards of stone flying, but it also startled the students who were attending classes in the castle.
"This..."
The Aurors never imagined that their blasting curses would be deflected by the statue.
"Umm... Can we remove the statue and throw it into the lake?" Filch, cowering behind the Aurors with Umbridge, had almost been caught in the aftermath of the explosion.
"Very well, let's do that." Umbridge agreed with Filch's suggestion.
However, the Aurors soon discovered that various spells had no effect on the statue; they couldn't make it disappear, nor could they move it directly. The toad statue remained standing, like an eternal banner that would never fall.
"This won't do."
"Someone has cast a Permanent Sticking Charm on it."
Gawain Robards poked the statue with his wand and said to Umbridge, "It won't be easy to remove or destroy this statue, ma'am."
"Aren't there any other ways?" Umbridge asked anxiously. She couldn't let this statue stay here, or she would become a laughingstock at Hogwarts.
"Using powerful dark magic might be able to destroy it." Plaut whispered a suggestion.
"I don't want to see this thing anymore. Let's try your idea!" Umbridge said to the Auror.
"Sorry, ma'am, but I don't know how to cast the Fiendfyre Curse." Plaut replied awkwardly.
"Who here knows how to cast the Fiendfyre Curse?"
Umbridge looked around at the other Aurors, but none of them knew this particular dark magic, which made her feel even more frustrated.
Noticing Umbridge's angry expression, Gawain Robards cleared his throat and explained, "Ma'am, the Fiendfyre Curse is an extremely evil and dangerous curse in dark magic. It is infamously difficult to control, and even most dark wizards don't dare to use it because countless cases throughout history have shown wizards being burned to death when they lost control of the Fiendfyre. Moreover, once unleashed, it can cause a catastrophic disaster. It would probably take just an hour for it to reduce this castle to ashes."
The Fiendfyre Curse was indeed dangerous, and even famous dark wizards wouldn't dare to use it recklessly.
Naturally, the Aurors wouldn't dare to experiment with such a perilous curse, and as Aurors, they weren't in the habit of recklessly using dark magic.
"Then what should we do?"
The smile on Umbridge's face became increasingly dangerous. "Who do you think is responsible for this? Is it one of the professors, or..."
"There are very few wizards in the magical world capable of creating such a statue."
Gawain Robards understood the implication behind Umbridge's words. He shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about the other professors, but I believe Dumbledore is capable of creating something like this. In fact, aside from Dumbledore, I can't think of anyone else."
"What about Albert Anderson?" Umbridge suddenly mentioned a name that she detested.
In fact, that young man was also quite capable of doing something like this.
"Probably not."
One of the Aurors waved his wand and conjured a black cloth to cover the toad statue. He then explained, "That genius is indeed powerful, but he's still too young. He hasn't reached his peak in any aspect yet. If he were thirty years old now, then we could suspect him."
"No matter, we can bring Mr. Anderson here later and ask him about it.
Umbridge's face still bore a fake smile, and she was now mentioning Albert's name, intending to pin this matter on him.
In Umbridge's opinion, Albert was equally suspicious.
Speaking, Umbridge turned to Filch and said, "Trouble you, Argus."
"Yes, ma'am, I'll go right away."
Filch put Dolores down on the ground and went to look for Harry Potter.
After a quarter of an hour, under the confused gazes of Professor Flitwick and the other students, Harry reluctantly followed Filch out of the Charms classroom.
Before leaving, he shrugged at Ron and Hermione, indicating that they didn't need to worry, and also reminding them to help him pack up later.
"What does Umbridge want with me?" Harry asked casually, although he could guess what Umbridge was up to. The toad was either going to put him in detention or interrogate him for information.
But Harry was unfazed, as he hadn't done anything wrong recently, so it definitely wasn't about detention, leaving only the interrogation.
And an interrogation would certainly involve the use of Veritaserum.
Ever since missing the last opportunity, Harry had been carrying the antidote to Veritaserum with him, just in case Umbridge went crazy and tried to mess with him.
"It's the Headmaster." Filch corrected, his voice harsh and unpleasant, and even carrying a hint of glee, "Things are changing here, Potter."
"I don't see any changes, being the Dark Arts professor isn't a good career choice." Harry said nonchalantly: "Especially since the recent Dark Arts professors haven't ended up very well."
While speaking, Harry took the opportunity to pour out a few pellets of the Veritaserum antidote into his mouth when Filch wasn't looking, knowing that his chance had come.
"Dumbledore has been too soft on you all. Just watch, with Umbridge in charge, things will be very different, and the Minister of Magic has already signed an order to expel Peeves," Filch glanced at Harry sideways as he led him towards Umbridge's office.
"Oh, really? But I doubt they can get rid of Peeves. If they could, he wouldn't still be at Hogwarts." Harry said as he poured another pellet of calming potion into his mouth.
"If I were you, I'd be more worried about yourself." Filch sneered.
Harry saw four wizards from the Ministry of Magic outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, and he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, feeling that the situation was a bit amiss.
Since he had just taken the calming potion, Harry's emotions quickly stabilized. After all, he was a wizard who had been through a lot; even Voldemort hadn't scared him, and Umbridge was nothing compared to the Dark Lord.
"Go in!"
The Aurors glanced at Harry and then opened the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office for him to enter.
Once inside, Harry found even more Aurors in the office than there had been outside, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and tease, "This lineup is truly frightening. Someone who didn't know better would think you were planning to secretly interrogate a prisoner."
Afraid?
The veins on Umbridge's forehead twitched slightly, and she couldn't detect a hint of fear in Harry Potter's tone. Instead, it was filled with disdain and mockery.
Harry completely ignored the change in Umbridge's facial expression and turned to look at the six wizards, curiously asking, "Aurors?"
The Aurors didn't speak, all of them staring at Harry Potter.
"Are you here to catch Death Eaters? Or do you think I'm a Death Eater?" Harry asked, ignoring the others' gazes and smiling.
The office fell silent.
"Never mind, it has nothing to do with me anyway." Harry shrugged, "It's normal for the Ministry's Aurors to not be able to catch any Death Eaters."
To be honest, the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic had disappointed Harry. In his recent interactions with them, he had only felt that they were like lackeys.
Yes, lackeys who helped others do bad things, similar to Malfoy's cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.
They were completely unlike Harry's impression of Aurors, who were supposed to be brave fighters against the forces of darkness, like Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley. Instead, they seemed like a bunch of bullies who only picked on the weak, which really disappointed him.
"It's none of your business what we do."
One of the younger Aurors was the first to snap, unable to bear Harry Potter's piercing gaze any longer. The look in Harry's eyes was just too damning - full of disappointment, contempt, and disgust.
"What's your name?" Harry asked gently.
"What?"
"Your name." Harry's smile widened.
"That's enough, Potter!" Umbridge shouted.
"If you won't say, then never mind."
Harry looked deeply into the Auror's eyes, as if to imprint his face into his memory.
"Please, Mr. Potter, take a seat." Umbridge gestured to the Aurors to make him sit down.
"To be honest, I once aspired to become an Auror who fought against Dark Wizards." Harry's smile turned gentle, "I even set my goal to become an Auror..."
"You'll never have the chance to become an Auror. The Ministry will never..." Umbridge's words were cut off before she could finish.
"Oh, it's fine, I'm not really thinking about becoming an Auror right now anyway." Harry interrupted with a laugh, "I heard that when the Ministry of Magic was first established, it was located near a cesspool, and the entrance was also set up near a public toilet. Is that true?"
"That's enough, Potter!" Umbridge's veins popped out on her forehead, and she had never found Harry Potter as annoying as she did at this moment. Despite his calm tone, his words were extremely grating to her ears.
"Oh, so it seems to be true, what a surprise!" Harry's tone was filled with wonder and disbelief.
"Alright, Potter, enough of this meaningless chatter. Drink this, and then answer a few of my questions, and you can leave." Umbridge said sternly, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Even if you use Veritaserum on me, you won't get any useful information from me." Harry said, and then he picked up the cup of pumpkin juice and poured it onto the carpet. Looking at Umbridge, whose expression was twisting in anger, he smiled and reminded her, "Get a new cup, only three drops are needed for Veritaserum. Any more is not good for the brain, and I don't want to become an idiot because of an overdose. Don't look at me like that, someone said you failed your Potions exam. Yes, that's right, it was Snape who said it. He complained about the misuse of Veritaserum and how people don't even know how many drops to use."
After saying this, Harry picked up the water pitcher next to him and poured some water into the cup, then placed it in front of Umbridge and gestured for her to help herself.
Umbridge's anger rose, but she forced herself to hold it in. She glanced at the Aurors, who pretended not to hear a thing, and then took out a small vial.
"Remember, only three drops." Harry reminded her kindly.
Umbridge's cheeks twitched, but she only put three drops into the cup.
Harry picked up the cup and drank it all in one go, then sat quietly in the chair, waiting for the "interrogation" to begin! (End of Chapter)
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