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Chapter 1080: Toad's Counterattack
Chapter 1080: Toad's Counterattack
Upon her return to school, Umbridge had intended to cause trouble for the students, but she found herself facing a mountain of problems instead.
This ancient castle seemed cursed, as issues kept cropping up, each requiring Umbridge's personal attention. As a result, she was once again running around, dealing with a myriad of unexpected incidents that kept cropping up all over the school.
Even with Filch's help, Umbridge was overwhelmed by these troubles.
As for the previously suspended Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, they had naturally resumed, but they still lacked vigor and enthusiasm.
After the class bell rang, students in the classroom began exhibiting various symptoms of discomfort. Then, under Umbridge's watchful gaze, they would leave the classroom in droves, making their way to the school hospital.
Staring at the empty Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Umbridge stood dumbfounded, her eyes fixed on the last student to leave, her face contorting with rage.
Hogwarts had completely slipped from her control, which was why the students dared to act so brazenly. Those damn incidents were obviously the work of students deliberately causing trouble for her, a fact Umbridge could deduce without much thought.
And those damned anti-toad coalitions! Even the Slytherin students she had previously drawn to her side were now of little use, reportedly having been severely retaliated against by students from other houses during her hospitalization.
Not to mention that damned Peeves! He was responsible for more than half of the troubles Umbridge encountered at the school.
She had tried to deal with the issue of Peeves, even going so far as to attempt to persuade the only person he feared—the Bloody Baron—to help rein him in. However, the outcome was not optimistic. While the Slytherin House ghost had agreed to help stop Peeves' pranks, it was merely a verbal promise, and he couldn't possibly keep an eye on Peeves at all times.
The school's ghosts did provide some assistance to Hogwarts, but their help was still very limited, after all, they were but remnants of the deceased. Umbridge also found that she couldn't command the ghosts, just as she was currently unable to enter the Headmaster's office.
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Umbridge raised her head to look at the empty classroom, once again falling into a silent rage.
She had to counter-attack, she had to change this situation, she couldn't just sit and wait for her demise—that wasn't her style.
With Filch's help, Umbridge used the boat to cross the swamp and return to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office on the seventh floor. She didn't bother changing offices again, as a new swamp might appear outside a new office the very next day.
All of this was the doing of those in the so-called "Anti-Toad Coalition," and the ringleader of this damned organization was most likely Albert Anderson. Only he had such influence throughout the school; if not him, then it had to be the Weasley twins.
According to information provided by Slytherin students, the Weasley twins were selling joke items all over the school, and they were Anderson's roommates, with whom he was very close.
If she had any evidence, Umbridge would have expelled the Weasley twins long ago or had Filch hang them up and give them a good whipping.
If Arthur Weasley hadn't already been suspended pending investigation, Umbridge would have definitely asked Fudge to transfer him to the Centaur Liaison Office.
['Being sent to the Centaur Liaison Office' had become an inside joke in the Ministry of Magic, implying that the person in question would soon be fired.]
Umbridge knew she had to take action and leverage the power of the Ministry of Magic to solidify her authority and control over Hogwarts, or all her suffering would be for naught.
In the end, Umbridge knocked on the door of the Minister's office once more. Although this might make her seem incompetent and weaken Fudge's impression of her, she knew that to regain control of Hogwarts, she needed the Ministry's might.
"What's the matter?" Fudge asked, lifting his head from a pile of documents. He was quite surprised to see Umbridge.
"The situation at Hogwarts is dire," Umbridge said, taking a deep breath and handing a report to Fudge as she began explaining the troubles she was facing at the school.
"What do you plan to do about it?" Fudge asked.
"Hogwarts is plagued by various problems, and I suspect someone is sabotaging me behind the scenes. I need help, and if necessary, I plan to expel a few students to set an example for the others," Umbridge replied.
"Who do you plan to expel?" Fudge asked casually. He didn't really care who Umbridge wanted to expel, nor was he interested in what was happening at Hogwarts, as long as Dumbledore was no longer the headmaster.
As for Umbridge's talk of expulsion, it was mostly meant to intimidate the students of Hogwarts.
"Albert Anderson," Umbridge said without hesitation. "Even if he isn't directly responsible, he's definitely involved in this whole mess. I suspect he's behind the troubles I've been facing, including turning the corridor outside my office into a swamp. Strange illnesses are spreading throughout the school, and every time I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, the classroom empties out. I suspect he's behind all of this, and I need the help of healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."
"That guy's a real pain," Fudge frowned. "And, as I recall, he's due to graduate soon, just a few months away."
Umbridge understood Fudge's meaning—he was telling her not to provoke Anderson.
"Well, what do you plan to do then?" Fudge asked, not forgetting how Anderson had made a fool of them before.
"I have an idea!" Umbridge said, handing a parchment to Fudge. This was a plan she had been thinking about recently.
Fudge quickly read through the contents of the parchment and then looked up at Umbridge, skeptical about the plan. However, he ultimately didn't refuse his capable assistant's request. After all, Hogwarts was currently in a state of disarray, as evidenced by Umbridge's recent hospitalization.
If the Ministry of Magic wanted to gain complete control over Hogwarts, they would likely still need to rely on Umbridge. At least she wasn't like others who merely complained verbally but took no action.
There was no doubt about Umbridge's ability to get things done, otherwise, Dumbledore wouldn't have been driven out of Hogwarts.
"I'll have Weasley cooperate with you," Fudge said as he stamped the parchment, agreeing to allocate some personnel to help Umbridge restore order to Hogwarts.
As for whether the simple plan on the parchment would succeed, that remained to be seen.
A few days later, in Umbridge's office on the seventh floor of Hogwarts, Filch, the caretaker, stood by the fireplace, holding a pocket watch and patiently awaiting the arrival of their "guests."
Suddenly, green flames erupted in the fireplace, and two healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries stepped out. Without delay, Filch introduced the situation and led the healers to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
As per the usual antics, many students began to exhibit various strange symptoms.
When Umbridge smilingly introduced the healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, the students in the classroom were caught off guard.
The group of students who had just started fainting, vomiting, running high fevers, and bleeding from their noses were left bewildered.
Several unlucky ones were singled out as examples.
"Can you identify the cause of these mysterious illnesses?" Umbridge inquired of the healers.
The healers did not provide an immediate answer.
In fact, upon noticing that every student in the classroom was afflicted with an illness, and especially upon hearing the students refer to their condition as "Umbridge Syndrome," even a fool would be able to discern the situation at hand.
However, the professor before them was truly a talent, being able to make the entire class want to skip her class. How terrible must her Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons be to drive the students to resort to such a method of truancy?
Recalling the reports they had seen earlier, the healers somewhat regretted coming to help.
In fact, if it weren't for the request of the hospital's director, they wouldn't have wanted to get involved in this mess at Hogwarts.
"According to the symptoms you've described, it is likely induced by some sort of substance," the male healer cautiously replied. "Many magical plants and creatures are poisonous, and when ingested in small amounts, they can indeed cause similar symptoms, such as the Blood-Blisterpod."
As he spoke, he pointed to the student who was bleeding from the nose, continuing his analysis. "Ingesting a small amount of Blood-Blisterpod may result in a similar condition. Of course, there could be other causes as well, but to pinpoint the exact triggers, a detailed investigation would be necessary. For now, this is our preliminary speculation."
Looking at the students fainting, vomiting, running fevers, and bleeding from their noses, the healers couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of whoever came up with this method of skipping class. From Umbridge's tone, they could easily guess that she had already found a way to alleviate these symptoms, otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to cure them so quickly.
"Can you cure them?" Umbridge asked further.
"We can temporarily provide them with antidotes, but we cannot guarantee their effectiveness," the healer replied with a shake of his head. "Their symptoms require further detailed study."
Whether intentional or not, the potion provided by the healers did have some effect, but it did not completely cure the students' ailments, only alleviating their symptoms.
After smilingly dismissing the healers with Filch's help, Umbridge glared at the students before her, clapped her hands, and said, "Now that you've heard it from the healers, your so-called 'Umbridge Syndrome' is merely induced by some substance. Frankly, I am very disappointed in all of you. From now on, don't even think about skipping any more classes with this excuse. Furthermore, everyone will be confined to their dormitories tonight, right here, so that you may clear your minds and stop thinking about all these mischievous ideas."
News of Umbridge inviting healers from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to treat "Umbridge Syndrome" soon spread throughout Hogwarts.
However, what truly astonished the students was yet to come.
Umbridge actually brought in the Ministry's Curse-Breaking Team to dispel the swamp on the seventh-floor corridor and the one outside the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts office.
The "elite" Auror squad also successfully subdued Peeves.
Their method was simple: they took turns using spells to disarm Peeves, and without any weapons, he could hardly cause any trouble.
The unprepared Peeves suffered a setback at the hands of the Auror squad led by Gawain Robards. What surprised everyone even more was that the Aurors seemed to have found a spell that could affect Peeves. Ever since their previous attempts with various Banishing Charms had failed, Gawain Robards had been working tirelessly to find a solution, and now he had finally achieved success in his quest for revenge against Peeves.
However, they still couldn't expel Peeves from the castle, as he simply disappeared after turning invisible.
Peeves was naturally not going to take this lying down, so he fought back against the Ministry's Aurors using the various items Albert had provided him with.
But against the well-prepared Aurors, Peeves couldn't gain much of an advantage.
The large amount of Choking Gas he threw into the corridor was easily dispelled by the Bombarda spell, and the Mandrake roots he threw were countered by the Sonorus spell. However, the Aurors didn't fare much better, as their bodies were now emitting various strange odors, several of their heads had been struck by Peeves' broom handle, and students kept surreptitiously jinxing them with Cooling Charms. The situation had reached a stalemate.
Peeves quietly sought out Albert, pointing to his throat as if to indicate that he had lost his voice.
Albert waved his wand to lift the spells affecting Peeves, and the mischievous poltergeist immediately exclaimed, "I need more stuff!"
"Baldwin will be coming for you soon," Albert reminded him. It was only natural for Peeves to be at a disadvantage when his opponent was well-prepared.
Baldwin? Peeves involuntarily shrank back.
Albert had seen through Peeves' nature of bullying the weak and fearing the strong. In a calm tone, he said, "You can agree to sign a contract stating that you won't bother the Headmaster anymore, and in return, you'll be granted certain privileges, just like the contract you signed with Headmistress Euphemia Morel."
"Don't worry, that contract is basically unenforceable, and you can still cause trouble for her. Even if the contract takes effect, Umbridge is not the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and she doesn't have the same privileges as the previous Headmasters. In fact, she can't even enter the Headmaster's office, whereas you will gain additional privileges."
As for how Albert knew all this, it was because Wildsmith was also one of the school governors. Although they were only responsible for donating funds to the school, the fact that the Ministry's appointment of Umbridge was ineffective proved that she didn't have the full privileges of a Headmaster, including the inability to enter the Headmaster's office.
If Umbridge were truly the Headmaster, she would have been able to change the password for the monster statue at the entrance, yet she couldn't even enter the office.
Umbridge seemed to have anticipated this outcome, and upon realizing that dispelling Peeves was at a stalemate, she sent Baldwin to negotiate with him.
In the end, Peeves relented at Albert's suggestion and only agreed to sign a contract stating that he would no longer bother the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
The successive bad news cast a dark shadow over the castle once more, and everyone knew that the detestable toad was back.
The only consolation was that the Ministry's employees, despite their best efforts, were still unable to remove the damn toad statue from the entrance hall, and they had no choice but to cover it with a piece of cloth again.
(End of Chapter)
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