Chapter 395: Singing a Different Tune
Chapter 395: Singing a Different Tune
"Now that we have these photos, what should we do with them?" The day after taking the photos, Liam had them developed and added some extra touches. However, looking at the carefully selected dozen or so photos, Hermione started to feel a bit overwhelmed. She thought that if they sent them out one by one, they would be caught by that old toad pretty quickly, and not many people would get to see them. She had considered sending them to Rita Skeeter, but then she remembered the reporter’s tendency to back down when faced with pressure, and decided it was too risky. If it backfired, it could be disastrous.
"In that case, we'll have to wait until this Sunday. I want to discuss this thoroughly with the Weasley Twins and see if we can distribute these at their shop."
On the weekend Study Group session, everyone worked hard to complete the Q&A as quickly as possible, freeing up more time for practical practice. The Armor Charm seemed particularly suitable for private practice, and within a week, everyone had mastered it. Even Neville could successfully use the charm to block Hannah’s Disarming Charm. Encouraged by the group, Liam began to share the Obstacle Charm he had learned last year.
"The Obstacle Charm can intercept any physical object that tries to attack you. We'll start with this one", Liam explained, standing at the front of the room.
"Why don't we learn something more exciting, like the Stunning Spell?" Justin raised his hand and asked. "I heard from Cedric that Aurors use this magic a lot. It's not only popular but also very effective."
"Because I believe that when we truly need to fight, learning to protect ourselves is more important than attacking our enemies. After all, if your attack fails, you can always try again, but if your defense fails, you probably won't get another chance", Liam tapped his wand lightly against his left hand. "Of course, this doesn't mean we'll only learn these. Once everyone has a good grasp of the basics, I'll teach you more advanced spells, like the Stunning Spell."
After Liam convinced everyone, the practice of the Obstacle Charm began. With the success of the Armor Charm as a precedent, everyone made quicker progress with the new spell. By the time the session was about to end, a few people had already managed to use it.
"Great job, everyone. That's all for today's practice. You can continue to practice these spells on your own. We'll meet at the same time next week." After saying this, Liam stepped down from the platform and, together with Hermione, intercepted the Weasley Twins who were about to leave.
"Fred, George, we have something we'd like to ask you—" Liam then laid out their plan in full detail.
"Brilliant, we never thought of this. For those Fudge cronies spreading lies, we should fight fire with fire." "Wait, this might not be a lie. At the very least, I don't think Umbridge has the qualifications to be the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic. She might have really used these methods to get her position. We're just revealing the truth", the Weasley Twins praised Liam's idea.
"Aren't you worried about the impact on your business?" Hermione asked cautiously, thinking that the Weasley Twins, who were short on money, would value their business.
"Hermione, making money is important, but for a just cause, we can give it up", Fred said, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, Liam is the major shareholder. If he's willing to take a loss, what can we, the minor shareholders, do?" George added, but the smile on his face showed that he was fully in agreement with Liam's plan.
"Then let's come up with a good plan to spread the truth." The four of them whispered together until the curfew bell rang, and they hurried back to the Common Room.
"We've got some good news", the Weasley Twins said, intercepting Liam in the hallway three days later as he was heading upstairs to rest after lunch. "A magazine is willing to publish these photos in their issue."
"What? Which magazine has gone mad? Don't they fear Fudge's retaliation?" Liam stared at the Weasley Twins with wide eyes, disbelief evident in his gaze.
"Well, it's a magazine that might indeed have gone mad", Fred said with a somewhat peculiar expression. "We had the store clerk use copies of these photos as packing material in the boxes of some items. The next day, Xenophilius Lovegood showed up, hoping to get permission to publish the photos in his magazine."
"Xenophilius Lovegood? That name sounds familiar", Liam said, tapping his fingers on his hand.
"He's the father of our Study Group member, Luna Lovegood, and he publishes a magazine called The Quibbler", George added. "Of course, we know the magazine doesn't have much valuable content. They don't even pay for articles; people just want to see their names in print. But it's still a magazine, and the photos will spread faster this way than if we released them on our own."
"And our dad thinks the magazine has some interesting aspects; there won't be too few people interested in reading it", Fred concluded, trying to reassure Liam.
"Alright, let him publish them. At this point, any additional publicity is welcome", Liam finally decided. After all, they couldn't expect the Daily Prophet to publish these photos.
"The fire has been ignited; now it's up to Fudge to see how he reacts", Liam muttered to himself after the Weasley Twins left, a slight smile curling his lips.
The Quibbler didn't publish the photos immediately. During the next weekend gathering, Luna, when asked, informed the Weasley Twins that her father was waiting to publish a lengthy and important article about the recent discovery of the Snore Snail. "Of course, it's a very important article, so your photos might have to wait until the next issue."
"Next issue it is, then", Liam said, shrugging his shoulders when he heard the news from the Weasley Twins. "At least someone is willing to publish them, right? And as a free service, we shouldn't be too pushy."
Naturally, the days that followed were relatively peaceful. The only notable disturbance was Umbridge's persistent interference in every professor's class.
During this time, Liam adapted to Umbridge's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Umbridge had come to Hogwarts to prevent the students from learning combat skills, so she paid no attention to their academic progress. In recent classes, Liam pretended to read the textbook diligently, but in reality, he would enter a shallow meditative state and use his Mind Sea to work on various calculations.
He shared this method with others, but only Hermione could fully execute the mental work. The Weasley Twins tried it once and fell asleep right away, and Ginny and the others found it impossible to enter that shallow meditative state. It seemed this technique required a sufficient amount of magic power to support it.
In this routine, the first month of the school year passed, and the first Hogsmeade Day of the semester was approaching.
(End of Chapter)
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