https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-574-The-Revelation-Brought-by-the-Patronus/13461575/
Chapter 575: The Opening
Chapter 575: The Opening
Umbridge had never expected that this Niffler would have a precious defensive item. She had only heard that the 'Future World' company was developing similar products, and the Ministry of Magic had recently placed an order... Yes! She suddenly realized: 'Future World' and Felix Hip, in a sense, were equivalent.
Umbridge looked around, but there was no one in sight. She noticed that the Niffler was still standing there, waving a small stick at her. Umbridge made up her mind and approached step by step.
She forced a smile on her broad face and said in a sweet voice, "What a cute little thing... Can I hold you?"
Valen shivered and waved the small stick, stepping back.
Umbridge's shadow loomed over Valen's tiny one, and Valen was quickly cornered. Umbridge bared a wicked grin. In the next moment, she saw the small stick in the Niffler's hand light up in the darkness. The scene was familiar; she had seen it somewhere before... Just as she thought of Filch, a powerful vortex appeared beneath her feet, dragging her into the air.
The gems on the exclusive wand, which the Dark Lord had called "cautious to use", began to glow one by one. The wind grew stronger, forming a fierce spiral that soon whistled like a knife, accompanied by falling snow. Trapped in the freezing wind, Umbridge was tossed around, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.
Valen watched Umbridge's screams with unease, fearing it had caused trouble. It put away the exclusive wand and quickly fled. It needed to report to the Dark Lord.
"Bang!"
Umbridge fell from the air, her face covered in bloody scratches, her clothes tattered, and her grayish-brown hair like a beehive, with ice chips clinging to it.
She got up from the ground, trembling with anger. The fear she had suppressed deep down seemed to return—letting a Squib do broadcasting was one thing, but allowing a Niffler to use magic... She wasn't sure which was more humiliating and shocking.
After a long while, she came to her senses, hurriedly casting a few clumsy healing spells on herself, and then left quickly. She walked through the corridor and entered the entrance hall, where Mafalda was distributing the next day's newspapers under the notice board. Six or seven young wizards stood in front of her.
"Remember, highlight the first news item. Recently, a perverted student has been sneaking into the girls' bathroom at night with ill intentions—remind everyone to be cautious."
Two boys huddled together in fear.
Mafalda rolled her eyes at them, "It's the girls' bathroom, ladies! It has nothing to do with you, got it?"
A young girl asked nervously, "Who is that pervert?"
"The client didn't say—cough, I mean, it hasn't been investigated yet. You can encourage others to be on the lookout", Mafalda quickly added, almost slipping up. To divert attention, she encouraged them, "Do a good job, and I promise to get you gifts from Hogsmeade next weekend."
"Really, someone is advertising?" the girl who asked the question said timidly.
"Of course! Many are hidden ads. See the love letter in the second item? And Professor Burbage's assistant recruitment in the fifth? This shows we've expanded our client base to the professors! One day, I'll interview Headmaster Dumbledore in the Headmaster's Office..."
Umbridge, who was passing by with her face covered, suddenly stopped, looking at Mafalda in disbelief. Mafalda was enthusiastically giving her speech when she noticed the young wizards' eyes all shifting to look behind her. She turned around to see a broad, fat chin right in front of her.
Mafalda was startled. She stared at the dirty Umbridge for a moment, wondering why she hadn't noticed before that this person looked like a toad. It must be the angle, she thought. She took two steps back and confirmed it with another glance, but once the thought appeared, it couldn't be erased.
"I've seen you before. You're from the Ministry of Magic. What do you want?"
Umbridge grimaced, pulling at her wound, "Sss~ Young lady, I heard what you just said. You're the editor of the Mysterious Wall newspaper? I didn't expect you to be so young—"
"Do you want to buy a newspaper?" Mafalda interrupted her.
Umbridge stared with her bulging eyes, then asked after a moment, "How much?"
"Three Knuts each. Actually, buying two is more economical, just five Knuts, half the price of the Daily Prophet." Mafalda skillfully pitched, "Even Valen is one of my loyal readers."
"That Niffler?" Umbridge stared straight at Mafalda, who nodded, not understanding. Umbridge immediately screamed.
In the distance, Felix, carrying Valen, lifted his head as he walked toward the kitchen. What was that sound?
“Squeak! (It's that woman!)”
A few minutes earlier—
Valen darted through the hallway, quickly peeking into the Great Hall. Not seeing Felix, it turned around and headed back, only to be caught by Felix, who had suddenly appeared. Valen immediately started to whine, “Mm, mm, I know, she is really bad.” Felix let Valen continue, occasionally nodding in agreement.
“Let's go to the kitchen and find something to eat. Roast fish? Cake? I just figured out a trick—how to give food emotions. Do you want to try a caramel pudding that makes people cry? Hmm, not a fan? No problem, we can try other combinations…”
They made their way down the hallway toward the basement when Mafalda and her squad descended the stairs. Soon, an exaggerated scream echoed through the air.
Felix furrowed his brow. What was Umbridge up to now?
...
February brought not only gradually warming weather but also the lingering Valentine's Day, which the students were eagerly anticipating. The new Hogsmeade weekend coinciding with Valentine's Day had the students overjoyed.
“Only a week until the holiday!” a Ravenclaw girl announced during breakfast. She happily showed her friends a pretty bow, “I’m going to tie it to the wall at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop.” At the next table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together, their faces devoid of any festive cheer.
“They'll be leaving tomorrow,” Harry whispered, glancing sideways at the group from the Ministry of Magic, who were seated at the Slytherin long table. Umbridge and the young Avery were sitting far apart from each other.
“Looks like they’re guilty,” Ron said.
“Do you think they’ll make their move on the last day? Or after lights out?” he speculated, “Mad-Eye said they might try to steal something, and midnight would be the best time. Just like Quirinus Quirrell, who also acted in the middle of the night…”
“At least they won’t have much chance during the day,” Hermione said, “Do you have the Marauder's Map, Harry?”
“I do,” Harry whispered, discreetly pulling out a corner of the parchment from his pocket while drinking his porridge, “An extra set of eyes is always good,” he said. Besides, a few people were missing from Professor Moody’s map, but Harry didn’t mention it to avoid another argument.
“Actually, it’s three sets of eyes,” Ron corrected with a grin.
“It’s an entire frontline lookout, Harry,” Hermione rolled her eyes, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to with the ‘Scouting and Counter-Scouting’ materials you distributed last time.”
Harry seemed a bit embarrassed and whispered, “It’s the best way, isn’t it?”
Hermione sighed, “Have you noticed that you sound a bit like Headmaster Dumbledore?”
Harry stared at her, speechless.
“You often complain that adults keep things from you, not telling you everything, yet now you’re keeping things from the club members—”
“I’m doing it for their own good! To prevent leaks! And, and the fewer people who know about that thing, the better,” Harry stammered, then his expression changed.
Could this be the reason?
Was the way Dumbledore, Professor Hip, and even Professor Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt viewed him the same as how he viewed Neville, Seamus, and Luna? Harry lowered his head, thinking. A voice inside him said, I’m different from them. But then a new question arose: How am I different? I can’t stand aside, Harry told himself. Everyone else might give up, but I won’t. Even if Voldemort’s power is ten or a hundred times stronger, even if Voldemort defeats everyone and rules the wizarding world, as long as I’m alive, I will stand against Voldemort.
Harry was firmly convinced of this.
At that moment, he saw Neville and Hannah passing by, heading to Herbology. Harry stared at Neville, whose face was no longer round and chubby like in first year but had developed a determined look. If something particularly dangerous came up, Harry felt he would refuse to let other members take risks, but he might not refuse Neville, knowing that Neville’s attitude toward Voldemort and the Death Eaters was the same as his own…
Hermione suddenly looked across the table with a sarcastic expression. "He sure knows how to win people over, acting like a caring and enthusiastic senior student." Harry and Ron quickly glanced over to see Chester Avery chatting animatedly with a group of Slytherin students. Words like "Prefect" and "authority" could be heard faintly. Pansy was listening intently, her face eager, completely oblivious to the cold, silent Draco Malfoy sitting beside her.
Harry could read the intense disgust in Draco’s eyes.
"Do you think he’s still trying to get close to Malfoy?" Hermione whispered. "Hasn’t the rumor mill had any effect?"
"Malfoy won’t give him a chance if he’s smart", Harry said firmly. Throughout breakfast, they kept sneaking glances at the Slytherin table. After a while, the Slytherin students started to get up, and Malfoy decisively put down his cutlery, following the group out.
Crabbe and Goyle were quite disgruntled about the food still left on their plates, but they were dragged away by Malfoy, who was in a foul mood.
"See?" Harry said.
They hurried to finish their breakfast and rushed to Herbology. As they walked through the courtyard, Harry had a chance to pick up the train of thought Hermione had interrupted. He had to admit she had a point, even if it was just a small one. As he ran towards the Greenhouse, he thought that if he were Headmaster Dumbledore, he would also treat someone destined to oppose Voldemort with special regard and occasionally share some secrets, but he wouldn’t reveal everything.
"Thanks, Hermione", Harry muttered.
"What?" Hermione asked irritably. They were taking a shortcut through a muddy vegetable patch, the snow half-melted, making walking difficult. Her shoe was half-sunk in the mud.
"I said thank goodness we don’t have Snape’s class today", Harry said loudly.
Of course, he wasn’t being entirely sincere. In fact, he had been intentionally or unintentionally staring at Snape during Potions class, trying to read from his expression if he was getting closer to the Horcrux. He had even ignored Snape’s taunts, at the cost of two more zeros.
The Greenhouse was in sight, and Harry saw students standing outside. He quickened his pace and just managed to catch the door as it opened from the inside. But the person who came out surprised him—it was Snape in his black robes, standing next to Professor Hip. Behind them were Professor Burbage and Professor Sprout, who was smiling.
He remembered a piece of information from the rumor wall newspaper: Professor Burbage had applied to build a new Greenhouse and had been recruiting students for part-time work for the past few days.
"Pomona, I didn’t expect you to be so familiar with the concept of self-pollination", Professor Burbage said eagerly.
"It’s not exactly new knowledge", Professor Sprout replied dryly.
"Oh, I thought only Muggles—", Professor Burbage apologized softly, while Felix and Snape had already left.
...
"Voldemort is making a strong move. Do you have any plans?" Felix asked lightly as they walked across the lawn, the gentle, non-blinding sunlight falling on them.
"I don’t think this will be the final battle, so it’s unlikely I’ll encounter him, which will save a lot of awkwardness", Snape said slowly. "As for my plans—pretend to be detained by something."
"Detained? So you’re still planning to continue as a double agent?" Felix frowned. "Have you thought of an excuse?"
"An excuse will always be found", Snape said softly. "But I have to provide some convenience to those two idiots to avoid trouble later on—if they fail again, it won’t be my fault. Let them face the Dark Lord’s wrath; it’s their eternal hope."
"Tsk. What have you figured out this time?"
"Horcrux", Snape said coldly. Felix was quite surprised; he hadn’t expected Severus to have investigated this alone.
"But how—"
"List all the dark magic names I could find—I happen to have enough discernment in this area. Then I eliminated them one by one. I narrowed it down to ten, but still couldn’t determine the answer until I ran into Professor Slughorn outside Honeydukes." Snape said matter-of-factly.
Felix could only marvel at the coincidence, though it was somewhat traceable—Dumbledore had taken Harry to visit Slughorn multiple times during his fourth-year summer. With Severus’s sharpness, he must have guessed that Slughorn held a significant secret, lacking only some connections. And—Felix suspected that Severus must have used his best skills to extract information from Slughorn, perhaps even invoking Dumbledore’s name to lower his guard.
Would Severus guess that Harry is a half-Horcrux? Felix thought, but this wasn't his problem; let Dumbledore worry about it.
"Have you considered that Potter might disrupt your plans?" Snape suddenly spoke up.
"What about him?" Felix suddenly remembered the letter.
"He's testing me." Snape ground out the words through his teeth.
Felix turned around, struggling hard not to laugh. "Oh, hey." He composed his face. "Don't worry, I'll consider his influence... Maybe this is a good thing; the more people involved, the harder it is to untangle the mess. I'll talk to Dumbledore and come up with a few more plans."
After parting ways with Snape, Felix used the communication mirror to contact Lupin, who was holed up in the Sword Tower.
"I have a feeling the Sword Tower will be attacked today, between six and eight in the evening. The sickles I left in the storeroom will come in handy."
"Excellent", the voice on the other end said warmly. "I've been planning a staff gathering; they've been working very hard... By the way, how did you pinpoint the exact time? Did you use a crystal ball or tea leaves?"
"Neither, I checked the moon phases", Felix joked.
"Oh—actually, you could have just asked me", Lupin said cheerfully. "I have more insight, considering the full moon was just a few days ago."
"Are you holding up okay?"
"Manageable. Severus's potions are more effective than those on the market, though they taste much worse. I'm worried I might develop a sweet tooth one day."
"At least I know what to get you for Christmas next year." Felix said optimistically. "I'll keep an eye on the map. As soon as the attack happens, I'll be there immediately, so stay alert and prioritize your safety."
"What about the school?" the voice on the other end asked in surprise.
"The best outcome is to time it right. Besides, I need to make an appearance at the company regardless."
Felix was about to put away the communication mirror when Lupin's hesitant voice came through. "...Felix, do you know Fenrir Greyback?"
"The notorious werewolf?" Felix said casually. "No, I don't. What about him?"
"He's dead. On the third day of being held by the Ministry of Magic, before they figured out how to deal with his memory loss, he turned into a puddle of pus. They say the interrogation room smelled unbearable—"
"Stop describing it." Felix said, his face dark. He could bet he heard a light laugh from the other side.
"Alright, Professor Hip, Moony sends his greetings. And—thanks."
In the evening, the sun was setting behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest, and the sky grew dark. After dinner, Winky Tackross, as usual, conducted apparition and side-along apparition practice in the Great Hall. There were fewer than thirty students who still hadn't met the standards.
"Umbridge and Avery are late again?" Tackross asked, his face dark. He was in a bad mood.
Although Toffeyprofessor was nominally the leader of the group, he was old and had only shown up at the beginning. Since then, the most experienced person, Tackross, had been in charge.
"Oh, sorry, Mr. Tackross", a young man hurried over, and Avery said apologetically, "I'm late."
Winky Tackross nodded stiffly. He waited a few more minutes, but Umbridge still didn't show up. Angrily, he decided to emphasize her dereliction of duty in his report. "Let's continue the class", he announced.
At the same time, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry was half-heartedly doing his homework. The professors didn't care about Valentine's Day, so their assignments hadn't decreased; in fact, they had increased with the start of the new term.
He placed the Marauder's Map under his parchment, occasionally glancing at it.
Suddenly, he shot up, his knee colliding with the table leg with a loud thud. Ron, Hermione, and even Neville, Seamus, and Dean a few tables away were startled, and others in the common room looked over.
Harry, holding back tears, stared intently at the Marauder's Map. The dot representing Umbridge was moving quickly toward the Headmaster's Office, and inside the office—
It was currently empty.
(End of Chapter)
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