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Chapter 676: A Way to Divert Attention
Chapter 676: A Way to Divert Attention
Perhaps out of eagerness to make a name for herself, Umbridge had emptied her office within half a day and returned to the Ministry of Magic that very night.
The next day, the entire school was immersed in a sea of joy, and for some unknown reason, the usually plain breakfast was as lavish as a feast, with golden plates piled high adorning the dining tables.
"How did you do it?" Fred and George asked as they bounced over to the Hufflepuff table with a large jug of pumpkin juice.
"What?" inquired Kyle.
"You know, Umbridge," Fred said, pouring himself a large glass of pumpkin juice with a grin.
"Don't try to fool us," George said, sitting down next to him with a raised eyebrow. "You must know something."
"Well, I do know something," Kyle admitted with a smile. "Fudge had an important task that needed doing, and I just happened to be there and recommended Umbridge."
"He agreed?" George asked, a question that seemed foolish to anyone else.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kyle replied. "Fudge found the perfect person for the job. Umbridge herself is pleased, and the students of Hogwarts are happy. It's a win-win-win situation."
"I don't care about Fudge or Umbridge..." Fred took a heroic swig of his pumpkin juice, "...but this is indeed great news for us."
"Yeah, getting rid of Umbridge... You'll be a hero, at least to us Gryffindors," George said, slapping Kyle on the shoulder.
"No exaggeration, we even think you deserve another Special Award for Services to the School."
"If only it were as you say," Kyle laughed, not taking it too seriously. "But unfortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore isn't at the school."
Hogwarts would not award a student for expelling a professor, no matter how irritating the professor might be.
Apart from the students, the professors were equally delighted.
At the staff table, Professor McGonagall was chatting with Snape beside her, both looking far more relaxed than their usual stern selves.
And one seat away from them, Professor Trelawney was downing glass after glass of sherry.
The school dining hall didn't provide alcoholic beverages, not even for the professors, so she was drinking what she had bought from the Three Broomsticks.
It was the finest sherry the pub had to offer, at thirty Galleons a bottle, and she had already polished off two bottles and was opening the third.
In other words, she had just drunk away her entire month's salary in one meal.
Of course, not everyone was happy. Take, for instance, Tonks...
She sat there feeling utterly dispirited, her face devoid of any smile.
How could she smile? Now that Umbridge had returned to the Ministry, wasn't it only natural that she, as the assistant, would become the new professor? Just thinking about the supposed curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position made the juicy steak on her plate taste like dry grass to Tonks.
"No..." Tonks suddenly stood up, and without another word, she strode out of the Great Hall, intending to write letters to Fudge and Dumbledore.
Let someone else take on the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. She, for one, was not going to accept it.
Moody, for all his caution and considerable skill as an Auror, had been attacked shortly after teaching the subject for a year.
And Sirius had endured torture at the hands of Death Eaters just six months into taking on the role.
The only lucky one was Lupin, but even he had spent a considerable amount of time in the school hospital, having been carried in while in his werewolf state.
Rumor had it that several of his bones had been broken, and his body had been wrapped in bandages from head to toe. It had taken him three days just to be able to walk out of the hospital on his own.
And this was Lupin they were talking about—a werewolf with tough, curse-resistant skin. Yet he had been injured so severely.
If it had been Dumbledore who had attacked him, that would be one thing. Not even a dragon would leave the Headmaster's office unscathed.
But the problem was that it would have been far too easy for Dumbledore to restrict Lupin in his werewolf form. There was no way he or any of the professors could have inflicted such severe injuries.
Yet Lupin had been hurt.
There was something very strange about this position, and Tonks didn't think she was much better than any of the previous professors. It was better to be cautious.
Even if she couldn't get transferred back, the school ought to find a new professor... Three members of the Order of the Phoenix had suffered because of this position, and Dumbledore couldn't keep putting his own people in harm's way.
And so, Tonks left in a hurry, full of determination.
It was a good idea... but that was as far as it went.
A whole week passed before she received a reply from the Ministry, and it was a simple one: they were short-staffed and couldn't find a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the time being.
As for Dumbledore... he hadn't replied at all, and no one knew where he was.
Tonks was desperate. Her future seemed bleak, and she wondered if she should stock up on healing potions and ask around for some phoenix tears... She might need them.
Apart from Tonks, everyone else was having a wonderful time. Without Umbridge, each day felt like a Christmas holiday—relaxed and joyful.
And at that time, the only person who could have contacted Fudge was Kyle, so the answer became clear.
Thus, during this week, Kyle gained extra house points almost every class.
Five points for well-written Transfiguration homework, five points for bringing Professor Sprout a shovel, and five points for helping to correct a classmate's wand movement in Charms class...
Although the individual amounts were not much, they added up quickly. In just one week, Hufflepuff's hourglass gained over a hundred points, putting the other three houses far behind.
"It looks like Professor McGonagall has completely given up on competing for the House Cup this year," Fred sighed as he looked at the hourglasses in the Great Hall. "At this rate, we'll probably never catch up to Hufflepuff."
"No, there's still a chance," Kyle said with a smile. "As long as you two stop getting points deducted."
Ever since their first year, these two had been among the main culprits for point deductions in Gryffindor House, although they had become much more cunning since entering their seventh year and hadn't been caught breaking the rules in a long time.
However, coincidentally, after the Christmas holidays, their classes in their fifth year suddenly increased, and their Skiving Snackboxes became best-sellers once again. Sometimes, over a dozen students would end up vomiting, having their tongues suddenly enlarge, or experiencing other unusual symptoms during a single class.
Naturally, this abnormal situation caught the attention of Professor McGonagall, who then traced it back to Fred and George, the culprits behind the sale of the Skiving Snackboxes.
The outcome, of course, was that they were each deducted fifty points, causing Gryffindor to drop from third place to last.
"You should be saying that to Professor Snape," Fred said, obviously not wanting to take the blame. "If he hadn't deducted so many points from us, Gryffindor might be in first place by now."
This was true. When it came to deducting points from Gryffindor, Professor Snape was always ruthless.
And ever since Umbridge's departure, he had once again reclaimed the top spot on Gryffindor's Most Hated Professors list, with the second place yet to be determined.
...
Umbridge's departure helped dispel some of the gloom that had hung over Hogwarts, and the dreary month of March finally revealed some sunshine at its end. Even the incessant rain and wind of April seemed more pleasant.
The only problem was that the Quidditch players had to train in the wet and muddy conditions of the pitch.
Even with waterproof and water-repellent badges, it was still a very uncomfortable experience.
Dumbledore still hadn't returned the day before the Easter holidays, and no one knew why he had been away for over a month.
However, they did receive news about Umbridge.
"Oh, look at this..." Cedric pushed a copy of the Daily Prophet towards Kyle.
[Ministry Employee Successfully Foils Death Eater Plot]
The title was eye-catching, and below it was a photo of Umbridge, who had finally changed out of her pink cardigan. She was standing on a street, wand in hand.
"Look at this..."
Cedric read from the newspaper:
"This morning, an explosion occurred in a Muggle street, causing an uproar among Muggles and resulting in injuries to dozens of them.
"Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge of the Ministry of Magic led the Hit Wizards to the scene as soon as she received the news. According to the investigation, the culprit behind this incident has been identified as the escaped Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov, who was seen fleeing the scene by eyewitnesses.
"It is known that Antonin Dolohov is an extremely cruel Death Eater, with past crimes including multiple uses of the Killing Curse and attacks on Muggles.
"It is not difficult to guess that his intention this time was to declare his return."
Senior Undersecretary Umbridge, who led the team, said, "We received the report too late. If we had gotten it earlier, we might have been able to capture him."
"She appealed to the public to be extra vigilant, as Antonin Dolohov is a ruthless Death Eater, and anyone who spots him must immediately report it to the Ministry of Magic.
"This is a special period, and only by working together and uniting can we hope to win the upcoming war."
Cedric put down the newspaper and smacked his lips. "So she's off chasing Death Eaters?"
When she was at the school, he hadn't seen any indication that Umbridge, with her lust for power, had such skills.
Chasing down Death Eaters... No matter what, Cedric couldn't associate this with Umbridge.
"Who knows..." Kyle shrugged.
He remembered that the last time he went to the Ministry of Magic, he had chatted with Mr. Weasley out of boredom and accidentally saw a file on his desk.
It mentioned that someone had played a nasty prank by blowing up a Muggle garbage can, and the explosion had occurred during rush hour, causing the flying debris to injure quite a few people.
Kyle wasn't sure if this was related to today's news, but based on the content... the street explosion, the injury of over a dozen Muggles, all the key information matched.
He quietly shared this discovery with Cedric and Connor.
"You're saying... this is fake news?" Connor exclaimed in disbelief. "Someone else is responsible for the incident, and it's not Antonin Dolohov?"
"I think so," Kyle nodded. "Otherwise, why would Umbridge suddenly become so brave?"
"Do you think you knew they would do this?" Cedric asked. "Is this Fudge's plan, to pin the actions of others on the Death Eaters?"
"Well, sort of," Kyle replied. "But there's a benefit to it. It constantly reminds everyone not to forget about the Death Eaters lurking in the shadows."
After such a long time, the students of Hogwarts seemed to gradually forget about the mysterious figure, but after reading today's newspaper, they finally remembered.
For a while, the castle was once again filled with trepidation.
However, there were also those who expressed skepticism, people who knew Umbridge, like Gryffindor's Harry and Ron.
"She doesn't seem like the type to do something like this," Harry stated firmly.
When it came to confronting Death Eaters, no one knew them better than him; the Order of the Phoenix was created for this very purpose.
And Umbridge... honestly, Harry couldn't associate her with the Order of the Phoenix members or Aurors in any way.
"But that's what the newspaper says," Hermione insisted, flipping through the pages of the Prophet as if she might find some overlooked detail in a corner.
But even with her face almost touching the newspaper, she found nothing.
"The newspaper says that Umbridge led a team of Hit Wizards to the street as soon as possible, and many people saw her," she added.
"The news in the newspaper could also be fake," Ron suggested. "Remember when they insisted that the Dark Lord hadn't returned?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded. He refused to believe that Umbridge would do such a thing.
It was as unlikely as Snape giving Gryffindor house points.
There were many others who shared their sentiments, and the absent Headmaster Dumbledore came to mind.
Ever since morning, the castle had been abuzz with speculation.
"Who remembers when the Headmaster left the school?"
"I don't know, it's been a while."
"I remember he didn't show up after the Christmas break."
"No, it was mid-February..."
"I thought it was March."
...
Everyone had their own opinions, but the only certainty was that Dumbledore was not at the school, and his absence left everyone feeling less secure.
However, they soon had other things to worry about, as the Easter break had arrived.
As a Hogwarts tradition, the two-week Easter holiday was more like a homework frenzy.
The professors seemed to be competing to see who could assign the most overwhelming amount of work, showing no mercy in their holiday assignments.
The students stared numbly at the homework requirements, which were written on a full scroll of parchment, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
"Have the professors gone mad?" Mikel stammered. "There's no way we can finish all this work in a month."
"Then we'll have to pull all-nighters," Ryan replied expressionlessly. "Don't forget, we only have two weeks for the Easter break."
"Oh!" Mikel cried out in pain.
This was typical for sixth years, not to mention the fifth years who were about to take their O.W.L. exams.
Hermione had intended to hold more D.A. gatherings during the break, but seeing the amount of homework, she crumpled up her planned schedule.
It was impossible; no one would want to attend gatherings when faced with such a workload, and this was evident from Harry and Ron's demeanor.
They sat numbly in the armchairs in the common room, as if they had been petrified.
"What are they doing giving us a break?" Ron croaked.
"I think the professors want me to forget about the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters," Hermione said.
"Then they've succeeded," Harry sighed. "For the next two weeks, we probably won't be able to think about anything but homework."
"Hermione..." Ron looked up hopefully. "You're our only hope now."
"You should do your own work..." Hermione began, then glanced at the assignment sheet again. "Alright, I'll try to help, but don't expect me to do everything for you."
"Of course," Ron and Harry quickly agreed. "We've even canceled our Quidditch training."
In fact, Angelina Johnson had come to them about this not long ago. As a seventh-year student, she had N.E.W.T. exams to prepare for, which meant not only a mountain of homework but also the need to find time to review past material. She was busier than the fifth years.
(End of Chapter)
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