69novels Chapter 584 The Persistent Umbridge
Chapter 584 The Persistent Umbridge
Chapter 584 The Persistent Umbridge
The next day, Sunday.
As usual, Siron got up in the morning and went to the auditorium for breakfast.
However, the auditorium was more lively than usual today, and if you looked closely, you would find that many people were whispering to each other.
Of these people, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students were the most numerous, and their long tables were the most lively, with a few Ravenclaws occasionally seen, while there were none from Slytherin.
It seems that Cedric's magical contract cannot bind those who have also signed it.
After finishing breakfast, these people all went upstairs in a swarm.
Seeing their eager figures, Xiren felt that he no longer needed to tell Umbridge any further information.
Given how much Umbridge values Hogwarts, she would surely notice this unusual situation.
After all, Hufflepuff students don't need to go upstairs except for classes, and it looks especially strange when there are so many people together.
Since Xilun didn't sign, he didn't join in the fun.
Since the Room of Requirement was occupied and he couldn't practice Apparition for the time being, he simply went to the library to finish the rest of his homework.
Fred and George didn't go either. Instead of doing homework, they stayed in a corner where nobody knew them and studied the second-generation portable swamp.
The first version of the portable swamp bag had too many dung balls added, which made the cost a bit high. It could only be considered a "Umbridge special edition" and was not suitable for sale in stores.
They are working on a budget version—of course, this one will be less damaging.
Everyone has their own things to do, and they don't interfere with each other.
About two hours later, Siren, who had just finished writing his thesis on the history of magic, heard a buzzing sound coming from outside the library.
Turning my head again, I saw the group of people coming down from upstairs, chatting and laughing, shouting and yelling, their voices even reaching the back of the library.
Because those people were outside the library and quickly left the second floor, Mrs. Pince was very angry, but she didn't say anything.
Xilun was completely stunned.
No, they've only been in class once, and they're already this blatant?
It's one thing to come back together, but to chat with each other without any attempt to hide it, as if they're afraid Umbridge won't know?
Cedric had made so many preparations before, but he never thought of this situation?
Xilun put away her homework and left the library.
He found Harry and asked him about it out of curiosity.
Harry's expression was mostly helpless. Based on his previous experience, he explained the reason using a topic unrelated to S.D.A.
The gist is that Cedric had already made arrangements to have the students leave the Room of Requirement in a dozen or so different batches after class.
In this way, they won't be so obvious. Even if one or two Hufflepuffs are occasionally seen by Umbridge or the Special Investigations Unit, they can use excuses like looking for friends to cover it up.
However, no matter how comprehensive Cedric's plan was, it couldn't overcome the lack of cooperation from everyone.
Because very few people attend S·D·A alone; most come with friends. When leaving, they subconsciously want to leave with their friends as well.
So the group that left first waited at the stairwell until they saw their friends come out, and then their friends wanted to wait for other friends, so everyone continued to wait.
Then the scene that Xiren had just witnessed in the library unfolded.
"If you ask me, you shouldn't have held this SDA in the first place," Siren scoffed. "Honestly, letting these people get Defense Against the Dark Arts certificates is a disaster for the wizarding world."
Harry shook his head with a wry smile.
That's true, and he wholeheartedly agreed.
But now that everyone has signed the magic contract and the first lesson is over, saying anything more will only add to your troubles and is completely useless.
"Once we've learned our lesson, this won't happen again," Hermione added from the side.
Xilun shrugged and didn't say anything.
He didn't deny Hermione's words, but only if Umbridge happened to be away from Hogwarts today and hadn't noticed anything unusual.
■」8
The intervals between S·D·A sessions are not long, occurring weekly until the exam week before the end of the school year.
However, when they went to the Room of Requirement again the following week, Siron noticed that some Slytherins had also gone upstairs with them.
Clearly, Umbridge hadn't been able to hide the fact from that large group of students last time; she already knew about it.
Umbridge may not know what these people are involved in, or anything related to S.D.A., but he can guess that someone is making trouble behind the scenes.
Fortunately, Umbridge's first thought was Fred and George. The Slytherins who had followed the others upstairs also subconsciously changed their targets after seeing the Weasley brothers coming down from upstairs.
This led to the Weasley brothers not only failing to secretly leak the matter to Umbridge as planned, but also helping the S.D.A. solve a minor problem.
—Perhaps there is more than one.
Fred and George were stunned because Umbridge's men had been tracking them for two weeks; they never imagined they would one day be so "fascinated" by a professor.
Umbridge was completely unconcerned about how suspicious the behavior of others was, and turned a blind eye to the students who were Hufflepuffs but kept running upstairs.
She was so determined that she kept her eyes glued to the Weasley brothers, as if she believed that as long as she kept an eye on them, she would definitely find the result she wanted.
This has made Fred and George extremely cautious lately, fearing that they might reveal the slightest flaw and alert Umbridge.
"Sirlen, maybe we don't need to inform on each other at all."
During a meal, Fred finally couldn't hold back anymore and complained to Siron, "If we just go to that magical room on the eighth floor, Umbridge will immediately discover everyone else's destination."
“That’s true.” Celen thought for a moment, then shook his head. “But I doubt whether Umbridge, with her intelligence, is even capable of opening that door.”
"Besides, do you even know when S.D.A. has classes? As far as I know, their class schedule keeps changing, and nobody knows when the next one will be."
Fred and George sighed.
"But it didn't help that she kept staring at us."
"Don't worry, it won't happen soon," Xiren said.
A few more days passed, and the exams drew closer. Meanwhile, a rumor began to spread rapidly throughout Hogwarts.
Some say that Dumbledore formed an army among the students with the intention of assassinating Cornelius Fudge at a crucial moment.