Harry Potter and the Old Ones

The first class of fifth grade was Dolores Umbridge's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

But obviously, no one—

Even one, looking forward to this class as much as ever.

Because everyone, all the Hogwarts teachers and students who attended Tiera's funeral remembered Tiera's prophecy——

"A pink toad will appear in Hogwarts starting next semester..."

Apparently, this pink toad is Professor Dolores Umbridge.

As for the second half of the prophecy——

"She will send her own pink kitten spies to monitor every corner of Hogwarts. Be careful, everyone, and watch out for the murals."

What means.

This is the main topic of discussion before every Hogwarts student begins their Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

After all the students sat down in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Professor Umbridge slowly walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office behind the podium.

She was wearing the same fuzzy pink cardigan she had worn the night before, with the black velvet bow on top of her head.

Harry had another strong and vivid thought of a large fly foolishly landing on an even larger pink toad.

After seeing Dolores Umbridge appear, the whole class suddenly fell silent, and the whole classroom became silent.

Thanks to Tiera's prophecy, most students did not have much favorable impressions of Professor Umbridge from the beginning.

"Good morning, classmates!" After seeing the whole class quiet down, Professor Umbridge said with a smile, still using her effective made-up girly voice.

"Good morning..." several classmates muttered in reply.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Professor Umbridge said sternly, "That's not okay, is it? It's early in the morning, and you are so lethargic. I hope you will answer like this: 'Good morning, Umbridge.' Professor. 'Okay, please do it again. Good morning, students!"

"Good morning, Professor Umbridge," they replied in unison.

"That's right," Professor Umbridge said in a sweet voice, "It's not too difficult, is it? Please put away your wand and take out your quill."

Many students exchanged depressed looks. What followed the command "put your wand away" was never a lesson they found interesting.

Harry stuffed his wand into his satchel and took out his quill, ink, and parchment.

Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, pulled out a surprisingly short wand, and tapped it hard on the blackboard. Two lines of words immediately appeared on the blackboard:

"Defense Against the Dark Arts Back to Basics"

"Classmates, your teaching of this course has always been intermittent and unsystematic, hasn't it?" Professor Umbridge turned to face the class, with her hands crossed and placed squarely on her chest. , and then said, "Teachers are constantly changing, and many of them do not seem to follow the curriculum standards approved by the Ministry of Magic. This unfortunately means that you are now far from reaching the level you should achieve in O.W.Ls."

"However, you will be pleased to know that these problems are about to be rectified. This year, we will be studying a carefully planned, theory-focused, Ministry of Magic-approved Defense of Magic course. Please copy these words. .”

She knocked on the blackboard again, and the two lines of words disappeared and were replaced by "Course Objectives."

1. Understand the basic principles of magic defense.

2. Learn to identify situations where magical defense can be used legally.

3. Evaluate magical defense in the context of actual use.

The only sound in the classroom was the rustling of quills writing on parchment. Two or three minutes later, when every student had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course objectives, she asked: "Is every student Do all my classmates have a copy of Wilbert Slinka’s "The Theory of Magical Defense"?"

There was a murmur of affirmation in the class.

"I think we have to do it again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I want you to answer 'Yes, Professor Umbridge.' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' .’ Again: Does every classmate have a copy of Wilbert Slinka’s The Theory of Magical Defense?”

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," the class shouted back.

"Very good," said Professor Umbridge, "I hope you will turn the book to page five and read 'Chapter 1, Basic Principles for Getting Started'. Do not whisper to each other while reading."

Professor Umbridge left the blackboard, sat down on the chair behind the podium, and stared at everyone with her eyes like a toad with droopy eyelids.

Harry opened his copy of "Defense Theory of Magic" to page five and prepared to start reading.

But to Harry's surprise, Hermione, who always liked to read seriously, did not read carefully as she usually did. Instead, she quickly crossed out the entire book with her fingers as if counting the pages, and then— —

Harry swore that he had never seen such an ugly expression on Hermione's face in all the time he had known her -

Even before the Christmas ball last year, when Tiera invited Luna to the ball in front of Hermione, Hermione's expression was not as ugly as it is now.

Then Hermione raised her hands high and stared at Professor Umbridge without blinking.

Harry remembered that Hermione had never failed to do so when asked to read, or resisted the temptation to open any book that came before her.

Harry looked at her questioningly, but she just shook her head slightly, indicating that she did not want to answer the question now, and then continued to stare at Professor Umbridge, who was looking equally firmly at the exact opposite. direction.

After a few more minutes, Harry wasn't the only one staring at Hermione.

The chapter the teacher asked them to read was too boring. More and more students were more willing to watch Hermione silently attract Professor Umbridge's attention than to gnaw on it. What are the "basics of entry".

Eventually, more than half the class was looking at Hermione instead of their textbooks, and Professor Umbridge seemed to think she could no longer ignore the situation.

"Dear, do you have any questions about the content of this chapter?" Professor Umbridge asked hypocritically, as if she had just noticed her.

"No, it's not about the content of this chapter." Hermione said firmly, with some dark and unclear emotions in her eyes.

"Oh, we are studying now." Professor Umbridge said, showing her small, pointed teeth. "If you have any other questions, we can talk about it after class."

"I have a question about your course objectives." Hermione said firmly, seemingly unappreciative.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

"May I have your name?"

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

"Well, Miss Granger, I think these course objectives are very clear, as long as you read them carefully from beginning to end." Professor Umbridge said in a firm and coquettish tone.

Harry felt sparks flickering where Hermione and Umbridge's eyes met.

"But, I don't think so," Hermione said bluntly, "There's not a single word about using defensive spells."

There was a brief silence, and many students in the class turned their heads and looked carefully at the three course objectives still written on the blackboard.

"Use defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a chuckle. "Gee, I can't imagine a situation in my class that would require you to use defensive spells, Miss Granger. You don't think so. Will you be attacked during class?”

"The Ministry of Magic believes that mastering pure theoretical knowledge is enough for you to cope with various examinations." Umbridge continued, "After all, this is the meaning of the school's existence."

"But how can we fight against external threats with theoretical knowledge alone?" Hermione continued to ask aggressively.

"There is no threat out there, dear." Umbridge said with a smirk, walking closer to Hermione, "Who do you think would attack a child like you?"

"Voldemort!" Hermione stood up and said coldly and sharply, "Voldemort is back! We must-"

"That's enough!" Umbridge suddenly shouted, her face no longer had the fake smile, but an extremely ferocious expression.

Ron gasped, Lavender Brown let out a low scream, Neville tilted his body and almost fell off the bench, and the other students either looked at Hermione secretly or looked at Umri strange.

Harry didn't react at all——

He had never seen Hermione refute a teacher like this in any class. Even in the third grade Divination class, Hermione just swept away the crystal ball and pulled Tiera away.

The confrontation between Hermione and Umbridge happened so fast it was almost electric.

It wasn't until Hermione called out that name that Harry could barely react.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger!"

There was silence and silence in the classroom. Everyone was either staring at Umbridge or Hermione.

"Okay, let me make a few things clear." Umbridge said, "You are told that a certain dark wizard has risen from the dead -"

"He's not dead!" Harry stood up angrily and interrupted rudely, "But yes, he's back!"

"Miss Granger has already made your house lose ten points. Don't make things worse, Mr. Potter!" Professor Umbridge said this in one breath without even looking at Harry. " As I said just now, someone told you that a certain dark wizard is out again. This is nonsense."

"This is not nonsense!" Harry began to say aggressively, "I saw him, I fought with him! And Professor Dumbledore also presented enough evidence at the end of last semester, that is Tiera -"

"Confinement, Mr. Potter! And Miss Granger!" Umbridge interrupted rudely, "This afternoon, at five o'clock! In my office, I say again, this is nonsense. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you will not be in danger from any Dark wizards. If you still have any doubts, please do come to me after class. If anyone is trying to scare you with rumors about Dark wizards coming back from the dead, I would be happy to hear it. . I'm here to help you. I'm your friend. Okay, please continue to page five, 'Getting Started'."

I'm really sorry that it's even later today. Thanks for making up for the chapter tomorrow.

Today's chapter maintains the development of the original plot, because no matter how conclusive evidence Dumbledore presents, the Ministry of Magic will definitely do its best to whitewash the peace out of considerations of maintaining its own rule and not wanting to take responsibility, so the Ministry of Magic may be able to Bledo's education reform turned a blind eye, but he absolutely did not allow remarks such as Voldemort's resurrection.

Due to the influence of Tiera, Hermione will be more radical than in the original book, which is why Hermione will be punished together with Harry.