Hogwarts: The Witch Education Handbook

Chapter 537 Ginny's Letter

Chapter 533 Ginny's Letter

Ron shared Percy's letter after reading it.

The three sat together, and Hermione and Harry began to read the letter, which roughly stated:

Dear Ron:

I just heard (from the Minister of Magic himself, who heard it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have successfully joined the Quidditch team and become the goalkeeper.

I was very happy to hear this news.

But Ron, I want to offer you more than just congratulations; I also want to give you some advice.

Therefore, I mailed the letter at night instead of through the usual morning mail delivery, to avoid it being seen by others.

I know you've been hanging out with Harry Potter lately.

This is an extremely dangerous thing.

I'm sure you'll think I got the name wrong—that famous savior, especially after getting so much attention in last year's Triwizard Tournament, how could getting close to him be a dangerous thing?

The answer lies with Dumbledore and Phillips.

As your brother, I feel it's necessary to tell you that Dumbledore's situation at Hogwarts is very bad, and even—the relationship between Director Phillips, who holds a high position in the Ministry of Magic, and Deputy Minister Umbridge is not good.

I don't need to teach you which position is higher, Director or Vice Minister, do I?

I can't say more here to make it clearer—in short, you'll understand what I mean when you see the Ministry of Magic's announcement tomorrow.

Now, please carefully consider what I have said.

One more thing—

If you have any news about Phillips or Dumbledore, please write to me.

looking forward to your reply.

Your brother, Percy. Meanwhile, Ginny also opened her own letter.

The letter was largely the same as Ron's, except it didn't congratulate him on being selected for the Quidditch team; instead, it contained—

He begged Ginny to secretly help investigate the relationship between Sean and Hermione or someone else.

Why?

This is Umbridge's request.

After Sean helped Hermione, she started thinking about finding something to use against him by exploiting their relationship.

It wasn't that she knew anything "shady" about the two of them.

They just want to create some "tricks" since there are no real ones.

Umbridge knew she was unpopular among the students, so she naturally thought of Percy, who always greeted her at the Ministry of Magic and was formerly the president of the boys' council.

The two hit it off immediately.

Ginny looked at the letter and fell silent for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, he quietly slipped the letter into his pocket.

"Ginny, is your letter the same?"

"One, the same."

"Our older brother, I don't know what's gotten into him—he's always making Mom and Dad angry, and now he's saying some nonsense like Dumbledore will step down."

Ron muttered a complaint under his breath.

"What else did he say?"

Neither Harry nor Hermione spoke; they simply handed the letter back to Ron in silence.

Ron took it without hesitation.

Then he cursed "idiot," tore the letter to shreds, and threw it into the fire.

"You're saying that Dumbledore might really—"

"You believe what a madman says?"

Ron said somewhat impatiently.

"The old Percy is gone. The current Percy is insane, he's gone mad!"

So everyone started doing their homework again.

Studying late into the night is a rare sight in the Gryffindor common room.

Just when the three children thought the day would end with "doing homework"—the fireplace inexplicably began to flicker.

What's going on? Is it haunted?

Immediately afterwards, Sirius's head appeared in the flames.

"Hello," he said.

"What's going on?" Harry asked in surprise. "Sirius, is that you?"

"It's genuine. Just a little trick, don't be nervous," Sirius explained. "It's so late, I thought you guys were going to bed."

"What happened?" Harry asked nervously.

"No," Sirius shook his head, explaining somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm just a little bored being all alone at Black's old house."

"Aren't the Order of the Phoenix members there?"

"For some reason, they seem unusually busy these past few days. Even Montgomery hasn't come."

Hermione believes that the reason Mungertons didn't go was precisely because Sirius Black was the only member left in the Order of the Phoenix.

If no one is cooking, why would he go to the Order of the Phoenix?

"Does your scar still hurt?"

"It's happening much more often these days. Dumbledore said that my scars ache whenever Voldemort has a strong emotional outburst—perhaps he hasn't been doing so well lately."

Harry said sincerely, and then the tone suddenly changed.

"By the way, do you know Umbridge?"

“Umbridge?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. “I do know she’s a nasty fellow—I’ve heard Remus talk about her.”

"Professor Lupin knows her too?" Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know him." Sirius shook his head. "But Umbridge originally drafted an anti-werewolf bill, which made it impossible for him to find a job—many former Ministry of Magic employees in the Order of the Phoenix have also spoken ill of Umbridge behind his back."

"What did they say?" Ron asked.

"It's rotten to the core." Sirius Black said, then, remembering something, looked at Harry and asked, "By the way, I heard she teaches your classes. How are your classes?"

"It's so boring," Hermione blurted out. "She won't let us use magic at all."

"Ah, that's not surprising," Sirius said. "We received information from the Ministry of Magic that Fudge doesn't want you to do combat training."

"Combat training!" Harry repeated incredulously. "What did he think we were doing here, organizing a wizarding army?"

“That’s exactly what he thinks,” Sirius replied, “or more precisely, that’s what he fears Dumbledore is doing—organizing a secret force to fight the Ministry of Magic.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Ron spoke.

"I've never heard of anything so stupid. Even Percy is more level-headed than him." Then, he slapped his thigh, looking as if he'd just had a sudden realization. "No wonder Percy's getting crazier and crazier; he's been spending too much time with Fudge—"

"So, just because Fudge is afraid we'll use spells against the Ministry of Magic, he won't let us learn Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Hermione said angrily.

“Yes,” Sirius said, “Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. His suspicion of Dumbledore grows stronger every day, and one day he will fabricate a charge to arrest Dumbledore.”

This reminded everyone of Percy's letter.

"You know what? Will there be an article about Dumbledore in tomorrow's Daily Prophet? Ron's brother Percy thinks there will be—"

"I don't know," Sirius shook his head.

"So you don't know anything about Hagrid either?"

"Ah—" Sirius whispered, "Actually, he should be back. Nobody knows what happened to him. But Dumbledore isn't worried, and you three don't need to be too anxious. I believe Hagrid will be alright."

"But what if he says he should come back—"

"Mrs. Maxim was with him at the time, and we have been in contact with Maxim ever since. She said they got separated on their way home, but that doesn't mean Hagrid was injured, or—in a way, it doesn't mean he was unharmed."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances.

"Listen, don't ask any more questions about Hagrid."

Sirius, seeing their eager expressions, panicked and quickly added words of reassurance.

"This will only attract more attention."

"I know Dumbledore doesn't want to do this—Hagrid is very capable, he'll be fine."

However, these words didn't seem to have any effect on the three little ones.

Seeing that things might be heading in a direction he didn't want to see, Sirius quickly ended the "video call".

Although no one took Percy's words to heart, the next day, the Daily Prophet did indeed publish the Ministry of Magic's latest announcement, and along with the announcement, a serious headshot of Umbridge was placed on the front page of the newspaper.

The title is as follows:

Dolores Umbridge was appointed as the first Senior Investigator. "What does Senior Investigator mean?" Harry asked, puzzled.

The following is a detailed introduction:

In a last-minute operation, the Ministry of Magic passed a new decree that gives it unprecedented control over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"The minister is increasingly disturbed by the current state of Hogwarts."

Assistant Secretary Percy Weasley said with considerable indignation.

"He took action after hearing the parents' concerns. The worried parents felt that the school seemed to be heading in a direction they strongly disapproved of."

In recent weeks, this is not the first time that Minister Cornelius Fudge has intervened in magic schools through new legislation.

Just recently, on August 30th, Education Order No. 8 was passed, ensuring that if the current headmaster cannot provide a suitable candidate for a teaching position, the Ministry of Magic will recommend one.

"Dolores Umbridge was appointed a teacher at Hogwarts under these circumstances. Dumbledore couldn't find anyone else, so the minister sent Umbridge. She immediately became a great success."

"What did she do right away?" Hermione interrupted angrily.

"Wait, it's not over yet."

"—She immediately achieved great success, revolutionizing the Defense Against the Dark Arts course and providing the Minister with timely on-the-spot feedback on the actual situation at Hogwarts."

This temporary operation officially came into effect with the passage of the Ministry of Magic's Education Order No. 23, which also created the new position of Hogwarts Senior Investigator.

"This is an exciting new initiative in the Minister's plan to control the so-called decline in Hogwarts' educational standards. The Investigator will have the authority to review her fellow faculty members to ensure they all meet the standards. Professor Umbridge has been granted this position in addition to her teaching duties, and we are pleased to inform you that she has gladly accepted."

These new measures by the Ministry of Magic have received enthusiastic support from Hogwarts students' parents.

"Whose parents support them?" Ron asked instinctively.

Of course it is————

"Now that I know Dumbledore will receive a fair and objective evaluation, I am finally at ease."

"We, the concerned citizens and parents of students, have been deeply worried about Dumbledore's eccentric decisions in recent years, and I am very relieved to learn that the Ministry of Magic is keeping a close eye on the situation," said 41-year-old Lucius Malfoy, a concerned citizen and parent, at his Wiltshire residence last night.

Those so-called "eccentric decisions" undoubtedly included the appointment of some controversial faculty members, as this newspaper has already commented on, including the hiring of werewolf Remus Lupin, half-giant Rubeus Hagrid, and the imposter former Auror "Mad-Eye" Moody.

Of course, rumors about Dumbledore have been circulating, especially since he was once the president of the International Confederation of Wizards and the chief wizard of Wizengamor, but is now considered no longer suitable to take on the important task of managing Hogwarts School.

"I believe that appointing an investigator is the first step in ensuring that Hogwarts has a headmaster we can all trust," a Ministry of Magic insider said last night.

The elders of Wizengamor, Grishilda Markbans and Tiberius Ogden, resigned in opposition to appointing investigators to Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts is a school, not an outpost for Cornelius Fudge's office," Mrs. Markbans said. "This is a disgusting attempt to further damage Albus Dumbledore's reputation."

(For a detailed report on the allegations that Mrs. Mark Bans secretly colluded with fairies to subvert the group, please see page 17 of this newspaper.)

After everyone finished reading, they looked up and exchanged bewildered glances.

"Now I finally understand how we ended up with Umbridge! Fudge forced her here through this educational decree! And now, Fudge has given her the authority to inspect the other teachers!"

Hermione was so angry she could barely speak.

"This is outrageous! How dare Fudge do this? He's treating Hogwarts like his personal property! This isn't just a provocation against Dumbledore, it's an insult to the entire school!"

"I can't even imagine what Umbridge would do with that kind of power! Her so-called 'investigation' is definitely not for the good of the school, but for her own and Fudge's benefit!"

Such sounds are not limited to the Gryffindor Long Table.

Even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students standing nearby were somewhat dissatisfied.

What is the Ministry of Magic trying to do?

Anything becomes impure when it gets mixed up with politics.

Not to mention, it's a sacred place like a school.

Meanwhile, Ginny sat in the owl's hut, pen in hand, replying to someone's letter.

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