Chapter 328: Chapter 328
Ever since Dumbledore ended his leave and returned to Hogwarts, the atmosphere in the castle had quietly shifted.
The most obvious change was in Umbridge.
It was as if she had become a different person.
To be more precise, it was as if she had reverted to her original self.
The cautiousness she had displayed recently was fading at a visible rate. That initial, obnoxious energy was beginning to resurface.
Although she would still shrink back whenever she saw Lynn, Lynn always felt that she no longer seemed quite as afraid of him.
Was it because Dumbledore was back?
Did she think he wouldn’t dare commit violence right under Dumbledore’s nose?
Before Lynn could figure out the reason, Dumbledore called him to the Headmaster’s Office with a single phone call.
"Mr. Lynn, do you have time right now? Would it be convenient for you to come to the Headmaster’s Office?"
Lynn glanced at his watch.
There were less than five minutes until his next class.
"Headmaster, I’m about to have class."
"Oh, I’ve already asked Professor Flitwick for leave on your behalf. He said it’s no problem."
Lynn fell silent.
He had a rather bad premonition.
...
"Headmaster."
Lynn sat down in the chair in front of the desk and got straight to the point.
"What is it?"
"I have some news for you," Dumbledore said. "Fudge has admitted that Voldemort has returned."
Lynn’s eyes widened instantly.
"I didn’t mishear you, did I?"
His voice was full of disbelief.
"Fudge—the same Fudge who said ’You-Know-Who cannot possibly be resurrected’ eight hundred times in The Daily Prophet—admitted that Voldemort is back?"
"Yes," Dumbledore said.
Lynn waited a moment.
"And then?"
Dumbledore blinked.
"And then what?"
"Did he admit it publicly? Did he announce it on the front page of The Daily Prophet? Did he hold a press conference? Did he—"
"No," Dumbledore interrupted him. "There has been no widespread public admission. He’s afraid of causing public panic."
Lynn’s mouth opened and closed.
Then closed and opened again.
He looked at Dumbledore’s calm face, his mind racing with a thousand frustrations.
"Then what’s the use?"
"Headmaster, you haven’t really gone senile, have you?"
Dumbledore smiled helplessly.
"This is already the maximum compromise that can be secured at this stage."
Compromise.
As soon as that word came out, Lynn’s eyelid twitched.
Driven by some inexplicable impulse, he asked a question.
"Headmaster, what did you compromise this time?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment.
"My authority."
It was a sentence without context.
Lynn was left looking bewildered, but seeing that Dumbledore had no intention of explaining, he simply stopped thinking about it.
"So..."
Lynn leaned back in his chair and changed the subject.
"Headmaster, you called me here just to tell me this piece of ’not-so-good’ good news?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Are you perhaps less inclined to replace the Minister for Magic now?" he asked, a hint of expectation in his tone.
Lynn looked at him and fell silent.
"No."
Dumbledore’s expression froze for a moment.
"I still want to replace him," Lynn said. "But since you’ve already negotiated with him, let’s leave it at that for now."
Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief.
Lynn, on the other hand, sighed inwardly while cursing Dumbledore’s ancestors.
Didn’t he know how precious a fifth-year student’s break time was?
...
Over the next few days, Lynn fully realized what Dumbledore had meant by "my authority."
It was as if Umbridge had been unsealed.
She resumed her duties as the High Inquisitor of the Ministry of Magic.
This time, Lynn did not stop Umbridge’s actions.
Firstly, she hadn’t actually done anything wrong. She hadn’t touched the professors or the students.
Lynn couldn’t very well go around hitting people just because "someone observing class makes me uncomfortable."
Wouldn’t that make him a school bully?
Although he wasn’t far from that already, he still had some sense of shame.
And then there was the second point.
The second point left Lynn even more speechless than the first.
Dumbledore had agreed to it.
During the banquet that evening, Umbridge suddenly stood up and announced:
"According to Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three, the High Inquisitor of the Ministry of Magic has the right to inspect the teaching activities of all Hogwarts teachers. I hope all professors will cooperate with my work."
After speaking, she looked at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore was sitting in the center of the staff table at the time, holding a cup of tea.
He set down the teacup, glanced at Umbridge, and then nodded.
"Very well," he said.
His voice wasn’t loud, but the entire Great Hall heard it.
At that moment, only one thought was spinning in Lynn’s head.
Like a willing victim and a willing perpetrator—one was happy to give, and the other was happy to receive.
So, this time, Umbridge didn’t do things sneakily.
She did them openly.
Every day, she was either observing a class or on her way to observe one.
When she observed, she sat in the back row with a clipboard on her knees, sitting very upright and remaining silent.
But her quill was constantly moving.
The scratch, scratch, scratch sound lasted from the beginning of class until the end, from the first minute to the last.
At the time, no one knew what she was writing.
However, in the next day’s Daily Prophet, a new article would appear.
It wasn’t on the front page, but its placement wasn’t bad either.
The titles varied, but the content was largely the same.
A certain professor had committed a "serious teaching error" in class.
A certain course’s teaching content "did not meet Ministry standards."
Or a certain professor’s answers to student questions were "vague and lacked professional quality."
Every article was written in great detail, citing specific classroom examples, specific dates and times, and even specific dialogue.
It looked well-reasoned and factual, making it difficult to find a point to argue against.
Because those things were, indeed, true.
For example, Professor Flitwick had taught an outdated spell in Charms class.
That spell was indeed outdated, but Professor Flitwick taught it because it was important in the history of magic, and he planned to teach the more modern alternative in the next class.
Umbridge’s observation notes didn’t include the "next class."
She only recorded "this class."
For example, Professor Sprout had students personally handle a somewhat dangerous plant in Herbology class, and one student cut their finger.
It wasn’t serious and was cured with a bit of dittany.
Umbridge’s observation notes read:
The professor allowed students to perform dangerous operations despite knowing of safety hazards, resulting in injury to a student.
Even Professor Binns’s History of Magic class was written about.
It said his classroom "lacked interaction" and that "most students remained in a state of slumber during class, making the teaching effectiveness concerning."
This was truly making things difficult for Professor Binns.
You couldn’t expect an unpaid ghost’s teaching quality to be incredibly high.
And then there was Professor Trelawney’s Divination class.
Well...
Professor Trelawney was indeed hard to defend.
Her lectures were already mystical and obscure. Umbridge only needed to casually jot down a few notes to produce several "teaching issues."
The most ridiculous part was that Umbridge didn’t even spare her own class.
The article stated that the professor’s "interpretation of textbook content was too shallow," classroom interaction was "seriously insufficient," and she "lacked patience" when answering student questions.
The articles didn’t have a byline, but everyone knew where the material came from.
When Lynn saw that article, he fell into complete silence.
So she knew her own teaching level was poor, yet she was still hogging the position without doing the work.
"Heh~"
Lynn’s eyes lit up.
"Doesn’t this give me a reason to take action?"
"Jie jie jie~"
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