Chapter 338: Chapter 338
Hufflepuff Dormitory
The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, the orange light dancing on the walls and warming the entire room.
The snow outside the window had stopped, but a thin layer of water droplets still clung to the glass.
Moonlight shone through the droplets, refracting into a blurry halo that fell onto the dark wooden floor like a thin layer of frost.
William was sitting at his desk, scribbling away at this week’s homework.
His expression was focused, his brows slightly furrowed, and his quill raced across the parchment, his handwriting as neat as if it were printed.
Edgar, who was also scribbling away nearby, was not as focused.
His handwriting was crooked, and he chatted with Lynn intermittently.
"Lynn."
He called, spinning his quill.
"Hmm."
Lynn didn’t look up.
"Lynn."
He called again.
"Hmm."
Lynn still didn’t look up.
"Lynn—"
He dragged out the sound.
"Speak up if you have something to say, or spit it out if you have to."
Lynn’s voice came from behind a pile of potion ingredients, muffled.
"If you bother me again, I’ll throw you out."
He was organizing potion ingredients, sorting the things collected from the Forbidden Forest into different bottles.
Acromantula venom into this bottle.
Mooncalf dung into that bag.
Bowtruckle twigs wrapped in cloth and set aside.
Unicorn tail hair tied with a rubber band and hung on the corner of the table.
His movements were fast and skillful.
He knew exactly where each material should go, how to handle it, and how to store it, without even needing to look.
Edgar wasn’t annoyed.
He was used to Lynn’s way of speaking.
He stopped his pen, turned his head, and said to Lynn, "Umbridge is about to be transferred."
This time, not just Lynn, but William and Ollie were also attracted.
Silence fell over the dormitory.
"Really?" Lynn asked.
Edgar nodded.
"Remember this."
He held up a finger and pointed in the air.
"Never question the accuracy of my news. Just wait and see."
Sure enough.
The very next day after Edgar told them the news, a short notice was posted on the Hogwarts notice board.
It was posted in the most conspicuous spot, in bold font, with the Ministry of Magic’s red seal on it.
The general meaning of the notice was:
Umbridge would no longer serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
She would be transferred back to the Ministry of Magic for other duties.
Just a few lines, but Hogwarts was boiling.
News spread faster than fire.
In less than half an hour, everyone at Hogwarts knew—
Umbridge was leaving.
Umbridge was amazingly efficient.
Less than half a day after the notice was posted, she had already emptied her office.
Some said she had started packing overnight, as her office was already half-empty when the notice was posted.
Though it wasn’t clear why Umbridge had suddenly been transferred, it didn’t stop the whole school from falling into a sea of joy.
Footsteps in the corridors became light.
Laughter in the classrooms became louder.
Even the air became fresher, as if something heavy had been moved out of the castle.
The Great Hall reflected this joy best.
Breakfast today was like a banquet.
Golden platters full of food were spread across the tables, with the food piled up like small hills.
Toasted bread, crispy bacon, perfectly boiled eggs, steaming sausages, and various pastries that Lynn couldn’t name.
Pumpkin juice pots were replaced one after another.
Coffee pots were replaced one after another.
Even the milk was replaced three times.
The house-elves probably knew the news of Umbridge leaving, and they were putting all their effort into making this breakfast a celebration.
They brought out all their specialties, things they usually hid away and were reluctant to take out, as if they wanted to pour all the repressed enthusiasm of the last half-semester into this meal.
Besides the students, the professors were just as happy.
The atmosphere at the teacher’s table was completely different from usual.
Usually, the professors were very quiet when eating, occasionally whispering a few words, their voices very low, as if afraid of being heard by someone.
Today was different.
Today, the professors were laughing, talking loudly, and toasting each other.
Professor Flitwick stood on his chair, holding up his glass and saying something to Professor Sprout, who laughed so hard she almost spilled the wine in her glass.
Professor McGonagall still kept her serious expression, but the slight upturn of her lips was enough for everyone present to know—
She was happy too.
Professor Trelawney was the most exaggerated.
She was sitting at the edge of the teacher’s table, near the Hufflepuff table.
Lynn could clearly see her every move.
She had a cup in front of her, not filled with pumpkin juice, but sherry.
You should know that the school canteen did not provide this kind of drink.
Although the Hogwarts kitchen had everything, alcohol was not in the daily supply.
The house-elves would prepare butterbeer.
The alcohol content of that thing was so low it could be ignored, and you wouldn’t get drunk even if you drank a barrel.
But sherry was different.
Sherry was real alcohol, something only sold in Hogsmeade bars.
In other words, if you wanted to drink sherry, you could only buy it at the Three Broomsticks.
The best sherry at the Three Broomsticks cost thirty Galleons a bottle.
Enough for an average wizard to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for several days.
Not everyone could afford a bottle of thirty-Galleon sherry.
Trelawney had already finished two bottles and was opening the third.
Lynn calculated in his heart.
He didn’t know how much Professor Trelawney’s salary was.
But a Hogwarts professor’s salary in the wizarding world was considered upper-middle class, enough to live decently, but definitely not wealthy.
...
Umbridge’s departure chased away the dark clouds over Hogwarts.
Even this kind of terrible weather in December made people feel much better.
The Scottish Highlands in December.
The gray sky.
The cold wind.
The snow that could fall at any time.
And that damp cold that drilled into your bones.
In normal times, this weather would probably make people want to wrap themselves in a blanket and not come out.
But not now.
Now, looking at those gray-white clouds, they didn’t feel so oppressive.
Looking at those bare branches, they didn’t feel so bleak.
Looking at those falling snowflakes, they didn’t feel so cold.
It wasn’t the weather that had changed.
It was the mood.
When the mood was good, everything was good.
Lynn leaned on the windowsill, looking at the snow, lost in thought.
Dumbledore had been out for a whole month this time and hadn’t returned, not even sending a message.
But he did get news about Umbridge.
Today’s Daily Prophet, front page, headline in bold:
Ministry of Magic Support Successfully Stops Death Eater Plot.
The headline was eye-catching, and below it was a photo of Umbridge.
The photo was dynamic, with Umbridge standing on a street, holding her wand, saying something to the camera.
She had finally swapped her pink cardigan for a black Auror uniform.
The article was long, taking up an entire page.
Lynn read it from start to finish.
"This morning, a Dark Arts incident occurred on a street, causing an uproar and casualties among several wizards."
"Senior Undersecretary to the Minister Dolores Umbridge led the Aurors to the scene immediately, successfully subduing and killing the Death Eater Anthony."
"It is reported that Anthony was an extremely cruel Death Eater. It is not hard to guess that his goal was to announce his return to everyone."
"The team leader, Senior Undersecretary Umbridge, said, ’We received the report too late. If we could have been earlier, perhaps there would have been fewer casualties.’"
"She called on people to be as vigilant as possible. This is a special time, and only by working together and uniting can we win the upcoming war."
William put down the newspaper and smacked his lips.
"She went to catch a Death Eater?"
"Who knows..."
Lynn shrugged, feeling that something was wrong somewhere.
He remembered that Umbridge’s magic level wasn’t very good.
That kind of poor wasn’t compared to Lynn, but to ordinary wizards.
When Umbridge was at Hogwarts, she never showed any decent magic to anyone.
She read textbooks in class, listened, graded, and wrote comments after class.
She never picked up a wand.
She never cast a spell that required any technical skill.
Lynn had once suspected she couldn’t use a wand at all.
But now, the newspaper said she had "successfully subdued and killed a Death Eater."
A person with a mediocre magic level dealing with an "extremely cruel" Death Eater, and succeeding?
This sounded like someone was helping her.
Thinking of this, Lynn suddenly realized what was wrong.
That matter was too small, like a grain of sand thrown into the sea.
If he hadn’t seen Umbridge’s photo today, and if he hadn’t thought about her magic level, he probably never would have remembered it.
The contract he had Umbridge sign—
The Unbreakable Vow—
Was not a joke.
The price of breaking it was death.
But Umbridge was still alive.
And now that Umbridge was outside the school, some parts of the contract couldn’t be fulfilled.
What was going on?
Lynn’s brows furrowed tighter.
Thinking back and forth, Lynn could only attribute it to the fact that he hadn’t tested that contract paper at the time, and there were some small bugs.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Umbridge hadn’t passed away.
Lynn shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Alive was fine.
At least she wasn’t at Hogwarts anymore and couldn’t disgust him anymore.
---
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