Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 443 Hermione's Plot

"That wretched old hag! That disgusting toad! That stinking bitch!" Hermione cursed viciously the whole way back to the Gryffindor common room from the library. "That son of a bitch, that stinking fat pig, that stinking lackey of the Ministry of Magic, that fat bastard, that stinking toad!"

After learning that all the books about Hogwarts in the library had been borrowed by Umbridge, Hermione did not give up. Instead, she took Harry and Ron and wandered around the library again.

After browsing around, Hermione discovered—

Umbridge ransacked the library, leaving not a single book about Hogwarts.

Even after returning to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione kept pacing back and forth, still looking very angry.

Harry felt the same way, except he mostly sat in front of the fireplace, coldly watching the burning flames.

“We have to take action.” After pacing around the common room for a while, Hermione said decisively, “We must take the initiative and seize the upper hand. We can’t continue to be on the defensive like this.”

Harry nodded silently.
“I suggest poisoning it,” Ron said, making up a complete fabrication.

“No, no, no… I mean… I mean it’s not that bad yet,” Hermione said. “I mean, we should arm ourselves…”

“Tierra once told me that power comes from the wand,” Hermione said after a pause. “We don’t learn anything from her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which is exactly what Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic want. What they’re doing now is weakening us.”

“Right now, we still have Dumbledore protecting us, so the Ministry of Magic can’t act too recklessly.” Hermione started pacing anxiously back and forth again. “If anything happens to Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic, which is now completely controlled by Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy, will definitely target us. At that time… at that time, we will be powerless to fight back.”

“Um… so… so this is what I’m thinking…” Hermione glanced at Harry nervously, then hesitated before saying, “I’m thinking… maybe we should just… just do it ourselves.”

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked suspiciously.

“Well—we’ll learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves,” Hermione said.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Ron complained. "Are you trying to add to our burden? Don't you know that Harry and I have fallen behind on a ton of homework again, and it's only the second week?"

“But this is much more important than homework!” Hermione said.

Harry and Ron stared at Hermione with wide eyes, as if they had discovered a new continent.

“Didn’t you say before that nothing in the world is more important than homework?” Ron said.

“We need to analyze specific problems in specific ways,” Hermione said. “In this situation, we must distinguish between the primary and secondary contradictions. In this situation, our primary contradiction is the contradiction between our own lack of magic and the dangerous external environment. Compared to this, homework or even grades are not that important.”

“Oh…” Harry and Ron nodded, seemingly understanding.

“Just like Harry said in his first lesson at Umbridge—” Hermione’s face suddenly lit up, radiating a fervent passion that gave Harry an ominous feeling. “Just like Harry said, we need to be prepared for whatever awaits us out there. I mean, we need to make sure we can really protect ourselves if we don’t learn anything all year—”

“There’s nothing we can do on our own,” Ron said in a disheartened tone. “I mean, yes, we can go to the library and find some curses in the books to practice ourselves, I think—”

“No, I think we’ve moved beyond just learning from books,” Hermione said. “We need a teacher, a proper teacher, who can teach us how to use spells and correct us if we do it wrong.”

“If you’re talking about Lupin?” Harry asked, “or Sirius?”

“No, no, I’m not talking about them,” Hermione said, staring intently at Harry. “They’re always busy with the Order of the Phoenix, and we only see him when we go to Hogsmeade for the weekend, which isn’t nearly enough.” “Then who is it?” Harry frowned at her, a growing sense of foreboding in his heart.

Hermione took a deep breath and then said:
"You, Harry."

A moment of silence. The night breeze rattled the windows behind Ron, and the fire in the stove had gone out.

“What’s wrong with me?” Harry said.

“I meant you should teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts,” Hermione said.

Harry stared blankly at her, then turned to Ron, wanting to exchange an annoyed look with him—

To Harry's surprise, Ron did not appear angry.

He frowned slightly, clearly thinking. Then he said, "That's an idea."

“What do you mean by ‘an idea’?” Harry retorted.

“You,” Ron said, “you teach us all Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“But—” Harry smiled; these two were definitely joking with him. “But I’m not a teacher, I can’t—”

“Harry, have confidence, you can totally do it!” Hermione said. “In your first year, you faced Professor Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort, all by yourself; in your third year, you single-handedly fought off hundreds of Dementors; and in your fourth year, you even escaped from Voldemort's clutches—”

"No! I didn't!" Harry almost shouted angrily, then seemed to realize his outburst and lowered his voice slightly, "I'm sorry... I got a little emotional..."

“I know what’s going on, right? Every time I manage to escape death, it’s not because I’m particularly good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. I’m only able to escape because… because… because I always get help in time, or because I’m lucky enough.” Harry said somewhat forlornly, “I didn’t escape from Voldemort, I never escaped from Voldemort… It was Tyrell… it was Tyrell who sacrificed herself to let me escape…”

“If Tierra… if Tierra were still here…” Harry said dejectedly, “we could have let Tierra teach us… he’s much better than me…”

Hermione and Ron exchanged a glance. Hermione sat down next to Harry, gently patted his shoulder, and whispered comfortingly:

"We all miss him..."

“Therefore we should carry on his last wish…” Hermione said. “I believe he would also want you to teach everyone Defense Against the Dark Arts, because only in this way can we fight Voldemort… only in this way can we avenge him…”

“Think about it, Harry,” Hermione said. “Not just for us, but for Tyella…”

Harry didn't know what to say, so he just nodded silently.

……

"Oh dear..." Tiera, sitting in the principal's office, toyed with the gem-like Resurrection Stone in her hand. "I wish Tiera could teach too..."

(End of this chapter)