Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 455 The Source of Power

“Dumbledore!” Umbridge screamed, as if Dumbledore had torn up not the Twenty-Five Educational Decree but her own mother’s portrait.

"What are you trying to do? You're committing treason!" Umrich roared, his voice trembling with fear. "He's committing treason! He's committing treason! He's committing treason!"

Umbridge yelled at Passivesley, Sitto Phelps, and Bartlow Catton, who were blocking the doorway, “He’s rebelling! Dumbledore is rebelling! You’ve all seen it, he’s rebelling! Seize him! Arrest him!”

But no matter how much Umbridge yelled, Paciwesley, Bartholdon, and Sito Phelps didn't move. They stood there, eyes downcast, seemingly oblivious to Umbridge's shouts.

“Heh…” Tierra sneered. “Whether I am committing treason or not depends solely on you and the attitude of your Ministry of Magic.”

"Ms. Dolores Umbridge, where do you think your power comes from?" Dumbledore asked. "From that worthless educational decree? From Cornelius Fudge?"

“No, no, no…” Tierra said with a smile, “Power comes from violence… from the Aurors controlled by the Ministry of Magic.”

"Whether it's the Muggle world or the wizarding world, it's the same: only by mastering power and absolute violence can one master absolute authority," Tori said with a smile. "On that basis, other policies, economic policies, laws, and public opinion are merely extensions of violence."

“But if I may be so bold,” Dumbledore said with a smile, “even if all the Aurors in the Ministry of Magic were united as one, they couldn’t beat me or Voldemort.”

"The reason I allow such a corrupt Ministry of Magic to exist, and the reason I allow that fool Cornelius Fudge to sit in the Minister of Magic's position, is because your Ministry of Magic's existence can, to some extent, slow down Voldemort's rise, giving me more time to prepare," Tierra said with a sneer. "So next time you really want to implement a decree, either come to my office and discuss it with me honestly, or..."

Tierra said with a sneer, "Either you send Cornelius Fudge with all the Aurors to talk to me, or you stay here and teach obediently."

"Remember, only absolute power can generate absolute authority... Without power, you can do nothing."

After saying this, Dumbledore, or rather Tyella, flicked her sleeves, pushed aside Percy Weasley who was blocking the doorway, and Bartlow Catton and Sito Phelps walked out.

Dolores Umbridge was left standing there, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

After that, Hogwarts suddenly fell silent, and Umbridge and Dumbledore seemed to have reached some strange balance—

Umbridge continued to issue her strange educational decrees, but this time she neither did nor dared to issue them in person in front of any Hogwarts professor or student. Instead, she quietly framed them and hung them high on the stone wall at the entrance to the Great Hall.

And Dumbledore—

Although he passed by the entrance to the Great Hall at least every Wednesday and Friday, and saw the educational decrees every week, Dumbledore didn't seem to remove them all. Instead, before each class, he would sarcastically remark:
“I see that Professor Umbridge has added new literary works to the dull stone walls of our Hogwarts.”

Since Dumbledore had said so, few of the other students took Umbridge's educational decree seriously. Many outwardly complied but inwardly defied it, or even openly and secretly disregarded it.

That's right, Tyrell refers to Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and the other young Gryffindor wizards.

The tough stance Dumbledore displayed in McGonagall's office that day seemed to encourage Gryffindor, who began to deliberately do things in Umbridge's name that violated the educational orders.

Tyrell usually called this kind of behavior "being unreasonable." "Can't you guys be a little more mature?!" Hermione said angrily during a calculation after class. "Dumbledore doesn't want to go to war with the Ministry of Magic; that would only benefit Voldemort! It's called balance!"

“But if you keep causing trouble like this, this balance will probably be broken very soon!” Hermione said with exasperation. “You’re forcing Dumbledore to break with the Ministry of Magic, and even go to war!”

“Then let’s start the war!” Fred Weasley said with a grin. “I also want to practice the spells we’ve recently learned in real combat.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” George Weasley chimed in. “I feel like I’m definitely stronger than any of the Aurors I’ve ever met!”

"Are you deaf?" Perhaps due to excessive mathematical calculations, Hermione had become increasingly irritable lately. "This balance cannot be broken. Once we declare war on the wizarding world, regardless of victory or defeat, we will face Voldemort's army of Death Eaters!"

“Hermione isn’t entirely right.” At that moment, Tyella suddenly appeared in the mirror of the window.

"Ti-Tiera?" Harry growled in surprise. "You, how did you get here?"

“Dumbledore sent me to tell you this,” Tyella said, “Stop openly provoking Umbridge.”

"W-what?" George and Fred Weasley exclaimed in surprise. "Why?"

“Don’t rush me,” Tierra said with a smile. “Dumbledore meant to humiliate her.”

"Humiliate her?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Why humiliate her? What is Dumbledore planning?"

“Dumbledore certainly had his reasons for doing all this,” Tyella said enigmatically. “Besides Umbridge, everyone around him, except Percy Weasley, was to be humiliated…”

"Why?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "What good would that do? Wouldn't it disrupt the balance? What if Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic went to war? Wouldn't that give Voldemort the upper hand?"

“Dumbledore doesn’t care,” Tierra said. “To be precise, our war with the Death Eaters isn’t a war… it’s a game of wizarding chess.”

"Wizards' Chess?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

“King against king, general against general,” Tierra said. “The Death Eaters are not a fully functional organization. Their cohesion is entirely based on Voldemort’s personal power and reign of terror. Dumbledore versus Voldemort. If Dumbledore can defeat, capture, or even kill Voldemort, he can completely dismantle the Death Eaters’ cohesion. Apart from a very small number of die-hards, most Death Eaters will even immediately turn against us and help us deal with their former comrades.”

"Then what does this have to do with us continuing to provoke Umbridge?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

Of course it doesn't matter.

Tierra thought to herself, "I just hope Umbridge and her two little minions will never forget the 'god-making package' I hid in the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, and that they won't sell it once they get their hands on it."

I'll use it myself.

(End of this chapter)