A day at Hogwarts.

Chapter 609 A Person Who Is Not Easy to Deal With

"This Deputy Minister is no ordinary person."

Eleanor took a sip of beer and began to describe the information she possessed, her tone flat and monotone, as if she were discussing an insignificant item.

"Dolores Umbridge was a model Slytherin student at Hogwarts, with excellent grades. After graduation, she immediately joined the Ministry of Magic, starting as a low-ranking intern in the Office for the Prevention of Misuse of Magic."

"Even though she was only seventeen at the time, her critical, prejudiced, and even cruel nature was already beginning to show, and she was especially mean to Muggle-born people."

"She was extremely diligent in her work, and was particularly adept at insincerely flattering her superiors and ruthlessly stealing credit from her colleagues."

"With these unique advantages, her promotion speed was astonishing. She became the office director before she was thirty years old, a record that was not broken until you came along."

As she said this, she reached out and poked Charles's face.

Eleanor paused, lowering her voice unconsciously as if revealing a forbidden secret, and said, "I've heard something interesting about Umbridge's background."

"Her father, Alford Umbridge, was a wizard, her mother, Alan Clannell, was a Muggle, and in addition to her, there was a Squib son in the family."

When Umbridge was a teenager, her parents divorced, the wizarding women lived together, and the Muggle mother and the Squib son lived in Muggle society, and the two sides never contacted each other again.

"Alford is an unambitious man who works as a cleaner in the Magical Maintenance Department of the Ministry of Magic and has never been promoted."

“From that time on, Umbridge pretended to be a pure-blood wizard in front of everyone she met, and claimed to be associated with a pure-blood family, the Selwyn family.”

"After Umbridge became director, he did one thing."

"She successfully persuaded her father, Alford, to retire early, reportedly giving him only a token amount of money to ensure he could disappear completely from her illustrious resume and no longer be a hindrance."

"Whenever a colleague curiously asks if Umbridge has any connection with the former cleaning man, she always vehemently denies any connection and claims that her late father was a distinguished figure in Wizengamor and made great contributions to the wizarding world."

"Anyone who has publicly discussed Alford Umbridge's true identity or tried to explore her humble origins that she didn't like to mention always inexplicably suffers misfortune."

"And those who hoped for promotion all tacitly and with perfect understanding pretended to completely believe her carefully crafted story of family glory."

"I also heard that she has been trying her best to have a relationship with a boss, and she doesn't care who the other person is. She just hopes that he is a high-ranking and powerful husband, so that her position will be more secure."

"Hmm...I think you're a really good match for her as a husband...haha...I'm not going to say anything more..."

After slightly punishing Eleanor, Charles carefully reviewed the account of Umbridge's rise to power, gaining a deeper understanding of how difficult and dangerous this woman was.

This is an absolutely terrifying opponent who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, is extremely ruthless, and is well-versed in the rules of the bureaucratic system, adept at using those rules to suppress dissent.

“I heard,” Eleanor continued, “that Professor Dumbledore originally intended to recommend his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for the next school year.”

“Aberforth’s strength is beyond doubt, and he is also very experienced.”

"But during the nomination stage, some people in the Ministry of Magic showed no mercy and dug up some of Aberforth's past negative news, which ultimately led to his nomination being rejected by the Ministry of Magic on the grounds that he did not meet the conduct criteria."

Charles sighed helplessly and rubbed his temples.

Aberforth's past, with its inexplicable stains, was indeed an insurmountable flaw. Even someone as prestigious as Headmaster Dumbledore could not turn the tide in the face of the Ministry of Magic's bureaucratic veto.

Eleanor suddenly threw out another question, asking somewhat mysteriously, "Have you heard of that 'Pink Cat Club' in the department?"

Charles frowned slightly, immediately thinking of Slughorn's famous "Slug Club," which should be a similar group, but the two seemed quite different in style.

He asked, "Wasn't this Umbridge's doing?"

“That’s right,” Eleanor nodded in confirmation, even raising an eyebrow at Charles with a hint of smugness, as if showing off her all-pervasive abilities. “This is a small group that she assembled and personally acted as the ‘sister’ for. The participants are basically female staff members from various departments of the Ministry of Magic, regardless of rank, but they must show absolute loyalty and affection for her.”

"I'm one of them too."

She shrugged, giving me a knowing look.

Charles was not surprised at all; in fact, he took it for granted.

Using Eleanor's identity and methods, infiltrating various mixed circles to gather information is one of her basic skills.

Charles wouldn't be too surprised if he heard one day that she had successfully joined the Death Eaters.

Eleanor rested her chin on Charles's shoulder and whispered, "At that most recent, routine little gathering—the kind filled with pink lace, cloyingly sweet refreshments, and scathing mutual flattery—Umbridge, after her long, ruthless speech about how non-magical people deserve to be treated, subtly hinted that she had struck a mutually beneficial deal with the new Minister, Scrimgeour."

"Scrimgeour believes that given her unique style and tough stance on certain non-pure-blood issues, and at this sensitive time when the Void's forces are stirring and all forces need to be united, continuing to remain in a core position of power within the Ministry of Magic might cause unnecessary misunderstandings and internal friction. Therefore, he advises her to leave temporarily to avoid the limelight." "In exchange, Scrimgeour promises that once the Void problem is successfully resolved, she will be transferred back to the Ministry of Magic in a prestigious manner and given a more important core position, possibly even becoming a strong contender for the Minister's position."

Charles picked up the bottle of soda and took a big gulp, saying dejectedly, "It seems Hogwarts is really in for a lot of trouble."

“Although Umbridge is a person of low character and despicable means, her political skills, scheming ability and action are absolutely worthy of her current high position.”

“I’m not afraid of purely bad people. What I’m afraid of are bad people who are capable, proactive, and particularly keen on causing trouble and enjoying power.”

“She’s going to Hogwarts; she’s definitely not going to settle down as an ordinary professor.”

Eleanor finished the remaining beer in the can in a few gulps, then swung her arm and accurately tossed the empty can into the kitchen trash can a few meters away with a crisp "clang".

She turned back to Charles and asked, "It seems you're really afraid of her. So what do you plan to do? You can't just sit here and wait to die, can you?"

Charles spread his hands helplessly, a slightly self-deprecating expression on his face, and said, "What else can I do? I can't exactly go and talk to Voldemort and ask him to kill her for me, can I?"

Although he could easily eliminate Umbridge through various means, one should still have principles.

He reminded himself that if he resorted to any means to achieve his goals, becoming cruel and bloodthirsty, he would eventually be abandoned by everyone, feared and despised by all. Such a life would be meaningless and no different from that of Voldemort.

When Eleanor heard him utter the name "Voldemort," she seemed to suddenly recall some vague rumors circulating among certain families recently.

She hesitated for a moment, then lay down on the sofa, her hair still a little damp, and rested her head on Charles's lap. She asked cautiously, "Speaking of which, there are a lot of rumors about your background outside, especially in some pure-blood circles. They're quite detailed."

Have you made any special discoveries lately?

Charles is unaware of the "research findings" of certain groups. This topic is quite a hot one, with many people speculating about his background. However, the publicly available information keeps linking him to famous wizards in history, almost encompassing all the wizards in the Chocolate Frog cards.

He felt that if he had traveled back in time a few decades later, he might have thought Harry Potter was his father.

“My background has been clarified,” he said expressionlessly. “There’s nothing to discuss.”

He felt he must be an alien, and was too lazy to explain the complexity and absurdity of it to outsiders.

However, to Eleanor, these words sounded like a clever evasion, or even a tacit agreement.

She thought to herself that with Charles's vast and efficient information network, it was impossible for him not to know about these rampant rumors.

If it were false, given Charles's personality and resources, he would have already denied it with swift and decisive action, perhaps even publishing a strongly worded public statement in the Daily Prophet, just like Barty Crouch publicly declared that he was severing ties with Barty Crouch Jr.

Since he chose not to deny it, everyone naturally took it as an admission.

This is similar to how Rita Skeeter, when reporting on the bombing of Snape's house, exaggerated the ambiguous rumors about him and "a female classmate." The parties involved never came forward to deny it, but as a result, everyone believed it to be true, and it became gossip fodder.

Thinking of this, Eleanor felt a sense of relief.

Now I'm not afraid of Death Eaters anymore. If they come looking for trouble, I'll just say I'm Charles's mistress. Anyway, it looks pretty much the same. There have been rumors about it for a while. As long as I don't meet the parents, I'll be fine.

Charles had no idea that Eleanor's thoughts had wandered so far, and he quickly brought the topic back to the most crucial point.

He said, "If you have the chance, please find out for me what Umbridge's specific goal is in going to Hogwarts?"

"Is he merely occupying that position, or is he carrying out some secret mission for Scrimgeour?"

"Furthermore, is there any room for maneuver in this matter?"

He thought to himself that if all else failed, he would send Umbridge into the Forbidden Forest and let his centaur brothers treat him well.

“No problem,” Eleanor said. “Just a little flattery and she’ll be willing to share some secrets with people.”

“Hmm…” Charles suddenly remembered something, his eyes narrowing slightly. “There’s something I need your help with.”

Eleanor asked curiously, "What kind of mischief are you up to now?"

Charles threw the empty soda bottle into the trash can and began to explain his plans in detail.

At the same time, Harry shivered.

(End of this chapter)