Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 343 Umbridge's Little Tricks
Upon hearing the name Ximo, a sudden commotion arose in the crowd.

As everyone knows, Seamus can add a little bit of explosive effect to any spell he uses.

They were all very curious and wanted to know what kind of armor Seamus wore—could it be an explosive shield?

Neville took a deep breath, the tip of his wand trembling slightly, and aimed at Seamus, who was ten steps away.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he tried to recall the key points Harry had emphasized in class—unwavering will, clear magic, and a protective instinct like a shield.

“Alright, then… Seamus goes first—” Harry raised his wand and said to Neville and Seamus, “Ready—three, two, one!”

"Stupefy!"

Seamus's spell came to pass, but Neville hadn't practiced in the Duel Hut for nothing. He moved quickly, raising his wand and erecting a hemispherical shield.

"Protego!"

The armor protected him from Seamus's spell, and a joyful smile appeared on Neville's chubby face.

The students watching around looked surprised; they hadn't expected Neville to block Seamus's attack so easily.

No?

Is this still Na'vi?

“I blocked it, Seymour!” he said happily.

"It's too early to be happy!" Seamus said without further ado, waving his wand again: "Expelliarmus!"

Just when everyone thought Neville couldn't hold on any longer, unexpectedly, Neville waved his wand again and quickly deflected the spell.

The onlookers gasped in surprise once again.

Using a magic wand to break a spell is a very advanced skill!

Is this still the Neville Longbottom we know?

“Well done, Neville!” Seamus praised without reservation. “Try this—Reducto!”

Neville clumsily raised his wand, managing to block Seamus's attack with difficulty.

He was panting heavily, his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

He hadn't struggled much to block the three spells, but he was incredibly nervous just now.

“Catch your breath,” Harry began. “Now you’ll be switching attacks—Mr. Longbottom will be attacking, and Mr. Finnegan will be defending—starting in one minute!”

"Well done, Neville!" the Gryffindor students shouted. "You were right, we always believed in you!"

Neville turned around and smiled at his classmates who were cheering him on.

A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and Neville caught his breath. He raised his wand and aimed it at Seamus.

"Are you ready, Seamus? I'm about to launch the attack!"

"Come on!" Simoleon got into position and waited.

"Stupefy!"

Neville immediately unleashed a deadly attack; a red spell, accompanied by the sound of wind being cut, flew straight towards Seamus.

Seamus remained completely calm. He raised his wand, concentrating intently on imagining achieving two hundred percent protection—

Thinking about it this way, a brighter and more dazzling blue-white light than the ordinary Ironclad Charm suddenly burst forth from the tip of Seamus's wand, forming a rapidly spinning, blinding vortex-shaped barrier between him and the spell.

The surface of the barrier was not smooth as water, but violently churning and twisting, as if there was a violent energy inside that was surging and struggling to find an outlet.

At the edge of that barrier, tiny, golden-red sparks even danced, emitting a hissing, unsettling crackling sound.

Neville's Stunning Curse struck the restless magical barrier.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately afterwards——

boom! ! !
A deafening roar suddenly exploded in the open space.

Then, the shockwave from the explosion swept violently in all directions from Seamus's barrier, instantly engulfing the nearest Na'Vi.

Poor Neville only had time to let out a cry of surprise before he was thrown backward by the blast wave.

Fortunately, Harry intervened in time and saved Neville.

The students watching were also not unwell; the blast wave hit them, blowing the crowd back several steps.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron shouted. "Seamus! How did you do that?! Is it armor or bombs protecting you?!"

"I... I was just trying to create a barrier that would be 200% effective." Ximo sighed helplessly. "I'm sorry, everyone—I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

“That’s amazing,” Harry said, clapping his hands. “I never expected you to be able to do this, Seamus. Merlin’s pants, that explosive barrier of yours, it’s really impressive—I mean, really impressive.”

Just then, Seamus's wand tip suddenly made a faint "poof" sound, releasing a small puff of sulfurous smoke.

“What else can I say?” Ron shrugged. “Anyway, I’m definitely not going to duel Seamus again. God, I’m really afraid one of his spells will have an explosive effect and kill me…”

“Perhaps you can look at it more positively,” Hermione said beside him. “Given how good his friendship with Neville is, they’ll definitely be partners in the future, and it’s unlikely that anyone else will be chosen—unless a dark wizard encounters Seamus.”

“Oh.” Ron thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, “Then I will observe three seconds of silence for that dark wizard, and may Merlin bless his poor soul.”

"Amen." Hermione also bowed her head in silent mourning.

"It seems you've all done quite well in your studies," Harry said, clapping his hands. "Except for the fifth-year students, you should know that learning the Ironclad Charm isn't difficult for you, right? Look, at least all four of you have completed the Ironclad Charm perfectly and excellently. Do you sixth and seventh-year students really think you're inferior to fifth-year students?"

This statement doesn't actually hurt the self-esteem of fifth-grade students, since, according to conventional wisdom, fifth-grade students are indeed not better than sixth-grade students.

The problem is that this is not the general situation.

Upon hearing Harry's words, the other students around him fell into deep thought.

“Well then,” Harry said again, “let’s get back to the Iron Man Charm. Now, let’s prepare for the next pair: Lavender Brown against… Dean Thomas!”

...The progress test of learning the Ironclad Charm came to a close amidst laughter and cheers. Even Crabbe and Goyle from Slytherin were able to barely maintain their barriers to block the spells shot at each other.

Of course, it's hard not to think that this is due to the excellent matchmaking system of the Slytherin region, which matched these two troll brothers together, truly a case of evenly matched opponents and talented individuals meeting.

After all... these two troll brothers... their spell levels are about the same, which is why their incomplete barriers can withstand each other's attacks.

This is indeed a fault-tolerant mechanism.

"That concludes today's assessment." Harry glanced around at his classmates and said in a steady voice, "I am very satisfied with everyone's progress, but this is just the beginning. I hope you can continue your efforts and achieve even better results in your upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts studies."

“Furthermore,” Harry continued, “in recognition of everyone’s excellent performance, I’ve decided to award prizes to each student who demonstrated exceptional skill and successfully cast the Iron Man Charm.”

"A prize?" Everyone whispered among themselves, asking each other. No one had ever heard that there was a prize for participating in the Ironclad Charm test for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

What is the prize?

To be honest, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

“The prize this time,” Harry cleared his throat and said, “is a mobile phone made by Mr. Flamel—yes, the legendary alchemist Nicolas Flamel. Some of you may already know what it is, but I want to tell you that I have prepared a brand new Hogwarts Model 1995 mobile phone for each of you!”

Upon hearing Harry's words, everyone fell silent at first, followed by deafening cheers.

Merlin's pants, participating in such a testing activity, and there are actually prizes to be won?
And it's a mobile phone, which is currently all the rage?

They knew exactly what a mobile phone was; the oldest Hogwarts Model 1992 mobile phone sold for 200 Galleons on the market!

The latest Hogwarts Model 1995 telephone already costs 2000 Galleons!
Two thousand Galleons—that's an unimaginable sum of money.

And now, Harry is actually taking them out and giving one away to everyone?
The students present all began to breathe rapidly.

This Defense Against Dark Magic spell is great! I must learn it, I absolutely have to learn it!

I love learning Defense Against the Dark Arts!

Harry pulled a bunch of crystal balls out of his wallet. After several improvements, the size of the crystal balls was well controlled, and now they could be held in one hand.

“Don’t rush, everyone will get one,” Harry said. “Line up and come forward to receive yours. Of course, students in other grades shouldn’t rush either. If you participate, there will be similar events in the future.”

"Thank you, Harry," everyone said in unison.

Everyone who came up to receive their newest 1995 model phone was filled with excitement. They thanked Harry profusely and shook his hand in greeting.

After distributing the last cell phone, Harry spoke again.

“Of course,” he said. “If other grades want to participate in the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they can submit an application to their prefect and then audit the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class. If you think the pace is too fast, I will find another way. Please check the bulletin board of each house for details.”

After saying that, Harry announced the event was over.

The students fiddled with their mobile phones, while the others who hadn't received a call watched eagerly, their envy almost driving them crazy.

Harry had a pleasant weekend. On Monday morning, after class, he went to Hagrid's hut for a while before leaving with Anne.

After returning to the Great Hall, Harry ate a simple meal and then planned to go back to his dormitory to call Vivi and ask if she had any free time in the next couple of days.

To be honest, even though it's only been two days since we parted, I still miss her very much.

“Oh.” Sphinx stood at the door of the common room, looking down at Harry. “You still have to solve a riddle before you can enter the common room.”

“Speak,” Harry said.

A cunning glint flashed in the Sphinx's eyes.

"A little monkey climbs a tree to pick corn. If he can pick 20 ears in 10 minutes, how many ears can he pick in 20 minutes?"

“You won’t be able to pick any,” Harry said, waving his hand. “Because corn doesn’t grow on trees—”

“Alright.” Sphinx stepped aside, somewhat disappointed. “I thought this novel riddle format would stump you.”

“That will disappoint you,” Harry said with a chuckle.

When he entered the common room, he saw a group of people gathered around the bulletin board.

Harry curiously stepped forward, wanting to see what everyone was looking at.

A huge notice was posted on the Gryffindor bulletin board, so big it covered everything else—a list of secondhand spellbooks for auction, Argus Filch’s regular reminders of school rules, the Quidditch team’s practice schedule, a note for exchanging Chocolate Frog cards, the Weasley brothers’ new advertisement for someone to do experiments with, the dates for spending the weekend in Hogsmeade, and a lost and found notice.

The new notice was printed in bold black font, with a formal-looking seal at the bottom and a neat, cursive signature next to it.

The Orders of the Hogwarts Senior Investigators:
All student organizations, associations, teams, and clubs are hereby dissolved.

Hereinafter, organizations, associations, teams, and clubs are defined as regular gatherings of three or more students.

A reorganization may be requested from the Senior Investigator (Professor Umbridge), and no student organizations, associations, teams, or clubs may exist without the Senior Investigator's approval.

If any student is found to have formed or participated in any organization, association, team, or club without the approval of a senior investigator, they will be expelled immediately.

The above regulations are in accordance with Education Order No. 24.

sign:

Senior Investigator Dolores Jane Umbridge
Some second-grade students were reading the notice, and those few seemed somewhat worried.

“Will they shut down the Gobushi Club?” one of his roommates asked.

"I think your Gaobushi Club is alright."

Ron said grimly, startling the second-year student.

After all, Ron is now a prefect, and he still exerts some pressure on ordinary students.

“But I suspect Umbridge is targeting you,” he said to Harry again.

"Targeting me?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Ron said in a low voice. “I suspect she’s already got her eye on your Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She might allow you to continue teaching fifth graders, but Umbridge probably already knows you want to teach students in other grades. This document she sent is likely aimed at you!”

(End of this chapter)