Harry returns from Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 366 Hermione: Fudge is incompetent, it seems I must step in.

To everyone's surprise, Umbridge, as an official of the Ministry of Magic, did not express any opinion on the news published in the Daily Prophet.

She didn't seem to feel embarrassed at all that ten Death Eaters had escaped from the Ministry of Magic.

Moreover, she became even more ruthless, seemingly wanting to completely seize power at Hogwarts and attempt to gain complete control over the institution.

At present, she seems to be determined to fire someone—it's definitely Trelawney.

Because now every divination class takes place in front of Umbridge and her writing board.

In a room atop the fragrant tower, she sat by the fireplace, frequently interrupting Professor Trelawney's increasingly hysterical lectures with bizarre questions about bird physiognomy and hexagrams, insisting that she predict her students' answers, and demanding that she demonstrate her divination abilities using crystal balls, tea leaves, and magic stones.

Trelawney was on the verge of a breakdown. Several times Harry ran into her in the corridor—which was unusual in itself, since she usually stayed in her tower—and found her talking excitedly to herself, wringing her hands, looking back in terror, and reeking of strong cooking wine.

"Poor thing," Hermione whispered.

“What can we do?” Ron sighed helplessly. “Professor Trelawney is indeed pitiful, but we are just prefects and there’s nothing we can do about Umbridge, a Ministry of Magic official—you see, even Professor McGonagall can’t do anything about it.”

Today was the day to go to Hogsmeade, and they walked side by side toward Devi's Shop.

A large notice was posted in the shop window, and several locals were gathered around looking at it. When the group of locals approached, the group dispersed.

The notice featured photos of ten escaped Death Eaters and stated (according to the Ministry of Magic) that a reward of one thousand Galleons would be given for information leading to the capture of the fugitives.

“How interesting,” Hermione said with a sneer. “Do you remember when Sirius ran away in third year? Hogsmeade was swarming with Dementors sent to capture him. Now, ten Death Eaters are out there, but they can’t see a single Dementor…”

Harry opened his mouth.

He was somewhat reluctant to say that this was not a failure of the Ministry of Magic, but rather an extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely strong resistance from the Dementors to coming to Hogwarts.

Sirius was the one who brought this up. In keeping with Sirius's wicked sense of humor, he went to Fudge and said he planned to send Dementors to Hogwarts to protect the students and prevent escapees from breaking in. Fudge didn't object.

However, after Sirius went to Azkaban and explained his purpose, the Dementors all said they would not go.

Just kidding, whoever wants to go can go, it'll kill the Dementors!

“Perhaps the Dementors have other things to do,” Ron said with a shrug. “But it’s clear that the Ministry of Magic is really struggling. You see—they should have arranged for Aurors after the escaped convict.”

“Fudge is incompetent,” Hermione said, wrinkling her nose. “After I graduate, I’m going to join the Ministry of Magic and try to become Minister for Magic, so he’ll know what a qualified Minister for Magic is!”

...What is this called?
Blood Mother Hell, Fudge is incompetent, it seems I must come out of retirement?

“Let’s relax a bit, there’s no need to talk about these things.” Ron shook his head and sighed. “Anyway, I think Professor Trelawney is in a bit of danger… I have a strong suspicion that she’ll be kicked out by that toad Umbridge in a few days.”

Harry didn't answer; he took out his vibrating crystal ball phone.

It was a text message from Sirius Black.

“Oh,” Harry said, looking at the crystal ball, “it seems the struggle within the Ministry of Magic has reached a fever pitch. So far, four directors have begun to openly oppose Fudge, while several others have remained silent…”

"Is Fudge finally going to be dismissed?" Hermione asked with a sneer. "Great. What right does an incompetent person like him have to sit in that position?"

“You’re right, Hermione,” Ron said with a grin. “I support you becoming minister…”

Before he could finish speaking, Hermione stomped on his foot hard.

This guy.

Valentine's Day is three days after the holiday.

Hogwarts discourages romantic relationships in principle, so there is no holiday for Valentine's Day.

But that doesn't stop Harry from skipping classes.

He also helped Anne get a leave of absence, and ignoring Sebastian's murderous glare, he brought Anne and Papbi to Vienna.

Cassandra seems to have recently become enamored with Vienna; she has even bought a house there.

When Harry walked into her house, Cassandra was standing at the window watching the snow.

This is a detached villa. The Malfoy family's wealth is trustworthy; a mere villa in Vienna is nothing to them.

"Kathy." Harry whispered as he entered the house, followed by two little tails.

Upon hearing Harry's voice, Cassandra slowly turned her head.

Then Harry witnessed a lightning-fast change of expression. When Cassandra saw Harry, the corners of her lips curled up in a smile; but when she saw the two little tails behind him, that smile instantly vanished, and her face turned frosty.

“Ha.” Cassandra turned her head, swirling the wine in her glass. “I thought you should be in school at this time, Pott.”

“Look, it’s Poot again.” Harry thought to himself, “I like you calling me Poot, but not now.”

"Harry," Cassandra changed her address, somewhat reluctantly.

If you feel threatened, blink.

“It seems you have plenty of free time,” Cassandra said. “And you two—Sweetin and Salu—try not to make a sound unless you have something to do, and sit on the sofa over there.”

"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously.

"Look at the snow."

After Cassandra finished speaking, she fell silent and stared blankly at the snowflakes falling from the sky.

Harry turned the stool by the window into a sofa, lay down on it, and felt quite comfortable.

He didn't say anything. Cassandra was looking at the snow, and he stared intently at her, from her delicate and flawless face to her smooth and rounded chin. He couldn't get enough of looking at her.

"Have you seen enough?" Cassandra finally couldn't take it anymore and asked coldly.

"I haven't seen enough," Harry said with a grin. "I can't get enough of looking at it."

Cassandra gasped.

"How could you..." she wrinkled her nose, "How could you become so shameless now?"

She was still sighing inwardly as she said this.

If only you had been this shameless a hundred years ago, how wonderful that would have been?
But she couldn't understand why Harry was so shameless now, it was all because he had cultivated self-confidence.

In other words, under Sirius's tutelage, he's become a bit like his father—very much like him, with that kind of shameless attitude towards girls.

This can be seen from James's relentless pursuit of Lily.

As the saying goes, even the best woman can be swayed by a persistent suitor. Sometimes Sirius wondered if James had simply gotten so fed up with Lily's persistent advances that she finally agreed to marry him.

“If it’s for you,” Harry said with a smile.

Papi, sitting on the sofa, gagged. Cassandra's eyes narrowed.

"You're pregnant?" Her sharp gaze swept over Papiyas, sending a chill down Papiyas's spine.

"Huh?" Papi was taken aback. "Why do you say that?"

“Heh.” Cassandra simply sneered.

“I just… uh,” Papby glanced at Harry and said timidly, “I just think Harry’s flattery is disgusting…”

Goodness, they're using Old English now, huh?

"Ha, I find him disgusting too." Cassandra curled her lips into a smile. "What do you think, Annie?"

“Indeed.” Anne nodded in strong agreement.

“I think you’re all ganging up on me.” Harry sat up straight and looked at Cassandra. “You’re going to corrupt them, Kathy!”

"Is it possible that they are inherently evil?" Cassandra asked with a smile.

Harry took a breath but did not answer the question.

“Where is Grindelwald?” Cassandra asked again. “Given that woman’s intuition, she should have been by your side when you appeared in Vienna. Why haven’t we seen her yet?”

“I should be asking you that,” Harry said, rubbing his forehead. “You’re the one who’s half Viennese, and I’m just a guest here. I thought she would be with you.”

“Give her a call,” Cassandra said. “See what she’s doing right now, whether she’s still working overtime…that workaholic.”

Harry did as instructed and dialed Vivi's number.

Immediately afterwards, a pleasant melody came from inside the room.

Harry found it strangely familiar.

“I know this piece!” he exclaimed suddenly. “It must be the Ode to Joy, right?”

Immediately afterwards, he felt that something was wrong.

Why did the sound of "Ode to Joy" suddenly come from this room when I called Vivi?

"Ah, I was discovered."

Vivi's voice rang out, and a ripple suddenly appeared in the space by the window.

After the disturbance subsided, Vivi, dressed in a sharp little suit, appeared in the room.

She was wearing high heels, which made her figure appear even more upright.

"When did you arrive?" Harry asked in surprise.

Cassandra asked the same question as him.

She never expected that, even though the room was protected by the Loyalty Spell, Vivi would still sneak in silently.

“Uh, I was the one who gave her the address,” Harry said, raising his hand.

Cassandra gave Harry a hostile look, as if she wanted him to bite her off.

“I’ve been here for a while.” Vivi smiled and walked to Harry’s side, leaning down to kiss him on the lips; then she walked to Cassandra’s side, put an arm around her waist, and whispered in her ear, “Just when you were feeling sorry for yourself by the window.”

He spoke very softly, and no one else heard him.

Cassandra took a step back in annoyance, breaking free from Vivi's control.

“I have good news, Harry.” Vivi looked at Harry and said with a slight smile, “The news of the ten Death Eaters’ escape has spread like wildfire in the British wizarding world, and the Ministry of Magic’s prestige has suffered a major blow. Now the Godfathers have begun planning to impeach Fudge.”

“I’ve heard about it,” Harry nodded. “But is it enough to get Fudge out of office?”

"I don't know either; it depends on how the Godfather operates."

Vivi's high heels clicked crisply on the ground.

She turned sideways and sat down next to Harry: "But I don't think it's a big problem. It's said that quite a few British wizards believe that Fudge is covering up the news of Voldemort's return. After all, Azkaban is heavily guarded and there are Dementors. If these ten people could escape, why didn't they escape sooner or later, instead of waiting until the news of Voldemort's return came out?"

“Fudge has already lost control of the Daily Prophet,” Cassandra continued. “Without his mouthpiece, he is, in fact, already on the road to being ousted; the only difference is sooner or later.”

“It seems it’s time to close the net on Umbridge,” Harry said, squinting.

“Letting him run rampant at Hogwarts for so long must have accumulated a lot of hatred,” Vivi said with a smile. “When you step forward and rid the school of such a scourge, I think the students will admire you even more.”

Harry opened his mouth.

He hadn't really thought that much about it. Besides, even without this incident, his classmates still admired him, didn't they?
Seemingly sensing Harry's thoughts, Vivi smiled and said, "It's different, Harry. You've eliminated such a menace, and they're more grateful for you purifying the school environment."

"Alright," Vivi said again, "Today is a holiday, and we've finally managed to get together, so let's not talk about things that have nothing to do with the holiday..."

At this point, she looked at Anne again.

“I knew this day would come, but I didn’t expect it to come so soon.” Vivi sighed. “A hundred years ago, I already felt that Annie would be a threat… Despite being cursed, she would still help you with your homework…”

Harry suddenly felt a little embarrassed, like when the empress catches him looking for her lover.

“This is the last one, Harry.” Vivi reached out and pinched Harry’s chin. “If you dare to add another new member to our family, watch out…”

She didn't say anything more, but her eyes said it all.

Harry swallowed.

She knew that Vivi wouldn't castrate him; she would just tie him up and keep him by her side forever.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Harry raised his hand to assure them, "I promise—"

“Ha.” Cassandra turned her little face away. “Your guarantee isn’t even worth a copper nut, you worthless nut.”

Harry put one arm around Vivi's slender waist and changed the subject: "Speaking of which, what are we having for dinner tonight? Have you made any plans, Casey?"

Cassandra's face fell again.

“No preparation, Pott,” she said mockingly. “I only had the house-elves prepare food for two people.”

“Add three more servings,” Vivi said, her tone authoritative.

Cassandra gave a soft snort, but did as Vivi said.

(Trying to deal with the toad tomorrow)

(End of this chapter)