Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 350: The New Defense Against the Dark Arts Office
"You haven't taken her class yet, have you?"

Harry and the others nodded. It was true that they, the fifth year Gryffindor, had not yet taken the new Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Umbridge's teaching method is very strange. She will not teach you any practical defense skills, but pure theoretical knowledge. She also said that this will effectively improve our OWL test scores." Mike sighed and said, "That's why I quarreled with her. You also know that the man has returned, and we are now in a very dangerous moment. In order to better protect ourselves in the next crisis, we need a stronger defense against the dark arts. But Umbridge..."

Mike didn't say anything else, just shook his head and sighed.

Harry and the others beside him were also silent. They knew very well that what Mike said was right. If Umbridge was really as Mike said, then they would never accept it.

"Maybe... maybe she's just like that to fifth-year students. After all, we're going to take the OWL exams this year, and some of us do have very poor theoretical grades (Hermione looked at Harry and Ron when she said this, and it was obvious who she was talking about)." Hermione said, "but students in other grades can still receive normal education."

"You're wrong." Zhou Hong shook his head and said, "The second grade is the same. It has nothing to do with grade. That old witch simply wants to teach us to be useless."

Hermione bit her lip. Zhou Hong's words completely shattered her last hope.

Harry beside him also looked anxious, frowning and asked Mike:
"So what are we going to do? How are we going to face Voldemort if we really can't learn any new defensive skills this year."

Hearing that name again, Ron's body trembled again, but he quickly recovered and echoed:
"No...that's right!"

Suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on Mike. In their minds, Mike always stepped forward to solve problems at the most critical moment.

Looking at the expectant faces in front of him, Mike's smile flashed away, and he waved his hand to comfort them:
"Don't worry, everyone. Things are not yet irreversible. I will have a good talk with Umbridge tonight. It would be great if I could change her mind. But if she persists, then we can only think of other ways."

Harry, Hermione and the others nodded, but the worry on their faces became even stronger. Zhou Hong on the side was even more excited. He grabbed Mike's sleeve and said:
"You must be careful! That old witch is a bad guy! I heard that she is in collusion with Filch. She has all the torture instruments that Filch hid in the warehouse. She might punish you corporally!"

Ron's body shuddered again. Although he had never seen those torture instruments himself, he had heard a lot about them from his two naughty brothers. Just listening to their descriptions gave Ron nightmares for a long time.

"Mike, you'd better not go. Those torture instruments are really scary!"

Mike smiled and shook his head, refusing:

"Someone has to stand up, right?"

Harry and the others all widened their eyes. In their eyes, Mike at this moment was just like those heroes in knight novels who were not afraid of sacrifice!
……

At night, in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office on the fourth floor.

"Mike, if that old witch tortures you, you scream and we'll be ready to break in at any time!"

Ron instructed Mike seriously, while Harry curled his lips and said unconfidently:
"Well, I think that might not be a good idea. We'd better go tell Professor Flitwick."

"It will be too late then!" Ron glared at Harry and said, "Mike will have been tortured by the time the professor gets here!"

Harry was silent now, but the slightly rolled-up eyes showed that he still didn't think breaking in was a good idea.

"Okay, I get it." Mike smiled and shook his head, and said to the two friends in front of him who insisted on accompanying him, "You guys go back first, I'll be fine here."

"no!"

Harry and Ron shouted in unison.

Seeing this, Mike didn't intend to persuade him anymore. He nodded, opened the office door and walked in.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office is definitely the most interesting professor's office in the entire Hogwarts. Because the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in Hogwarts is constantly changed every year, the decoration in this office also changes greatly every year.

Mike is very familiar with this place. He has come here several times every year since the first grade, so he is very familiar with the changes in the decoration of this office over the years.

Take the previous owner of this place, Moody, for example. At that time, this office was completely transformed into a fortress by Moody. It was filled with a large number of magical props for detecting other people's misconduct and hiding places, as well as some very dangerous magical prohibitions.

Mike even felt that this office was more secure than the principal's office at that time.

The decorations of the other three previous owners were also very unique. When Lupin was there, there were often many animal cages or boxes in this office, which often contained many very interesting evil creatures.

The walls of this office during Lockhart's time were covered with portraits of himself with a smiling face. Most of these portraits were low-level magical portraits. Those portraits were as conceited as he was and would often say a lot of self-praising words. Lockhart liked to hear this and he would often listen to it all day long.

There is not much to say about the last Quirrell era. Apart from the smell of garlic filling the room, his office was filled with all kinds of exotic little things.

I have to say that the former owners of these classrooms were all talented people. Their offices all have strong personal styles and are very interesting.

But compared with the current one, they are all a little inferior.

That’s right, the office that now appeared in front of Mike was definitely the least office-like place Mike had ever seen.

The walls were covered with pink wallpaper, and everything in the room was covered with lace drapes and tablecloths. There were also several vases filled with dried flowers, each placed on a separate small cushion. On one wall hung a set of decorative plates, each with a colorful cat, and they all wore different bows around their necks. Mike couldn't help swallowing his saliva. This room gave him a very girly feeling, pink and tender, like the room of a 17-year-old girl.

If he didn't know in advance that this was the room of a middle-aged woman, Mike would be happy to be a guest here, but now...all Mike could feel was waves of chills.

Just as Mike was looking at the decoration of the room, a sweet voice suddenly came from the side.

"Good evening, Mr. Townley. How's my office? Not bad, isn't it?"

When Mike heard the voice, he looked and saw Umbridge sitting at a small table with small lace.

At this moment, Umbridge was no longer wearing the pink woolen coat she had worn in the afternoon, but a bright red printed long skirt. It seemed that she had changed her clothes specifically to receive Mike.

However, the pattern on her printed long skirt blended perfectly with the tablecloth on the desk behind her, and because she was not tall, Mike did not notice her immediately after he came in.

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge," Mike said after looking her up and down, "Your office is very nice, but... I really didn't expect you to like such girly things."

"Haha, because their presence always makes me feel that I am still young." Umbridge laughed with her hands covering her mouth, then pointed to the small round lace table in front of her and said, "Okay, come and sit down."

On the small round table were a ceramic teapot and a three-layer tray in the shape of a cake tower. On the bottom layer, which was also the largest layer, were several sandwiches of different colors. The second layer was filled with scones, butter, and jam. The top layer was filled with many exquisite and lovely desserts.

Mike understood it at a glance. This was the standard configuration of English afternoon tea.

Coupled with the extremely magical decoration in the room and the two gorgeous chairs next to the small round table, Mike felt like he was having a tea party in a classic fairy tale.

But what kind of afternoon tea should we have so late in the evening?

Umbridge seemed to have noticed Mike's confusion, but she obviously had no intention of explaining to Mike. When she saw Mike sit down, she smiled and picked up the teapot to pour a cup of tea.

To Mike's surprise, what poured out of the teapot was not black tea, but rich and mellow hot chocolate.

"Drinking some hot chocolate at night will help you sleep." Umbridge explained, and then pointed to the desserts on the top of the three-tier tray and said, "Oh, you must try this, it's a new product from the Duke of Bee, I love it!"

After saying that, Umbridge did not follow the British afternoon tea tradition of eating the sandwich at the bottom, but directly took a mini castle-shaped pink cake and stuffed it into her mouth.

Looking at Umbridge in front of him closing her eyes and moaning with satisfaction, Mike had a look of disgust on his face. This scene was really too shocking to the eyes.

Umbridge finished her cake and sucked her fingers.

Seeing that Mike had no intention of tasting it, he asked curiously:

"You don't want to eat? Dumbledore told me that you like sweets the most. I thought I found a like-minded person."

Mike didn't answer and just looked at her expressionlessly.

Umbridge, who was being stared at by Mike, obviously lost interest in eating. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands, and asked in a sweet voice while smiling:
"Then let's get down to business. Mike, I heard that you have a society called Los Santos Mutual Aid Society, which is dedicated to doing things for you, right?"

"To be precise, there has never been any mutual aid society. They are just beneficiaries of the 'Los Santos Student Aid Program.'" Mike crossed his legs and glanced up at Umbridge. "And the 'Los Santos Student Aid Program' is a pure public welfare program. My purpose is just to help those poor students and give them a relatively comfortable learning environment. I have never asked for anything in return, but they don't think so. They are always trying to do things in the hope of repaying my kindness."

Hearing this, Umbridge lowered her head and said nothing. The whole office fell into silence, with only the clock not far away still ticking.

After a long while, Umbridge finally raised her head and said:
"Mike, I don't think there are any students in Hogwarts who need assistance. You know, the funds allocated to Hogwarts by the Hogwarts directors and the Ministry of Magic every year should be enough for all students to enjoy free teaching."

"Hogwarts is indeed a school with free board and lodging, and even if students don't have money to buy books, the school will give them some old books and school supplies donated by graduating seniors, but this is not enough." Mike said, "Old books are old after all, and the quality is definitely not as good as new ones. And people always have a competitive mentality. Although this move allows those poor students to go to school, it also causes serious damage to their hearts. They also want new flying brooms, all kinds of exquisite notebooks, and they also want to go to Hogsmeade to have a sweet drink like other classmates on weekends. And these needs must be met, right?"

Even though Mike's skin had been trained to be as thick as a wall, he couldn't help but blush when he said this.

These words are really shameless.

Logically speaking, Hogwarts' policies towards poor students are already very conscientious. If Mike's words were to reach the ears of the people in developing countries, they would definitely criticize him to death.

How dare you reject such generous conditions? You are really a traitor!
But this is a country with high welfare. Many people who grew up in this high welfare society are extremely left-wing, and many of them have the same ideas as Mike.

Pretty weird, right?
But this is the reality. People who grow up in different environments have completely different views!
And Mike didn't intend to stop. He paused and continued:

"Moreover, these grants become increasingly stretched in the senior years. Take the NEWT-level Potions course as an example. The free materials provided by Hogwarts in the class are pitifully few. If you rely solely on those free materials, no one except a few geniuses can pass the exam. This results in students having to purchase extra course-related materials on their own, and you know the price of those potion materials."

Mike's words made Umbridge's smile disappear. She frowned and said coldly:

"That's not right. I've calculated the amount of money allocated to Hogwarts every year. With such a huge amount of money, the situation you described shouldn't happen. Unless someone embezzled the money!"

(End of this chapter)