The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 392: Changes in the Reading Club (Please subscribe, please bookmark, please vote)
It was Saturday of the first week of school. After a whole week of rain, the sun finally came out. When Ryan and Hermione finished practice and walked out of the Room of Requirement, the sun was already high in the sky. As they walked through the corridor, the sunlight shone in through the gaps in the corridor without glass, blinding them. Through these gaps, they could see the treetops of the Forbidden Forest swaying gently in the breeze, letting the fresh air blow on their faces. In short, it was a good day today.

"Is there any news related to us?" Ryan asked as he watched Hermione grab a copy of the Daily Prophet. They had practiced for a long time in the morning, so most people had finished lunch and went back to rest. Only a few students were still sitting at the long table eating their lunch.

"Yes," Hermione said, pointing to a small article and handing it to Ryan. The article was less than an inch long and was titled: Illegal Trespassing at the Ministry of Magic. Sturgis Podmore, 2, of 8 Laburnum Park, Clapham, was tried at the Wizengamot a few days ago, charged with trespassing at the Ministry of Magic on August 31 and attempting to commit robbery. Podmore was caught by Eric Munch, a guard at the Ministry of Magic, who found him trying to break through a Level security door at one o'clock in the morning. Podmore refused to defend himself and was found guilty of both charges and imprisoned in Azkaban for six months.

"I remember this guy." Ryan said in a low voice. "He should have been one of the guards who escorted us to King's Cross Station when we took the train to school that day, but he didn't come, which made Moody very unhappy."

"Then he should also be a member of the Order of the Phoenix." Hermione leaned over and whispered. "This means that the dispute between Fudge and Dumbledore has reached a fever pitch. Fudge has completely torn his face and is determined to remove Dumbledore's people from the Ministry of Magic by any means necessary."

"That sounds terrible." Ryan threw the newspaper on the table, took a piece of bread, put a piece of roast beef on it and stuffed it into his mouth. "But these are things Dumbledore needs to worry about. What we need to do now is try not to cause them any more trouble."

However, when the weekend came, Ryan began to do something that might cause trouble for Dumbledore. That was the start of the reading club meeting again.

There were no new students participating in the reading club this year, mainly because the situation was a bit bad this year, and even worse, some people dropped out.

"Maine chose to withdraw because his family has been officials in the Ministry of Magic for generations. So he said it was not appropriate for him to be too close to us. He specifically sent me an owl this morning and wrote a very formal farewell letter." Hermione looked a little angry.

"The head follows the ass. It's normal for him to be influenced by his family and draw a line between us. You don't need to feel uncomfortable about this." Ryan said to Hermione. "As Percy said in the letter he sent this week, Fudge requires everyone to make a complete choice between him and Dumbledore."

"I hope Percy is doing well." Hearing this, Hermione sighed as she remembered the contents of Percy's letter. "Fudge actually arranged their entire team to the most dangerous place, just because they were dissatisfied with Fudge's actions and criticized him privately, and then someone reported them. This is simply a *** behavior."

Fortunately, only one person chose to leave, and everyone else arrived at 7:30 pm.

When everyone got together after a summer break, the first thing they did was to share what they had done during the summer vacation, and then they started to complain about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"Why did the Ministry of Magic send that toad to school? I think our class this year will be ruined if this continues." Celia complained.

"You are only in the lower grade after all, so it is not a big problem to waste the previous year. People like us who have to face important exams are the worst off." Justin seemed a little angry, "Why would a senior official of the Ministry of Magic come to be a professor this year?"

"Because Professor Dumbledore told the truth, Fudge and him had a big disagreement." Qiu Zhang's voice rang out. "My mother got the news from her friends in the Ministry of Magic. Fudge didn't want us to do combat training. He was worried that Professor Dumbledore would organize his own secret army and then use it to compete with the Ministry of Magic." "If Dumbledore wanted to control the Ministry of Magic, he didn't need to organize his own army. He only needed one person to deal with Fudge's lackeys. No wonder the level of the Ministry of Magic staff plummeted after Fudge came to power. It turns out that his criterion for selecting people is whether they can be beaten by him." Fred leaned back in his chair and said.

"But it's a good thing for us." George hugged Fred's shoulders. "Because they are bad, we can sell more defense suits."

After that, he stood up and said to the other members: "Weasley's Joke Shop now sells magic defense sets that can defend against magic at the level of Stunning Spell. I can give each member of the reading club a 30% discount-"

"Okay, shut up. This is not the place for you to sell your wares." Hermione stood up and stopped the twins. "I think our main task today is to make a plan for this semester."

"The most important thing is the Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Zhang Qiu said. "Anyway, I don't believe that I can cast magic smoothly during the exam after I have studied the book thoroughly. I still have to take the NEWT exam next year. If I really waste this year, I will be doomed."

"Then let's just practice on our own in private." Hermione said, "After all, we have a president who can defeat a dragon head-on. Last year, Moody praised Ryan many times that he could be on par with some Auror rookies. I think he should be able to teach us at this level."

After hearing what Hermione said, everyone nodded in agreement, so Ryan announced that he would set aside some time at every gathering to practice the content of the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam, and would also teach some of his own tips. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to this.

In short, after the meeting was over, the actual practice of spells began. The first spell they chose for this semester was the Armor Spell. Because everyone had already learned the Disarming Spell, Ryan found a very practical but also safe spell for everyone to learn.

The practice method is that one person attacks with the Disarming Charm, while the other defends with the Shield Charm. At the beginning, everyone's mastery of the Shield Charm was not very high, and wands would fly from time to time. But after an hour of practice, many people have mastered the Shield Charm and can use the prepared Shield Charm to resist a Disarming Charm attack.

"Okay, you can practice this spell in private. Next week I will make a study plan based on your progress." Seeing that curfew was approaching, Ryan stopped everyone from practicing and gave them careful instructions. They had to hurry back to their dormitories, otherwise they would be in trouble if they were caught by Filch.

"I know." "I understand." "We'll be fine." The students below answered in unison. Ryan nodded: "If everyone has a good grasp of the situation, I can teach you some spells with better effects next week. Okay, see you next week."

"Today's event was very successful, but when I think about it, it was caused by an incompetent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. I feel a little uncomfortable. I really hope there will be a better professor!" Hermione looked up and said to Ryan as they walked towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Unfortunately, these are not things we can decide. All we can do now is to help some classmates who are willing to believe in us." Ryan sighed softly. In this changing situation, the only choice he had was to try his best to help those around him who needed help and save some energy for the future.

(End of this chapter)