The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 393 Conflict
When Ryan and Hermione returned to the common room, they saw Ron flipping through a piece of parchment letter, while Harry was saying something beside him.

"Who gave you the letter?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Percy, he asked Harry and I to behave ourselves recently and try to be transparent in front of Umbridge. He found that Fudge's ideas are becoming more and more radical, and he is worried that if the two of us are involved in this storm, the situation will be difficult to handle. Haha, he ran away to be a hero, but now he is kicked out of the office. Now he is risking his life to patrol a place full of dark wizards and evil creatures with his men, but he lets his brother stay away." At this point, Ron made a clicking sound to express his disapproval.

"Ron, your brother is doing this for your own good," Hermione said. "At least he thinks you are still students and should enjoy your campus life. And I think at least we can ensure that we don't cause any more trouble in this matter, and it will be a great help to them that they don't need to worry about us."

"He's always right. It's always been like this since I was a kid." Ron shook his head helplessly. "I admit that he has some truth in what he says, but I don't think that means there's nothing I can do about it."

"Well, maybe you can do well. But you'd better come up with a complete plan instead of just talking about it like now." Ryan poured a bucket of cold water on him at the right time.

"I will definitely come up with a suitable solution." Ron and Harry lowered their heads to do their homework. They had not yet finished Professor Snape's paper. No matter how ambitious they were before, they dared not finish the homework of the Potions Professor.

The next morning, an owl delivered a new issue of the Daily Prophet. On the front page, a large photo of Dolores Umbridge was printed across the entire page. She was smiling and blinking at them. Above it was the headline: Ministry of Magic Seeks Educational Reform Dolores Umbridge Appointed First High Inquisitor.

"Fudge's eating habits are too ugly." Ryan glanced at the contents of the newspaper and said, "When he sees something good, he sticks his mouth into the trough desperately. Some shameless guys even stick their front hooves in."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked confused.

"In an impromptu action last night, the Ministry of Magic passed a new decree, giving it an unprecedented degree of control over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For some time, the Minister has been increasingly uneasy about the current situation at Hogwarts. The school's teaching has gone off track, and even most parents have been affected and don't know what is the correct way of teaching." Hermione picked up the newspaper and read it aloud, attracting a lot of people to look over.

This is not the first time that Minister Cornelius Fudge has introduced new decrees to implement improvements to wizarding schools in recent weeks. Most recently, on 8 August, Educational Decree No. 30 was passed, ensuring that if the current headmaster is unable to provide a candidate for a particular post, the Ministry of Magic will recommend a suitable candidate.

"Dumbledore couldn't find anyone, so the Minister appointed Umbridge, and needless to say, she was an immediate success -" "She was what?" Harry asked in surprise. "Wait, it's not over yet." Hermione said with a straight face.

"—has been an immediate success, bringing about groundbreaking changes in Defence Against the Dark Arts and providing the Minister with on-the-spot feedback on what is really going on at Hogwarts. This is an exciting new initiative in the Minister's attempt to control the so-called decline in educational standards at Hogwarts. The Inquisitor will have the power to audit her fellow teachers to ensure that they are up to standard. Professor Umbridge has been offered this position in addition to her existing teaching duties, and we are pleased to report that she has accepted it with pleasure."

"Why didn't anyone ask us and our parents for their opinions?" A voice came from the people around. "My father wrote to me yesterday, still worried that I might not pass the final exam."

"I think we and the parents may be represented." Ryan took another newspaper and continued to read, "These new measures of the Ministry of Magic have been warmly supported by the parents of Hogwarts students. Mr. Lucius Malfoy, 41, said at his Wiltshire mansion last night that many of us who care about the vital interests of our children have been worried about Dumbledore's weird decisions in recent years. Now we know that the Ministry of Magic is paying close attention to this situation. Feel very relieved."

There were boos of disapproval from all around, especially after everyone found out that the so-called parents were all from pure-blood noble families, the boos became even louder. Unfortunately, as students, they couldn't do anything, so they dispersed after venting their emotions. However, when they left, almost everyone was discussing what the content of the newspaper would bring to the school.

At the same time in the headmaster's office, Fudge was announcing Umbridge's appointment to Dumbledore. "I will not accept it." Dumbledore's blue eyes flashed with fire. "Cornelly, I think you should do something practical, such as catching the ten escaped Death Eaters, instead of-"

"You must accept this. This is the decision of the Ministry of Magic." Fudge said firmly, "The senior investigator is Dolores Umbridge. Hogwarts is not your school alone! I have communicated with all the school directors before, and the other school directors have accepted this decision, so you must accept it! Otherwise, we need to consider replacing the headmaster!"

"Well, she can take this position, but she cannot have any influence on the school's teaching, otherwise I will kick her out without saying a word!" Dumbledore said, suppressing his anger. "But I think you--"

Before he could finish, Fudge disappeared from the fireplace.

Hogwarts is like other schools in the region. The board of directors is the institution that holds the power of the school, and the principal is just their employee. As a white wizard with a bottom line, Dumbledore must also follow the rules when Fudge is not a black wizard, and cannot rely on his own strength to overturn the table. The reason why Fudge was able to do the opposite before is also related to this. This is what it means to deceive a gentleman with a proper way.

"I hope Fudge won't push his luck further. We can no longer withstand internal friction now that Voldemort has returned." Headmaster Dumbledore murmured as he stood by the window and looked at the students on the playground.

In the next few days, things really went in a bad direction. Umbridge began to investigate every professor to try to find a breakthrough point that would allow her to establish her authority, but it seemed that her plan was not going well. Those professors did not take such a rubbish seriously.

"You didn't teach this class before, did you?" This was in the class of Professor Grubbly-Plank, who was filling in for Hagrid in the Magical Creatures class.

"Very correct, I'm glad you noticed that." Professor Grubbly-Plank said, with his hands behind his back, standing on tiptoe. "I'm a substitute teacher, temporarily replacing Professor Hagrid. So I really can't comment on the other professors you asked me before. Please don't ask me this question again." Professor Grubbly-Plank's words choked Umbridge so much that she was speechless for a long time.

"Well, if you want to ask, just ask. By the way, you can also tell me the answer you want me to give, in case my answer is not to your liking." Looking at Umbridge's liver-like face, Professor Grubbly spread his hands helplessly.

The students all laughed. When she replaced Hagrid in the class, no one realized that the professor had such a good sense of humor.

"You...you...how dare you...do this..."

"You were not satisfied with every word I answered. I asked you to tell me what satisfied you but you refused to tell me. I had only been in France for a few months. How come the school's requirements changed in such a short time? Sigh, it's really hard to be a professor these days."

Now the students laughed even harder, and even some Slytherin pure-blood wizards joined in.

(End of this chapter)