The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 477 Umbridge's Show of Power
The castle's entrance hall was lit red by torches and echoed with the footsteps of students. Ada walked across the stone floor and headed to the two doors on the right that led to the auditorium.

Fortunately, Ada was not stopped by Professor McGonagall at the entrance of the auditorium this year.

The hall was filled with four long college tables, and above it was a starless, dark ceiling that looked exactly like the sky outside that could be seen through the high windows.

Students chatted happily, exchanged summer news, shouted hello to friends from other colleges, and examined each other's new hairstyles and new clothes. Everything seemed to be the same as before.

As she walked, Ada suddenly stopped and looked towards the teacher's seat in surprise.

Her unusual behavior naturally attracted the attention of others. George behind her asked, "What's wrong? Why don't you find a place to sit down first?"

"Umbridge," said Ida desperately. "Dolores Umbridge."

Lee Jordan also came over and asked, "Who? Hogwarts has never heard of such a person?"

"It can't be the old toad from the Ministry of Magic you mentioned before!" said Fred. He remembered that Ada had mentioned such a person before, and that was the first time he knew that Ada hated someone so much.

"Toad?" Alia said curiously. "Are you talking about Riffle from Longbottom?"

"No, it's Umbridge, the Senior Deputy Minister of Magic. I call her 'the pink old toad'." Ada raised her head in the direction of the teachers' seats, motioning for everyone to see for themselves whether she looked like her.

I saw a strange woman sitting in the teacher's seat. She was short and fat, with a big pink bow on her short gray-brown hair, and a pink cardigan that was even more eye-catching.

"What a pretty cardigan!" said Fred with a smirk. "It goes so well with her bow!"

"Don't you feel a little heartbroken when you say that?" Angelina said, "I'll throw away all my pink things when I get home at night. I feel like I'll never like pink again in my life."

Love the house and the dog, and hate the rest.

Because of Umbridge's girlish pink dress, another girl who was disappointed with pink appeared.

"Me too. This is the first time I know that wearing pink can be so pretentious." Alia said, then she looked at Ada, "You should have thrown it away a long time ago, right? I feel so sorry for every copper knut I spent on pink!"

"Fortunately, there are almost no pink clothes in my wardrobe," said Ada. She doesn't like pink, as she said herself, pink is too delicate.

Instead of buying a pink dress, buy one that's blue like the forget-me-not flower.

At the front of the Gryffindor table, Ada and the others found a few empty seats and sat down. On one side were the junior students from the same house, and on the other side were Katie and her classmates.

"They look exactly like him! Even more so than Radford." Lee Jordan sighed, "But why is she here at school? Is she spying on Dumbledore for the Ministry of Magic?"

Several people were silent at the same time. At this juncture, Umbridge's purpose of appearing in the school was obvious. No one needed to think about what Fudge was thinking.

Ada sighed deeply and said sadly, "The situation may be even worse than that. I think "Magic Defense Theory" should be the textbook chosen by this person..."

The students in the hall were all chatting with each other. No one noticed the old witch in pink sitting in the teacher's seat, nor did anyone notice a group of senior students falling down at the Gryffindor table.

After a while, the door to the Great Hall opened, and a long line of first-year students who looked frightened walked into the Great Hall, led by Professor McGonagall, who was holding a three-legged stool with an old Sorting Hat on it.

The buzz of conversation in the hall died down. The first years lined up in front of the teachers' table, facing the other years. Professor McGonagall carefully placed the stool in front of them and stepped back.

Looking at the students lying all over the Gryffindor table, Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, a little angry.

However, when the Sorting Hat held its annual solo concert, the little lions of Gryffindor reluctantly left the table and sat up straight.

At this time, almost all Gryffindor students knew who Umbridge was. Perhaps the little lions also knew how hateful Umbridge was, and they didn't know how bad the Defense Against the Dark Arts class would be this school year...

But everyone knows one thing - the big sister is very unhappy with Umbridge, and she hates her very much!

The last time Big Sister disliked a teacher so much was when Gilderoy Lockhart was around.

The students applauded, and the Sorting Hat's concert came to a successful conclusion. Students from the four colleges were whispering to each other, discussing the Sorting Hat's new song.

"…Our Hogwarts is facing danger, and enemies outside the school are eyeing us covetously. We must unite closely, otherwise everything will collapse from within…"

The discussion in the hall stopped abruptly until Professor McGonagall glared at the students who were whispering with a very stern look. Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to look at the parchment in her hand and loudly announced the first name.

"Euan Abercrombie." It was a frightened little boy with unusually large ears. He was sorted into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat, and the hall immediately filled with the noise made by the little lions.

The sorting ceremony continued, and slowly, the long line of first-year students shortened.

As Rose Zeller was sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall picked up her hat and stool and strode away. At this time, Dumbledore stood up and announced the start of the meal without saying a word.

Five long tables were suddenly piled high with large pieces of beef, pies, plates of vegetables, bread, jam, and jugs of pumpkin juice; they groaned under the weight.

The appreciative laughter and warm applause in the auditorium stopped instantly, and then the sound of knives and forks clashing echoed throughout the auditorium.

However, the atmosphere at the Gryffindor table was somewhat different, and the atmosphere of eating was not strong. Perhaps only Ron Weasley and the first-year students could eat without worries.

The little lions looked at Ada at the same long table, and then at Umbridge at the teacher's seat. Everything was said without words.

The students had all eaten and drunk their fill, and the hall was gradually becoming noisier. At this time, Dumbledore stood up again.

The chatter stopped immediately, and everyone turned to the headmaster. Dumbledore emphasized a few school rules as he did in previous years, such as not going to the Forbidden Forest and not casting spells in the corridors during breaks.

"This year, we have two changes to our teaching staff. We are delighted to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will teach you Care of Magical Creatures. We are equally pleased to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Once again, Ada's bad words came true. The Ministry of Magic not only designated teaching materials for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but also sent a teacher.

If the Ministry of Magic had the power to replace the headmaster, Umbridge would probably be the new headmaster.

As Dumbledore continued to speak, Umbridge stood up and interrupted the headmaster. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge said with a smirk, "thank you for such a warm welcome."

Her voice was high and shrill and breathy, like a little girl's, and she said, "Well, I must say, it's so good to be back at Hogwarts! It's so nice to see all these happy little faces looking up at me!"

But in reality, none of the students' faces were happy, and no one liked to be treated as a five-year-old child.

Although the students were looking at Umbridge, many of them were laughing in their hearts: this woman obviously didn't understand the rules of Hogwarts.

Umbridge's clipping sound continued, and she spoke in a very bureaucratic tone, as if this was not the Hogwarts Great Hall, but the Ministry of Magic.

She stood on the Ministry of Magic's side, first praising Hogwarts, and then said that the current school needs "correction", "maintaining what should be maintained, improving what needs to be improved, and abandoning those that we should ban."

Her entire speech had only one main theme: the Ministry of Magic was unhappy with Hogwarts, so they were going to interfere with Hogwarts.

As for why he was dissatisfied, could there be any other reason besides Dumbledore?

The hall was very quiet, and it seemed as if everyone was listening to Umbridge's speech carefully. But in fact, except for a few students, only the administrator Filch listened to her speech carefully word by word.

Umbridge sat down. Dumbledore began to applaud, and the other teachers followed suit, and the students, out of habit, wanted to applaud too.

At the Gryffindor table, Ada had no intention of applauding at all. She sat quietly like an outsider.

Ada did not applaud, and the people around her did not applaud either; Ada and the people around her did not move, and the other Gryffindors also stopped what they were doing.

The little lions just sat there, as if they had no idea that Umbridge's speech was over.

Gryffindor's abnormality naturally did not escape the attention of the other three houses.

Although it is unclear why the little lions "collectively boycotted" Umbridge, the students of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff followed suit and stopped clapping like Gryffindor.

Slytherin also didn't know the reason, but that didn't stop some of them from choosing to support Umbridge. After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

So a strange scene appeared in the auditorium. At the five long tables, including the teachers' seats, only Slytherin students and teachers were applauding.

The remaining Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws remained silent, as if everyone had collectively gone offline.

Many people tonight met Umbridge for the first time, but her personal appearance, her long speeches, and her behavior of interrupting the headmaster's speech were all very unpleasant, making it difficult for people to accept her all at once.

Umbridge, sitting in the teacher's seat, was enraged by the scene before her. She wanted to write a letter to her beloved minister. Hogwarts was simply lawless!
(End of this chapter)