A magical journey that begins at Hogwarts

"Dumbledore is naturally not afraid of the Ministry of Magic, but he is too busy right now to deal with such matters."

The wizarding world is in enough chaos right now; if he were to clash with Fudge... Voldemort would probably be more than happy to see that happen.

Hagrid was silent for a while, then said, "I think I understand, but it doesn't seem to have much to do with me!"

She teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I teach Magical Creatures Protection; there shouldn't be any conflict, right?

"You're wrong. Fudge has started to lose all shame in order to cover up the truth about Voldemort's return."

Dolores Umbridge is Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, and also serves as a Senior Investigator at Hogwarts.

To put it simply, she'll check a professor's teaching ability; to put it even more simply... she'll find ways to nitpick and find fault in your classes, hoping to get you fired.

"You mean she might be deliberately targeting me?" Hagrid asked, sounding uncertain.

"Be more confident, and remove the word 'maybe'."

Because the magical creatures you teach your students about are quite dangerous, you are too easily targeted.

Professor Trelawney's divination classes are also easy targets; she's already been placed on probation—meaning you haven't been back for two months. Otherwise, you'd probably be the first one on probation.

Hagrid: ......

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Here's a piece of advice: it's better to teach your students some of the safest magical creatures before Umbridge leaves the school."

Hagrid opened his mouth, about to say something, when a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

“Hagrid, are you there? It’s us.” Harry’s voice came through.

“I’ll be right there,” Hagrid said.

"They came really fast." Aaron chuckled. "I should probably be going now. They should be able to give you a more specific solution. After all, no one at Hogwarts cares about you more than they do."

"Won't you stay for a drink?"

"No, thank you." Aaron pushed the bottle of wine towards Hagrid. "You can have this one too!"

When the door opened, the three people outside were all taken aback when they saw Aaron.

"When did you arrive?" Harry asked.

"I'm about ten minutes earlier than you," Aaron shrugged. "I've finished my business, so I won't disturb your reunion."

Oh, and if possible, tell him about Umbridge, so he understands how serious the situation is.

The three looked at each other, then nodded seriously.

Aaron walked along the path toward the castle, while Harry and his friends asked Hagrid why he had been missing for two months.

Although Abe healed Hagrid's wounds, the battle scars on his body could not be concealed, which greatly worried them.

"This is top secret, understand?"

Dumbledore sent me to negotiate with the giants.

"Giants?" Hermione looked at him in surprise. "You found them?"

"Oh! To be honest, they're not hard to find because they're big enough."

"Maxim and I tried to persuade them to join our team, but I wasn't the only one trying to recruit them."

“And Death Eaters,” Ron whispered.

“Yes! Death Eaters.” Hagrid’s voice was deep. “They outnumbered us and brought more gifts than we did. One of them was McNeil, the one who wanted to execute Buckbeak a couple of years ago.”

"So the giant joined Voldemort's side?" Harry asked worriedly.

“We did what we were supposed to do, and delivered Dumbledore’s message. We expect they will remember his kindness, but of course, that’s just an expectation.”

“Let’s not think about that. Let’s talk about Umbridge!” Hagrid forced a smile. “Aaron just told me that she’s going to target me in class.”

“It definitely will,” Ron said confidently. “That old witch has absolutely no bottom line.”

“She’s investigated a lot of people,” Hermione said. “Nobody likes her, but we can’t do anything about it right now.”

“A senior investigator, huh!” Hagrid said with a hint of helplessness. “At this point, Dumbledore can’t go against Fudge. Dealing with the Death Eaters is troublesome enough; he can’t waste his energy on the Ministry of Magic.”

Chapter 469 The Ominous Thestral? Anyone Who Has Killed Can See This

boom! boom! boom!

There was a hurried knock on the door.

The four turned their heads and saw a short, stout figure swaying on the curtain.

“Merlin’s beard!” Ron said, speechless. “This old witch must have arrived right on time!”

“This isn’t the time to talk about this,” Hermione said nervously. “Harry, I remember you brought the Invisibility Cloak, right?”

"Quickly, get in here!" Harry hurriedly took out the Invisibility Cloak and covered himself, Hermione, and Ron inside.

The three of them squeezed into a corner, making room for the middle spot.

Hagrid opened the door, and Umbridge stood in the doorway, wearing a pink sweater and coat, a fake smile on her face, but her eyes flashing with disdainful contempt.

"Um...you're Hagrid, right?"

"Yes, who are you?"

“Dolores Umbridge.” Umbridge entered the cabin, pacing back and forth as he looked around the interior.

Harry and his two companions didn't dare to breathe, afraid that she would notice them.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but who exactly are you?” Hagrid asked, his eyes wide.

“The Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge in the Ministry of Magic, now a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and also a Hogwarts Senior Investigator,” Umbridge said smugly. “As a Senior Investigator, I have the right to know the reasons for teachers taking leave, so tell me where you’ve been for the past two months?”

"Well, I... I actually went to a sanatorium," Hagrid stammered.

"Recuperation?" Umbridge sneered dismissively.

Does this big oaf think she's stupid? Half-giants have exceptional physical abilities; how dare he use such a ridiculous excuse to embarrass himself?

"I need to enjoy some fresh air."

“Yes! The gamekeeper must have a hard time getting fresh air.” Umbridge chuckled meaningfully. “If I were you coming back, I wouldn’t be used to it. In fact, I might as well not even open my luggage.”

After saying that, Umbridge turned and walked towards the door without waiting for Hagrid's reaction.

Snapped!

The door closed, and Harry and his two companions waited a while to make sure she was really gone before removing the Invisibility Cloak.

“That’s pretty clear,” Hermione said with a grim face. “She wants you to pack your bags and get out of here.”

Hagrid, your class is on Tuesday. You need to be prepared. This is very serious. You absolutely cannot use anything too dangerous in class...

"I know, I know," Hagrid waved his hand impatiently. "What you said is exactly the same as what Aaron said."

But don't worry, I've reserved some animals especially for your OWL year; they're very special.

The three men's hearts skipped a beat. Hagrid's confident demeanor made them uneasy, especially since he had acted the same way when he brought out the hippogriff and the Blasttail.

"Is it safe?" Harry asked somewhat nervously.

"Of course they are not dangerous. They can take care of themselves and will not attack humans."

“Hagrid, this is no joke,” Hermione said very seriously. “You have to pass Umbridge’s examination. Listen to me this time, Pomlock, the thorn will be much better.”

"No, they're not exactly fun."

The things I prepared are far more amazing; I'm probably the only one in all of Britain who has tamed them.

"Oh dear! Why can't you understand?" Hermione said, both anxious and frustrated. "The important thing isn't that it's fun, but that it's safe."

If you don't want Umbridge to have something on you, teach them some ordinary animals that will definitely appear in the exam.

Hagrid yawned and gave the three of them a big hug. "Trust me, I've really prepared something great this time."

Hearing this, the three of them were at a loss for what to do.

They still felt that this matter couldn't be decided by Hagrid's temperament, but they clearly couldn't persuade him otherwise!

"What do we do?" Ron said dejectedly on the way back. "He doesn't seem to have listened to what we said."

“There are still two days.” Hermione took a deep breath. “If possible, try to persuade him to change his mind. If that doesn’t work, you can at least help him check things out before classes officially start.”

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, a hint of conflict flashing in their eyes.

"You hesitated?"

“No, no, no, no, we didn’t mean that,” Harry said hastily. “But you know our situation.”

"The homework is piling up like a mountain," Ron said bitterly. "And then there's the Quidditch match. Although Harry managed to snatch the Golden Snitch, I wasn't quite up to par as the goalkeeper."

"Slightly?" Hermione looked at him speechlessly. "Are you sure?"

Ron felt utterly ashamed, blushed, and lowered his head. "Okay! It's really bad, alright?"

In short, Angelina gave me a severe dressing-down and made us train even harder.

"Fortunately, DA is temporarily closed because of the Quidditch season, otherwise the two of us might not have been able to handle it."

Hermione almost laughed out of anger. She hadn't expected these two to be so unreliable, letting her down at the crucial moment.

"Alright! Looks like I'll have to help Hagrid all by myself."

“You can ask Aaron for help,” Harry said. “He doesn’t have to train, and he doesn’t have as much homework as we do.”

"The chances are slim. I know him too well. It's already the limit that he came to remind Hagrid today."

“You’re being a bit unfair. It’s fine if he comes over and you just give him a heads-up, but when it comes to the two of us…” Ron said sarcastically, but his voice trailed off halfway through.

"You have a problem with that?" Hermione's smile was warm, but it sent a chill down Ron's spine.

"Uh...no, how could I possibly have a problem with that!"

However, Hermione still found Aaron in the library the next day, saying, "Come with me to Hagrid's place."

“I’m not going.” Aaron refused decisively. “I know what you’re worried about, but I’ve already reminded you of everything I needed to.”

“Just reminding him isn’t enough,” Hermione said seriously. “We need to figure out what he’s going to teach, and it would be best to give him some advice so that Umbridge can’t use it against us.”

"Haha!" Aaron couldn't help but laugh. "That's no use. No matter how perfectly you prepare, you can't stop the nitpicking Umbridge."