Hogwarts: A little lion in the skin of the Eagle School

Soon, news spread that Umbridge had used John as a pawn, deliberately damaged the reputation of Hogwarts teachers, and interfered with the professors' autonomy in teaching.

Furthermore, John was portrayed as an innocent victim in this incident.

The next day, it made it onto Wizarding Weekly, including the public disclosure of Umbridge's inhumane punishment of Harry.

The author of the article is none other than our legendary smear queen, Rita Skeeter.

I always thought this reporter was still useful.

Among the students at Hogwarts, there were many from privileged backgrounds, and they naturally worried that their children might suffer the same cruel treatment.

As a result, dozens of letters condemning Umbridge were sent to the school and the Ministry of Magic that day.

Umbridge, on the other hand, went from being "a pioneer of educational reform handpicked by the Ministry of Magic" to becoming a target of public criticism.

If the Ministry of Magic hadn't intervened to suppress public opinion, she would probably have become the professor with the shortest tenure at Hogwarts.

Of course, some speculate that John deliberately became Umbridge's henchman and abused his power to retaliate against Snape.

To be fair, the guess was fairly accurate, but not entirely correct.

He did indeed deliberately make a deal with Umbridge, and then deliberately went to disgust Professor Snape.

However, in the end, it was still to use Professor Snape's influence and public opinion to curb Umbridge's encroachment on Hogwarts.

He didn't want to do this, but Umbridge came to him, so he had no choice but to go along with it.

That day, after being summoned by Umbridge alone and understanding his intention to recruit him, he made his plans.

And later, after being caught up by Professor Snape, he told Professor Snape all about his plans.

So the scene that followed in front of Umbridge was actually a staged performance.

Umbridge was indeed fooled and had no choice but to bear the consequences.

At the same time, thanks to his actions, Umbridge's power at Hogwarts suffered a devastating blow.

Harry's detention was cancelled that day, apparently because it was the Gryffindor Quidditch team selection tournament, and he was originally going to miss the chance to get to know the new team members.

As a result, I was able to participate successfully because of this.

Even more strangely, it is said that the additional titles and powers that the Ministry of Magic originally planned to grant Umbridge have also been temporarily cancelled.

So, John is going to get a big score...?

......

"I was wrong, Hermione, I won't do it again..."

After the matter was settled, John was caught by Hermione.

She grabbed Fate by the back of the neck, seemingly depriving him of all means of resistance.

"You keep saying you won't do it again, but then you turn around and cause a whole bunch of trouble."

"I... I'm just trying to create a wonderful environment for Hogwarts..."

John stubbornly defended himself.

Hermione then extended her other hand and made a fist, and John immediately fell silent.

"You know you might accidentally become the target of this public opinion too!"

"But we have legendary journalist Rita Skeeter backing us up..." John muttered.

"Still talking!"

"I'm not saying anything more..."

Hermione loosened her grip but didn't let go of him, her fingertips poking at his chest.

"Stay away from Umbridge; there are still quite a few people at school who suspect you."

"Okay..." John replied hesitantly.

As mentioned before, some people still speculate that John willingly became a lackey.

After all, the way he retaliated against Snape didn't seem like acting...

It really wasn't acting... (whispering)

Of course, no one dared to talk about him to John's face; they only dared to gossip or speculate behind his back.

John, of course, didn't care.

"Hermione! John!"

Just then, Harry and Ron rushed over, panting. Harry was clutching a letter, while Ron was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet that he had just received.

"The Death Eaters have made a move!"

Their words immediately made Hermione forget to continue her sermon, and John also curiously leaned over.

[Stoj Podmore, 38, recently stood trial in Wizengamo]

The charges are: illegally entering and robbing the Ministry of Magic on August 31.

At 1 a.m. that day, Ministry of Magic guards spotted him attempting to pass through a top-secret door.

After his arrest, Podmore refused to defend himself, the charges were upheld, and Azkaban was sentenced to six months in prison.

First, there was a news item in the Daily Prophet.

A seemingly ordinary case of burglary and robbery could not possibly be associated with Death Eaters.

Above is a black and white photo of Mr. Baudmore, in which he has a vacant look in his eyes and appears to be mentally unstable.

"Death Eaters trying to storm the Ministry of Magic?"

After reading the news, John and Hermione asked each other curiously.

"No, no, uh, not entirely wrong either..."

"First of all, he's not a Death Eater. You came to the Order of the Phoenix relatively late and haven't seen him before."

"He is actually a member of our Order of the Phoenix."

Harry spoke in a low voice. He had seen this man in the newspaper at the Order of the Phoenix when he went there with Sirius Black, and they had even exchanged a few words.

I never saw him again after that. I never expected to see him again when I saw news of his imprisonment in the newspaper.

As he spoke, Harry took out the letter again.

"Then I wrote back to ask Sirius."

"The Order of the Phoenix now suspects that the Death Eaters controlled him and then used him to break into the Ministry of Magic to find something."

This is a letter from the Order of the Phoenix, unsigned, but the handwriting looks like Professor Lupin's.

The letter contained roughly the following content.

Podmore was previously on guard duty for the Order of the Phoenix, monitoring the Death Eaters, but he suddenly disappeared before the incident.

It wasn't until the next day that they received news of his arrest at the Ministry of Magic.

Although members of the Order of the Phoenix within the Ministry of Magic attempted to defend him, he remained dazed and unable to respond, clearly suffering a severe mental breakdown.

This situation is very similar to the typical manifestation of being violently controlled by the Imperius Curse.

However, the Ministry of Magic ignored him and simply threw him into Azkaban.

It's clear that there's a mastermind behind it all.

This can be combined with the intelligence John and Professor Moody obtained when they went out to disrupt the Death Eater gathering last time.

It can be confirmed that this was an operation planned by the Death Eaters.

They were indeed looking for something, something inside the Ministry of Magic, behind a top-secret door.

"A top-secret gate... The place the Death Eaters want to go is probably the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione looked at the contents of the letter and frowned.

If we were to ask what part of the Ministry of Magic needs to be kept most secret, the Department of Mysteries would undoubtedly be at the top of the list.

Most of the business there is kept secret from ordinary wizards, and few people know what they are actually researching.

At the same time, it also preserves some extremely dangerous ancient magical items and unsolved mysteries, such as the remnants of the Time-Turner, the storage area for the Prophecy Orb, and even the legendary entrance to the secret chamber where one can glimpse the true face of the Veil of Death.

What are the Death Eaters, or Voldemort, looking for inside?

John was speechless as he watched the group exchange solemn glances.

"What are you all guessing about? If you ask me, it would be simpler to just ask Dumbledore."

"Perfect timing, Harry, you should have some free time now, right? We agreed to go see Dumbledore."

The group was taken aback by John's words.

That actually makes sense...