Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 187 Pink Horror

When Umbridge finally finished her long speech and Dumbledore stood up again to announce the Quidditch selection time, the Great Hall erupted in cheers and applause even louder than during last year's Triwizard Tournament.

Seeing this, Umbridge's face didn't change much; it remained full of smiles.

Stuart and the others witnessed this scene and felt a chill run down their spines.

"You're right, Anthony, he's not a simple man," Stewart said softly, and the others nodded subconsciously.

Despite his seemingly unreliable demeanor, only those who have known him for a long time know that Stewart is a meticulous person beneath his rough exterior. His carefree attitude is a disguise; otherwise, he wouldn't be the king of gossip in Ravenclaw.

When it comes to attention to detail, Stewart possesses a sensitivity that is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

With Ike gone, Anthony and Michael moved into Stuart and Terry's dorm, leaving theirs empty for the new students. When they returned to their dorm, their luggage had already been neatly arranged by the hardworking house-elves; they only needed to tidy up a little before they could rest.

"It's really not something I'm used to," Stuart murmured as he lay in bed.

"It's all the same." Anthony yawned. "Judging from today's performance, we probably won't make it into this year's Academy Cup."

"Yeah, without Ike, Hermione would probably take first place in the year," Terry sighed. "And our Quidditch team has been weakened since Roger graduated."

Are there any outstanding newcomers this year?

"Never heard of it," Anthony replied. "They don't seem to be very outstanding."

"Sleep, sleep, I don't want to think about this anymore, it's too upsetting," Stuart muttered, pulling the blanket over his head. Seeing this, the others sighed, closed their eyes, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Hogwarts entered into an intense period of study, especially for fifth-year students like them.

The tension that the professors had been constantly tightening since the third year had finally reached its peak. In the very first Potions class, Stuart and his classmates sensed a significant change.

Snape became even more cold-blooded.

He seems to have evolved; his words have become even more vicious, and anyone who makes even the slightest mistake will be subjected to a torrent of abuse.

"If you continue to slack off like this, you'll definitely not get your Potions certificate in the OWL exams, that's for sure." Snape looked at the students in the classroom with icy eyes, and everyone instinctively lowered their heads. "You've forgotten what you learned in your first year? Is your brain filled with troll shit?!"

In just one class, five or six people cried, three broke down, and the rest looked like they had no will to live.

No one could receive a truly fair assessment from Snape; in his eyes, everyone was worthless.

Dejected, Stuart and the others left the potions classroom and headed to their respective elective classes. This time it was much better, but the professors' words were still full of urging and pressure, making them unconsciously tense.

At lunchtime, the fifth-year students from all the colleges looked the same: they ate their meals listlessly and walked back to their dormitories listlessly, like walking corpses.

A few years ago, when they saw those fifth graders, they didn't pay much attention. But when it actually happened to them, they suddenly realized that compared to their predecessors, their ability to withstand pressure was really too weak.

The first period in the afternoon was Defense Against the Dark Arts. The fifth-year students of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were the first to attend, while Gryffindor and Slytherin were the next students.

When Stuart and the others walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, looking completely bewildered, Umbridge was already sitting behind the podium. She was still wearing the same fluffy pink sweater from the night before, with a black velvet bow on her head.

"I don't like pink anymore," Moratti said softly, which drew unanimous agreement from the others, even though they had already done this once before in the auditorium the night before.

People gradually arrived, and everyone remained silent. After everyone was seated, Umbridge stood up from behind the podium.

"Good afternoon, students," she said.

"Good afternoon..." Only a few people replied, and their voices were very soft.

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Umbridge's face was full of smiles. "That won't do. I expect you to answer 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge,' louder and more energetically."

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge!" This time the voices were loud enough and clear enough, and Umbridge was clearly very satisfied.

"Very good, that's right."

"Please put away your wands and take out your quills."

She took a short wand from her handbag and tapped it on the blackboard behind her. Two lines appeared: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Back to Basics.

"Your course has been discontinuous and lacks a systematic approach."

"For some unknown reason, the teachers are constantly changing and their levels vary. Many of them are not teaching according to the curriculum standards approved by the Ministry of Magic, which is why you are far from meeting the standards that you should meet in the OWLs exam year."

"However, don't worry, this year we will be studying a carefully designed, theory-based Defense Against the Dark Arts course approved by the Ministry of Magic..."

As Umbridge recounted her lessons, the students below wore masks of pain on their faces, and when she asked them to silently read from the textbook, everyone seemed to have had their souls ripped out.

For a moment, they even thought they were taking a history of magic class. But unlike history of magic, Professor Binns never cared whether they slept in his class.

They never liked courses that required reading long passages of text. Perhaps it was a habit they had developed in their history of magic classes, but some of them started to doze off, their heads bobbing rhythmically as if they were about to fall into the thick book "Defense of Magic Theory" in front of them.

"Students, cheer up! Don't forget that your foundations are all quite weak, but as long as you follow the teaching plan I've given you, I believe you will all pass the OWLs exam smoothly."

"But Professor..." Stuart had barely finished speaking when Umbridge interrupted in her sickeningly sweet voice, "Raise your hand, Mr. Akley. In my class, I expect all students to raise their hands when they want to speak."

Upon hearing this, Stewart immediately raised his right hand, and Umbridge was clearly pleased.

"Mr. Akre, is there a problem?"

"Professor, I don't understand why we have to read textbooks? If it's to pass the OWLs exam, I remember there's a practical exam component. Reading books won't give us the ability to solve those dangers."

"You will not be in any danger," Umbridge replied with a smile, "especially in my classes."

"But……"

"Hands up! Mr. Akley!"

Stewart raised his hand somewhat reluctantly, but Umbridge didn't let him continue.

"Our latest learning program was meticulously designed and implemented by the wizards of the Ministry of Magic who are much older and wiser than you. You will learn defensive spells in a safe and risk-free manner..."

"Professor..." Stuart raised his hand high, but Umbridge didn't look at him, instead turning his head to the other side. However, there were many other hands raised over there as well.

"What's your name, miss?" Umbridge seemed a little helpless as she randomly called out to someone.

"Mandy Bloch".

"Yes, Miss Bloch, do you have any questions?"

"Just like Stuart said, there's a practical component to the OWL exam, and there's definitely danger if we're attacked..."

"Alright!" Umbridge raised his voice, drowning out Mandy's.

"I don't want to criticize the school's teaching methods, but it's clear that your previous professors were not competent..." She laughed, her voice sickeningly sweet but strangely grating, "especially since there are dangerous half-human, half-beast characters among them..."

Upon hearing this, everyone voiced their protests, but Umbridge paid no attention and instead raised his voice, which became quite jarring.

"Dark wizards, liars, werewolves, and my ex, who demonstrated those terrible spells to you in the very first class of the semester, and then turned out to be a notorious dark wizard?"

"I don't mean to criticize the school's mistakes in teacher selection, but it's clear that you've never encountered a truly competent professor."

"And ultimately, the purpose of this magic school is to help students pass exams. Learning theoretical knowledge will help you pass the exams better, that's what the Ministry of Magic believes." Umbridge's smile widened, but everyone felt that she was far more terrifying than Snape.

"You're from Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Umbridge suddenly changed the subject, and after receiving an affirmative answer, she said, "As you all know, during the summer vacation, a young name was added to the Ministry of Magic's wanted list."

"Ike Strayder, I've heard he's a genius, a brilliant young wizard, but what he does isn't so smart."

"Furthermore, it's obvious that he has had a lot of negative influence on you, which is why you're being so rude..."

Umbridge's voice became high-pitched, and under the gaze of her large eyes, the eaglets unconsciously leaned back, pressing their backs tightly against the chair back.

This scene clearly pleased her greatly.

"Of course, you don't need to worry. I will eliminate those negative influences and get the school back on track."

"To achieve this, the first thing you need to do is listen to me and strictly follow the learning plan set by the Ministry of Magic."

"So, open your textbooks and continue silently reading Chapter One, the introductory theory..." she said, clapping her hands and smiling even more brightly.

"Let's begin, gentlemen and ladies!"

(End of this chapter)