Strange Developments

Crabbe probably never expected that Osman would dare to use a curse on him directly. Coupled with the difference in strength, he had almost no chance to resist and fell to the ground groaning.

The invisible whip formed by magic lashed at Crabbe, and Osman, who was already harboring resentment, had been sleeping only two or three hours a day for some time now. He had had enough of the bloody dead rats and the rotting Flobberworm.

The thought made Osman's wand tremble. He ignored Crabbe's screams and pleas for mercy and continued to cast the Scourging Charm.

"Ah—ah— Osman! Osman! That's not me!" Crabbe tried to explain.

"Not you?" The already somewhat crazed Osman laughed maniacally.

He continued whipping Crabbe as he strode to the sink.

That was a package that Crabbe had placed on top, with crimson blood still seeping out from the seams of the parchment.

Osman picked up his camera and unwrapped the package.

Inside were several large, dead rats.

It would have been better if he hadn't seen it, because seeing Osman made him feel nauseous and disgusted. He forced himself to take a picture despite his discomfort, and then turned around and stared at Crabbe with an extremely terrifying look.

"You son of a bitch!" A Scourging Charm fell.

"Just because you think Malfoy is so powerful, you think no one will dare to mess with you, huh!" Another Scourging Charm fell.

"Hmm? Didn't expect me to become a member of the Special Operations Investigation Team?" Osman waved his wand.

Crabbe was whipped so hard his skin was torn open, and tears and snot streamed down his face.

He cried and shouted, "Hogwarts doesn't allow lynching! And it really wasn't me! It was S..."

Osman beat him even more fiercely, and the Scourging Charm struck Crabbe directly in the face.

He didn't want to hear any excuses from the other party at all, and so what if they took the law into their own hands? He had caught them red-handed, and Umbridge would only praise him!

"Knock knock knock..." Footsteps came from outside the door.

In the storage room not far from the first-floor washroom, a Occamy as thin as a thread slipped back into Sean's robe unnoticed.

"Okay... I understand..."

Malfoy, standing nearby, stared at Sean and said anxiously, "Aren't we going out yet? Umbridge hasn't arrived?"

Sean narrowed his eyes. "Umbridge is here..."

"Shall we go now? I've brought everyone, over twenty Slytherin students. Didn't you also gather people from other houses?" Malfoy said.

"The situation has changed..." Sean said.

He had Occamy monitoring the area around the washroom. Umbridge did come over, but Little Aiken didn't follow.

This is not normal.

The whole thing was orchestrated by Sean.

The one who tormented Osman was not Crabbe, but Malfoy. The only thing Crabbe did obediently was to dirty the washroom that Osman had just cleaned.

The reason is simple: to make Osman doubt Crabbe first, and then lose his sanity under torture.

Then, just as he had expected, the other party became a member of the Special Operations Investigation Team. At this point, as long as Crabbe showed any weakness, Osman, who had caught him red-handed, would not let it go.

Seeing this situation, with the suspect caught red-handed, and since Osman was one of her own men whom she had just appointed, Umbridge would certainly support Osman's actions.

Then Malfoy led his men to the scene to clear Crabbe's name, and the students from other houses that Sean had gathered also helped to fan the flames.

After doing all this, Umbridge will face a difficult choice.

If she continues to protect Osman, then, at Malfoy's instigation, she will lose the hearts of Slytherin, and the Hogwarts students will return to unity.

If she chooses to punish Osman, that would be even better. He was the first member of the Special Operations Investigation Team, and she appointed him herself—her prestige would be completely wiped out, and no one would be willing to work for her anymore.

Moreover, Sean had prepared a series of follow-up actions to ensure that Umbridge would gain nothing but superficial authority.

However, the absence of Little Aiken, who had been advising Umbridge, puzzled Sean.

"Sean? Should we proceed according to the original plan or not?" Malfoy urged.

Sean pondered for a moment before speaking, "The plan remains unchanged. You take your men and go. If there are any problems, go to Professor Snape, but he should be there soon."

"Great!" Malfoy perked up, walked out of the storeroom, immediately called his friends, and headed towards the first-floor washroom.

Soon, the restroom was surrounded by a large group of students from various colleges.

Umbridge, inside, had a grim expression. "What are you all doing here?! Do you all want to be put in solitary confinement?!"

Malfoy stepped forward. "Professor, I want to know why we Slytherin students are being treated this way!"

Crabbe had been beaten unconscious on the bathroom floor.

Osman came out and waved his camera. "The evidence is conclusive, he deserved it."

Malfoy frowned. "That wasn't Crabbe's doing. You've got the wrong person."

Osman's eyes widened. He threw the package containing the dead rat onto the ground, spitting as he shouted, "Wasn't it him?!"

Malfoy beckoned to the back, and several Slytherin students stepped forward.

"The last few times you were pranked, Crabbe was with other people," said Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

The students all said they could testify.

Osman was momentarily speechless, but he immediately pointed to the bag of dead rats and said, "Then how do you explain this? I've already taken pictures!"

"I made him do it." A cold, slow voice rang out from outside the washroom.

Snape walked in with a grim face, and Umbridge instinctively took several steps back.

"I'm wondering—all I did was get a bag of dead rats from Hagrid to feed the Erkling, Erkling blood is one of the main ingredients for the next lesson—Mrs. Umbridge, can you tell me why your men are taking such lenient measures against the students who ran errands for me? Did you order that?"

"No, of course not!" Umbridge shouted, now terrified of Snape.

"Then, Mr. Osman, can you tell me—what are you thinking? And what gives you the right to lecture others without knowing the facts?" Snape stared at Osman.

Osman, already reeling from the series of unexpected news, and now under Snape's pressure, stammered, "I... I thought it was him. Mrs. Umbridge said I could exercise some of her rights..."

He froze halfway through his sentence.

Should I not have dragged Umbridge into this?

The scene suddenly became awkward, and veins were bulging on Umbridge's forehead.

When the other students saw this, they immediately started shouting outside.

How could you wrongly accuse your classmate?

"Yeah, look what's happened to him! Good heavens, you're not going to tell me that the guy on the ground is Crabbe, are you? He's been beaten so badly I don't even recognize him."

There were also many more rustling sounds.

"Tsk, so this is the Senior Undersecretary and her Special Operations Investigation Team..."

"To team up with outsiders to bully our students is a disgrace to Hogwarts, and even more so to Slytherin..."

A Gryffindor student sarcastically remarked, "Do you Slytherin treat yourselves like this even yourselves?"

Immediately, Little Snakes retorted, "Bullshit, Slytherin is the most united house."

Now, many of the Little Snakes changed their gaze towards Osman and Umbridge.

Malfoy looked furious, but inside he was excited and surprised.

Just as Sean said! The focus shifted immediately!

A closer analysis reveals that in a world where Voldemort hadn't caused any trouble, Slytherin's reputation wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed, and the Little Snakes ' relationship with other houses was much more amicable than one might imagine.

When a powerful enemy appears, the Little Snakes are still willing to stand on Hogwarts ' side, and students from other houses still maintain the trust that should exist between classmates.

While a little drama was unfolding in the bathroom, Sean was using his Invisibility Cloak to wander around the castle, trying to find out what Little Aiken was up to.

"This news must be kept under wraps," a voice said.

Sean sneaked over and saw the Little Aiken he had been searching for.

The other person was talking to someone wearing Guard Corps.

Little Aiken frowned. "Who decided to block this news?"

"It was a unanimous decision made by the Guard Corps and the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, wouldn't things be chaotic enough already?" the man said.

"I understand..." Little Aiken nodded, then looked puzzled again, "What exactly was Grindelwald's purpose in infiltrating the England Department of Mysteries ..."

Grindelwald infiltrated the Department of Mysteries? Sean, hidden beneath his Invisibility Cloak, frowned.

The Guard Corps member continued, "Who can say for sure? Didn't an accident happen in Newmontgard before? Two of our men died, and even Vita Rosier couldn't explain what happened."

Newmontgard also had an accident? Sean frowned.

The fact that the Golden Dawn's people hadn't sent him any messages meant that either the two were lying, or the matter was being completely covered up.

Little Aiken spoke a few more words to the man, mentioning that the British Ministry of Magic had been acting very strangely lately, but Sean didn't hear anything more, and the man ended the conversation.

Sean left immediately.

Little Aiken stood by the window, gazing at the misty rain outside. After a long while, he glanced at both sides of the corridor without revealing his expression, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Upon returning, Sean fell into deep thought. The sudden news he received left him somewhat bewildered, and the British Ministry of Magic had now become a complete mystery.

Barty Jr.. is unable to send back messages, the new minister keeps issuing various high-pressure policies, and now even all kinds of information are being blocked.

It's very strange, extremely strange.

When Malfoy returned later, he told him an even stranger piece of news.

Umbridge actually stood up to Snape and defended Osman!

The reason was lame and lacked conviction; Umbridge practically wore the abuse of power on his sleeve. In the end, the matter was dropped, and even all the students who were in the washroom at the time had to write a letter of apology afterward—the reason for the punishment was a stupid excuse: affecting the school's unity...

This made Sean even more uneasy. Although Little Aiken wasn't exactly a brilliant schemer, he was clearly no fool either. He couldn't possibly have been completely oblivious to something amiss; Umbridge should have received a warning from him.

Sean's subsequent measures were all prepared for this.

Now, Umbridge's choice is almost the worst one. Not only has she failed to gain the support of the Slytherin, but she has also placed herself directly in opposition to the entire Hogwarts —a blatant opposition.

Something really bad must have happened to the Ministry of Magic and the Guard Corps...

Unfortunately, his access to information from official institutions was blocked.

Barty Jr.'s condition is unknown, and Bella, who was still imprisoned, was moved directly to a solitary cell where she could not see anything.

That night, he went to Newmontgard through the Vanishing Cabinet and indeed discovered something amiss.

In the basement, where students were not allowed to enter, the door to one of the cells had been blown open. It was originally a completely closed cell, and Sean had assumed it was empty.

It now appears that something was originally locked inside, and then it was released.

That means the conversation between Little Aiken and the other person was real...

However, he still hadn't obtained any useful information. Sean disliked this situation of being completely blind to information and began to think about how to get firsthand information.

First-hand information... Sean paused slightly, then licked his slightly dry lips.

The environment at Hogwarts is becoming increasingly oppressive, and Umbridge is nearly driven mad. Now, even putting your arm around someone's shoulder in the hallway is considered a punishable offense.

Sean received special attention.

As if deliberately trying to provoke him, Little Aiken would appear in front of him every now and then to pick on him, and only leave satisfied when Sean obediently called him "Sir".

At the same time, Hogwarts has explicitly banned solo travel; now, everyone must travel in groups of three or more to go anywhere. Umbridge and her henchmen keep a close watch on everyone day and night—of course, apart from Osman, no one wants to follow Umbridge anymore.

This left the Hogwarts students feeling resentful; the entire castle was like an ever-growing balloon, just waiting to be popped.

One morning in October, Umbridge announced further restrictions, along with a piece of new information.

The evil organization known as the Death Eaters has attacked London, further increasing the risk of exposure for Wizarding World.

"Fortunately, the thugs have been arrested," Umbridge said loudly, "But the situation is now extremely tense. The Ministry of Magic requires every Hogwarts student to behave themselves. Do you understand?"

"Yes," came a sparse reply from the Great Hall.

Sean raised an eyebrow and turned to leave, but Little Aiken came up to him again.

"Hey, Wallerup," Little Aiken said with a smile.

"Hello, sir." Sean said expressionlessly.

Little Aiken chuckled and whispered in Sean's ear, "Wallerup, others may not know, but I do. You're in cahoots with that thug who was just arrested..."

"Sir, I don't understand what you're talking about." Sean raised an eyebrow.

A Little Aiken's lips. "You'd better keep up the good student act and don't give yourself away... Oh, right, I'm going to interrogate that Death Eaters now. What was his name again? August Rookwood, does that sound familiar?"