Countering Every Move, Umbridge's Grief and Indignation

"Mr. Malfoy is absolutely right. He's going to teach students from two houses, not just a few," Umbridge said smugly. "If the students don't even see that he's going to teach Fantastic Beasts, then there's no point in this class. Teaching in the air is no better than handing out a picture book and letting everyone look at it themselves."

Hagrid's expression changed slightly, and just as he was about to explain something, he saw Aaron give him a reassuring look.

"Professor Umbridge, you don't need to worry about this. Professor Hagrid has already discussed it with me."

"Discuss?" Umbridge chuckled. "Discuss what?"

Aaron snapped his fingers, and several huge black horses suddenly appeared in everyone's sight.

The scene erupted in uproar. Everyone was utterly shocked by the enormous black creature that was emaciated, with the body of a horse, the head of a dragon, and the wings of a bat.

"What's going on?" Umbridge asked in surprise.

"Illusion Magic," Aaron explained calmly. "I just made sure everyone could see that I could see it. Professor Hagrid was worried that people wouldn't be able to see it, so he specifically consulted me about it."

Otherwise, he wouldn't even bother taking out the Thestral; it would be easier to deal with the Knarl and the Hedgehog.

"Is that right, Professor Hagrid?"

"Ah? Yes, that's it." Hagrid said earnestly, looking at Aaron with such emotion that he almost cried.

What a wonderful child!

He made up this story to get him out of a predicament, and he almost believed it himself.

"Good! Very good." Umbridge said, barely suppressing her anger. "Even if you were prepared, the Ministry of Magic has long listed Thestral as 'dangerous animals'."

"Thestral aren't dangerous," Hagrid chuckled easily. "Of course, if you really piss one off, it might bite you."

"To show pleasure in brutality." Umbridge wrote a line of text on the writing board with delight.

"Um... Professor, I think there might be some room for discussion about this statement!"

"Does Mr. Gaius have a problem?"

"No, how could I possibly have a problem!"

"However, I have a small question for Professor Umbridge." Aaron pursed his lips. "Professor, do you consider cats to be dangerous animals?"

"Of course not," Umbridge replied without hesitation.

"If you provoke the cat, will it scratch you?"

"What... what do you want to say?"

Aaron looked at Umbridge's writing board and said meaningfully, "I just think this sentence isn't quite right. What do you think?"

Of course, if the Ministry of Magic were to classify cats as dangerous animals, then disregard everything I said.

Umbridge took several deep breaths and crossed out the line in front of Aaron.

Are you satisfied now?

"You can't say that; you can only say Professor Ying-Xian."

"Hagrid, you don't mind if I ask one of the students a question, do you?" Umbridge gave Aaron a provocative look, then looked at Pansy Parkinson in Slytherin. "Miss Parkinson, do you think you can understand Professor Hagrid?"

"Ah..." Pansy hesitated and looked at Aaron. She really wanted to seize this opportunity to kick someone when they were down, but there were some people she had to give face to.

After all, he was a student at Slytherin. Although Aaron was relatively low-key, his prestige in Slytherin was second only to Headmaster Snape.

"Why are you looking at him? Look at me." Umbridge walked up to Pansy and blocked her view. "Don't hold back. Tell the truth. I'll back you up."

"Let's tell the truth!" Aaron said, unconcerned.

Pansy was on the verge of tears. Was this the truth she knew? What if she was wrong?

"Say what you want. Professor Umbridge won't give up easily today if she doesn't get the answer she wants."

Pansy immediately understood and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Being caught between these two people was not a pleasant experience at all.

"Professor, Professor Hagrid's lectures are indeed difficult to understand."

Umbridge nodded in satisfaction and quickly jotted something down on the writing board.

"Cough cough!"

Aaron suddenly coughed.

Umbridge paused for a moment, pretending not to hear.

"Professor," Aaron walked directly up to Umbridge, "I have a little suggestion that you might find interesting."

"I'd rather not," Umbridge politely declined, raising the whiteboard in her hand. "Miss Parkinson gave me a very fair assessment."

"That's natural, but... it's somewhat unfair for the Ministry of Magic to send a High Inquisitor to investigate only Slytherin. If word gets out, it will damage Minister Cornelius Fudge's reputation..."

"Shut up!" Umbridge roared in anger, but after a moment's hesitation at the dozens of eyes around her, she smiled warmly. "Mr. Gaius, why don't you tell me your suggestion?"

"It's simple, I guarantee it's fair and impartial," Aaron said confidently. "Pansy is Slytherin Prefect, so her words are very representative, but I think Gryffindor Prefect should be just as representative, right?"

Upon hearing this, Hermione and Ron exchanged a smile. If the initiative was in their hands, everything would be different; at least Hagrid would definitely be safe.

Umbridge froze, feeling incredibly humiliated. This was the first time in over two months at Hogwarts that she had suffered such a profound injustice.

Asking the Gryffindor Prefect for an evaluation would be tantamount to telling her to let Hagrid, Dumbledore loyalist, go.

"Uh... Mr. Gaius, isn't that unnecessary?"

"Whatever you say, but what if word gets out..."

"No, no." Umbridge immediately interrupted, then crossed out the comment on the whiteboard for the third time, "I just think it's a bit hasty."

"Alright! Since you've said so, Professor, you must have your own reasons."

Umbridge forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace. If she hadn't crossed out that comment, things would probably have turned out very differently.

"Longbottom, you can see the Thestral, right?"

Whose death did you witness?

"My grandfather," Neville said in a low voice.

"What do you think of them?" Umbridge pressed. "Are you afraid?"

"Hmm... they're all fine," Neville said nervously.

"The students are afraid to admit they are scared." Umbridge said as he wrote, and soon a new line appeared on the whiteboard.

"Cough cough!"

Hearing the cough, Umbridge felt as if a volcano had suddenly erupted in his heart, and anger shot straight from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

She had been coughing during other students' classes all this time, but unexpectedly, she was caught off guard today and was overshadowed by a student.

Sizzle!

Umbridge tore a page off the writing board, then turned around and glared angrily at Aaron. "Mr. Gaius, is there anything else?"

"Uh... Professor, you might have misunderstood something." Aaron rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I just have a sore throat lately, please continue."

Dolores Umbridge:...

I won't breathe, I can control my breathing, my body is my own to protect.

He can help Hagrid once, twice, or even three or four times, but he can't help him forever.

"That concludes our investigation of Professor Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures." Dolores Umbridge put away his writing board, then looked at Hagrid with a meaningful expression. "Since Professor Hagrid, you returned rather late, we'll need to conduct a few more investigations. You don't mind, do you?"

Hagrid paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"That's good." Dolores Umbridge gave Aaron a slight smile and hurriedly left the classroom.

"Ahem!" Hagrid coughed. "Now let's continue the lesson."

This is Uwu. It is the first Thestral to emerge from this forest, and also my favorite.

Thestral are a breed of Pegasus, and once tamed, they become loyal to their owners.

They have an excellent sense of direction; just tell them where you want to go and they'll take you there. And they're incredibly fast, faster than Flying Broomstick, even faster than Buckbeak ..."

Everyone gained a basic understanding of the Thestral and did not encounter any danger.

However, due to the superstitious belief that Thestral are unlucky in the Magic World, students have a deep-seated awe of them, and very few dare to approach and interact with them.

More than half an hour later, Hagrid's first class after his return officially ended.

He strode up to Aaron, and Draco and the others, seeing this, wisely left.

"Thank you so much this time, otherwise Dolores Umbridge would have belittled me so badly."

"You're welcome." Aaron waved his hand dismissively. "You gave me a bunch of Fantastic Beasts feathers, it would be too rude of me to ignore it."

He held Hagrid, his supplier, in very high regard. If Hagrid were to be expelled from Hogwarts by Dolores Umbridge, he feared he would have to collect Fantastic Beasts feathers himself from the Forbidden Forest in the future.

"However, I still have to remind you that you can't guard against a thief forever. Dolores Umbridge not let you off so easily."

"I could see it too," Hagrid said sadly. "I felt her malice the moment I saw her."

"We warned you," Hermione said, "A very serious warning."

"How could I have imagined she was so disgusting!"

Hagrid was indignant. He had lived most of his life and thought that no one except the Dursley could change his perception of things. He never expected to run into such an oddball.

"But Thestral are certainly interesting," Harry said. "They remind me of Buckbeak."

"Would you like to sit up for a bit?" Hagrid asked meaningfully.

Harry was somewhat tempted, but then he thought that Dolores Umbridge might find out about this, and it would be terrible if it had a negative impact on Hagrid.

"Uh... maybe next time!"

As October approached and Christmas drew near, the Prefect monitor's workload increased.

In addition to organizing people to decorate the castle, they also had to take care of the younger students who were getting a little too active because of the holidays.

Aaron was even busier, as he also had to organize the Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The Room of Requirement, the last class before Christmas.

Thirty students from different grades and colleges sat in chairs, while Aaron on the podium spoke with a serious expression, "The Stunning Spell, the incantation is to Stupefy, and the effect is to stun the enemy."

This is the most commonly used spell in Dark Magic Defense; it has relatively low offensive power but also consumes relatively little magic power.

"Raise your hand if you know this spell now."

As soon as he finished speaking, all thirty people raised their right hands in unison.

Aaron chuckled silently; the scene was exactly the same as when he taught them the Disarming Charm.

"Let me make this clear from the start: if you know it, you know it; if you don't, you don't."

I'll give you one more chance. If you already know it all, then I won't teach you anymore; you can just start training directly.

The Crevy brothers hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly lowered their hands. Besides them, there was a Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuff.

"Sigh! I hope everyone can be more honest in class from now on, after all, this isn't for me to learn from." Aaron said speechlessly, then turned the ground into a giant soft cushion.

"Harry, you'll be in charge of teaching them a few."

"I?"

"Of course it's you. You're not incapable of using the Stunning Spell."

"Knew."

"The remaining 10 people will practice in pairs."

The group dispersed on their own, and soon the sound of people Stupefy echoed through the classroom.

Aaron patrolled the classroom to prevent any accidents from happening during practice.

When Fred and George saw him coming, they flanked him from both sides.

"Have you forgotten something?" Fred asked pointedly.

"We've already mastered one spell," George added. "What about the Patronus Charm?"

"Well..." Aaron for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Let's teach him after the Christmas holidays!"

"Ah?"

"What? You guys don't actually think you can learn the Patronus Charm in one class!"

The two exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.

They were still aware of their own limitations; the Patronus Charm was a highly difficult magic, and they weren't really confident they could learn it in a short time.

The class ended quickly, and the group left the Room of Requirement in twos and threes under the cover of night.

Aaron returned to the Common Room and went straight to the Divine Thunder Hall. The hall was covered with a thick layer of white snow, and silver crystals hung upside down from the ceiling, glittering brightly.

Several Shadow Ninja are decorating a giant Christmas tree to create a festive atmosphere.

"Merry Christmas," the Thought Form greeted.

"Let's go!" Aaron stretched and lay down on a bed. "I can finally relax before the holiday ends."

These past few days have kept me incredibly busy, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts to thirty Warlock of varying skill levels. Preparing lessons, training, and sometimes even providing one-on-one tutoring.

"So that's why you feel so justified in leaving all the homework to me?"

"You've misunderstood. There's no tutoring class, and the homework is still assigned to you."

"I thought so too." The Thought Form said irritably, then transferred all of its experience in inscribing Magic Array this semester into the mind of the main body.

Aaron's face lit up with joy upon receiving the message.

With the experience gained over the past few months, I can now complete the ultimate Magic Array of the elemental magic in half a minute.

Light Magic and Dark Magic advanced Magic Array can be cast almost instantly, but these two types of high-level magic consume more energy, so they should be used with caution.