Umbridge's Little Move

Upon hearing the name Seamus, a sudden commotion arose in the crowd.

As everyone knows, Seamus can add a little bit of explosive effect to any Charms he uses.

They were all very curious and wanted to know what kind of Shield Charm Seamus wore—could it be Explosion Shield?

Neville took a deep breath, the tip of his wand trembling slightly, and aimed at Seamus was ten steps away.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he tried to recall the key points Harry had emphasized in class—unwavering will, clear magic, and a protective instinct.

"Alright, then... Seamus goes first—" Harry raised his wand and said to Neville and Seamus, "Ready—three, two, one!"

"Stupefy (Stunning Spell)!"

Seamus's Charms came to pass, but Neville hadn't practiced in the Dueling Club for nothing. He moved quickly, raising his wand and erecting a Hemispherical Shield.

"Shield Charm!"

The Shield Charm him from Seamus's Charms, and a joyful smile appeared on Neville's chubby face.

The students watching around looked surprised; they hadn't expected Neville to block Seamus's attack so easily.

no?

Is this still Neville?

"I blocked it, Seamus!" he said happily.

"It's too early to celebrate!" Seamus said without further ado, waving his Disarming Charm again. "Expelliarmus!"

Just when everyone thought Neville couldn't hold on any longer, unexpectedly, Neville waved his wand again and quickly deflected the Charms.

The onlookers gasped in surprise once again.

Using a magic wand to break Charms is a very advanced skill!

Is this still the Neville Longbottom we know?

"Well done, Neville!" Seamus praised without reservation. "Try this—Reducto (Crushing Spell)!"

Neville clumsily raised his wand, managing to block Seamus's attack with difficulty.

He was panting heavily, his hands supporting his knees.

He hadn't struggled much to block the three Charms, but he was incredibly nervous just now.

"Catch your breath," Harry said. "Now you'll be switching sides—Mr Mr. Longbottom will be attacking, and Mr. Finnegan will be defending—starting in one minute!"

"Well done, Neville!" the Gryffindor students shouted. "You were right! We always believed in you!"

Neville turned around and smiled at his classmates who were cheering him on.

A minute passed in the blink of an eye, and Neville caught his breath. He raised his wand and aimed it at Seamus.

"Ready, Seamus? I'm about to launch the attack!"

"Come on!" Seamus lined up, ready to go.

"Stupefy (Stunning Spell)!"

Neville unleashed a deadly attack right from the start; a red Charms, accompanied by the sound of wind being cut, flew straight toward Seamus.

Seamus remained completely calm. He raised his wand, concentrating intently on imagining achieving two hundred percent protection—

Thinking about it this way, a brighter and more dazzling blue-white light than the ordinary Protego suddenly burst forth from the tip of Seamus's wand, forming a rapidly spinning, blinding vortex-shaped barrier between him and the Charms.

The surface of the barrier was not smooth as water, but violently churning and twisting, as if there was a violent energy inside that was surging and struggling to find an outlet.

At the edge of that barrier, tiny, golden-red Mars even danced, emitting a hissing, unsettling crackling sound.

Neville's Stunning Spell struck the restless magical barrier.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

Immediately afterwards—

Boom!!!

A deafening roar suddenly exploded in the open space.

Then, the shockwave from the explosion swept violently in all directions from Seamus's barrier, instantly engulfing the nearest Neville.

Poor Neville only had time to let out a cry of surprise before he was thrown backward by the blast wave.

Fortunately, Harry intervened in time and saved Neville.

The students watching were also not unwell; the blast wave hit them, blowing the crowd back several steps.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron shouted. "Seamus! How did you do that?! Is it Shield Charm or Bomb Shield?!"

"I... I just wanted to create a barrier that was 200% effective." Seamus sighed helplessly. "I'm sorry, everyone—I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

"That's amazing," Harry said, clapping his hands. "I really didn't expect you to be able to do that, Seamus. Merlin's pants, that explosive barrier of yours, it's really impressive—I mean, really impressive."

Just then, Seamus's wand tip suddenly made a faint "poof" sound, releasing a small puff of sulfurous smoke.

"What else can I say?" Ron shrugged. "Anyway, I'm definitely not dueling Seamus again. God, I'm really afraid one of his Charms will have an explosive effect and kill me..."

"Perhaps you can look at it more positively," Hermione said beside him. "Given how good his friendship with Neville is, they'll definitely be partners in the future, and it's unlikely to be anyone else—unless a Dark Wizard encounters Seamus."

"Oh." Ron thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Then I will observe three seconds of silence for that Dark Wizard, and may Merlin bless his poor soul."

"Amen." Hermione also bowed her head in silent mourning.

"It seems you've all done quite well in your studies," Harry said, clapping. "Except for the fifth-year students, you should know that learning the Protego isn't difficult for you, right? Look, at least all four of you have executed the Protego perfectly and excellently. Do you sixth and seventh-year students really think you're inferior to fifth-year students?"

This statement doesn't actually hurt the self-esteem of fifth-grade students, since, according to conventional wisdom, fifth-grade students are indeed not better than sixth-grade students.

The problem is that this is not the general situation.

Upon hearing Harry's words, the other students of different ages around him fell into deep thought.

"Well then," Harry said again, "Let's turn our attention back to the Protego. Now, let's prepare for the next pair: Lavender Brown versus... Dean Thomas!"

The progress test on the Protego came to a close amidst laughter and cheers. Even Crabbe and Goyle from Slytherin were able to barely maintain their barriers to block the Charms being fired at each other.

Of course, it's hard not to think that this is due to the excellent matchmaking system of the Slytherin region, which matched these two Troll brothers together, truly a case of evenly matched opponents and talented individuals meeting.

After all... these two Troll brothers... their Charms levels are about the same, which is why their incomplete barriers can withstand each other's attacks.

This is indeed a fault-tolerant mechanism.

"That concludes today's assessment." Harry glanced around at his classmates and said in a steady voice, "I am very satisfied with everyone's progress, but this is just the beginning. I hope you can continue your efforts and achieve even better results in your upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts studies."

"Furthermore," Harry continued, "In recognition of everyone's excellent performance, I've decided to award prizes to each student who demonstrated exceptional skill and successfully cast the Protego."

"A prize?" Everyone whispered among themselves, asking each other. No one had ever heard that there was a prize for participating in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Protego test.

What is the prize?

To be honest, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.

"The prize this time," Harry cleared his throat, "Is a mobile phone made by Mr. LeMay —yes, the legendary Alchemy Nicolas Flamel. Some of you may already know what it is, but I want to tell you that I've prepared a brand new Nicolas Flamel Hogwarts 1995 model mobile phone for each of you!"

Upon hearing Harry's words, everyone fell silent at first, followed by deafening cheers.

Merlin's pants, participating in such a testing activity, and there are actually prizes to be won?

And it's a mobile phone, which is currently very popular?

They knew all too well what a mobile phone was; the oldest Hogwarts 1992 model mobile phone could sell for 200 Galleon on the market!

The latest Hogwarts 1995 model telephone already costs 2,000 Galleon!

Two thousand Galleon —that's an unimaginable sum of money.

And now, Harry is actually taking it out and giving one away to nobody?

The students present all began to breathe rapidly.

This Defense Against the Dark Arts is great! I must learn it, I absolutely have to learn it!

I love learning Defense Against the Dark Arts!

Harry pulled a bunch of Crystal Ball out of his purse. After several improvements, the size of the Crystal Ball was well controlled, and now Crystal Ball could be held in one hand.

"Don't rush, everyone gets one," Harry said. "Line up, each of you come forward to receive yours—and of course, students from other grades, don't rush either. If you participate, there will be similar events in the future."

"Thank you, Harry," everyone said in unison.

Everyone who came up to receive their newest 1995 model cell phone was filled with excitement. They thanked Harry profusely and shook his hand in greeting.

After distributing the last cell phone, Harry spoke again.

"Of course," he said. "If other grades want to participate in the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class, they can submit an application to their Prefect and then audit the fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts Class. If you think the pace is too fast, I will arrange another method. Please check the bulletin board of each house for details."

After saying that, Harry announced the event was over.

The students fiddled with their cell phones, while the others who hadn't gotten one watched eagerly, their envy almost driving them crazy.

Harry had a pleasant weekend. On Monday morning, after class, he went to Hagrid's Hut for a while before leaving with Anne.

After returning to the Great Hall, Harry ate a simple meal and then planned to go back to his dormitory to call Veratia and ask if she had any free time in the next couple of days.

To be honest, even though it's only been two days since we parted, I still miss her very much.

"Oh." Sphinx stood at the entrance to the Common Room, looking down at Harry. "You still have to solve a riddle before you can enter the Common Room."

"Speak," Harry said.

A cunning glint flashed in the Sphinx's eyes.

"A little monkey climbs a tree to pick corn. If he can pick twenty ears in ten minutes, how many ears can he pick in twenty minutes?"

"You won't be able to pick a single one," Harry said, waving his hand. "Because corn doesn't grow on trees—"

"Alright," the Sphinx said, stepping aside with some disappointment. "I thought this novel riddle format would stump you."

"That'll disappoint you," Harry said with a chuckle.

When he entered the Common Room, he saw a group of people gathered around the bulletin board.

Harry curiously stepped forward, wanting to see what everyone was looking at.

A huge notice was posted on the Gryffindor bulletin board, so big it covered everything else—a list of secondhand spellbooks for auction, Argus Filch's regular reminders of school rules, the Quidditch team training schedule, a note for exchanging Chocolate Frog card, the Weasley brothers ' new GG for experiments, the date for spending the weekend in Hogsmeade village, and a lost and found notice.

The new notice was printed in bold black font, with a formal-looking seal at the bottom and a neat, cursive signature next to it.

The Hogwarts High Inquisitor Order:

All student organizations, associations, teams, and clubs are hereby dissolved.

Hereinafter, organizations, associations, teams, and clubs are defined as regular gatherings of three or more students.

A reorganization may be requested from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge), and no student organizations, associations, teams, or clubs may exist without the High Inquisitor's approval.

If any student is found to have formed or participated in any organization, association, team, or club without the approval of High Inquisitor, they will be expelled immediately.

The above regulations are in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four.

sign:

High Inquisitor Dolores Jane Umbridge

Some second-grade students were reading the notice, and those few seemed somewhat worried.

"Will they shut down the Gobstones Club?" one of his roommates asked.

"I think your Gobstones Club is alright."

Ron said grimly, startling the second-year student.

After all, Ron is now Prefect, and he still exerts some pressure on ordinary students.

"But I suspect Umbridge is targeting you," he said to Harry again.

"Targeting me?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Ron said in a low voice. "I suspect she's already got her eye on your Defense Against the Dark Arts. She might allow you to continue teaching fifth graders, but Umbridge probably already knows you want to teach other grades. This document she sent is likely aimed at you!"

(End of this chapter)