Pabbie Steps In

The students below were speculating about what had happened to Professor Trelawney, while Professor Trelawney was already losing control of her emotions in class.

She stood before the fireplace, her eyes, magnified by her glasses, brimming with angry tears, her body trembling slightly.

"Professor?" Parvati asked softly, "Professor, is something... not right?"

Actually, not everyone in this classroom is like Ron, who isn't interested in Divination Class. Parvati and Lavender, for example, really like Professor Trelawney.

Because Professor Trelawney had just given them a brilliant insight during her Divination Class — Professor Trelawney had successfully Prophecy the death of Lavender's pet.

From then on, Lavender held Professor Trelawney in high esteem. As for those death Prophecy? They were just little jokes the professor occasionally made to lighten the mood in class.

"No!" Professor Trelawney exclaimed, her voice trembling with emotion. "Of course not! I was insulted—insinuated—unfounded accusations—but no, I didn't, of course not—"

She took a deep breath, trembling, and turned her face away, tears of anger streaming down her face from behind her glasses.

"I won't mention it," she choked out, "Sixteen years of hard work—obviously nobody noticed, but I shouldn't be insulted, I shouldn't!"

"But Professor, who is insulting you?" Parvati asked timidly.

"Those in power!" Professor Trelawney said in a dramatic, low, trembling voice, "those whose eyes are blinded by worldly concerns, who cannot see what I see, know what I know—of course, we Oracle are always frightening, always persecuted—is this—alas—our fate? Perhaps—"

She choked back a sob, wiped her wet cheeks with the corner of her shawl, pulled a small embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve, and rubbed it hard on her nose, making a sound like the whining of Peeves.

Harry mentally stretched out a line, thinking, "Your great-grandmother—the Oracle Cassandra Trelawney— wasn't persecuted or looked down upon."

The Ministry of Magic would practically worship your great-grandmother.

He couldn't help but think that back when the Old Trelawney the Oracle, even Mr. Septimus had to treat her with utmost respect. How could things be like now, where any random nobody from the Ministry of Magic could stand up and boss people around?

Yes, even though Professor Trelawney Professor Trelawney sometimes seems unreliable, she's never actually made a mistake on important matters—at least her Prophecy that the child born at the end of July would be the nemesis of the Dark Lord was quite accurate.

You see? Even though I always ruin Tom's plans, deep down, Tom actually likes me a little, doesn't he?

"Sigh." Ron sighed; he was now starting to feel a little sorry for Professor Trelawney.

You tell me, Professor Trelawney didn't really do anything, so why was she targeted by Umbridge so much?

Is it really because of Dumbledore that they are targeting the professor he specially recruited?

It's not impossible, but Hagrid —well, Hagrid isn't a professor, Hagrid's just a teaching assistant, and besides, Professor Scamander is protecting him—even if Fudge came, he'd have to give Professor Scamander some face. After all, you can suspect anyone of wanting to usurp power, but Professor Scamander obviously can't be among them.

Why?

Professor Scamander has friends all over the world!

"Professor," Parvati said hesitantly, "You mean— Professor Umbridge?"

"Don't mention that woman to me!" Professor Trelawney shouted, jumping up and shaking her head violently, her glasses flashing. "Please do your homework!"

"You should have asked for help," Lavender said quietly, glancing at Harry as she spoke.

But Professor Trelawney did not respond to Lavender's words, perhaps because Lavender's voice was too soft for Professor Trelawney to actually hear.

For the rest of the time, she paced back and forth in the classroom, tears still dripping from behind her glasses, and muttered to herself from time to time, as if threatening someone.

"Just resign, this humiliation—probation—let's see if she dares to do it—he thought he was threatening someone." Ron whispered, nudging Harry with his elbow.

"What's wrong?" Harry looked up and asked.

"I think," Ron looked up, sniffed, and said softly, "we have to do something, at least not let that pink toad keep causing trouble here. You see, even an honest person like Professor Trelawney has been driven to this state by her—I can hardly imagine what it will be like when she starts targeting Professor McGonagall— "

"How so?" Harry asked again. "Didn't you dislike Professor Trelawney the most? Oh, a little less than you disliked Professor Snape."

"Look!" Ron said dejectedly, "Even if I don't like Professor Trelawney, as she said, she's been at this school for sixteen years, and Divination must have its purpose. Even if I don't like Divination, and I don't like Professor Trelawney, I absolutely don't want to see her being bullied like this. Isn't this a betrayal of Hogwarts' founding principles?"

Harry patted Ron on the shoulder with some satisfaction; he was actually quite pleased with his good friend's reaction.

"We will help her," he said, "But at least not now—we want to destroy them all, we want to drive them mad..."

"Why!" Ron asked reluctantly. "You clearly have the ability and the means to get rid of Umbridge —think about it, Miss Sweeting is school board member, and Miss Grindelwald is the Minister of Greater German Ministry of Magic. And you, my brother, you are more than capable of overwhelming Umbridge, so why won't you give Hogwarts some peace and quiet?"

"As you know, Veratia is the Minister for Greater German Ministry of Magic," Harry sighed. "Think about it, if we use Veratia's power, wouldn't that just confirm the Ministry of Magic's accusation of 'colluding with foreign powers'? Britain wizards don't believe that their country's affairs need to be interfered with by a foreign Ministry of Magic. It's a very sensitive issue—nationalism, you've heard of that word, haven't you?"

"And what about you?" Ron turned his head. "Aren't you perfectly capable of dealing with Umbridge? Why have you kept her at Hogwarts?"

"This is the best way, Ron." Harry ruffled Ron's hair and said to him, "You see, Umbridge is now the Ministry of Ministry of Magic's High Inquisitor. Her every word and action represents the Ministry of Magic. The fact that she's causing such a stir here is exactly what we need, isn't it? Even if we get rid of Umbridge, someone else will take her place. And if that person is a truly intelligent person who can completely infiltrate Hogwarts, that would be terrible—."

Ron seemed to understand something.

"So, you mean to let Umbridge first exhaust all the prestige—well, let's just say it—that the Ministry of Magic has built up over the years at Hogwarts, right?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Harry nodded. "If the vast majority of people become completely disillusioned with the Ministry of Magic, then the Ministry of Magic will no longer be able to interfere in Hogwarts ' affairs."

"I understand you, brother," Ron said, burying his face in his hands, "but seeing Professor Trelawney treated so unfairly, I feel—"

"It'll be alright," Harry said, patting Ron on the back to comfort him.

Finally, he added, "However, after your reminder, I think it's time to call Pabbie back. After all, she's school board member, and she can at least protect innocent people like Professor Trelawney, can't she?"

"Yes!" Ron released his grip, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. "At least we must protect Professor Trelawney during this storm—"

Harry nudged Ron with his elbow.

"Don't say that, it's like someone's going to die—"

"Haha," Ron said optimistically.

Immediately afterwards, a book hit him in the face.

"No whispering in class!" Professor Trelawney roared hysterically. "Is my class really that boring—"

Ron took a deep breath.

When Professor Trelawney turned around, he turned back and his expression changed in a flash. "I've changed my mind, Harry."

Harry burst into silent laughter.

When class ended, Harry slid down the pole, left the Divination Class classroom, and went to a corner.

He dialed Pabbie's number.

"Harry?"

Pabbie's phantom appeared before him, seemingly riding on a monster that looked like a horse.

The monster was completely covered in seaweed and looked incredibly majestic.

"Wait, let me take it back first."

Pabbie spoke, he patted the seahorse's rump and jumped off its back.

"You've had a blast, haven't you?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"Haha!" Pabbie jumped up and down happily, causing a commotion. "Of course I'm happy! This is the most carefree day I've had in a long time! Whew!"

"Stop playing around," Harry said seriously. "Now is the time for Hogwarts to need you!"

"What's wrong? Why are you so serious?" Pabbie glanced at Harry. "Isn't having Anne with you at Hogwarts enough?"

That sounded a bit sour, and Harry felt like someone had spilled some Apple Cider Vinegar.

No, Anne and I are completely innocent...

He glanced up at the classroom with a guilty look and saw Anne waiting for him under the pillar where class had ended.

Seeing Harry's gaze, Anne waved to him.

"There are some things I need you to do," Harry said, turning his head and clearing his throat casually. "You should know that a High Inquisitor has recently been assigned to the Ministry of Magic, right?"

"Yes," Pabbie nodded. "Newt already told me the investigator's name— Dolores Umbridge."

Right? Is that the name?

"Yes," Harry nodded. "She's been stirring things up at Hogwarts lately, causing a huge commotion, and now she's even demanding that Hogwarts disband all its clubs—and, oh yes, she's been extremely critical of Professor Trelawney, even threatening to fire her—"

"Such a thing is true!" Pabbie out his chest, indignantly declaring, "Tell me, what do you want me to do, Harry!"

"It's not about anything," Harry cleared his throat. "I just hope you can fulfill your duties as school board member. Dumbledore out of town right now, so as school board member, you should be the only one in the school who can stand up to Umbridge head-on."

Pabbie glanced at Harry and asked suspiciously, "Can't you do it?"

"Of course I can, but I need you right now, Pabbie," Harry said with utmost sincerity.

Since Harry has said so, Pabbie naturally won't shirk his responsibility.

She nodded solemnly. "Okay, I understand—we'll meet for dinner in the Great Hall."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

After the Divination Class, it was time for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.

In this lesson, Harry plans to have the students continue their intensive training with the Protego and teach them some advanced application techniques.

When he arrived at the classroom that Professor McGonagall had specially prepared for him, he even found many students from other grades sitting there, including the Weasley twins, as well as younger students such as Ginny and Luna.

"Welcome, welcome!" Harry walked to the podium, smiling and greeting everyone. "I see many familiar faces. Welcome to my class."

"Hello, Professor!" the students said in unison.

"To accommodate the new students," Harry cleared his throat and said, "We'll continue learning the Protego in this lesson. Also—for those of you who have already mastered the Protego Protego, I'll teach you some advanced uses of it."

"Of course," Harry said again. "Everyone except those in fifth grade, please raise your hands."

Upon hearing Harry's words, students from other grades raised their hands.

"Oh, I meant one hand," Harry corrected them. "Not like the France, understand?"

Everyone burst into laughter at Harry's joke.

Breastfeeding is something the Britain love to do, and even Britain wizards are no exception.

After the students put down one hand, Harry began counting.

It's alright, there's one more student than the fifth graders.

"Okay," Harry said, "You'll split into pairs, and the fifth-year students will each teach one of your partners."

The extra one will be taught by me personally.

As soon as Harry finished speaking, the students left their seats and began to choose a group of classmates.

To Harry's surprise, Ginny actually chose Ron.

He thought Ginny would choose someone else. It seems Ron isn't considered a bad brother by Ginny?

After everyone had finished distributing their items, Luna was left standing alone in the same spot.

"Alright," Harry said to them, "Now, let's begin teaching the Protego in pairs— Luna, you're in my pair."