"The Toad must be insane."
Watching Filch pin the Educational Decree to the Notice Board, the students gathered around to read it began whispering among themselves.
"The Toad's been at Hogwarts for less than half a year, and she's already issued nearly a hundred Educational Decrees."
"I've never seen anything this outrageous. What is she trying to do? What exactly is the Ministry of Magic trying to do?"
"I heard the Toad's an old hag with a massive control freak streak. If she really becomes Headmistress, we're all done for."
"Keep it down. Do you want to be invited for tea?"
"The Toad isn't even here."
"Who says she isn't? Look over there..."
Following the direction in which his companion pointed, the boy spotted Umbridge standing at the Entrance Hall nearby, watching them with an extremely fake smile. Everyone immediately fell silent, afraid of becoming the next plump, juicy fly caught in the Toad's sights.
From the contents of the new Educational Decree, everyone knew the Toad was probably about to take action.
"Students must submit to questioning regarding suspected illegal activities?"
Hermione, standing among the crowd, stared at the new Educational Decree on the Notice Board, her lips trembling almost imperceptibly.
Not long ago, Dumbledore's Army had held a meeting about this very matter.
What should they do if Umbridge used Veritaserum on DA members in an attempt to obtain information about Dumbledore's Army? Even Hermione had not thought the method offered by the Weasley Twins was a good idea at the time. It was merely an emergency measure when there was no other option.
Only if they could brew an antidote to Veritaserum could they possibly eliminate the threat it posed. But that would not be easy. At least, after looking over the Veritaserum recipe, Hermione did not