Ron's Attitude

The next morning, as people passed through the Entrance Hall, they suddenly noticed a large notice on the bulletin board at the entrance of the Great Hall.

[Hogwarts High Inquisitor Decree]

"To regulate school activities, all student organizations, associations, teams, or clubs must register with the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge)..."

Students who were about to go to the Great Hall for breakfast gathered around the bulletin board, discussing the matter. They didn't understand why the school had suddenly added such a rule, and they were also worried about whether it would affect the clubs they participated in.

Kyle, who was outside the crowd, naturally saw the notice as well.

It seems that Umbridge has her own ideas and has not adopted all of his suggestions.

However, there have been some changes. She previously wanted to disband all the clubs and then reorganize them, but now all she needs to do is register and file a report.

Although there is no essential difference, it can save a lot of time.

Next to the bulletin board was a table where Filch sat with a stack of parchment in front of him.

"Everyone who needs to register, come here. I'll take care of this!" Filch said loudly, with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"The leader should come and write down everyone's names, the time of the event, and the location."

"No activities can be held until registration is completed."

There was a long queue in front of him, stretching from the notice board all the way to the main entrance.

Cedric was among them, and he was listed first. Kyle looked over just as Cedric finished writing.

"They've included Quidditch in their count." He quickly walked over and said after noticing Kyle, emphasizing the words "Quidditch team."

"But it's all over now. Everyone knows the Quidditch team, there's no point in hiding it. Just write down the name."

A moment later, Hermione and Harry rushed over.

"Hey, did you guys see that...?"

"The notice in the Entrance Hall."

"Do you think it's possible that she knows something?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"That's for sure," Kyle said. "But don't worry, she doesn't know the specifics, she'll be fine."

"Then why did she release such an announcement?"

"Because anyone who dares to report it is definitely fine," Hermione said directly. "That way, if she catches us having another gathering in the future, she can have a legitimate reason to accuse us."

"However, she'll have to catch us first."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, and just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt someone tugging at his arm.

It's Ron.

"Let's go, Harry." He had a stern face, looking like he wanted to leave as soon as possible. "Don't reveal too much; someone might have snitched."

As he spoke, he glanced at Kyle, seemingly casually.

"This..." Harry hesitated for a moment, but in the end he couldn't resist Ron and was dragged away by him.

"I'm sorry, Kyle," Hermione said, somewhat angrily, "Ron is like this because of his brother. I think you two must have some misunderstanding."

"I know," Kyle said.

He had expected this to happen ever since news of his "fight" with the Weasley brothers spread.

Because only they themselves know the truth about this; no one else, including Hermione, knows.

This was also to prevent them from letting something slip. After all, Kyle had seen Harry and Ron "loudly plotting" in the corridors more than once, and if they found out the truth, the risk would be quite high.

Hermione, seeing Kyle's nonchalant expression, suddenly asked, "You guys must have some kind of plan, right?"

"Why do you say that?" Kyle asked.

"Because Fred and George haven't gone to the Hospital Wing yet," Hermione said.

"This little thing is nothing to Madam Pomfrey; it can be fixed in a few minutes. But they would rather cover their faces every day than go to the Hospital Wing."

"It's like... deliberately reminding others that they got into a fight with you, which is very abnormal."

"Who knows..." Kyle said noncommittally, "Maybe they just think that look is more appealing."

"Come on, Hermione, we have class soon." Ron's voice came from not far away again.

Hermione frowned, and seeing that Kyle had no intention of explaining, she prepared to go back as well.

"Oh, right," Cedric suddenly remembered something and said, "Remember to tell Angelina that the announcement also includes the Quidditch team, and tell her to find time to register, otherwise you might not be able to apply for training at the stadium."

"Okay, I understand," Hermione said, then returned to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Harry.

"That girl is really smart," Cedric said with a smile. "She's almost guessed it already. Why don't you tell her the truth? After all, she was the one who suggested teaching herself Defense Against the Dark Arts. Telling her shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"If it's just her alone, it'll be fine," Kyle said, "But she'll definitely tell Harry and Ron later, so the fewer people who know, the better."

"That makes sense." Cedric nodded. "But aren't you bothered by Ron's attitude towards you?"

"What's there to care about?" Kyle said with a laugh. "Besides, strictly speaking, the worse he treats me, the better. That way it will seem more real, Umbridge will be more convinced that we really have fallen out."

"If he knew the truth, he wouldn't be able to act out that feeling at all."

"That's true."

At that moment, a large flock of owls flew into the Great Hall, and the group stopped discussing Ron.

Kyle glanced at the Daily Prophet as usual; the front page featured a photo of the Weird Sisters and news of their upcoming performance in Cornwall.

Another wizard, in an attempt to play a trick on Muggle, cast a spell on all the yards on the street, causing the plants in the lawns to grow to ten feet tall overnight.

Finally, there's the word guessing game in the Daily Prophet.

The news was all trivial, without a single familiar name, which meant that nothing major had happened in the Wizarding World recently, and everything was calm and peaceful.

Kyle put down his newspaper, looked up, and saw Filch walk in and hand a thick stack of parchment to Umbridge at the High Table.

"When did she arrive?"

"Just now, a minute ago," Cedric said, glancing at Filch who had picked up the parchment again.

"That's strange, it seems Umbridge has left this whole thing to Filch."

"What's so strange about that?"

"What I mean is, isn't Umbridge the most attention-seeking person?" Cedric said. "She's always eager to show off her power in front of students or other professors, and this should be a good opportunity."

"A single regulation that gets everyone lining up to sign must have given her a great sense of accomplishment, so why did she delegate it to Filch?"

"She probably thought it was a rather tedious job," Kyle said. "Anyway, she's already achieved her goal. All that's left is to write down a few names, times, and places. It doesn't matter who comes."

"Moreover, there are quite a few clubs or organizations in the school, probably around fifty or sixty in total, and it would be quite tedious to record them all."