Hogwarts Academy.
Bellatrix Lestrange had still escaped from Azkaban.
When the ten photographs on the Daily Prophet's front page appeared before Harry, he felt nothing but a headache coming on.
The photos showed a dark-haired woman with sunken eye sockets and upturned lips. She looked as though she were laughing, yet also completely deranged, shouting without pause.
The newspaper clearly stated that the Ministry of Magic had officially announced the previous night that a major mass breakout had occurred at Azkaban, causing serious losses.
Even Minister Fudge confirmed it during an interview. He had already contacted the Muggle Prime Minister and discussed the severity of the incident.
But he did not say that Azkaban's guards had already defected to Voldemort. That was a fact the Ministry of Magic would never admit.
The students of Hogwarts Academy did not pay much attention to such matters. They cared less about them than homework, Quidditch matches, and their endless chatter. That was the benefit of happy education: they never concerned themselves with national affairs.
Hagrid's injuries were growing more numerous. There was even a fresh wound across the bridge of his nose. Harry looked at him in confusion. Hadn't he already returned from searching for giants? Why were his injuries getting worse? But Hagrid hemmed and hawed about other things, never willing to explain where the wounds had come from.
With Bella and the other ten escaping from prison, Umbridge seemed to have gone even madder.
Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six was issued soon afterward, prohibiting professors from teaching students anything unrelated to the subjects they taught.
Yet this decree became a huge joke when Jordan openly accused Umbridge of violating it during her class.
Fred and George playing Exploding Snap at the back of the classroom had nothing to do with Umbridge's Defense