After leaving the Hog's Head, Hermione was troubled all the way back. Without meeting up with Harry and the others, she returned to the Castle, had Filch tick her name off the list, then avoided everyone else in the Castle and went to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor.
"What's wrong?" Su Er landed and transformed back into human form. Seeing the obvious worry on the girl's face, he asked.
"I heard Mundungus Fletcher say just now that the bandaged person in the pub..."
As soon as Hermione spoke, Su Er knew what the girl was worried about.
"It's all right. Even if Umbridge knows about this, will it make any difference to you organizing a study group? Even if her spy doesn't report it to her, once she learns from somewhere else that students have privately formed a group to learn proper Dark Magic, I don't think she'll simply sit back and do nothing."
"But..."
"Don't forget, Mundungus Fletcher will report this to the Order of the Phoenix, which means Dumbledore will know about it too."
Su Er walked over to the sofa and sank into its soft cushions.
"In other words, the Defence Against Dark Magic group is out in the open now. Once she hears about it, Umbridge is bound to take some action to stop it."
"But don't forget, this is Hogwarts."
"Then will Headmaster Dumbledore..."
"No." Su Er shook his head. "We're not trying to do anything bad. What teacher would stop a group of eager children from doing something to learn?"
That was indeed the case. At least in the early stages, Dumbledore had not interfered at all with Harry and the others forming a Defence Against Dark Magic study group.
"That's true." Hermione nodded her little head thoughtfully.
Naturally, Umbridge