"Harry, you're all right! That's wonderful." Though she was in the Library, Qiu had been completely unable to settle down to studying. When she saw Harry return, she immediately spoke in delighted surprise.
"Silence!" Madam Pince's voice rang out from above in Harry's and Qiu's ears, but none of the other young wizards around them were affected. Clearly, the voice had been magically altered so that only Harry and Qiu could hear it.
Qiu stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, then took Harry's hand and jogged out of the Library with him.
Once they were outside, Qiu immediately gave Harry a great big hug. "I was worried sick."
Feeling the older girl's delight and joy, Harry couldn't help growing happy himself. He hugged Qiu's soft, sweet-smelling body tightly and said, rather smugly and boastfully, "Who do you think I am? What could a mere Umbridge do to me?"
"Listen, Harry." Qiu loosened her hold on Harry slightly, then said with a serious expression, "Don't let your guard down. Umbridge has the Ministry of Magic behind her, after all. From the way things stand, even Dumbledore seems to have compromised with the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let someone like Umbridge become a professor. You should still be careful. Don't fall into her hands."
Although Harry felt after today's events that Umbridge was nothing special, he still very much enjoyed the older girl's concern and obediently nodded.
Then the two returned to the Library together.
This year, Harry didn't have the luxury he'd enjoyed last year of not having to do homework. The fifth-year workload was definitely the heaviest of all the years.
Although it might not have been as difficult as the work of sixth- and seventh-year students taking advanced classes, fifth-year results determined whether students could enter