Just as Hermione had guessed, when Harry and the others reached Umbridge's office, they found that no one was inside.
The door was locked, but that clearly posed no obstacle to Harry and his companions now.
What did give them a headache, however, was that there was no Floo Powder in the earthenware pot beside the fireplace.
"How could this happen?" Staring at the empty pot, Harry and the others were all so astonished that none of them noticed another cat quietly slip away from one of the china plates on the wall.
"Does Umbridge carry her Floo Powder around with her? This is a problem." Hermione slapped her forehead in frustration, clearly never having expected this turn of events.
"What do we do now, then? Go to Hogsmeade?" Neville suggested.
"No. Ordinary fireplaces can't take you straight into the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry's fireplaces are for Ministry personnel and have special settings. Ordinary people can't get in through ordinary fireplaces," Cedric said, shaking his head.
His father and Ron's father both worked for the Ministry of Magic.
But unlike the Weasley family's children, who had little interest in the Ministry, Cedric visited it often-which was how he had met Yi Qianqian there when she came to the United Kingdom on official business and took the opportunity to admire the Basilisk specimen Fudge had borrowed for the Ministry.
Because he visited often, Cedric knew a little more about how the Ministry worked.
"We don't have to go straight to the Ministry," Qiu said. "We could go to Diagon Alley or St. Mungo's Hospital first, then head to the Ministry from there. Wouldn't that be much closer? Once we're in London, we can actually take the Knight Bus."
"Diagon Alley won't work." Luna glanced at the sky outside. "It's already