The bell rang, Umbridge left the classroom, saying, "We'll be checking today's material next class." Kyle stretched his stiff limbs, stood up, let out a long breath, and asked in a clearly tired voice, "How are you feeling?"
"What do you mean, how about it?"
"What's your assessment of this lesson?" Kyle gestured towards the direction Umbridge had left.
To be honest, it's hard to give a proper evaluation.
"I don't think I'll be coming back to Dark Magic Defence Class," Morris replied casually.
He doesn't have time to memorize all that nonsense.
Kyle gave a wry smile. " Umbridge will most likely not agree. She's not friendly towards us."
Morris shrugged and didn't reply.
Any excuse will do.
For example, they might be conducting secret research and don't have time for it.
After all, he was a member of the Ministry of Magic.
Umbridge should give him some face.
The next day at noon.
"Knock knock!"
"Please come in."
After receiving permission, Morris pushed open the door to Umbridge's office and went inside.
Looking around, the interior decor perfectly matched his imagination of Umbridge.
Pink, pink everywhere. The curtains are pink, the tablecloth is pink, and even the walls are painted a light pink.
It's really... hard to explain in a few words.
" Black," Umbridge smiled slightly, gesturing to the chair opposite him, "Please have a seat. Would you like some tea?"
"No need, thank you." Morris sat down opposite her.
Before he could get to the point, Umbridge spoke first.
"I've heard the minister mention you." She tilted her head, looking Morris up and down. "The minister thinks very highly of you."
She paused, as if waiting for Morris to make some kind of reaction.
But Morris merely nodded slightly, his expression unchanged.
Umbridge continued, "Which department are you interning in? Ah, forgive my poor memory, I've been so busy lately."
" The Department of Mysteries," Morris replied briefly.
"Oh, right, the Department of Mysteries." Umbridge's expression was subtle. "What research projects are you in charge of?"
Morris shook his head. "You should know that our research is confidential."
"Even I can't know?" A hint of displeasure flashed in Umbridge's eyes.
"Unless you have the minister's permission," Morris replied calmly.
In fact, according to Hardy, the Department of Mysteries ' research is highly confidential, and even Gibbon cannot force the Unspeakable to reveal all the contents of their research.
This is a rule established when the Ministry of Magic was founded, and no one has broken it for hundreds of years.
Upon hearing this, Umbridge's displeasure vanished, and she smiled slightly.
"Alright, alright, I understand." Her voice was still high-pitched, but her tone softened. "I won't inquire about the Department of Mysteries anymore. So, what are you here for?"
Morris didn't beat around the bush and immediately said, "It's related to my work at the Ministry of Magic. I need time to focus on my research project there. Therefore, I'm afraid I'll be missing most of the Dark Magic Defence Class from now on. The same goes for the other classes; the professors have all agreed."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Umbridge quietly, waiting for her reaction.
Umbridge fell into deep thought.
" Black," she finally looked up, her sweet smile returning, "I understand your needs. The work at the Ministry of Magic is indeed important, especially the research in the Department of Mysteries. However, I cannot make an exception for you alone."
Morris shook his head. "There's no room for discussion on this."
Umbridge's smile suddenly froze, and she looked up in disbelief.
this...
Why would the other person speak to her in that tone?
Morris was also helpless.
If the other party agrees, then everyone will be happy, and he won't need to do anything further.
"I'll ask you one more time, Professor Umbridge, can I skip the next Dark Magic Defence Class?"
As Morris spoke, he channeled his Mental Power towards the other person's brain.
It went very smoothly; he encountered almost no decent resistance.
He had assumed that Umbridge, as a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic, would at least possess some skills in controlling one's mind.
It turned out he was overthinking it.
Umbridge was not a powerful mage.
However, Morris's invasion of the other's brain was not to steal his memories, but to implant the idea that Morris Black's application was reasonable and should be approved.
That's all.
This was a little bit of Dark Magic he learned from a dark wizard during his summer vacation trip to the underground wizarding market in Somerset.
The dark wizard, right in front of Morris, used this method to get a vendor to give him a piece of dragon liver for half price, practically giving it away.
In addition, Morris made some improvements to the magic, incorporating his own Mental Power into it.
Compared to a true Imperius Curse, it is much gentler and leaves no trace; the caster himself will not even notice anything amiss.
Of course, even such a practical magic has its drawbacks.
That is, if the target has even Occlumency understanding of Occlumency, or if their mental will is strong enough, the spell will fail.
Moreover, the moment it fails, the other party will notice.
However, Morris was prepared for failure.
If he fails, he will immediately cast a Memory Charm to erase Umbridge's memory of those few minutes.
It's very simple, isn't it?
"That's about it."
Morris withdrew his Mental Power; the entire process took less than two seconds.
Umbridge blinked, momentarily dazed, but quickly regained her composure.
She picked up a pink cup, took a sip of tea, and said, " Black, I've thought about it carefully. Your work is indeed very important, and I can't let class attendance affect your research in the Department of Mysteries."
Morris did not speak.
The effect was immediate!
"However," Umbridge held up a finger, her expression turning serious, "You must meet two conditions. First, you must participate in the spot checks and exams, and your grades cannot be lower than good. Second, you cannot tell anyone about this."
"Of course." Morris nodded, looking at one of the other's fingers.
After leaving Umbridge's office, Morris walked down the corridor toward the spiral staircase.
He's going to the library later to check out the new books.
Just as I stepped onto the spiral staircase, a familiar figure hurried up from below.
It's Draco Malfoy.
He kept his head down and jogged uphill without looking where he was going.
" Malfoy?" Morris stepped aside to avoid bumping into him.
Draco paused for a moment, but didn't slow down, brushing past him and continuing upstairs.