Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Chapter 922: Umbridge's Speech

Harry was too used to their bickering to bother trying to reconcile them.

He felt it was a better use of his time to eat his way steadily through his steak-and-kidney pie, then a large plateful of his favorite treacle tart.

Yes, Harry and Ron didn’t care, but Evan had to take the responsibility of calming Hermione’s anger.

But it was easy, he was already very experienced, and he had just to divert Hermione’s attention.

It worked every time, whether it was a kiss, a new topic, or something else…

Evan told Hermione what he had just planned. She was really interested and began to discuss it with him.

They thought it should not be delayed, and were ready to take action this weekend.

In the name of the Head Boy, Evan would gather all the first-years for the reason that he would lead them to get acquainted with the campus.

If everything went well, this activity could be held for a long time…

Of course, enough time should be set aside to help Harry, Hermione and the others improve their strength and learn magic. Evan also thought that the number of people could be appropriately expanded, but this kind of thing was too sensitive, so it had to be approached carefully, starting from inside Gryffindor.

He would wait until everyone realized that they couldn’t learn anything from Umbridge, and then expand the scale further.

Finally, all the students had finished eating, the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, and everyone was feeling a little drowsy.

At this moment, Dumbledore got to his feet once more.

Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster.

“Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices,” said Dumbledore. “First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students … and a few of our older students ought to know by now too.

“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch’s office door.”

Almost all the list was of prohibited items, and there were more than 30,000.

In recent years, almost all of the added products were Fred and George’s joke products. Fortunately, Filch had not yet figured out that the new prank products were a brand, all made by the Weasley twins he hated the most.

When he knew this, he would probably include all Weasley jokes in the list of prohibited items.

“We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause in the hall, and everyone seemed to think Umbridge was terrible.

As for Professor Grubbly-Plank, she was already very old, and she certainly wouldn’t be able to teach for long, but temporarily replaced Hagrid.

After the applause stopped, Dumbledore continued, “Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the…”

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge.

As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, “Hem, hem,” and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise.

Professor Sprout’s eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, Professor McGonagall’s mouth was as thin as ever seen before, and Snape also had a gloomy look. It was as though Umbridge owed him a lot of money.

In fact, no new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. This was something that had never happened.

Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

Only those who knew Umbridge’s background couldn’t laugh.

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Professor Umbridge simpered, “for those kind words of welcome.”

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish, which made people feel a rush of dislike.

Umbridge was not young anymore. Evan wanted to know how she made such a voice, was it false?

And her dressing style, that fluffy pink cardigan, was also very dislikable.

But the most unacceptable thing was her unspeakable temperament, which was annoying.

Taking into account her background and personality, it was even more annoying!

“Hem, Hem!” Umbridge gave another little throat-clearing cough, and continued: “Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!” She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. “And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!”

Evan could be sure that apart from her, none of the thousands of faces in the Great Hall looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

“I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I’m sure we’ll be very good friends!”

Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

“I’ll be her friend as long as I don’t have to borrow that cardigan,” Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles.

Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again, but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice.

She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

“Let’s get to the point. The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching.”

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