Recovery and connection

Dumbledore awoke suddenly at midnight, abruptly sensing that something was changing around him, as if the air had been disturbed, but even after several minutes of alertness, he had to return to bed puzzled without knowing how to locate the problem and with the devices on his wall functioning normally. He asked the previous directors' cadres, but received only responses that nothing was happening or curses for waking them up at that hour.

He did not notice that his winged friend and the Sorting Hat also woke up and looked around with the curiosity worthy of children, as if they understood what happened at that moment and were feeling the changes. The phoenix looked at the elder wizard for a moment, considering something only to end up shrugging his wings and closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

The hat was silent as he stood motionless in deep thought and a figure from years ago flashed through his mind.

Was Hogwarts finally getting a teacher again? Interesting.

-Maybe I had too many of my favorite sweets? -Dumbledore couldn't help but think, remembering that he took a few more than usual due to the stress of handling someone as insufferable as Umbridge.

Even he, Dumbledore, the centuries-old master of donning a mask with a polite smile and conveying the image of patience to even the most aggressive, felt like grabbing Umbridge by the neck and plunging her head into a cauldron full of Living Dead Filter until bubbles stopped coming out.

He had to start considering that his stomach wasn't as young as it used to be and couldn't handle some more demanding meals, looks like he'll have to ask the house elves in the kitchens to prepare milder dishes for him in the future.

Controlling his intake of treats would be quite a personal challenge... even more difficult than his confrontation with Grindelwald in the past.

Meanwhile, the ghosts were the most puzzled when they sensed the changes in the castle and watched as Peeves seemed to convulse for a moment before recovering. As a Hogwarts-born poltergeist, he had a connection to the castle that the ghosts who came from outside could not comprehend and he looked at himself quizzically before a thought crossed his mind.

-For some reason, I think I should focus on playing pranks on just one person this year, for a bit of a change! -he muttered without being aware of it influencing his decision- I think that pink toad would be a good choice! Should I mix dried dung in his tea bag secretly? -he trailed off considering the possibilities as the ghosts who had heard his whispers shook their heads.

They thought something changed, but it turned out Peeves was just looking for someone to mess with long term this year. Boring.

It seemed that Peeves still resented the fact that a second poltergeist had not materialized in the school....

The house elves in the kitchens were blinking and looking at each other as they digested the information sent to them by the castle through the magic feeding them. They were loyal to Hogwarts and now that the school had a master, they too would answer his call.

They were not sad, they all knew the new master and knew that nothing would change, and they could continue their happy lives of working among the hearths. Except...

Well, maybe he would give them new recipes to cook! That would be exciting.

After all, every year the house elves in the kitchens found a different international recipe book for Christmas and their sender was clear.

How else would dishes as far removed from English food as curry, pizza, tacos, sushi and Turkish sweets appear on the Great Dining Room table?

Because in Soisen's opinion, it seems that over the thousand years of the school's existence, only a few rare additional recipes were included courtesy of some more amateur Hufflepuff who also found the meals repetitive after several weeks.

Perhaps most of the dishes remained the same, but at the very least there was room for those students who would seek to broaden their gustatory horizons, savor exotic dishes, or simply break the routine.

And so I could cut down on dishes of, or with, pumpkin.

...The next morning...

-Do you see, Madam Pomfrey? I'm as good as new, it was just a phase," Soisen assured as he let the school nurse check him over to be sure he wasn't lying or playing hard to get.

-Mmm, it really looks like it's all in order," Popy commented still holding a little suspicion about the bedridden wizard, "I want you to stop by the infirmary in a week to give you a follow-up check, just in case. No excuses!

-I promise, Madam Pomfrey," it was the third time she had given her word and she could only silently accept the healer's concern, which she acted with all the good intentions in the world despite how she expressed it.

When he finally returned to the Galegold common room, everyone welcomed him and talked animatedly about everything that had happened during the week he had to spend in the infirmary.

-Tonight, the members of the house are to gather for an important meeting in private. Everyone must be present without exception," he instructed Ginny to spread the word.

During her dull time in bed, she had more than enough to consider how to teach everyone practical DADA lessons that were actually useful and not what Umbridge was doing, making everything purely theoretical.

Later on the Ministry Decrees would start coming in to slowly empower Umbridge, but she didn't care and planned to carry out her plan anyway.

That night, all the students of Galegold House were gathered in what looked like an amphitheater in one of the many rooms they owned. After taking roll call and making sure there were no absentees without extras, he sealed the place and began to explain the reason for the meeting.

What the Ministry's intentions were in sending Umbridge, how she would teach them all based on their own skill levels, how they needed to act so as not to arouse suspicion, what ruses they needed to watch out for, the future (and possible) Decrees that would be coming out, etc.

The more everyone listened, the more outraged the students were by the Ministry and Umbridge, especially the first-year students, who were eager to learn how to cast spells and were not at all happy to hear that they would spend their entire first year just reading and doing theory in a class meant to teach them how to defend themselves.

They were putting their lives at risk just for a damn political stunt!

Finally, Soisen remarked that they could all share what he taught them privately to their friends if they found them trustworthy and wished to help those belonging to the other houses, but they could not come clean about what they were doing inside the House and should only use the excuse that they asked their senior, who was Soisen, for advice.

He would bear any blame and if Umbridge targeted him or one of his own....

Soisen's authority in the House was absolute and the students trusted him far more than some professors at this point, some even shook their heads inside disappointed with Dumbledore for allowing such a person to join the school, whatever the circumstances.

The first year students listened to the exploits of Soisen from their seniors and their eyes lit up like Christmas lights.

Killing a dragon with his own fists? How cool!