chapter - 68 : Unseen Threats and Hidden Weapons part - 2

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"I think you and Harry would make a beautiful couple."

"Wait, what?" Harry snorted. "Me and Draco?"

"Yes," Luna nodded. "You're very handsome, Harry, it's a nice balance to Draco's prettiness."

Harry studied Draco's flushed face in amusement. "Hmm, I see what you mean. But I think his attitude is a bit off putting."

"It is not!" Draco turned a darker shade of pink. "I'm just as beautiful inside as I am out. Anyone would want to date me."

"Okay, this is starting to get weird," Ron muttered.

"Are you sure?" Harry drawled sarcastically, ignoring Ron's comment. "I don't think I would, Goyle is more my type of guy."

"Goyle? Goyle? You would choose Goyle over me? That witless oath could never hold a candle to me. I am god's gift to all mankind. I am beautiful. I am perfection."

"And it's officially weird now."

"… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Harry watched in extreme dislike as the frumpy woman dressed in her god awful, eye wateringly pink cardigan finished the last of her speech and sat down in her seat at the high table, a smug look on her pudgy face. Dumbledore slowly started politely clapping and was soon joined by the teachers and the few students who hadn't dozed off during her speech.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating." Dumbledore said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying…"

"Illuminating indeed." Hermione muttered, looking very disgruntled.

"You're not telling me you enjoyed that?" Ron asked incredulously. "I'm pretty sure I dozed off a few minutes in."

"I said illuminating not enjoyable."

"How so?"

"She prattled about a lot," Blaise explained. "But some of the things she said 'progress for progress' sake must be discouraged' and especially 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited' revealed the real reason she's here."

"Which is?"

"She's the Ministry's liaison," Hermione hissed through gritted teeth. "She's spying for them, reporting any behavior the Minister may deem as threatening to his position and subtly dealing with it."

"Why would Dumbledore hire her if it's so obvious that that's the only reason she's here?"

"They probably didn't give him much of a choice," Harry said. "Dumbledore has a lot of trouble finding a teacher for Defense because of the curse, the Ministry most likely stepped in and appointed a teacher for him."

"Well at least there's that," Draco said. "The curse will no doubt drive her off by the end of the year, I hope it's because of something horribly gruesome."

"Good morning," Harry smiled at his friends as he sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast the next morning, he received a chorus of mumbled greetings in response. "Everyone sleep all right?"

"As well as could be expected," Neville mumbled, between bites of his bagel. "Bit of tension in the dorm last night."

"Really? What happened?"

"Seamus had a go at you and Dumbledore, said the headmaster was losing his marbles and that you were a crazy, attention seeking prat."

"I was wondering why he's been shooting me odd looks ever since I sat down." Harry looked over to where the Irish Gryffindor was alternating between eating his breakfast and shooting glances at Harry.

"Yeah, his mum's been reading the Daily Prophet, and apparently she's believed every word of it."

Harry's brow furrowed. "But they haven't been saying much about me in the Prophet," he said. "Other than a few snide remarks and digs at my celebrity status."

"Yeah, but they've been saying horrible things about Dumbledore and his claims that Voldemort's back," Hermione said. "But everyone knows that it was you who first announced his return so they just figured that if Dumbledore's crazy then so are you. So with every article that slanders Dumbledore's name, people think of you and it destroys your reputation as well."

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Sheeple."

The group fell into silence as they ate their breakfasts and worked on fully waking up, they only roused from their semi-trances when they made a visit to their house tables to retrieve their schedules.

"What've we got?" Harry asked, after the group had reconvened at the Gryffindor table.

"Nev and I have History of Magic, double Potions and Defense with Slytherin, and Divination." Ron said, glancing carelessly at his schedule.

"Honestly, I don't see why you still take Trelawney's class," Hermione sniffed "It's a bunch of rubbish, you should join in Ancient Runes or maybe us in Arithmancy."

"I think it's a bit late for that," Neville said, pocketing his schedule. "Even if we did have the sudden desire to join either of those classes, which so far we haven't, we'd be starting with the third years, not the fifth."

"That shouldn't stop you! Both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy are fascinating subjects and are sure to help you later on in life, more than Divination anyway."

"We'll be sure to keep that in mind." Neville placated. "Now we best get a move on or we'll be late for class."

The first day of term began with little excitement, it started off with an hour and a half of History of Magic, followed by a break, then Potions, where, after being lectured about the importance of the OWLs, they brewed the Draught of Living Death. After that was lunch, followed by Ancient Runes; then came the class Harry had been both dreading and anticipating, Defense Against the Dark Arts

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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