The Admiral of Hogwarts

As time slowly passed after the start of the school year, everyone gradually learned about this year's curriculum. Naturally, Umbridge's actions in the classroom became a hot topic of discussion.

The heat of this topic was very high; Hugo could even hear some students whispering about the new professor as he walked down the corridors.

By dinner that evening, news of the various conversations in Defense Against the Dark Arts class had spread like wildfire. In just two days, almost everyone knew what Umbridge had done in class.

Naturally, this also sparked a lot of controversy. Apart from Ravenclaw, Hugo saw many people from other houses arguing about things related to Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic these past few days.

"I really don't know why so many people still believe in the Ministry of Magic when they're clearly constantly making trouble!" Hermione said at dinner one day, forcefully cutting the steak on her plate as if she were hacking at Umbridge.

Hermione said this because, although many students had been complaining about the new professor these past few days, there were also quite a few students defending the Ministry of Magic, arguing that the things Umbridge was doing were acceptable and a necessary part of this stage.

Of course, those who said this also had some things in common, such as being born into wealthy pure-blood families, or having family members who leaned towards pure-blood supremacy or were even suspected Death Eaters.

To be honest, even before the start of this year, Hugo wouldn't have been able to grasp this, but after researching a large amount of information in Sirius's house, he had a comprehensive understanding of the situation in the British and even the entire Western European magical world.

"Some people are brainless, some people benefit from this chaotic situation, and some people rely on the Ministry of Magic for a living," Hugo said, shaking his head.

"So, sister, you don't need to be affected by these words. We only need to unite those who are willing to stand on our side, or at least keep them neutral."

"As for those who are destined not to stand with us, they are either enemies or dead weight. We are not gods and cannot save them, so there's no need to be angry about their attitudes."

"I feel much better after hearing you say that," Hermione said, nodding seriously. "We have our own things to do, and there's really no need to worry about too many irrelevant matters."

"Besides, that woman also wants others to be her spies," Veneto, who had been eating, chimed in. "Remember, she said that if we heard anyone say that it's not safe outside, she wants us to report it to her."

"Ah, those Slytherins will surely rush to join that toad's banner with great enthusiasm," Hermione said, scooping a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. "Everyone's lives will definitely be even harder."

Although as a Ravenclaw, Hermione didn't have much interaction with the Slytherins, she could still feel the heartfelt contempt that those pure-bloods had for Muggle-borns on a daily basis at school.

And given the arrogant personalities of those Slytherins, if they colluded with Umbridge, the whole school would definitely be thrown into chaos this year.

"That's obvious," Hugo said, spreading his hands. "She's here, of course, to spy on all of us, and to act as Fudge's thorn in Hogwarts, disrupting things here. That's already obvious."

"The first thing she'll do is naturally to win over those students who are willing to side with her to confront Dumbledore. Otherwise, what would Fudge want her to do? I think she'll probably organize a small group as a test soon—"

"Okay, please stop talking. I just want to have a quiet dinner now," Veneto said, noticing Umbridge walking into the Great Hall. "Let's eat. We have a lot of homework to do after dinner."

Speaking of homework, it has to be said that this year, as O.W.L. students, the amount of homework assigned by the professors is indeed a lot. Hugo felt that at least today's workload was already equivalent to the usual three days' worth.

"How can Dumbledore let this happen?" Hermione suddenly stopped writing in the common room and frowned.

"How can he let that horrible woman be a professor at the school and teach us? You know that what we should be doing now is uniting all the forces that can be united and sorting out the internal affairs, not bringing such unstable factors into the school."

"You're right, but Dumbledore is not only the headmaster, but also the leader of the British wizarding world, so he can only compromise on many things, only abide by the rules, and can't just stubbornly resist," Hugo said, looking at his sister seriously.

"For example, the issue of selecting a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is like this. When Fudge stuffed someone into Hogwarts based on the regulations, the headmaster had no way to stop it."

"But we only have to endure such a professor for one year," Veneto suddenly said slowly from the side. "Don't forget the curse on this position. No professor has been able to stay in the job for more than a year."

Apart from the little interlude of Umbridge, the other teachers were all seriously preparing for the O.W.L. exams when facing Hugo and the other fifth-year students.

In Charms class, everyone reviewed the Summoning Charm. Professor Flitwick emphasized this, believing that it was highly likely to be tested in the exam. Naturally, a lot of homework after class was also indispensable.

Only Professor McGonagall was a good person. Because Hugo and the other three successfully cast the Vanishing Spell in one go and made the snail disappear, the professor exempted them from today's homework.

But the others didn't think Professor McGonagall was so good, because apart from the three of them being exempted from homework, the rest still had to work hard to practice this spell so that they could try it on those snails again the next afternoon.

Hagrid hadn't returned for Care of Magical Creatures class. According to the monitoring of the Sky Space Station, he and Madame Maxime were still in Eastern Europe contacting those giants.

However, judging from the monitoring situation, their contact work was obviously unsuccessful, so Hagrid seemed to have been trying to bring his brother back to England these past few days.

Of course, it was not easy to take a giant away from under the noses of those giants and Death Eaters, so Hagrid and Madame Maxime should be preparing now, seeing if there was an opportunity they could seize.

Professor Grubbly-Plank's lectures could be regarded as quite satisfactory. For example, today's lecture was about the Bowtruckle in the syllabus. This was more conventional than what Hagrid taught, but it was indeed a popular topic in the exam syllabus.

So after the class, these fifth-year Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students felt that it wasn't bad for Hagrid to come back later, at least in terms of preparing for the exam, he was indeed not as good as Professor Grubbly-Plank.

The last professor seen this week was Professor Sprout, and as soon as she started class, she emphasized the importance of the O.W.L.s to them, just like the other professors. Naturally, there was still a lot of homework waiting for them when class was over.

So, when the last Potions class ended on Friday afternoon, Hugo sincerely hoped that this week was just the professors' way of showing their authority. Hopefully, the situation will be better next week.