The Admiral of Hogwarts

Umbridge wasn't the first professor to be questioned, and naturally, she wouldn't be the last. However, for most professors, the questioning wasn't as intense.

After all, Umbridge hoped to find a professor at Hogwarts to dismiss as an example, but most of the professors had been there a long time, making it difficult to find a soft target.

Initially, she wanted to target Enterprise, the youngest, but the problem was that Enterprise's work was impeccable, and delving into her personal life risked causing unnecessary diplomatic trouble.

"So now Umbridge is going after our Divination teacher," Hermione said to Hugo at breakfast the next morning. "Marietta said Umbridge almost made Trelawney cry yesterday."

"It seems she's now chosen Professor Trelawney as her target to make an example of," Hugo sighed, shaking his head. "Although Trelawney does seem like a fraud, it's not Umbridge's place to say so."

"There's nothing we can do; this is what the Ministry of Magic has been doing lately," Veneto said, angrily tossing the newspaper onto the table after reading it. "Constantly attacking anyone associated with Dumbledore."

"For example, today's newspaper accuses Tiberius Ogden, the former Wizengamot Elder who resigned, of illegal dealings with the French during a previous trade agreement."

"Unfortunately, our Headmaster Dumbledore is getting old and can't resort to the underhanded tactics he might have used when he was younger," Hugo shook his head.

Honestly, the Ministry of Magic should be grateful they're not dealing with the Dumbledore who was close to Grindelwald back in the day; otherwise, by the end of the term, Fudge and Umbridge's graves would be overgrown with weeds.

But since his sister's death, Dumbledore has set countless rules for himself internally. As a result, Dumbledore, with his moral boundaries in conflict, naturally can't defeat Fudge, who has no such boundaries.

If those people were Death Eaters, they'd be easier to deal with; if necessary, they could be persuaded with magic. Unfortunately, the enemies are members of the Ministry of Magic, and Dumbledore, who has to follow the rules, can't outmaneuver Fudge, who makes those rules.

"Alright, let's go to class; after all, this isn't something we should be concerned with right now," Veneto said. "The next class is Snape's, and we'll be in big trouble if we're late."

"The overall quality of this week's homework was appalling. I can say that with your current academic level, passing the exam with a satisfactory grade will be extremely difficult."

"Many good professions require N.E.W.T.s, so if you hope to achieve something in your future careers, you need to work harder, because my Advanced Potions class only accepts the highest-level students."

"I expect you to put in more effort this week in your essays on the various types of antidotes, or I'll have to give detention to those idiots whose scores don't meet expectations."

Today's lesson was on brewing Strengthening Solutions. After reading the instructions written on the blackboard, Hugo quickly started working.

Compared to the two ship girls, his efficiency in this area was noticeably lower, but fortunately, he managed to brew a green, transparent potion before the end of the class.

"Frankly, Snape does have some issues with his teaching methods," Veneto complained to Hugo on the way back from class. "He's skilled, but he doesn't know how to impart that knowledge to others."

She said this because even at this important review stage, Professor Snape rarely explained anything, and instead, he would loudly shout and criticize students who made mistakes without offering any guidance.

"There's nothing we can do; you can't expect every professor to be as qualified as you'd like," Hugo shrugged. "And honestly, it's a bit of a waste of talent to have a Potions Master like him teaching basics here, so some flaws can be tolerated."

"At least if you listen carefully in class, you'll find that the knowledge he imparts is absolutely full of valuable information, and some of it is knowledge that only true masters understand."

"If you leave school, you'll find that the knowledge we're learning in class is considered a closely guarded secret by some Potions Masters, and you wouldn't be able to access it without years of trust."

"You have a point," Hermione shrugged at this moment. "But then again, learning from someone as cold as Snape isn't easy."

In reality, Snape's problem was just a small issue. For Hugo, the biggest problem during this period, besides the increasing academic pressure, was Umbridge's interference with the school's teaching.

At first, Hugo thought Umbridge would just inquire with the professors, but later he discovered that she spent a lot of time each day randomly sitting in on a professor's class, while simultaneously bossing them around.

In addition, she also began to use other means to try to infiltrate Hogwarts. For example, Zinger and Fishcake discovered that someone outside Hogwarts was trying to intercept letters sent to the school.

"There's been more and more harassment at school lately," Luna suddenly said during a break in practice after class in the room returning to the common room. "It feels like Umbridge brought it."

"You're right, but the real problem doesn't come from Umbridge, but from the Ministry of Magic behind her," Hugo quickly replied after hearing Luna say this.

Although Luna hadn't experienced as much bullying as she had originally because she lived in the same dormitory as Veneto and Hermione, her personality meant that she still didn't have very good relationships with other students.

However, although Luna's personality was a bit eccentric, she wasn't the kind of person who was very withdrawn. On the contrary, she was still someone who valued and was enthusiastic about her friends.

So, during these after-class practice sessions, Luna would naturally be with Hugo and the others, practicing various defensive spells and filling in any gaps in her knowledge of the curriculum.

As for why Hugo and the others could get along well with Luna, it was also very simple, because among the ship girls, there were many guys whose personalities were even more out there than Luna's, so dealing with Luna wasn't too difficult for the ship girls.

"That's right, Fudge has been brewing many conspiracies within the Ministry of Magic, trying to control the Ministry through these methods."

Hearing Hugo's words, Luna suddenly became excited and began to tell him about the various conspiracies that she and her father had speculated about at home.

And as he listened, Hugo discovered that although most of what Luna said was just her and her father's fantasies, quite a few of them revealed the truth within the Ministry of Magic.

For example, although Fudge's overall ability was relatively poor, he had cultivated a group of core loyalists within the Ministry of Magic over the years, and this group of core followers was the most active in attacking Hogwarts recently.

"The Floo Network Office, the Daily Prophet newspaper, it seems Fudge is much smarter than I thought," Hugo exclaimed after briefly counting the people Luna had mentioned.