The moment Dolores Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy stepped through the great oak doors into the Great Hall, the previously boisterous room filled with the clatter of cutlery, conversations, and laughter, fell silent in an instant. It was as if someone had cast a Silencing Charm over the entire space.
All the young wizards' eyes followed the haughty-looking Umbridge as she walked. Some students whose parents worked at the Ministry of Magic showed subtle unease in their expressions.
This wasn't Harry's first time seeing Dolores Umbridge in person and he certainly wasn't unaware of why Umbridge had come to Hogwarts, what her purpose must be. But still, he said through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched so tight it hurt,
"What is she doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious, Harry?"
Hermione replied angrily, her voice was shaking slightly. Her face had turned pale, drained of all color. Before Harry could respond, she turned to look sharply at the Slytherin table, wanting to see what Draco Malfoy's attitude was toward his father arriving at Hogwarts alongside a high-ranking Ministry official, how he was reacting to this.
What surprised Hermione was that Draco's pale face showed absolutely no sign of joy or triumph at all. Instead, it contained deep unease and something that looked very much like panic. His eyes darted between his father and the staff table.
At the staff table, all the professors had abandoned their meals and left their seats, standing up as one to present a united front. They watched Umbridge with cold, hostile eyes.
Some didn't even bother to hide the open hostility in their expressions—Professor McGonagall looked ready to hex someone, Flitwick's generally cheerful face was set in hard lines, Sprout's motherly warmth had vanished.
Only Dumbledore and Bryan remained quite calm, and still sitting.
Finally, after her theatrical walk through the hall, Umbridge stopped and stood before the staff table. She raised her toad-like face, adorned with a triumphant smile that made her look somewhat ferocious, almost frenzied.
"I've arrived, Dumbledore, Watson—"
Her shrill, girlish voice echoed back and forth in the pin-drop silent hall, amplified by the stone walls.
It was time for a showdown, a confrontation that had been building for months, and Umbridge made absolutely no effort to conceal her satisfaction.
"Although you did everything possible to prevent me from entering Hogwarts, used every trick and excuse available, Dumbledore, Watson—I'm here now. Finally here."
Lucius Malfoy tried desperately hard to convince himself that the current scene was all part of the plan, all going according to what they'd discussed. But being within Watson's direct line of sight, feeling those purple eyes on him, he was still breaking out in cold sweat despite the coolness of the hall. Droplets of sweat had formed on his forehead.
As for this woman Umbridge's arrogant, foolish statement, delivered with such self-satisfaction, he was already mourning for her in his heart. She had no idea what she was walking into.
"Hogwarts never refuses well-intentioned people, Madam Umbridge—"
Dumbledore looked at Umbridge calmly and solemnly, his voice was loud and clear through the hall.
"Unless that person harbors ulterior motives against this school and its students."
Bryan glanced at Dumbledore with some surprise, his eyebrows were raising slightly. The first half of Dumbledore's statement was absolutely his usual style. But the latter half was unusually sharp.
It seemed that Dumbledore was extremely irritated by the Ministry's relentless pestering, by their continued attempts to challenge him and brand him as an old senile fool.
"No matter what you say, Dumbledore, no matter how you try to spin this—"
Since both sides had clearly reached the point of tearing off the facade of civility, abandoning all pretense, Umbridge was too lazy to pretend respect for supposedly the greatest wizard of the contemporary magical world. She laughed contemptuously.
"In the end, it's still the Ministry of Magic that achieved victory here. We won. Oh, I must tell certain people here who still harbor foolish fantasies or whose minds are unclear about reality—"
Umbridge cast a deliberately mocking look at Professor McGonagall, who was glaring at her with such fury that her nostrils were flaring.
"Any attempt to oppose the Minister of Magic and lawful magical decree will ultimately meet with shameful failure! You cannot win against the government!"
"Hogwarts does not seek to oppose the Ministry of Magic as an institution, Madam Umbridge. That has never been our goal. We only want to tell people the truth—the truth that the current Ministry lacks the courage to face "
Dumbledore still spoke calmly, though tension showed in his rigid posture. He glanced subtly toward the end of the Gryffindor table—Harry's angry state made his heart sink slightly.
"I don't think we should disturb the children's meal over some adult ideological conflicts, Madam. Umbridge. If you're willing, we can go to my office to discuss this matter privately. I presume you've brought some official directives from the Ministry?"
"Oh, not from the Ministry, but from the Hogwarts Board of Governors—" Umbridge said with a smile.
"And why should we go to your office, Dumbledore? Why hide away? In my view, this is an absolutely perfect occasion for what needs to be said."
Umbridge turned around slowly, looking triumphantly at the mostly resistant, hostile young faces at the four long house tables. Some younger children lowered their heads immediately in fear the moment their eyes met hers, intimidated by her.
"The students are all gathered here conveniently, and I happen to have some important matters to address with them... oh, mainly to expose some dangerous lies they've been told, to correct certain misconceptions."
Dumbledore's usually calm expression finally darkened, like storm clouds gathering. His eyes became icy cold.
He didn't personally care about damage to his own authoritative image or reputation—such things were secondary. But Umbridge was clearly planning to use lies to deliberately obscure the truth, to spread Ministry propaganda. And in front of the vulnerable students no less. That he could not tolerate.
"Oh, hehe, you want to have this discussion right here? In the Great Hall?"
Bryan finally spoke, breaking his silence. His light laughter fell into Lucius's ears like a death knell, immediately making his heart skip several beats. Malfoy instinctively took two subtle steps away from Umbridge, distancing himself.
"If you feel embarrassed, Watson, if you'd prefer privacy for your humiliation—"
Umbridge raised her eyebrows, smiling with evident happiness, clearly relishing this moment. But before she could finish her taunt, she was interrupted.
"You just said you brought orders from the Board of Governors—" Bryan said, his smile calm and pleasant. "So please speak. Tell us what you have."
Seeing his expression, that particular smile—the anger and tension on the faces of the professors at the staff table eased considerably. Everyone familiar with Bryan knew his style well after years of working together. This senior undersecretary of the Ministry was probably about to be in serious trouble, and she didn't even realize it yet.
"What could it be?"
Ron asked in a voice that tried to sound laughing but came out strained, his face was pale from being frightened by the tense, confrontational atmosphere crackling in the hall.
"What else could it be? It's obvious."
Hermione said coldly, still glaring at Umbridge with pure disgust. "She's going to announce herself as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. That's what all this theater is about."
"Oh, giggle, are you playing dumb, Watson? Pretending ignorance?"
Umbridge covered her mouth and laughed in that horrible, girlish way that made people's skin crawl.
"Or are you afraid to face your own failure, your defeat?"
She pulled out a rolled piece of parchment from her pink coat pocket with a flourish and unfolded it dramatically before Dumbledore and Bryan, holding it up like a trophy.
"This is an official appointment letter from the Board of Governors, Dumbledore, Watson. Look at it. More than two-thirds of the board members have signed it with their own hands. It's completely legal and binding."
Umbridge looked up at the two of them with gloating satisfaction, her heavy eye bags were quivering with suppressed laughter.
"I have been officially appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! It's done!"
"Oh, how unfortunate for you—"
George's undisguised voice rang out clearly, triggering a wave of laughter that echoed through the Gryffindor table and beyond.
"This course has never had a professor who was taken down before even starting the position. You'd be the first!"
Umbridge's face, which had been pink with triumph, stiffened as she stood there flaunting the appointment letter. She twisted her head around sharply, glaring ferociously in the direction of the voice with malice. But George puffed out his chest defiantly, staring back at Umbridge absolutely fearlessly, his chin raised.
Fred beside him matched his brother's posture, presenting a united front.
To be completely honest, Bryan hadn't originally planned to handle things this way. He had initially planned to use a legitimate procedural reason to directly reject this appointment—which had only come about through his own careful arrangements anyway.
By refusing, he would force the Ministry and the Board of Governors toward extremes, push them into overreaching.
But seeing the arrogant and overbearing foolish woman before him, watching her preen and posture, a hint of cold mockery flashed in Bryan's light purple eyes.
Why not have some fun with this?
"I'm afraid you're not qualified enough to be my colleague, Umbridge—"
Bryan's stern voice, cutting through the tension, startled Umbridge. Her eyes widened. But when she recovered from her surprise and came to her senses, she displayed an even more ferocious smile, showing teeth.
"You have no right to refuse this appointment, Watson. The Board of Governors has issued the official appointment letter. Hogwarts must execute the Board's orders—that's the law. And, I think you've probably conveniently forgotten something, Watson—"
Umbridge said shrilly: "You yourself entered Hogwarts years ago with an appointment letter from the Board of Governors and became the investigator searching for the Chamber of Secrets! The exact same process! So, you can't claim it's invalid now!"
"Ah, I certainly haven't forgotten that appointment at all—"
Bryan smiled leisurely, looking completely unbothered. He looked meaningfully at Dumbledore.
"But to become a Hogwarts professor or investigator, an appointment letter from the Board alone won't actually do. You're missing a crucial set of procedures, Umbridge—"
"What is it? What procedures?"
Umbridge glanced quickly at Lucius, seeking support or explanation, but the latter was looking studiously down at his expensive shoes, not responding to her questioning gaze at all. He wouldn't meet her eyes.
Sensing something was wrong, that she'd walked into something, Umbridge asked with a furrowed eyebrow, her voice was losing some confidence now.
"You still need to pass my interview, Madam Umbridge—"
Dumbledore said, watching Umbridge with cold eyes.
"I'm very sorry to inform you, Madam Umbridge. Perhaps you're extremely professional at serving the Minister of Magic, at political maneuvering and bureaucracy. But I don't believe you have the actual ability to teach young wizards. You lack the qualifications."
Umbridge's toad-like temple furrowed deeper, creating wrinkles. She was just about to argue vehemently when, on the other side, seeing that the trap had been perfectly set, Bryan said with a deep, satisfied smile,
"Unless you prove to us that you have the necessary ability—the actual ability to teach young wizards excellently. Otherwise, with just an appointment letter, there's absolutely no way to help you obtain the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Words on paper aren't enough."
"We all passed the headmaster's rigorous interview before we were allowed to teach."
Professor McGonagall coldly provided support at this crucial moment. Her words triggered a series of confirming statements from the other professors at the staff table, forming a chorus of agreement.
Without realizing exactly how it had happened, the offensive and defensive positions had completely reversed. Forced into a corner, backed against the wall, Umbridge had to ask,
"How do I prove it? What do you want?"
"Oh, hehe—"
Bryan's smile carried a distinct hint of playfulness, it was almost mischievous. His gaze wandered slowly around the hall, taking in all the watching faces. His soft words made Harry, who had been burning with helpless anger, suddenly become excited:
"To teach students, at the very least, you need to prove that you're more professional than the students themselves, right, Madam Umbridge? That seems only fair, doesn't it?"
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