Chapter 284: Restrictions and Venue Confirmed
Although Aiden hypnotised the bandaged man, Willy Widdershins, at the Hog's Head, he couldn't stop Harry and his friends from frequently gathering there.
Umbridge leveraged Willy Widdershins' criminal activities, demanding he monitor Harry's every move outside school.
Harry Potter and his friends' plan to form a secret society was discovered by Umbridge.
So Umbridge preemptively signed and issued Educational Decree No. 24, dissolving all student groups and assemblies and prohibiting the formation of any organisations or clubs without permission.
This move put all four houses' Quidditch activities in jeopardy.
The entire activity specifically targeted Gryffindor. The other three teams' captains were quickly approved upon application, but only Angelina's application was blocked.
In History of Magic class, suddenly sensing something, Harry turned around to find the heavily injured Hedwig flying in.
Harry reached out to catch Hedwig, quickly ate a Skiving Snackbox, and slipped out of the classroom.
He took Hedwig to Professor Grubbly-Plank for treatment and learnt that Sirius had invited Harry for a fireplace conversation tonight.
Harry was very curious why Sirius wasn't continuing to use the two-way mirror to contact him.
That evening, the trio gathered around the fireplace, and a familiar face appeared in the flames.
"Harry, I heard you're forming a Defence Against the Dark Arts group. Congratulations, and well done," Sirius was about to praise when a hand pushed him away.
"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you!"
Mrs. Weasley's face emerged from the fire. Harry now understood why Sirius was reluctant to use the two-way mirror.
"Mum!" Ron exclaimed, attracting Molly's attention in the flames.
"Ron Weasley, I forbid you from joining any secret groups."
Mrs. Weasley's roar came from the flames.
"Oh, and of course, Harry and Hermione, I also advise you not to participate in these things. It would reduce trouble for yourselves."
Mrs. Weasley treated Harry and Hermione with a completely different attitude.
"By the way..." Sirius was about to speak.
A fat, stubby hand wearing an ugly old-fashioned ring reached out from the fireplace and crushed the image in the flames.
Back at Grimmauld Place, Sirius pulled his head out just in time to avoid being hurt by the exploding fire.
"Ah!" came three startled voices.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were startled and stepped back.
"It's Umbridge!" Harry identified the hand's owner.
"She's monitoring all of Hogwarts' communications." Hermione recognised the type of magic.
"Looks like we can't contact the outside world for a while," Harry concluded.
Ron's mouth curved into a smile.
Meanwhile, in the Ravenclaw dormitory, which Aiden had expanded with an Undetectable Extension Charm, Amin and Nura resided.
Every evening, Aiden had to spare time to teach them the operation and maintenance of the mental firewall.
Ethan and Edmund also snuck in every night to eavesdrop on Aiden's lectures, but since these two lacked compatibility, Aiden let them listen.
However, teaching in the dormitory was quite limiting, so Aiden set his sights on a place he hadn't visited in a long time.
The next day, in Professor Flitwick's office, Aiden sat on his book pile, mooching tea.
"Aiden, you haven't visited me in a long time. Suddenly appearing now. Have you brought some new spell?" Professor Flitwick looked expectant.
"Professor, has the Mind's Edge Duelling Club been disbanded?" Aiden enquired.
"Yes, that old toad forced me to disband the Mind's Edge Duelling Club when she arrived."
Professor Flitwick waved his fist and gnashed his teeth at the air.
"Then let me modify the Mind's Edge Duelling Club's rules. I happen to have a recent project that could be integrated into it."
The dragon sitting on the book pile smiled, with shadows behind him covering the ground.
So in the office, the two modified the Unbreakable Vow contract and directly disbanded the Mind's Edge Duelling Club.
At the same time, Aiden once again brought Professor Flitwick to the Ethereal Realm.
This time, without the system's help, Aiden, having reached Sequence 3, constructed a dream as a stable anchor in the Ethereal Realm.
"Heh, old thing, your avatar is the most useless!" Aiden said, touching the gem on his neck.
"Heh," the system spat at him.
Connecting the mental firewall's pathway to the Ethereal Realm, using ancient wizards' technological crystals to extend the pathway to various countries.
Simultaneously borrowing the Ethereal Realm's transmission capabilities, wizards from each country could freely weave protective nets covering themselves.
Looking at his creation, Aiden indulged in self-admiration before leaving the Ethereal Realm.
"How was it? Did it work?" Professor Flitwick said, looking at Aiden expectantly.
"Of course," Aiden said, giving a thumbs up.
After teaching Professor Flitwick some weaving techniques, Aiden left his office.
In the afternoon, Aiden hurried to the dormitory with books. Amin and Nura's stay wasn't long. After all, they had smuggled in.
So Aiden's teaching time was tight and demanding, forcing him to frantically compress his time for instruction.
After passing a corner, the trio pulled Aiden aside.
"What?" Aiden said, sending Ron a look.
"Ground, surveillance, help," Ron said, sending Aiden a pleading look.
Aiden thought for a moment and asked, "Would you accept training in dreams?"
"In dreams?" came three voices.
"But wasn't the Mind's Edge Duelling Club disbanded?" Hermione, who closely followed school events, naturally knew this information.
"Yes, but the venue hasn't been abandoned. I made some modifications to it. I believe you'll like it," Aiden said with a smile.
He handed Hermione a net woven from silver-white threads. Upon receiving it, Hermione immediately understood how to use the net.
"This..." Hermione was about to say something, but Aiden put his finger to his lips.
Then Aiden turned and left.
In the following days, Hogwarts classes continued as usual, with Umbridge watching the trio daily.
Finally, clever Hermione devised a solution. She used magic to change the numbers on Galleons and used this to pass messages.
What should have been an ordinary student gathering was turned by her into an intelligence organisation's contact system.
The effect was immediate. No matter how hard Umbridge tried, she couldn't figure out how these people determined meeting times.
Every time she rushed to capture them, they had already vanished.
In this strange atmosphere, Harry's secret society welcomed its first official gathering.
Saturday night, everyone went to sleep early.
A pink toad constantly prowled Hogwarts corridors, having exclusive intelligence that Harry's group would meet tonight.
A Sequence 3 Dream Weaver quietly passed behind her, returning to Ravenclaw.