"However, even though my starting point was a good one, I still ran into all kinds of difficulties during the actual implementation."
Link said, "Among them, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall generally believed that my idea of opening a factory on campus was something that would benefit both the students and the school."
"The only thing that needed attention was that my factory had to be supervised, to prevent things like exploitation of workers from happening."
"I accepted that idea."
"After all, I understand that words alone mean nothing, and at the same time, I trust Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall."
"These two elders have already proven their noble character through time and facts."
"What I didn't expect, though, was that after the M.O.M.H.L factory officially began operations, I was met with another enormous nightmare!"
"And that nightmare is Principal Umbridge, who is standing on the main podium right now!"
As soon as Link finished speaking, the entire hall erupted in an uproar.
A large number of students who had benefited from the M.O.M.H.L factory were already so worked up by Link that they could be said to have lost all rationality, itching to rush up right now and punch Umbridge in the face.
This time, Link didn't suppress everyone's emotions like before. Instead, he continued, "Some of you may have noticed that the name of the factory I founded is made up of the English abbreviations for the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts."
"Not only that, Umbridge, who has a dual background with both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts, also happens to be the supervising professor of the M.O.M.H.L factory."
"Ah, I see some people's expressions have already changed."
"You understand now, don't you? What kind of nightmare I'm talking about?"
"That's right! This nightmare is Umbridge, who, while serving as the supervising professor of the M.O.M.H.L factory, used the threat of shutting the factory down as leverage to repeatedly embezzle employee wages, and to extort and blackmail the factory's managers and actual investor, that is, me!"
"You're talking nonsense!"
Umbridge finally couldn't hold back any longer.
She pressed her wand to her throat and shouted furiously through a Sonorus charm, "How could I possibly do something like that? This is blatant slander! If you've got the guts, then show your evidence!"
Her voice, amplified countless times, echoed throughout the Great Hall.
This time, she finally caught Link's attention.
Link turned to look at her with a mocking smile and said, "You want evidence? Fine. I'll give you evidence!"
As he spoke, Link pulled a palm-sized alchemical device out of his pocket.
When he pressed the button on it, clear recordings immediately played, audio of Umbridge and John during each of their so-called "transactions."
All of these recordings had been made by John under Link's instructions.
From the very start of the factory's operations until now, fifteen times in total, without a single one missing.
Of course, the recordings being played right now had all been edited.
As a result, even though Umbridge had been extremely crafty at the scene, deliberately creating the impression that John was forcing the money on her, what everyone heard now clearly sounded like Umbridge aggressively demanding it.
Umbridge's face had already gone pale.
She truly hadn't expected Link to be this devious, to have started plotting against her as early as the beginning of last semester.
However, this still wasn't the end.
Just as the recording had reached the halfway point, Link spoke again, "As of now, Dolores Jane Umbridge, supervising professor of the M.O.M.H.L factory, has accepted bribes from the factory's management, represented by me, a total of fifteen times, with a combined amount exceeding one hundred thousand Galleons!"
"This sum includes not only all the profits earned by the M.O.M.H.L factory since its establishment, but also charitable donations given to Hogwarts by outside benefactors led by the Flamel family!"
"According to the original plan, I was not going to take a single Knut of this money."
"Every last bit of it was meant to be spent on raising worker wages at the M.O.M.H.L factory, improving the bonus system, and upgrading the working environment."
"And yet, all of that money went straight into Umbridge's pockets."
Link pointed directly at Umbridge and suddenly raised his voice, "Trash like this, does she deserve to be the headmistress of Hogwarts?!"
"She doesn't!"
"Umbridge, step down!"
"Damn old toad, go to hell!"
As Link's words fell, a wave of curses against Umbridge instantly filled the Great Hall.
That was one hundred thousand Galleons.
For an ordinary wizarding family, that was wealth they could never earn in an entire lifetime.
Ron's eyes were already red.
He shouted along with the crowd a few times, then turned to Harry and Hermione beside him, saying excitedly, "I always wondered why John, the factory manager, clearly said several times that wages would be raised and bonuses handed out, but our pay not only didn't go up, it actually dropped a bit compared to when the factory first started! Turns out the bloody lot of it was swallowed by that fat toad!"
Harry and Hermione, who didn't work at the M.O.M.H.L factory very often, didn't react much at first.
But a few of Ron's coworkers nearby felt it deeply.
One short boy said angrily, "I even thought before that a pay cut made sense, after all, paying such high wages meant Lord Flamel wasn't making any money at all! I never imagined there was this kind of shady stuff behind it!"
"Yeah! Umbridge isn't even human!"
"She even dares to steal money from poor students!"
Harry and Hermione stood there in a daze amid the crowd.
Although their emotions were stirred up somewhat by the people around them, they still felt a bit at a loss.
But unlike them, George and Fred, listening to the furious shouting all around, exchanged a glance.
"George, isn't it about time?"
"Of course! My dear brother! If not now, then when?"
As soon as George finished speaking, the two brothers grinned at each other, then pulled out thick, tube-shaped objects in perfect unison, aimed them at Umbridge on the stage, and roared, "F*ck Umbridge!" ×2
BOOM!
Two bursts of fireworks shot out of the "tubes" in George and Fred's hands.
The fireworks expanded as they flew, instantly transforming into two enormous dragon heads made entirely of multicolored sparks, crackling and popping as they charged straight at Umbridge.
"Oh my god! They're attacking! Stop them!"
This sudden scene finally detonated Umbridge's already tightly wound nerves.
Screaming, she turned and bolted toward the staff seating.
She knew very well that their target was only her, and that they would avoid accidentally hurting other professors.
Which meant that as long as she could make it back to the staff section, she'd be safe.
It had to be said, Umbridge was quite quick-witted.
Unfortunately for her, how could Link possibly let her escape punishment so easily?
She had barely taken a few steps when several D.A. members that Link had planted in advance among the Inquisitorial Squad quietly raised their wands.
Bang!
Umbridge suddenly stepped on her own foot and slammed hard into the ground.
The pain was so intense that she couldn't get back up for a long time.
At the same time, the Inquisitorial Squad members at the front were also jolted by the two fire dragons and Umbridge's scream.
Driven by sheer terror, some of them instinctively swung their wands.
With sharp whistling sounds, several crimson spells shot out, passing straight through the two Weasley fireworks, which, in fact, had no real destructive power, then arced beautifully through the air before plunging into the crowd below.
The unlucky students hit were blasted away by the powerful impact, crashing into and knocking over a whole bunch of others.
This sudden turn of events completely ignited the crowd's emotions.
"Bastards! Umbridge's dogs are beating people!"
"They're even hitting girls!"
"My girlfriend…"
———
Countless people furiously pulled out their wands, spewing all kinds of filthy curses, until in the end, everything merged into a single, thunderous chant.
"F*ck Umbridge!"
The fight broke out instantly.
Streams of multicolored spells flew wildly through the air.
And Link and his D.A. stood right at the very front.
Almost all of the Inquisitorial Squad focused their fire on them.
Yet under the barrage of spells, Link walked forward with the ease of someone strolling through a garden.
He casually flicked his wand, blocking every spell aimed at him, or at the students behind him.
Then he continued to advance, step by step.
For every step Link took forward, the Inquisitorial Squad in front of him took a step back.
The sight made countless ordinary students like Ron feel their blood boiling.
Watching these students hurl spell after spell under his protection, knocking down one Inquisitorial Squad member after another, Link shook his head with mild disdain.
This battle wasn't just about forcing Umbridge off her pedestal, Link also wanted to use it as live training for the D.A.
That was precisely why, while refraining from using lethal spells himself, he was also blocking most of the incoming attacks for the D.A.
He knew very well that despite nearly half a year of training, the D.A.'s overall quality was still terrible.
A ragtag group like this could only win easy fights.
But even so, their performance right now was worse than he had expected.
Compared to Durmstrang, already under Beckmann's management and using the same teaching materials, the average Hogwarts D.A. performance could only be described as eye-burning.
"This is all because the management's been far too loose!"
After only a moment's thought, Link delivered his verdict to Cedric and the others. "Once everything settles down, we absolutely have to ramp up their training intensity. This is just… too embarrassing!"
"Of course. You're the boss, everything goes according to what you want."
Cedric nodded indifferently, then pointed toward the staff seating. "But Link, the professors look like they can't sit still anymore. What do we do now?"
Link turned his head and saw that Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, who had previously appeared calm, were now standing up with grave expressions.
The two exchanged a look, then drew their wands at the same time.
Clearly, the situation in the Great Hall had exceeded their tolerance.
However, aside from those two, the other professors still showed no intention of intervening.
That was normal.
Aside from the four Heads of House, most professors didn't have either the nerve or the ability to step into this kind of "group melee."
And Professor Sprout had already been informed in advance by Link and Cedric.
As for Snape, after everything that had happened before, Link suspected that if he wasn't intervening, it was because he had other plans in mind.
Buzz!
As McGonagall and Flitwick swung their wands, a massive, rapidly spinning tornado formed in front of them and surged toward the students in the hall.
This modified spell, derived from Whirlwind Sweep, had been chosen after careful consideration by the two professors.
According to their plan, empowered by both of their magic, the tornado would continue to expand, and within a very short time suppress everyone along with the wands in their hands, stopping the bloody conflict quickly and steadily.
Seeing this, Link merely smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Our professors have stayed in school for far too long. So long that they've lost their vigilance and common sense. They've forgotten that not everyone in this world is as kind as students on campus. With this level of resistance alone, how could you ever overthrow someone like Umbridge?"
As he finished speaking, Link flicked his wand lightly, sending an invisible blade screaming through the air.
The invisible blade plunged straight into the advancing tornado, then exploded violently, splitting into countless tiny magical blades.
Under the cutting force of these curse-powered blades, the previously stable magical structure inside the tornado was rapidly destroyed. The entire vortex collapsed instantly, bursting into fine particles of magical light that drifted through the air above the hall.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick's expressions changed dramatically.
They both turned to look at Link, who simply smiled and gave them a polite bow.
"This kid's strength has already reached the point where he can take on the two of us alone?" Flitwick said in shock.
McGonagall, lips pressed tightly together, shook her head.
"Link's strength is indeed enough to rival that of us core-subject professors at Hogwarts, but it's not quite as exaggerated as you're making it sound."
"If we really fought with full force, he definitely couldn't handle the two of us by himself."
"But…"
She didn't continue. Instead, she lowered her wand, turned to Madam Pomfrey, and said gravely, "Poppy, do you still have enough potions in stock? I'm afraid the hospital wing is about to be packed."
Madam Pomfrey's face was full of shock.
She couldn't understand how two professors still couldn't stop this conflict.
At the same time, down below, Link's smile grew even brighter.
Indeed.
Just as Professor McGonagall had said, if they truly fought with full force, he couldn't beat two core-subject professors at once in a normal state.
Especially when one of them was Professor Flitwick, a former international dueling champion.
But as professors, would McGonagall and Flitwick really be willing to strike their own students without restraint?
The answer was obviously no.
If they truly dared to disregard student safety and go all out against Link, then they wouldn't be themselves anymore.
So Link's victory was inevitable.
Just as Link was lost in thought, an earth-shaking cheer suddenly erupted around him.
Coming back to his senses, Link looked closely and realized that the Inquisitorial Squad blocking their way had completely collapsed.
The furious students had stormed into their ranks and completely surrounded Umbridge.
"Beat this bloodsucker to death!"
At first, everyone still maintained some restraint.
But after someone shouted that line, the students, already seeing red, charged together at the terrified Umbridge.