days at Hogwarts

Chapter 583: If you can't cure me, wait for death

Malfoy Manor, in the reception room.

Next to the elegantly decorated round table, there were several silent people sitting. Their eyes involuntarily glanced above the round table. An unconscious, short and fat human body was suspended by an invisible rope under the crystal chandelier, slowly rotating, and the toad-like face was reflected on the shiny table top.

Bellatrix had a cruel smile on her lips. Alex, who worked in the Ministry of Magic, was silent. Lucius and others had no expression on their faces. Only Narcissa, who was almost right below her, had a pale face. She probably couldn't control herself and glanced up from time to time.

Voldemort sat at the head of the round table with his back to the fireplace. His strange snake-like face had a sinister smile on it, and his scarlet vertical pupils were filled with a cold light as if he wanted to devour anyone. He raised the yew wand, pointed it at the slightly rotating human body hanging above the table, and waved it gently.

"Welcome our guests."

A cold chill enveloped her whole body. Umbridge's eyes trembled twice, and her consciousness revived from the long darkness. When she opened her eyes, she saw the twisted and strange snake face. Her face turned pale in an instant, her eyes widened, and her bulging eyeballs almost jumped out of their sockets.

"You recognized me, didn't you?" Voldemort chuckled.

"The Black...Devil!"

Umbridge's voice was hoarse, no longer sweet in it, and her lips trembled as she tried to say something to free herself in the name of the Ministry of Magic, but it was as if an invisible hand was strangling her throat, and she could not make any sound. An intense fear made her heart beat violently, almost jumping out of her chest.

She instinctively couldn't muster any desire to struggle or resist.

“Oh, I recognize her…” Voldemort seemed very satisfied with her performance. He turned around and introduced her to everyone, saying with a smile, “Some people may not know her. Let me tell you, the one who came to us early this morning is Ms. Dolores Umbridge. She was previously the Senior Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic and a part-time professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.”

Bellatrix giggled, and Alex, a Ministry employee, looked at her strangely.

"In fact... Minister Dolores has been committed to dealing with Dumbledore, eliminating his influence, discrediting his reputation, destroying his control over Hogwarts, and covering our tracks..."

There was a quiet laugh around the table, the Death Eaters whispering among themselves, laughing at the woman's stupidity, her ignorance.

Umbridge's whole body trembled uncontrollably, as if she heard some hope in such laughter, and she cast a pleading look towards the main seat.

“Please… please…”

“Quiet.” Voldemort retracted his fingers, and the invisible rope made a tightening sound. A layer of fine sweat beads appeared on Umbridge's forehead, slid down her cheeks, and she revealed an expression of great pain.

"Although Professor Umbridge did not know us before, she has been covering up for us and denying Dumbledore's warnings with great fanfare. She said that Dumbledore was old and confused, and that the Ministry of Magic had completely defeated the Dark Lord and eliminated the Death Eaters more than a decade ago... She hoped that wizards would ignore those warnings. There is no doubt that she has been of great help to our cause..."

This time the laughter was happier and more shrill. Every Death Eater could hear it, and there was mockery and sarcasm in Voldemort's voice.

Umbridge's mouth opened wide as she tried to breathe but only made faint gasps. Tears welled up in her eyes and fell into her hair. It was unclear whether it was out of fear or regret.

Snape stared at her with a sneer in his eyes, and that look seemed to pierce her blood vessels.

"Let's get to the point..." Voldemort shook his wand lightly, and Umbridge immediately fell on the table, like a stone falling to the ground, making a dull sound. "Professor Umbridge, I invited you to be our guest because I want to know the specific content of a prophecy... You are a smart person, I believe you know what to do, right?"

"Trelawney's prophecy?"

"Yes."

Umbridge understood instantly that it was the Death Eaters who had been looking for the blond boy. The pupils in her empty eyes kept trembling as she tried hard to recall the nonsense that she had not taken seriously.

Trelawney's disembodied voice echoed in her ears: "Something black...something extremely dangerous...you will be swallowed by danger!"

A chill enveloped Umbridge's entire body. Her breathing became rapid and disordered, and her short and fat body trembled constantly. She did not dare to look at Voldemort's face at all. She shook off the part of the prophecy about herself and repeated tremblingly:
"She...she said at the time that the storm was coming. Those who looked down were looking down, and it would eventually descend upon the earth. Those who peeped were watching, but they returned in vain. The truth would be revealed before the heavy snow fell."

There is no useful information at all.

The smile on Voldemort's face faded a little bit, his expression became increasingly ugly, and his gloomy voice was filled with anger: "Is that all?"

"That's what Trelawney said. That's all she said, nothing more!" Umbridge curled up on the table and trembled, the breath of death looming in her heart. She suddenly turned her head to look at the figure next to that person, as if she had caught a savior. "If you don't believe me, ask Snape. The whole school has heard about it. He knows it, he knows it too!"

Snape still had a sneer on his face and looked at her indifferently: "I was not at the scene at the time, so I don't know the specific circumstances."

Voldemort's expression was uncertain. His reason told him that the cowardly toad in front of him could not possibly lie to him, but he did not want to believe that the prophecy would be without any clues. All kinds of groundless speculations emerged in his mind, and he was filled with thoughts.

Could it be that she forgot something?
Could it be that Dumbledore had obscured her memory?
"I believe in your memory, Madam Umbridge..." Voldemort said softly, quietly pointing his wand at her head. Just as she looked up in surprise, a cold red light shot out.

"[Heart-cutting out the bones]"

He was willing to trust her memory.

A complete memory dug out with pain and torture by one's own hands.

……

Black Monday, full of classes.

The first class in the morning, History of Magic, was left for the young wizards to recuperate, and it was followed by Potions, which did not allow for any distraction. Loren could not help but admire the wisdom of Professor McGonagall, the headmaster, whose clever scheduling of classes greatly reduced the number of points lost due to mistakes by Gryffindor students.

It was just that Professor Snape wanted to deduct points, and even the headmaster couldn't stop him. The theoretical knowledge explanation was relatively smooth, but within ten minutes of entering the practical training, Professor Snape began to wander among the Gryffindor students:

"Mr. Longbottom, my instructions clearly state that the Murtra Rat Juice must be added within three seconds of the cauldron boiling. You delayed for a full seven seconds!"

"..."

"Finnigan, please give me a reasonable explanation why you poured your Murtra Rat Juice into your cauldron before it was boiling?"

"..."

"And you, Mr. Potter, why did you add it twice? You think you are smart, huh? One time you added it too early, and another time you added it too late!"

"..."

"Mr. Morgan, Miss Granger, if you can control the time of joining, why don't you help your stupid friends?" "..."

Even the usually well-behaved little witch couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm herself down. She really wanted to lift up the crucible and use boiling water to wash his greasy hair!

Loren filled the sample of potion with ease, wondering in his mind what medicine Professor Snape might have taken incorrectly, which antidote would be most effective, and how to slip the medicine into his lunch without him noticing.

His plan ultimately failed to materialize because Professor Snape was not in the Great Hall for dinner.

In the afternoon, there are the familiar Divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

Umbridge rarely entered the classroom until the bell rang. She was still wearing a fluffy pink cardigan. She stood on the podium and scanned the students below. Her eyes passed over Harry with a slightly dazed look. After about a minute, she took out the textbook belatedly.
"Put away your wands. Please take out your 'Magic Defense Theory'. Last class we finished studying the ..."

Umbridge pondered over the catalogue for a while, then smiled smugly: "In the last class we finished studying Chapter 35, General Defense Theory and Its Origins. Today I want you all to turn to page and start reading Chapter , The Reasons for a Non-Offensive Response to Magical Attacks. Don't talk while reading..."

The whole class stood there in a daze, looking at each other, and were reluctant to open their textbooks.

Loren looked at Umbridge thoughtfully. He had noticed something was wrong before, and now he observed carefully and suddenly found that there were many strange things about this professor. For example, her voice was no longer as sweet as before, her face was extremely pale, her body was very weak, and the flow of magic power was a mess...

With her magic power so disordered, a normal wizard would have been lying in a hospital bed, but she felt nothing unusual.

Umbridge noticed something strange in the classroom, frowned at the silence, and thought they were really undisciplined. She coughed twice to clear her throat, and asked with a straight face, "Any questions?"

Neville, the prefect, looked at her expression and said cautiously, "Professor Umbridge, we have read this chapter before."

"Have you read it?" Umbridge raised her eyebrows, feeling inexplicably irritated. "Well, then, continue reading Chapter 4."

"I've read Chapter 4, too."

"Are you guys deliberately making trouble?"

Umbridge couldn't hold back her anger any longer. She slammed the desk with a loud bang. Her voice, which had been pinched all the time, suddenly became sharp, harsh and angry: "I've read Chapter 3, and Chapter 4. You bad guys who don't obey discipline, have you finished reading the whole book?!"

After hearing this, there was a whisper in the classroom.

Parvati, the female head student, could not help but say: "Professor, but——"

"No buts!" Umbridge's expression was distorted and she looked at the students breathlessly, her tone becoming more and more resentful. "Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. You want to resist the authority of the Ministry of Magic and overthrow its rule. You obey Dumbledore's orders and oppose me! Oppose the Ministry of Magic!"

"Professor!" some students couldn't help but shout.

"Shut up, put you in detention, all of you! I'll teach you a lesson! This weekend, you all have to copy the school rules with a cursed feather pen and engrave them on your bodies. When your wounds bleed red and turn into incurable scars, you'll know who you should listen to!"

As soon as these words came out, the classroom was filled with shock. The young wizards had never heard such a stern threat. They seemed not to be underage students, but a group of criminals in Azkaban.

"what!!"

Several panicked girls couldn't help but scream.

Umbridge felt a splitting headache. Some fragmented images flashed before her eyes, but she couldn't see anything clearly. The shrill screams made her very irritated: "Don't scream! Don't scream! I order you in the name of the Senior Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Magic!"

Seeing her take out her wand, Loren quickly cast a few petrification spells and said to the two prefects in a deep voice, "Go find Professor McGonagall."

……

"Children, please don't worry. With us here, Hogwarts will ensure the safety of every student..."

"Professor Umbridge has been controlled, and Madam Pomfrey is examining her body. Headmaster Dumbledore has already notified the Ministry of Magic. We will post the follow-up investigation results on the notice board..."

"Now, please go back to the dormitory and have a good rest..."

At seven o'clock in the evening, Professor McGonagall's speech in the auditorium ended.

The young wizards went upstairs in twos and threes, muttering about what had happened today. Loren and Harry slipped away from the main group while walking. As they walked, they passed by the door of the school infirmary. They couldn't help but stick their heads out and look through the crack in the door, and caught a glimpse of people gathered in front of the bed.

Madam Pomfrey pinched Umbridge's mouth open and quickly poured a bottle of emerald green potion into her mouth. Her movements were cold and expressionless. She placed the potion bottle on the tray. She moved her fingers upwards and pried open Umbridge's eyes. With her other hand, she picked up the wand and pointed it at her forehead. She cast a few checking spells and said in a crisp tone:

"The brain is broken and there is no cure."

Dumbledore glanced at a Potions professor leaning against the wall and asked, "Poppy, tell me more details. The people from the Ministry of Magic are coming soon and I need to explain it to them."

"Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, you know that, right?" Madam Pomfrey said as she packed up the instruments and tray.

"The parents of that little Gryffindor guy?" Professor Flitwick was impressed by Neville and his pet.

"The symptoms are similar to those of the couple. Both had their brains damaged by the Cruciatus Curse. There are also traces of the Oblivion Curse, but Umbridge's symptoms are milder..." Madam Pomfrey paused and said carefully, "This shows that the caster of the Cruciatus Curse is very skilled."

"..."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment: "Is there any way to treat it?"

Madam Pomfrey gave him a meaningful look and said, "She can cure it the same way that the Longbottoms did. You can go to St. Mungo's Hospital for the Sick and the Injured and ask."

Hearing this, Hermione behind the door looked at Loren.

Loren shrugged.

It can't be cured, so just be stupid.

(End of this chapter)