Cedric's experience is a wake-up call for everyone.
In order to avoid becoming a victim of Umbridge's abuse of Veritaserum, Harry had to convene an emergency DA meeting to discuss how to deal with the matter.
Under the gaze of DA members, Cedric recounted in detail his experience of being called to have tea by Toad, and reminded everyone to be vigilant.
"Toad should have no reason to suspect us since we didn't take the Self-Defense Guide." said a Ravenclaw girl.
"That's what I thought at first. However, after going to Umbridge's office, I felt that she might be unable to bear it any longer. Large-scale screening is only a matter of time." Cedric shook his head and said, "I dare say she is absolutely certain that Dumbledore's Army does exist."
"I'm not surprised that Toad would do that. Don't hold out any hope," Fred warned.
"Toad has already used Veritaserum, which is an illegal substance. Even the Ministry of Magic is very averse to using it. Yet, she openly used it on a student?" Harry glanced at everyone present and said calmly, "If you still have any hope for this, you can only pray that this kind of thing doesn't happen to you."
"We signed a contract. There will be a price to pay for betrayal before the end of this semester," Hermione reminded.
Everyone had an ugly expression on their face, and some even glared at Hermione.
"This is a voluntary risk. No one forced you from the beginning to the end." Harry reminded calmly.
Yes, it is completely voluntary, and it was confirmed again and again before joining, but unfortunately some people have forgotten.
"Okay, let's talk about your ideas, one by one." Hermione changed the subject to avoid embarrassment for everyone.
Sure enough, someone soon suggested distributing the antidote to Veritaserum to everyone to counter Umbridge's Veritaserum.
"I think the focus now should be to stop Toad from using Veritaserum on students." Bones raised his hand and said, "We should report it to the Ministry of Magic. Toad will definitely be cautious and will not dare to act recklessly anymore."
As soon as Bones proposed this somewhat naive idea, it was rejected by most members.
"Toad is Fudge's minion. Fudge has the final say in the Ministry of Magic now. Wouldn't it be a trap for you to report it?" Ernie Macmillan directly rejected this ridiculous decision. "If you dare to do that, I dare say you will be the next person invited to have tea by Toad."
"We can tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this."
Hermione also disagreed with Bones' suggestion because the Toad was in cahoots with the Ministry of Magic. As for whether telling Dumbledore would be useful, Hermione was not sure, but it was a good idea and could be tried.
"I don't think it will be very effective, so it's best not to have too high expectations. Toad has already used the Education Order to control Hogwarts, and even Dumbledore can't do anything to Toad." Cedric was not optimistic about Hermione writing a letter to the headmaster. "I am more inclined to believe that Dumbledore intends to wait until Cornelius Fudge steps down, and then let Umbridge go on her own. That is undoubtedly the best way. After all, Dumbledore is the headmaster, and he will have concerns in certain aspects. He can't be as unscrupulous as we are."
"Then tell Dumbledore about it. Maybe he's been too busy lately and may not have time to pay attention to what's happening in the school, otherwise he would definitely not allow the toad to use truth serum to torture students." Harry actually agreed more with Cedric's statement, but he still found a sophistry excuse for Dumbledore. If the toad hadn't gone too far and targeted him everywhere, Harry actually didn't want to do this. Wouldn't it be better to ignore the toad like Albert, laugh at the other party, and wait for the toad to leave on his own
Unfortunately, Toad obviously wouldn't allow him to do that.
Fred and George raised their hands and said, "Do we have a solution that will solve this problem once and for all?"
"What method?" someone immediately asked
"We can turn the toad into a real toad and let her disappear for a few months. After Fudge steps down, we can turn the toad back into a real toad. I think Professor Dumbledore will definitely not let her stay in Hogwarts by then." Fred and George looked at each other and put forward their suggestions.
“Wouldn’t that be a bit too much?”
"As if her using Veritaserum on us wasn't too much of a mistake." George didn't expect everyone to agree to this plan, he just said it to warn everyone.
“Who’s going to do it?”
"We can do it," said Fred. "I'm pretty good at Transfiguration."
"There are great risks in doing so." Cedric frowned and warned, "It will inevitably alert the Ministry of Magic, and there will be at least six months until the holiday."
"I think that's a good idea."
"Yes, it's normal for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to have some problems, and we can only lock up Toad temporarily."
The Weasley twins' proposal was immediately recognized by everyone, and they almost hailed the Weasley twins as heroes.
However, no one expected that George would suddenly say: "Of course, if we want to do it, everyone must sign."
This kind of thing obviously cannot be done by oneself. If one really wants to do it, one has to drag everyone here into it, so that if one really runs into trouble, there will be people to help one deal with the damage.
All I can say is that after sharing a dormitory with Albert for these years, the Weasley twins have become more shrewd than before.
As soon as George finished speaking, the original voices of agreement suddenly stopped, and the atmosphere on the scene became very awkward.
"This is a backup plan. We'll decide whether to do this or not when the time comes." George didn't care about the embarrassed expressions of others. He already knew what kind of people most of the people here were.
Hermione didn't even give everyone time to continue the discussion. She shook her head and said, "I don't agree with this either. It's a bit risky."
"Any other ideas?" Harry asked, looking around at everyone.
"I think the antidote to Veritaserum would be a good choice," someone immediately suggested.
There was no way. Although Fred and George's method could solve the problem, it was too extreme, and they obviously didn't want to get involved.
Of course, if Fred and George hadn't asked for autographs, most people would have agreed with them and regarded them as heroes.
As if to ease the embarrassment, everyone agreed to use the antidote to Veritaserum. Of course, not all of them did it to ease the embarrassment, but because this method was simpler and could also help them compete with Umbridge in wits and courage. Not long ago, Cedric had just explained to everyone how he was called to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office.
"It's unreliable to distribute the antidote to everyone. None of us knows how to make that kind of potion." Hermione poured cold water on everyone. "Of course, if anyone of you can brew the antidote, we will try our best to provide you with the ingredients."
The voices in the room stopped again, and everyone turned their eyes to Cedric.
"Don't look at me, I don't know how to make it either. Albert gave me the antidote to the truth serum." Cedric said he was powerless to do anything about it. Perhaps he felt the atmosphere at the scene, so he asked, "Does anyone know how to make it..."
Needless to say, no one knew how to brew an antidote.
"We can look for Albert, I think he..."
"He's busy..." Hermione interrupted helplessly, "So, give up that unrealistic idea. Albert has already provided us with a lot of help."
"As for the antidote formula for making truth serum, we already have it." Fred explained, "If you want to see the antidote formula and steps, you can come and ask me to copy a copy."
"Is it difficult even if I mix it according to the recipe?" There is certainly no shortage of students who are good at potions here.
"It's very difficult, and even if others can really make it, I can't guarantee that everyone will dare to drink the semi-finished product." Cedric shook his head. He knew too well that most students would not dare to drink the potion they prepared.
In the end, they failed to reach a consensus, and Hermione wrote down everyone's suggestions one by one.
"Then what should we do? Toad may use truth serum on everyone at any time?"
Problems had to be solved, and as they said, the toads could always slip truth serum into their drinks.
"Don't worry, we have a backup plan." Harry looked at Fred and George.
The Weasley brothers walked in front of everyone under people's complicated gazes.
"The solution is actually very simple, that is to delay time and buy time for everyone." Fred began to explain to everyone how to deal with Umbridge. There are many ways to delay time, such as secretly casting a spell on the toad to make her accidentally fall and faint.
"Anyway, as long as we send the person to the school hospital, whether it's Umbridge or you, we can buy some time to go back and forth." George agreed.
What if the toad doesn’t give up
"If Toad doesn't give up, bring some people to cause trouble and throw poison gas bombs into his office so that Umbridge can't interrogate you." Fred said without thinking. They have done similar things many times.
"If Umbridge really insists on it, then we can only try the Oblivion Charm to make the toad forget about it." George added, "Although we have only practiced the Oblivion Charm on mice, I think it should be no problem to use it on a toad."
"Does anyone know this spell?"
"I roughly know the principle, but I've never used it." Hermione said. Besides Hermione, there are a few other people who can cast the Forgetfulness Charm.
"You'd better practice on mice first."
"That's about the situation. Although it may be a little troublesome, at least you can avoid drinking Toad's Veritaserum." Harry clapped his hands and took out a few boxes of candy. "Fred and George are willing to provide you with two quick-acting skipping candies for free. One is for practice and the other is for emergency use. Of course, if you use them all, you will have to pay for them yourself next time."
"Okay, everyone come here in order to get the candy you like."
People were a little surprised at Fred and George's generosity. You know, there are quite a few DA members now, and this batch of quick-acting skipping candies would cost at least 7 Galleons.
What surprised them was that they would have to conduct a live drill later.
"Also, we should spread this method to the entire castle so that Toad can't figure out who the DA members are." George reminded.
"Is that all right?" Harry looked at Lee Jordan.
"It should be no problem. I think everyone will find it very interesting." Li Qiaodan said with a smile, "There are many people in school who hate toads now."
"Next, let us show you what to do when you encounter that situation." George signaled everyone to disperse, and then he would show everyone how to delay time.
The demonstration by the two was actually quite interesting. For example, they secretly used the Leg-Lifting Curse to make someone fall down, and then used the Stunning Curse to pretend that Umbridge was knocked unconscious by themselves.
I don’t know why, but everyone always feels that this scene is familiar.
When Lee Jordan on the cushion was awakened, there was a burst of warm applause all around.
"To do this, you need to be stealthy enough, and you can also do it with the help of others. Don't let others find out that something is wrong, otherwise it will be very troublesome." George explained to everyone, "If you can't do it, the other method is the easiest."
As the two were walking, Fred, who was lagging behind, suddenly stuffed a piece of quick-acting skipping candy into his mouth and then fainted on the ground.
And then, nothing happened.
"In this case, Toad can only send you to the school hospital." George continued to explain, "I can guarantee that a simple resuscitation spell will have no effect on the coma caused by the coma candy. Of course, if you are afraid of the pain of falling, you can also try nosebleed nougat or spit candy. Anyway, there are many types to choose from."
Hermione wrote down what they explained on the blackboard, and Harry summarized some of the mischievous spells that might be used. When the time comes, they will need to practice various spells that might come in handy, and conduct actual drills separately to avoid being exposed.
As long as you learn it, there's actually no problem even if you want to play a trick on Umbridge secretly.
Although the solution given by Fred and George was not the best one, everyone found it interesting and were eager to try it.
"I suggest you don't try it casually." Cedric had to step forward to remind everyone, "These are just emergency plans. If possible, it's best not to encounter such a thing. Of course, if you are good at the Oblivion Charm, maybe giving the toad a Oblivion Charm would be the best choice, but... it's best not to encounter it. No one can guarantee that their luck is good enough."
"Okay, now everyone come one by one, in groups of two, one pretends to be Umbridge, and the other pretends that you are about to be taken to the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office." Harry clapped his hands and said, "Start forming groups now!"
There is no doubt that the party ended successfully.
Although many people's acting was exaggerated, they all left the Room of Requirement talking and laughing.
"Do you think this method is reliable?" Hermione, who was left at the end, asked.
"I don't know, but at least it's a solution." Harry shook his head.
"I'd say we should try to make Toad disappear for a few months," said Fred.
"Or, stay in the hospital for a few months," George added.
"You actually took out so many quick-acting skipping candies this time." Ron was a little surprised that Fred and George actually provided candies to everyone for free. How many Galleons would that cost
"We won't suffer any loss. If we want people to buy candy, we have to let them know the effects of the candy." Fred shrugged and said, "Albert calls this advertising."
"It's worth spending a few Galleons on an ad," George agreed. "It also solves the problem of the Veritaserum and makes a good impression on everyone."
"Albert calls it killing three birds with one stone," Lee Jordan said.
"These guys are really rich. No, I should say Albert is really rich. They are squandering like this." Ron shook his head in confusion. He really couldn't understand what it meant to kill three birds with one stone.
“They actually made a lot of money.”
Harry felt that they did not suffer any loss. Albert Anderson was not a man who would suffer any loss.
"They're trying to gain popularity." Hermione glanced at Ron and explained, "They're planning to open a joke shop, and the customers will all be Hogwarts students, so they plan to build up enough popularity for the shop before leaving school. I think this is probably Albert's reminder to them. Don't forget, they still have an advertisement in the Daily Prophet."