After the Christmas holidays, Albert and Katrina quietly returned to Hogwarts Castle with the help of Dobby.
When he separated from Katrina and returned to the common room, he found that someone had returned to school earlier than him.
Harry, Ron, Fred and George were sitting by the fireplace, working on their holiday homework, while Hermione and Ginny were whispering about the patterns for knitting scarves.
"Oh, great, you're finally here. We thought you would come only in the evening." Fred and George heard the noise, looked up and saw Albert entering the lounge. They immediately jumped up from their chairs and greeted Albert with smiles on their faces.
"Holiday homework, right!" Albert raised his eyebrows slightly, pointing out the reason why the twins were so enthusiastic.
"You still understand us." The twins grinned and patted Albert's shoulder. "This makes it much easier."
"Is this really okay for you guys?" Hermione glanced at the envious Harry and Ron and asked, "You didn't even do your homework during the holidays, so what are you going to do for the final exams?"
"Everyone has their own strengths. We are better at practice than theory. As for the final exam, is that important?" Fred said nonchalantly.
"Since we already have OwLs," George shrugged and said a bunch of rebellious words, "Do we really need S certificates?"
"Mum's going to be mad if she finds out," Ron warned.
Albert put down the cat cage, took out his wand from his cloak pocket, waved it gently, and a folder appeared out of thin air, and handed it to George.
"Mom actually knows a little bit." George took the folder and returned to his seat, intending to finish his holiday homework as soon as possible.
Albert bent down to pick up the cat cage and prepared to go back to the dormitory first.
"That... Occlumency..."
Harry stood up suddenly and looked at Albert who was walking towards the stairs of the boys' dormitory, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Most Gryffindor students rarely suppress their emotions on purpose, so the possibility of learning Occlumency is not high. Even if they can learn it, it will take a long time." Albert stopped and looked at Harry who was about to put a tranquilizer in his mouth, and said directly, "You don't have to try to quibble. I have verified it from Fred, George and Lee Jordan, and you are even more emotional than the three of them. So I am not sure that I can teach you Occlumency within half a year. It may even make your brain worse."
"But Dumbledore..."
Harry was about to speak when he was interrupted by Albert.
"You may not succeed if you try, but you will never succeed if you don't try." Albert was no longer in a hurry to go upstairs. He sat down by the fireplace, opened the cage and let Tom out.
The fat cat yawned, wagged its tail lazily, rubbed against Albert, and tried to jump onto Albert's knees, but was stopped in time.
"It's Snape." Harry slumped back in his chair helplessly.
"I know. I mentioned to the headmaster that you and Snape don't have a good relationship." Albert said calmly, surprising everyone. "He obviously thinks..."
"Can't you just finish what you're saying?" Harry cast a resentful look at Albert. He hated leaving things unsaid.
"Well, the headmaster probably thinks that you and Snape can overcome your dislike for each other." Albert glanced at Harry and said indifferently.
The corners of Harry's mouth twitched slightly, and the others looked at each other, obviously unable to understand why Dumbledore thought so.
"It's amazing... Dumbledore always... I dare say Snape himself can't do it." Harry's expression was extremely strange, "He hates me, just like he hates my father, and I instinctively hate him."
"Maybe you could give him a tranquilizer," Ron said suddenly.
"That's a really... good idea." Harry poured a tranquilizer into his mouth, "He's willing to take it in advance."
"I think it's difficult," Fred muttered. "It's like Percy calling himself a fool."
"Percy is now the biggest fool in the world," George reminded.
"I just stopped by the school hospital. Umbridge's skin disease is almost healed." Albert reminded.
“That’s really good news.”
Ron looked at Harry suddenly, wondering if he had heard wrongly.
"Maybe, we can continue to turn her into a cat." Harry looked at his holiday homework and said slowly, "I got some compound potion from Professor Moody, which can keep her in bed for another two months."
"If the Toad falls for the same trick twice in a row, then she is a complete fool." Although Albert hated Umbridge, he did not think that she would be stupid enough to fall for it repeatedly. She must be so angry that she had no place to vent, and she was going to cause trouble for Potter as soon as she recovered from her illness.
Regardless of whether Potter did it or not, Umbridge would probably silently believe that it was them who did it. She needed to vent her pent-up anger, and Potter obviously handed her the handle.
After the holiday, Harry faced complicated looks from Hogwarts students before he even faced Umbridge's wrath.
At least, most people will not reject him as much as before and think he is a liar.
The Azkaban prison break was such a loud slap in the face to the wizarding world that it forced them to face up to the terrible question of whether Voldemort had been resurrected.
Now, no matter where Albert went, he could hear students discussing the Azkaban prison break and the two articles in the latest issue of Defense Express. Even professors were discussing this matter.
According to the latest news provided by Fred and George, the number of students joining the DA has increased dramatically, and the number has reached nearly 100. The Death Eaters' jailbreak has made many people feel insecure, and joining the DA, where they can learn defense against the dark arts and how to protect themselves, is undoubtedly what they need most at the moment. More importantly, the number of DA members has led some people to blindly follow others.
Along with the DA members, the Anti-Toad League also saw a surge in members. Because of the "Secret Behind the Lie", many students disliked Umbridge, and nearly half of the students claimed to be members of the Anti-Toad League.
"If all the students in the school wear this kind of badge, what do you think the toad will do then?" Fred handed Albert a Gryffindor lion head badge, then reached out and pressed it, and the lion head rotated and turned into a toad.
"We got inspiration from the Harry's stinky poop badge that Slytherin made last year. Just touch it with your hand and it will turn into a toad form to show that you are a member of the Anti-Toad Alliance." George introduced their latest product to Albert.
"Is this thing free, or..."
After Albert took the badge and looked it up and down, his eyes fell on the mission content of the Anti-Toad Alliance that had just been triggered.
Currently, the members of the Anti-Toad Alliance account for 35% of the total school population, and the task requires 60%. It is a bit difficult to complete the task.
"We're going to sell two Sickles," said George.
“It’s too cheap.”
"How much do you think is appropriate?" Fred asked.
"One Galleon."
"It's too expensive and no one will buy it," Lee Jordan warned.
"Make it a symbol of each academy, and give free badges to members of the Anti-Toad Alliance. Treat it as a benefit of the Anti-Toad Alliance. If it is lost or confiscated, you can buy a new sales badge for one Galleon."
Albert never expected to be able to sell the badges, but it was not difficult to get most of the Hogwarts students to make one for themselves. People loved to get a bargain, no matter where they were.
"Also, your method is wrong. You should use the rhythm of the tapping to control it to turn into a toad. This is not a difficult task. In addition, the badge will heat up slightly when Umbridge is nearby, which makes the sales version of the badge have more functions."
"From now on, when members of the Anti-Toad Alliance greet each other, they only need to show their Toad Badges."
Fred, George and Lee Jordan were all stunned.
"There is a saying that the law does not punish the masses. If everyone carries these things collectively, do you think Umbridge dares to expel more than a hundred students at once?" Albert pointed to the magazine on the table again. "To deal with the toad, you have to drag everyone together. Don't give her the opportunity to defeat them one by one. Especially since Umbridge's condition is almost cured, I think she will definitely want to find a few unlucky people to vent her anger after she was discharged from the hospital. If you don't want to be one of the unlucky people, act quickly and take advantage of this opportunity. After this storm is over, it will be difficult for you to form an anti-toad alliance."
"What if things get really bad?" George said, frowning.
"Don't you want to stay in school? You can just graduate early and win everyone's favor. Are you still worried that no one will patronize your joke shop?"
"I thought you didn't want me to graduate early?"
"You guys have even prepared the store, haven't you?" Albert tapped the parchment in his hand and said, "However, the current price is still a bit high. After the mysterious man announces his return, we can negotiate with them and lower the price. Now you can think about how to design the store, what items you need, and what joke props you plan to sell."