Let's move forward a little. Just this morning, when the little wizards were still sleeping soundly in their warm beds, Umbridge hurried back to Hogwarts from the Ministry of Magic.
At that time, the gatekeeper Filch had just gotten up and was holding a bunch of keys to open the doors in the castle one by one.
Looking out from the window, you can see that the sky is not bright yet. However, just looking at the hazy sky wall is enough to know that today must be an unusually windy weather.
"It should be colder!" Filch hunched his back and muttered angrily, "It would be great if the cold could make those little brats freeze together! Those guys with excess energy..."
When he yawned and opened the latch of the front door, a short and fat figure swept in from the door with a fierce cold wind.
"Who?" Filch was suddenly shocked and shouted.
"Stop whining, it's me—Dolores Umbridge!"
Filch took a closer look and saw that the visitor was wrapped in a brightly colored fluffy coat. He only glanced at him and then hurried inside again.
"Oh! Investigator Umbridge!" Filch said happily, "Thanks to you, you have made those little bastards much more honest these days in school - please discipline them more! Tell them what This is the duty of students..."
"Huh?" Umbridge was startled, then stopped moving forward, "Are you..."
"Filch, Argus Filch... the Caretaker of Hogwarts."
Filch's tone sounded quite respectful, and his hunched-over posture was unclear whether it was because of his hunchback...or whether it was simply a sign of flattery.
"Well, Mr. Filch," Umbridge once again expertly put on her formulaic sweet smile and said softly, "Did you just say 'rectify and rectify'?"
"Yes!" Filch waved his hand and said, "Those little guys are all full of bad ideas! What should students do? Shouldn't they study peacefully? But who would have thought that every student There are so many students in every class who are naughty and messy! It’s just a mess!”
"Oh, you're right, I think so too..." Umbridge said with a sweet smile, "By the way, by chance, I have two notices from the Ministry of Magic here, please help me post them on the bulletin board. !”
At this point, she paused, and when Filch showed an expectant expression, she took out two large parchment rolls from her pink bag.
"... This should be what you are looking forward to. Take a look and then paste it!" She thrust the scroll into Filch's hand, "It has the official signature of the Ministry of Magic. It is a formal notification!"
"Ha! Now we have those bad guys to watch!"
After a while, the elated Filch energetically posted the two notices on the bulletin board one after another, completely covering up the other notices that were originally posted on the bulletin board.
"Mr. Filch, I didn't expect your views on education to be so accurate. Hogwarts only allows you to be an administrator. It's really humiliating -"
Umbridge stood at the back and watched the whole process of posting. While nodding her head to express satisfaction, she gave out an endless compliment.
"Oh—" Filch turned around in flattery. The stool he was standing on shook, and he almost fell off it.
"Maybe I'll need your help with something else in the future!" Umbridge said lightly, turned around and walked quickly to the corridor on the side of the foyer, "Do your best! Well, I have something else to do, so I'll go ahead. …”
"…Okay, okay, Investigator Umbridge!"
Umbridge, who had already turned the corner, didn't even listen to what Filch had to say.
As she just said, she does still have very important things to deal with next. But even if that wasn't the case, she wasn't interested in talking to an administrator any more.
The modest compliment just now was already an exception for her. If she hadn't been able to let go at Hogwarts, how could she be so hungry
Soon, she went up the stairs to the third floor and walked into the office of her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Umbridge's office is still filled with a pink and girly atmosphere as always.
Pink curtains, pink tablecloths, pink walls, pink carpets... And on the four walls, there are rows of decorative ceramic plates hanging on them. On the bottom of the plates are some magical cats with different expressions.
The whole room is filled with a warm atmosphere.
If this is really a room for a little girl, then people who come in to visit will probably say "what a cute little sweetheart", but if the owner of this room is actually a witch who is over fifty years old...
Once I thought about it this way, the sweet girly fragrance in the room somehow had a hint of decay.
As soon as Umbridge entered, she locked the door again, and then cast a spell on the entire office to check it again.
After confirming that there was nothing unusual in her office, she quickly walked to the side wall and tapped one of the large number of decorative plates on the wall with her wand.
With a crisp "ding" sound, the black Bombay cat at the bottom of the plate immediately stood up and stared at Umbridge closely.
Umbridge held the wand in her hand nervously, counted three times secretly in her heart, and then stretched out her wand and stirred hard at the bottom of the plate.
But the black cat was suddenly stirred into a thick mass of ink, flowing strangely, and looked as if it had turned into a thick black fog.
And in that thick fog, a pair of hazy eyes gradually appeared.
"Didn't I tell you not to contact me casually?" A vague voice came out of the fog. If you don't listen carefully, you may not even be able to hear it.
"Sir..." Umbridge pursed her dry lips and said softly, "I have done exactly what you said. What's the next step? What do you want me to do?"
However, the man in the mist was silent for a while, seeming to be thinking about something.
"Sir?" Umbridge was a little flustered by the waiting, so she couldn't help but call out again.
"Originally, I didn't have high expectations for you, but..." the other party muttered, "That's all... if you can cooperate with that child to disrupt Hogwarts, I will leave the position of Minister of Magic to you..."
"Of course, sir... I'm happy to help you!" Umbridge said happily, but then her face darkened, "But, that MacLean..."
"Human beings have weaknesses. You have been at Hogwarts for so long, haven't you figured it out yet?"
"No, of course... but..." Umbridge looked quite confused, "I have also checked that McClane many times, that kind of power beyond common sense..."
"Are you afraid?" the other party said in an understatement, "If you want to get something, you must know how to pay first... If you want to taste the fruit without taking some risks, how can there be such a good thing in this world?"
"I...I will do it," Umbridge gritted her teeth and said sternly, "It will definitely be done!"
"Very good... If you work harder, it will all be over soon." The eyes in the mist blinked, with a faint light shining in them, "Don't worry, at least you won't have to do it. You only need to be responsible for cooperating before and after, that’s enough..."
Before he finished speaking, the mist accelerated in an instant, and after a few seconds, it condensed into an ordinary cute black cat, lying down quietly at the bottom of the plate.
Umbridge's tense nerves suddenly relaxed. After letting out a slight sigh of relief, she turned and walked towards the table on the other side of the office.
"The flames are raging."
A few flames flickered into the firewood pile with the tip of her wand, and soon a crackling red flame formed, and the temperature in the room gradually rose.
She conjured up another pot of water, placed it on the fire in the fireplace and burned it. While waiting for the water in the copper kettle to boil, Umbridge gradually fell into thinking.
Since graduating from Slytherin House at Hogwarts, she has worked her way up the ranks of the Ministry of Magic with little outstanding ability. Although most of her methods are shady, that means that every promotion she gets is inevitably accompanied by risks commensurate with the benefits.
All this shows that she has a pathological desire for power.
But even though she was promoted faster than ordinary employees, after eyeing the position of Minister of Magic, she couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness due to lack of talent.
Compared to her, Cornelius Fudge was timid and fearful, but since he was able to get help and support from Dumbledore, it also showed that he also had the potential to be in power.
But now, it seems that many things have quietly changed dramatically in the midst of chaos.
“Tuk tuk tuk”
Umbridge was awakened by a knock on the door. She quickly adjusted her expression, then stretched out her wand and pointed at the door, gently unlocking the door.
"Please come in."
After she calmly sat back behind the desk and wiped the ends of her hair, she spoke.
The office door was pushed open, and a thin figure walked in calmly from the door. The visitor didn't show any surprise at the pink room. He just closed the door and walked steadily to the desk.
"Good morning, Professor Umbridge." The other party greeted politely.
"Well," Umbridge nodded and said with a smile, "Sokaladis, did you receive my message last night?"
"Oh - just call me Sokas, Professor Umbridge." Sokas said softly, "Yes, I did receive it, so I got up earlier on purpose!"
Umbridge looked at him with a sweet smile that seemed to be oozing with sugar juice.