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Chapter 1041: The Beginning of Chaos
🕑 Added 2024-03-12 06:55:51 +0000 UTCThe impact of the arrival of Hogwarts Wizarding News was immediate. The originally noisy Great Hall suddenly became quiet, as if someone had turned off the sound, and then immediately became boiling. The newspaper circulated at the fastest speed in everyone's hands.
What Umbridge was most worried about had happened. She stood up in panic, not to mention how ugly her face was.
At this moment, she probably didn't realize that this was the beginning of complete chaos at Hogwarts.
"Let's go," said Evan. He didn't want to stay here and be questioned.
For the following period, an inexplicable atmosphere enveloped the entire Hogwarts.
It was a weird emotion mixed with panic, shock and indescribable excitement. Everyone was talking about the Death Eaters breakout, and rumors were flying.
No matter where you went, you could hear discussions about this event, and students had no interest in studying.
Some said that some of the convicts had been spotted in Hogsmeade, that they were supposed to be hiding out in the Shrieking Shack and that they were going to break into Hogwarts, just as Sirius Black had done. Those Death Eaters escaped primarily to kill Harry and seek revenge for Voldemort, and various rumors spread quickly, with new ones constantly emerging.
Those who came from Wizarding families had grown up hearing the names of these Death Eaters spoken with almost as much fear as Voldemort’s; the crimes they had committed during the days of Voldemort’s reign of terror were legendary.
There were relatives of their victims among the Hogwarts students, who now found themselves the unwilling objects of a gruesome sort of reflected fame as they walked the corridors: Susan Bones, who had an uncle, aunt, and cousins who had all died at the hands of one of the thirty, said miserably during Herbology that she now had a good idea what it felt like to be Harry.
“And I don’t know how you stand it, it’s horrible,” she told Harry bluntly.
Like these students, Evan, Harry, Hermione, their group, and even the newcomer Elaine were the subjects of much muttering and pointing. There was a slight difference in the tone of the whisperers’ voices though.
They sounded curious rather than hostile now, and anyone who was not a fool understood that things were getting very bad.
Thirty extremely dangerous Death Eaters had managed to break out of Azkaban fortress. They were the elite of Voldemort's army. Each of them was the most evil Dark wizard in the world, and they had committed countless crimes under their hands, but the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet could not explain why they escaped, and there were no follow-up reports.
They were still blaming Dumbledore and the poor education at Hogwarts, but who cared about that now?!
In their confusion and fear, these doubters now seemed to be turning to the only other explanation available to them, the one that Evan, Harry and Dumbledore had been expounding since the previous year, and the sales of Hogwarts Magic had increased dramatically.
Since the beginning of the summer vacation, when Harry was attacked by a Dementor, Hogwarts Magic began to remind the Ministry of Magic and people to pay attention to Dementors. Rita's series of articles even further emphasized the dangers and harmfulness of the Dementors, analyzing all possibilities of loss of control.
Now, what they said had come true. Although the Ministry of Magic repeatedly emphasized that the Dementors were not out of control, no one with a right mind would believe them. If the Dementors were not out of control, then how did thirty Death Eaters escape?
As the only newspaper that dared to tell the truth, Hogwarts Magic News immediately became a hero in people's minds.
But that was not all. A deeper analysis of the situation would uncover even more terrifying truths.
Voldemort was the mastermind behind this prison break. This was the truth behind why the Dementors were out of control and the Death Eaters escaped from prison.
This was an obvious thing, but most people were still reluctant to think in that direction.
Because it was too terrifying to admit that Voldemort was resurrected and returned, far more than the Dementors losing control and the large-scale Death Eaters escaping from prison.
However, this did not prevent them from increasing their recognition of Hogwarts Magic.
In order to allow time for public opinion to ferment, Rita's exclusive interview with Evan and Harry was not rushed to be published.
They were waiting for the best time to discuss the details and related matters of this report, and they made an appointment to meet in Hogsmeade.
In short, everything was as Evan expected, and the Death Eaters' escape greatly changed the current situation.
The Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet continued to promote the same things as in the past and tried their best to maintain stability, but fewer and fewer people believed them.
As time went by, the voices of doubt grew louder.
It was not only the students’ mood that had changed. It was now quite common to come across teachers conversing in low, urgent whispers in the corridors, breaking off their conversations the moment they saw students approaching.
“They obviously can’t talk freely in the staffroom anymore. Not with Umbridge there," said Hermione in a low voice, as she, Harry, and Ron passed Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout huddled together outside the Charms classroom one day.
Under this circumstance, Umbridge quickly issued a new Educational Decree. The morning after news of the Azkaban breakout, a new notice was posted on the house notice boards:
— BY ORDER OF —
THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.
The above is in accordance with
Educational Decree Number Twenty-six.
Signed:
Dolores Jane Umbridge
HIGH INQUISITOR
Some people might have naively thought that the breakout from Azkaban might have humbled Umbridge a little, that she might have been abashed at the catastrophe that had occurred right under her beloved Fudge’s nose. It seemed, however, to have only intensified her furious desire to bring every aspect of life at Hogwarts under her personal control. She seemed determined at the very least to achieve a sacking before long, and the only question was whether it would be Professor Trelawney or Hagrid who went first.
Every single Divination and Care of Magical Creatures lesson was now conducted in the presence of Umbridge and her clipboard.
She lurked by the fire in the heavily perfumed tower room, interrupting Professor Trelawney’s increasingly hysterical talks with difficult questions about Ornithomancy and Heptomology, insisting that she predict students’ answers before they gave them and demanding that she demonstrate her skill at the crystal ball, the tea leaves, and the rune stones in turn...
Professor Trelawney was about to crack under the strain; several times students passed her in the corridors - in itself a very unusual occurrence as she generally remained in her tower room-, muttering wildly to herself, wringing her hands, and shooting terrified glances over her shoulder, all the time giving off a powerful smell of cooking sherry.
Even Elaine, who was very interested in Divination, couldn't stand Professor Trelawney. She didn't come to Divination classes at all now.
After becoming familiar with Hogwarts, she did not follow Evan or Hermione like before, but began to wander around the castle with great interest, daring to go almost anywhere. She had a way of concealing herself, ensuring she wouldn't be discovered, and had enough self-defense capabilities.
Evan was originally a bit worried about whether she would do something to other people. But thinking about it later, this was actually quite good. This meant he and Hermione had more time alone together...
