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Chapter 964: Follow-up
🕑 Added 2023-12-17 04:55:41 +0000 UTCHarry had never been so happy before, as if it were Christmas. He swore to himself that he would imprint the scene before him, along with Umbridge's pleading and subservient demeanor, into his mind and never forget it for the rest of his life.
When he and Evan left Umbridge's office, he was still a little dazed, with a smile on his face.
It was only after passing through a dimly lit corridor that Harry calmed down, his great joy replaced by worry.
Umbridge would surely have her revenge, and they might be expelled from school!
Harry didn't care at all. Just seeing Umbridge's miserable appearance was enough for him. He had wanted to do this for a long time, to charge forward and give that old toad a good beating.
But Evan did even better, using her quill to leave the mark ‘I must not tell lies’ on her face.
Using her own wicked method, with her own blood, he gave her a lesson memorable enough to last a lifetime. And then, let’s see if she would dare to intentionally distort the truth in the future. If Harry were Umbridge, he probably would not have the face to show himself in public again.
Coming to think of it, how would she explain the scars on her face to others?
And how would she explain the meaning of the phrase ‘I must not tell lies’?
There was simply no way to explain it. At least Harry couldn’t figure out how to say it. He learned from Evan that because of the witchcraft damage, the words would be difficult to erase and might take an extremely long time to fade away. If they couldn't be erased, she would forever carry this shame.
Everyone who saw her in the future would know that she was lying and that she was an untrustworthy person.
This was what she deserved; no one deserved this punishment more than her.
"Evan, how did you do it?" Harry couldn't help asking. "Was it the magic on that quill?"
"Oh, that's witchcraft that sacrifices the user's own blood. In essence, it's similar to our Dark magic. Once you understand how it works, it's easy to break the curse and redirect it to a different target."
Harry nodded half-understanding, as long as he knew the effect.
After this incident, Umbridge would never use that kind of quill in her life, and Evan’s actions tonight would probably leave an indelible shadow in her heart.
"By the way, what should we do now?" said Harry, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for the possibility of expulsion.
"It goes without saying, of course we’re going to find Professor McGonagall!" said Evan calmly. "Although the problem with Professor Umbridge's quill is her own business, we'd better inform other professors to handle this unexpected accident."
"Uh… unexpected accident?!" Harry blinked, suddenly realizing they might not be expelled after all!
Indeed, they hadn't actively attacked Umbridge, and they hadn't even disobeyed her orders. She had instructed Evan to copy the sentence until she was satisfied, and Evan had followed her instructions. The only problem was the black quill.
And the quill had been provided by Umbridge herself...
In the end, with Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall's intervention, the matter was resolved. Evan denied all of Umbridge's accusations, insisting that the quill Umbridge had given them had malfunctioned, and that they hadn't done anything.
Evan wouldn't admit to having that kind of ability. He even claimed he didn't know what magic was on the quill.
Thinking about it, this was the "normal" level of a young wizard at Hogwarts, and there was nothing wrong with what Evan said.
Dangerous magical items like this quill often had problems, one thing or another. They could even accidentally hurt the user.
That's why Evan had told Umbridge not to use this quill to punish students anymore. It was too dangerous!
In the end, even Dumbledore said that the witchcraft on the quill was very unstable, and it was normal for problems to occur. Therefore, this incident was not that Evan violated school rules and attacked Umbridge.
It was just an "accident".
Although anyone with common sense could see what really happened – Umbridge still had blood on her face – she had no evidence. No matter who investigated, it would be the same. Evan hadn't physically attacked her on the surface; he had simply followed her instructions...
Umbridge could only admit that she was unlucky. If she wanted to trouble Evan again next time, she would need to come up with a more cunning plan.
Using such a dangerous magical item to punish students was a terrible action. Dumbledore had explicitly told her to stop using it. Sharing this incident would harm Umbridge's own image, and she didn't want more people to know about it.
Now she despised Evan to no end, yet there was nothing she could do.
No matter how you looked at it, she couldn’t hold Evan responsible for this matter. In fact, she should commend him.
Because Evan had faithfully carried out Umbridge's orders, even though he knew the demands were unreasonable.
It wasn't until hours later that Evan learned from Professor McGonagall that Umbridge had lost her composure in Dumbledore's office, demanding that the headmaster immediately expel both Evan and Harry. She was nothing like her usual self.
She kept mentioning the Ministry of Magic and Fudge, but Dumbledore wasn't buying it.
Unsurprisingly, he flatly rejected Umbridge's baseless demands.
He told Umbridge that such a request was unreasonable, and that even the headmaster of Hogwarts could not expel students without reason.
No one else had that right, not even the High Inquisitor or the Ministry of Magic.
However, he promised to strengthen the management of Evan and Harry. Evan should have stopped immediately when he found that there was a problem with the quill, instead of continuing to carry out Umbridge's order, causing her to suffer great harm...
Now that Evan and Harry were Gryffindor students, Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall to decide on their punishment and complete the remaining detention, and advised Umbridge to seek treatment for the scars on her face at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as soon as possible...
Professor McGonagall prepared biscuits for the two of them, and added Gryffindor twenty points to each of them because they completed their Transfiguration essay very well.
The commendation was evident, and if Umbridge found out about it, she'd probably go berserk. After giving them some admonitions, Professor McGonagall let Evan and Harry go, informing them that the detention was over, and the whole ordeal had lasted less than half an hour.
In the Gryffindor common room, they were greeted with a celebration. Everyone rejoiced in their standing up to Umbridge.
Although the two of them had been in Professor McGonagall's office, during this period, many people had already seen Umbridge with blood on her face, the words ‘I must not tell lies’ engraved, as she stormed through the corridors in frustration....
