The news of Voldemort's return caused an uproar in Hogwarts. Wherever you went, you could hear people talking about it.

Especially those students who came from magical families, they had a natural fear of Voldemort and had been distracted ever since they saw what was in the newspaper.

It's not just students who are like this. It's common to see professors gathering in twos and threes in the corridors, talking nervously in low voices, and stopping when they see students coming.

Of course, only some students were like this. In Slytherin, which had the largest number of pure-blood wizards, it was a different scene. They were very excited, as if it was Christmas again.

During lunch, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode's shrill laughter almost never stopped, and they walked into the auditorium with a haughty manner, looking like two peacocks showing off their feathers.

"Look, it's those two stupid turkeys again." Susan Bones said with disgust, "I'm sure someone in their family must be a Death Eater."

The Bones family has always supported the Order of the Phoenix. They have been fighting the Death Eaters for more than ten years, and the hatred between them cannot be resolved at all.

It wasn't shown before, simply because Voldemort had been defeated for more than ten years, and several extremely evil Death Eaters had been imprisoned in Azkaban, and everyone thought that the matter was over.

Even if Susan didn't like some Slytherins, she was far from hating them.

But now that Voldemort has made a comeback and the Death Eaters have escaped from prison, the situation seems to have returned to what it was more than a decade ago overnight, and the attitudes of both sides have naturally become clear-cut.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

At this time, Fred and George came over and sat down at the Hufflepuff table naturally.

"Of course it's those two people." Mikel nodded in the direction of Slytherin. Pansy and Millicent just sat down and started talking loudly with others.

"Do you think they are on the side of the Death Eaters?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Fred. "If you look at the newspaper again, you'll find that one of the Death Eaters who escaped yesterday was Bulstrode."

"I don't understand why the headmaster doesn't kick these people out of the castle?" Susan poked at the fried pork chops on the plate.

"Because they are not Death Eaters." Cedric said, "At least so far, they are still just students. The headmaster certainly can't drive them out of the castle just because of their surnames. This goes against the teaching philosophy of Hogwarts.

"Just like the previous Chamber of Secrets incident, the headmaster also did not kick Harry, who was the most suspicious, out of the castle."

“That’s true…” Mikel muttered, “but the way they look is so irritating. I really want to teach them a lesson.”

"I agree!" George was the first to agree, "Remember to call me when the time comes."

"You'd better give up this idea." Cedric said, "If you are discovered, you will definitely be put in solitary confinement."

"It doesn't matter, as long as we don't let other people find out." Fred lowered his voice and said, "I know Honeydukes has a kind of large brown paper bag, which seems to be used for purchasing goods. It can almost fit a person. We can use it to trap Millicent or Pansy before we take action..."

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and he would burst into laughter from time to time.

"Leave this to me." Susan also said excitedly, contrary to her usual behavior. "I buy a lot of candy from Honeydukes every year. I should be able to borrow a few bags."

"We can also buy them..." George said with a smile, "I have a feeling that these bags will become the most popular consumables in the future. We can't keep borrowing them."

"I say, why can't you two go back to Gryffindor and discuss this matter." Cedric interrupted them unhappily.

In order to stop the two from spreading rumors and misleading the public, he quickly asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we're here to see you." Fred then remembered that he had something else to say, and turned around and said, "We're thinking about whether we should expand the scale of the DA."

"After all, the situation is different now than before," George said. "We think there must be more people who want to learn how to protect themselves."

“That’s why we created the DA, right?”

Seeing the two people's serious expressions, Cedric frowned and asked doubtfully, "Do you really think so?"

"Well, that's actually what Hermione wanted to ask," said Fred, "but she's quite busy right now, carrying a huge stack of books, it feels like she's moving the library into her dorm."

"We just happened to have nothing to do, so we took the initiative to take on this job."

Cedric still didn't believe it.

He knew Fred and George too well. If they just wanted to discuss this issue, they would not have made a special trip. Besides, expanding the scale was not something he could agree to with just a nod of his head.

"Tell the truth!" Cedric said lightly.

Fred and George looked at each other.

"As expected of the male student union president, nothing can be hidden from you."

Fred chuckled and, like a magician, pulled out a pointed hat with a red feather on it.

"We just want to ask if you can wear this hat to the next DA meeting."

"That hat that makes your head invisible? Forget it, I don't want to be everyone's laughing stock." Cedric refused without saying a word.

The DA gathering is a place to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, not a selection site for the Headless Horseman Club, so there is no need to hide your head.

"No, no, no, you misunderstood." Fred said quickly: "This is our new product. We worked all night to make it yesterday."

"We call it the Curseproof Hat," George said. "Its function is very simple. It can resist a curse attack."

"To be honest, given the current situation, it is very necessary to have such a hat."

“It can save lives at critical moments.”

The two spoke so seriously that Cedric hesitated.

“If it’s as good as you say, why not just sell it?

"Just like before, let's show its functions in front of everyone. I think many people will buy it."

"We tried it this morning, but the response was average." Fred sighed, "Maybe it's because the price is a bit high. People don't really trust our product."

"Expensive?" Cedric was stunned.

At least until now, nothing in Weasley's Joke Shop costs more than five Galleons, so this price shouldn't make many people hesitate.

"Well, our price is fifty Galleons," said George.

Cedric covered his mouth in time to prevent the pumpkin juice he had just drunk from spitting out.

Fifty Galleons?

This price is almost a month's salary for an ordinary Ministry of Magic employee. Few people in Hogwarts can afford it.

"There's nothing I can do. This is already the lowest price." Fred sighed.

“We used dragon skin, real dragon skin,” George said. “It’s not all of it, but it’s definitely worth it.”

"So we need someone more famous to advertise this hat."

"It's strange..."

At this time, Fred suddenly turned his head and looked at Kyle beside him. "Why are those valuable things of yours so easy to sell? I remember that you sold a necklace made of dragon teeth for 100 Galleons."

"Because the person who bought it is Slytherin." Kyle shrugged and said, "They are not short of money."

"Forget it then." George shook his head and said meaningfully, "They probably aren't worried about being attacked by Death Eaters."

"Let's continue talking about advertising..." The two looked at Cedric again.

“If you could wear it, maybe more people would want to buy it.”

As one of the shareholders of Weasley's Joke Shop, Cedric agreed after only a slight hesitation.

"Of course, you can, but this feather must be replaced. It's too ugly." He said, "And I also want to experiment with the function of the hat."

"That's no problem." George put on his hat immediately, "You attack..."

Before he could finish his words, a spell fell directly on him. George flew backwards and fell to the ground.

But he was not petrified and stood up quickly.

"Hey, Kyle, you should have told me," he complained.

"That's a better way to test it, isn't it?" Kyle said.

He looked at the top of George's head and saw that the hat had split in the middle.

"Only once?"

"It depends on the power of the spell." Fred explained with some distress: "Stronger spells can only be resisted once, but if someone else comes, then it will be fine."

"Don't forget, Death Eaters are all adult wizards, and none of them are weak." Kyle said, "Take Barty Crouch Jr. for example, when he just graduated, he got twelve certificates."

"What? A Death Eater got twelve certificates?" George didn't care about the hat anymore, and said in astonishment, "Doesn't this mean that he is the same as Bill and Percy?"

"That's right," Kyle said, "Fifty years before Hogwarts, only three of them had ever obtained twelve certificates.

Read more of the latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

"Besides, why are you so surprised? How could someone who was favored by Voldemort and recruited by him be a fool?"

"Like Peter Pettigrew?" said Fred.

"He is special." Kyle shook his head, "And even among the Death Eaters, Peter is not welcome."

"All right," George said, pulling a plate-sized piece of leather from the split hat.

"Is this dragon skin?" Cedric asked.

"Well, we bought it from Hogsmeade. It's ridiculously expensive." George nodded and said, "But if you want the hat to be able to resist spells, the magic runes must be engraved on dragon skin. If it is ordinary cloth, the moment it comes into contact with the spell, the hat will be torn into pieces by the impact force transmitted to the magic runes, and it will not be able to resist at all."

Looking at the dragon skin in their hands, Kyle thought for a moment and then said, "Have you ever thought about making it a disposable item... removing the magic runes that reduce the power and replacing them with 'collision' symbols to offset the effect of the spell in a more brutal way.

"This way, we'll need a lot less dragon skin."

"Head-on?" Fred pondered, "But then we won't be able to tell the type of spell. A random cleansing spell might trigger the defense mechanism."

"Besides, the 'collision' itself is very unstable. Once triggered, the dragon hide will be directly destroyed."

"But it's cheap." Kyle said with a smile, "This symbol is not big. It only takes one-fifth of the dragon skin in your hand. The cost will be much lower."

For a moment, everyone's eyes on Kyle changed.

It has to be Kyle...

"I didn't expect you to be this kind of person." Fred said with disgust, "We thought we were dark enough."

"What are you thinking?" Kyle said unhappily, "What I mean is that after the cost is reduced, the selling price must also be adjusted accordingly.

"Something that originally cost fifty Galleons will only cost ten Galleons after reducing the amount of dragon skin used. This way everyone can afford it. It's just that they need to pay more attention to it and it will be a lot more troublesome.

"But if we really encounter Death Eaters... to be honest, this one-time thing would be more effective."

"You're right." Fred stroked his chin. "Okay, we can try..."

Seeing that the three were chatting animatedly, Cedric did not disturb them, but instead started thinking about expanding the DA.

From a personal point of view, he doesn't want to expand, because more people means he will be busier.

During this period, many new members have joined, and now the DA has almost 80 members.

This has already made him a little too busy. If more people are added, the party time will have to be extended. And it can be predicted that the number of people added this time will definitely be more than one or two, and may even double.

There are nearly two hundred people... They can't extend the party to three hours.

So when Fred and George were about to leave, Cedric could only give a very vague answer.

"Let's discuss this together when we have time." He said, "Perhaps the school can replace us with a more reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, so that we don't need to participate in the DA anymore."

"Okay." Fred and George didn't care. They were anxious to go back and study the new products and trotted away.

…

In the afternoon, Fudge came.

I don’t know if it was intentional, but he arrived just before the first class started, and almost all the students saw him go to Headmaster Dumbledore’s office.

As for what they talked about in the principal's office, no one knew, not even Kyle.

Everyone waited curiously for the whole afternoon.

"I really hope he can take Umbridge with him."

In the afternoon Herbology class, Mikkel whispered: "We obviously need a more reliable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor now, not a guy who only asks us to read aloud and copy books."

His words were also unanimously agreed by others.

By the time dinner came, everyone in the hall was talking about it, wondering whether Umbridge would just leave.

Finally, Dumbledore came and cleared his throat, and the hall suddenly became quiet.

"As everyone should know, Voldemort and his followers are causing trouble again, and their power is growing stronger."

There was a tense, anxious silence in the Great Hall as Dumbledore spoke.

"I need to stress that the current situation is tense and everyone needs to be extremely cautious to ensure their own safety.

"The Ministry of Magic has agreed to assist Hogwarts in strengthening its magical defenses, but every teacher and student must remain vigilant at all times and not let down their guard.

"Therefore, I ask you to strictly abide by every school rule, no matter how annoying those rules are...

"Finally, it's about our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Hearing this, Cedric raised his head sharply.

"First of all, Professor Umbridge will still teach you..."

There were sighs and complaints in the hall, which made Umbridge, who was sitting next to her, look unhappy.

"However..." Dumbledore raised his voice, "The Ministry of Magic believes that in times of crisis like this, everyone should learn how to protect themselves. One Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is obviously not enough.

"So next, there will be two experienced Aurors assisting Professor Umbridge."

The next second, the sighs turned into cheers.

But that’s not all.

"By the way..." Dumbledore raised his voice again, not caring at all that Umbridge was right next to him, and said happily.

"We also said that Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic should unite and trust each other. The Minister readily agreed to abolish the position of High Inquisitor."

"So here, I am happy to announce to everyone that all previous educational orders, including the requirement to register to form a club and the probationary punishment of some professors, will be abolished."

The cheers in the auditorium became louder, and there was also applause and clapping of the table.

This is the first time everyone has been so happy since this morning.

…

(End of this chapter)