Chapter 350: The New Defense Against the Dark Arts Office

"You probably haven't taken her class yet, have you?"

Harry and the others nodded. They, the fifth-year Gryffindors, had indeed not taken the new Defense Against the Dark Arts class yet.

"Umbridge's teaching method is very strange. She doesn't teach you any practical defense techniques, but pure theoretical knowledge. She also said that this is the only way to effectively improve our OWL test scores." Mike sighed and said, "That's why I quarreled with her. You know, that person has returned, and we are in a very dangerous moment. In order to better protect ourselves in the next crisis, we need a stronger Defense Against the Dark Arts. But Umbridge..."

Mike didn't say the next words, but just shook his head and sighed.

Harry and the others beside him were also silent. They knew very well that what Mike said was right. If Umbridge was really like what Mike said, then they would never accept it.

"Maybe... maybe she is just like that to the fifth-year students. After all, we are going to take the OWL exam this year, and some of us have very poor theoretical scores (Hermione looked at Harry and Ron when she said this, and it was self-evident who she was talking about.)" Hermione said, "but students in other grades can still receive normal education."

"You are wrong." Zhou Hong shook his head and said, "The second grade is the same. It has nothing to do with the grade. The old witch simply wants to teach us to be useless."

Hermione bit her lip. Zhou Hong's words completely shattered her last expectation.

Harry, who was standing next to her, also had an anxious look on his face. He frowned and asked Mike:

"Then what should we do? If we really can't learn any new defense skills this year, how should we face Voldemort?"

Hearing that name again, Ron's body trembled again, but he quickly recovered and agreed:

"No... that's right!"

Suddenly, everyone's eyes fell on Mike. In their concept, Mike always stood up to solve problems at the most critical moment.

Looking at the expectant faces in front of him, Mike's smile flashed across his face, and he waved his hand to comfort them:

"Don't worry, everyone. Things are not irreversible yet. I will have a good talk with Umbridge tonight. It would be best if I could change her mind. But if she insists on her delusion, then we can only think of other ways."

Harry, Hermione and the others nodded, but the worry on their faces became even more intense, and Zhou Hong on the side was even more excited. He grabbed Mike's sleeve and said,

"You must be careful! That old witch is bad! I heard that she and Filch are in collusion, and the torture instruments that Filch hid in the warehouse are all with her. She might punish you corporally!"

Ron's body trembled again. Although he had never seen those torture instruments himself, he had heard a lot about them from his two naughty brothers, and just listening to their descriptions, Ron had nightmares for a long time.

"Mike, you'd better not go. Those torture instruments are really scary!"

Mike smiled and shook his head, refusing:

"Someone has to stand up, right?"

Harry and the others all widened their eyes. In their eyes, Mike looked like the heroes in the knight novels who were not afraid of sacrifice!

...

At night, in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office on the fourth floor.

"Mike, if that old witch tortures you, you just scream and shout. We are ready to break in at any time!"

Ron told Mike seriously, while Harry curled his lips and said unconfidently:

"Well, I think that may not be a good idea. We'd better go and tell Professor Flitwick."

"That will be too late!" Ron glared at Harry and said, "By the time the professor comes, Mike will have been tortured!"

Harry didn't say anything, but his slightly rolled eyes showed that he still didn't think breaking in was a good idea.

"Okay, I get it." Mike smiled and shook his head, and said to the two friends who insisted on accompanying him, "You guys go back first, I'll be fine."

"No!"

Harry and Ron shouted in unison.

Seeing this, Mike didn't intend to persuade them anymore, nodded, opened the door of the office and walked in.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, this is definitely the most interesting professor's office in the entire Hogwarts, because the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in Hogwarts is constantly changing every year, so the decoration in this office will also change a lot every year.

Mike is very familiar with this place. He has basically come here several times a year since the first grade, so he is very familiar with the decoration changes of this office over the years.

Let's take the previous owner here, Moody, for example. At that time, this office was completely transformed into a fortress by Moody, filled with a large number of magic props used to detect other people's misconduct and hiding places, as well as some very dangerous magic prohibitions.

Mike even felt that the security level of this office was higher than that of the principal's office at that time.

The decorations of the other three former owners were also very unique. When Lupin was there, there were often many cages or boxes in this office, which often contained many very interesting evil creatures.

In Lockhart's era, the walls of this office were covered with portraits of him with a smile on his face, and most of these portraits were low-level magic portraits. Those portraits were as conceited as he was and often said a lot of self-praise, and Lockhart liked to listen to this, and he often listened to it for a whole day.

There was nothing much to say about the last Quirrell era. In addition to the garlic smell in the room, the most common things in his office were all kinds of exotic little things.

It must be said that the former owners of these classrooms were all talented, and their offices all had strong personal styles and were very interesting.

But compared with the current one, they are all a little less attractive.

Yes, the office that appeared in front of Mike now is definitely the least office-like place Mike has ever seen.

I saw that the walls around were covered with pink wallpaper, and everything in the room was covered with lace covers and tablecloths. There were also several vases filled with dried flowers, each placed on its own little cushion, and on one wall hung a set of decorative plates, each with a brightly colored cat wearing a different bow around its neck.

Mike couldn't help swallowing his saliva. This room gave him a very girlish feeling. It was pink and tender, just like the room of a 17-year-old girl.

If he didn't know in advance that this was the room of a middle-aged woman, Mike would be happy to be a guest here, but now... Mike could only feel a wave of coldness.

Just as Mike was looking at the decoration of the room, a sweet voice suddenly came from the side.

"Good evening, Mr. Townley. How is my office? Not bad, right?"

Mike looked over and saw Umbridge sitting at a small table with small lace.

At this moment, Umbridge was no longer wearing the pink woolen coat she wore in the afternoon, but a bright red printed long skirt. It seemed that she had changed her clothes specifically for receiving Mike.

However, the pattern on her printed long skirt blended perfectly with the tablecloth on the desk behind her, and she was not tall, so Mike didn't notice her immediately after entering.

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge," Mike said after looking her up and down, "Your office is very nice, but... I really didn't expect you to like such girly things."

"Haha, because their existence always makes me feel that I am still young." Umbridge covered her mouth and laughed, then pointed to the lace small round table in front of her and said, "Okay, come and sit down."

On the small round table was a ceramic teapot and a three-layer tray in the shape of a cake tower. The bottom layer of the three-layer tray, which was also the largest layer, was filled with several sandwiches of different colors. The second layer was filled with scones, butter and jam, and the top layer was filled with many exquisite and lovely desserts.

Mike understood at a glance that this was the standard configuration of English afternoon tea.

Coupled with the extremely magical decoration in this room and the two gorgeous chairs beside the small round table, Mike felt like a tea party in a classic fairy tale.

But what kind of afternoon tea should we have this late at night?

Umbridge seemed to see Mike's doubts, but she obviously had no intention of explaining to Mike. When she saw Mike sitting down, she smiled and picked up the teapot to pour a cup of tea.

To Mike's surprise, what was poured out of the teapot was not black tea, but rich and mellow hot chocolate.

"Drinking hot chocolate at night helps you sleep." Umbridge explained, and then pointed to the desserts on the top of the three-layer tray and said, "Oh, you must try this, this is the new product of the Duke of Bee, I love it!"

After that, Umbridge did not follow the tradition of British afternoon tea and eat the sandwich on the bottom layer first, but directly took a mini castle-shaped pink cake and stuffed it into her mouth.

Looking at Umbridge in front of him closing her eyes and moaning with satisfaction, Mike looked disgusted. This scene was too spicy.

After eating the cake, Umbridge sucked her fingers.

Seeing that Mike had no intention of tasting it, he asked strangely:

"Don't you want to eat it? Dumbledore told me that you like sweets the most. I thought I found someone who likes it."

Mike did not answer and just looked at her expressionlessly.

Umbridge, who was being stared at by Mike, obviously lost the appetite to continue eating. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands, kept smiling and asked in a voice that was so sweet that it was sickening:

"Then let's talk about business. Mike, I heard that you have a society called Los Santos Mutual Aid Society, which is dedicated to doing things for you, right?"

"To be precise, there has never been any mutual aid society. They are just beneficiaries of the 'Los Santos Student Aid Program.'" Mike crossed his legs and glanced up at Umbridge. "And the 'Los Santos Student Aid Program' is a pure public welfare program. My purpose is only to help those poor students and give them a relatively comfortable learning environment. I have never asked them for anything in return, but they don't think so. They are always trying to do things, hoping to repay my kindness."

Hearing this, Umbridge lowered her head and said nothing. The whole office suddenly fell into silence, with only the clock not far away still ticking.

After a long time, Umbridge finally raised her head and said,

"Mike, I don't think there are any students in Hogwarts who need help. You know, the funds allocated to Hogwarts by the directors and the Ministry of Magic every year should be enough for all students to enjoy free teaching."

"Hogwarts is indeed a school with free board and lodging, and even if students don't have money to buy books, the school will give some old books and school supplies donated by graduating seniors, but this is not enough." Mike said, "Old is old after all, and the quality is definitely not as good as new. And people always have a competitive mentality. Although this move allows those poor students to go to school, it also seriously hurts their hearts. They also want new flying brooms, all kinds of exquisite notebooks, and they also want to go to Hogsmeade to drink a sweet drink like other students on weekends. And these needs must be met, right?"

Even though Mike's face had been trained to be as thick as a wall, he couldn't help but blush when he said this.

This is really shameless.

To be honest, Hogwarts' policies for poor students are very conscientious. If Mike's words were heard by the people in developing countries, they would definitely be criticized.

How dare you despise such generous conditions? It's really a case of gratitude and resentment!

But this is a country with high welfare. Many people who grew up in this high welfare society are extremely left-wing. Many of them have the same ideas as Mike.

Very strange, right?

But this is the reality. People who grow up in different environments have completely different values!

And Mike didn't plan to stop. He paused and continued,

"Moreover, these grants become increasingly stretched in the senior years. Take the NEWT-level Potions course as an example. The free materials provided by Hogwarts in class are pitifully few. If you rely solely on those free materials, no one can pass the exam except for a few geniuses. This results in students having to purchase extra course-related materials on their own, and you know the prices of those potion materials."

Mike's words made Umbridge's smile disappear. She frowned and said coldly,

"This is not right. I've calculated the amount of funds allocated to Hogwarts every year. With such a huge amount of funds, the situation you mentioned shouldn't happen. Unless someone embezzled the money!"