Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 973: Impact of the New Education Decree

Although Evan didn’t care at all, his position as Head Boy being revoked by Umbridge still caused quite a stir at school.

In addition to sympathy and indignation, there were also many people who were gloating about his misfortune, mainly Slytherin students.

In their eyes, this was the consequence of defying the Ministry of Magic, and it wouldn’t be long before Evan would be expelled from school!

Perhaps even Umbridge herself thought the same, but it was better not to provoke Evan before that.

Evan could make others wary not because of his position as Head Boy, but because of his own strength.

When Harry, Ron, Neville, Colin, and a few others came back from the lake and saw the sign, they were all very angry. Many people came to comfort Evan, advised him not to pay attention to it, or suggested that he go to Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.

But that would not change anything. Professor McGonagall had told Evan about this before, and she said that she would try her best to fight for him, but it was obviously unsuccessful. The Educational Decree Number Twenty-five gave Umbridge the authority to override the Headmaster and Heads of Houses.

In addition, the most discussed topic in the school was the Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.

In the short term, the impact of this decree was beyond imagination. Disbanding all student organizations for re-forming meant that from now on, all organizations were illegal until approved by Umbridge.

Not counting fully recognized groups, Hogwarts currently had thousands of related organizations, clubs, and groups, including those handed down from history, student-initiated ones, and those officially recognized by the school.

If they were all canceled and it was up to Umbridge to decide whether to approve their reformation, the impact would be enormous.

After having the power to inspect professors’ teaching standards and the authority to dismiss them, Umbridge also began to take action on students and carry out comprehensive reforms.

In other words, she had already established enough deterrence between professors and ordinary students.

In the future, anyone wanting to cross Umbridge or oppose her would have to consider the consequences, which might not be as simple as a detention!

Of course, Umbridge’s dislike for daring to do this also increased sharply.

“This is revenge. She must know that we met at the Hog’s Head Inn.” Harry said, his hands forming fists.

“You mean someone snitched?”

“It can’t be.”

“Think about it, there were people listening in that pub, even Mundungus dressed up as a woman and sat there, no one can tell if anyone was Umbridge’s eyes and ears. And let’s face it, we don’t know how many of the people who turned up we can trust. Many of the people who came this time we rarely interact with, or we don’t even know their names. Any of them could have run off and told Umbridge!”

“It must be Zacharias Smith, that annoying guy!” Ron punched a fist into his hand. “Or, um, I thought that Michael Corner had a really shifty look too…”

“Please, Ron, you can’t be suspicious of anyone who likes Ginny,” said Hermione.

“The spell I cast on the parchment has not been touched, and it’s impossible for anyone to have informed on us,” said Evan. “Don’t be suspicious. Although those two guys are indeed annoying, we need to maintain the basic trust.”

That evening, during dinner in the Great Hall, there was a peculiar intensity about the chatter and an extra measure of movement as people scurried up and down their tables conferring on what they had read. Evan was dismissed as the Head Boy, and he became the focus again.

Other students who had just joined them kept running over to ask what to do.

“Evan, what do you think?”

“No need to ask, we’re going to do it anyway, of course,” said Evan to Neville, Dean, Fred, George, and Ginny. “And I think this actually has little impact on us. The Defense Against the Dark Arts group we formed was illegal from the start.”

“I knew you’d say that,” said George, beaming. “By the way, we saw the news of your dismissal. Anyway, welcome back. The Head Boy isn’t a big deal.”

“Yeah, think about Percy, he’s the biggest idiot in the world. The stupidest thing he did in his life was to become the Head Boy. He kept telling us what not to do, but he couldn’t even manage himself,” Fred said.

“We can start playing pranks together again in the future without any burden or worry about your position,” George thumped Harry on the arm. “Honestly, we can’t do without you…”

“Are you sure you’re comforting Evan?” Hermione said, looking unhappy.

“You don’t understand, Hermione; this isn’t comforting, it’s welcoming. Evan is very talented at pranks. So let’s create chaos in the school together,” said Fred, looking quizzically at Ron and Hermione. “By the way, do the prefects want to do it too?”

“Of course,” said Hermione coolly.

“Well, it seems that no one has acted suspiciously; it looks like no one informed on us. Here comes Ernie and Hannah Abbott!” said Ron, looking over his shoulder. “And those Ravenclaw blokes and that annoying git, Smith…”

“The idiots can’t come over here now, it’ll look really suspicious — sit down!” Hermione looked alarmed. She mouthed to Ernie and Hannah, gesturing frantically to them to rejoin the Hufflepuff table. “Later! We’ll — talk — to — you — later!”

“I’ll tell Michael,” said Ginny impatiently, swinging herself off her bench. “The fool, honestly…”

She hurried off toward the Ravenclaw table, and they watched her go, including Harry who also looked in the direction of Cho.

“So, our little sister finally has a new boyfriend?”

“Another dimwit, just like Zacharias,” said Ron, staring at Ginny and Michael.

“Michael is not as bad as you make him out to be, and his grades are much better than yours. If you cared about performance, you’d notice that his grades in Potions are always excellent. Snape rarely gives anyone an ‘Outstanding’,” said Hermione fairly.

“Another nerd!” Ron muttered under his breath.

“Harry! Ron! Fred! George!”

Just then, Angelina hurried toward them.

“It’s okay, Angelina!” said Harry quietly, when she was near enough to hear him. “We’re still going to…”

“You realize she’s including Quidditch in this?” Angelina said over him. “We have to go and ask permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!”

“What?!” said Harry, his eyes widening in shock. He had never considered this possibility.

“No way,” said Ron, appalled.

“You read the sign, it mentions teams too! So listen, you guys, especially you, Harry … I am saying this for the last time… Please, please don’t lose your temper with Umbridge again or she might not let us play anymore!”

“Okay, okay,” said Harry, for Angelina looked as though she was on the verge of tears. “Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself…”

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