Chapter 509 Hermione's Determination

Chapter 509 Hermione's Determination
Gryffindor common room.

The flames in the fireplace danced, reflecting Hermione's tightly pursed lips and slightly red eyes. The lounge was very quiet, with only the crackling of the fireplace and the whistling cold wind outside the window.

Ron hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke, "Hermione...are you okay?"

Hermione lowered her eyes and held her robe tightly with her hands, as if she was trying to suppress her emotions. Her chest was heaving violently, and Xie Ling's indifference and words were still echoing in her mind, over and over again, like a knife cutting through her self-esteem and beliefs.

"I'm fine." Her voice was soft, but with an unquestionable firmness.

Ron and Harry looked at each other. Harry frowned slightly, as if he wanted to comfort something, but Hermione had already raised her head. There was no longer loss in her eyes, but an unprecedented burning fighting spirit.

"I won't let him look down on me." Hermione's voice was so firm that both Harry and Ron were slightly stunned.

She clenched her fists and continued, "He thinks only Slytherins can 'have their own way'? Then we Gryffindors will also have our own way."

Harry stared at her blankly, while Ron asked nervously, "Uh...what do you want to do?"

Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes flashing with an unprecedented sharpness. "Umbridge won't teach us anything useful. The You-Know-Who has been resurrected, the horn of war has been sounded, and we can't wait passively any longer." She slowly looked at Harry and said seriously, "Harry, you come and teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Harry was unable to react for a moment. "What?"

"I think it's a really good idea," said Ron. "I mean, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, we have to be prepared for whatever's waiting for us out there. We have to make sure we can really protect ourselves."

"Umbridge has no intention of really teaching us any useful knowledge." Hermione's tone was calm and firm, but her eyes were anxious. "Her courses are a complete waste of time. We can't learn any practical skills at all. If we waste a whole year like this... When the war comes, what will we use to fight?"

A grin appeared on Harry's face. These two men must be joking with him.

"No matter how bad Umbridge is, I'm not a teacher. I can't--"

"Harry, Gryffindor, you are the best in the whole year in Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione.

"Me?" said Harry, grinning even more than before. "No, I'm not. You always do better than me in every exam -"

"Not really," said Hermione coolly. "You surpassed me in third year - the only year we both went through that trial together, with a teacher who really understood. But I'm not talking about test scores here, Harry. Think of all the things you've done!"

"That was just luck," Harry shook his head and said in a trance. He couldn't believe what would happen if he opened a Defense Against the Dark Arts club. The Slytherins would laugh at him and give him a nickname, "Potter who overestimates his own abilities"?

"Those things are pretty amazing, but they're all just luck - I don't know what I'm doing half the time, it's not planned at all, I just go with the flow and I almost always have help."

"Harry!" Hermione stood up suddenly, like a majestic lioness, "Listen to me, you have to believe in yourself, and you have to believe that we Gryffindors are no worse than Slytherins - I don't just ask you to teach us two, we have to set up a student organization..."

Harry's breathing stagnated slightly. He looked at Hermione and found that the light in her eyes was so firm, even with a bit of stubborn madness.

This was a look Hermione had never had before.

She used to be the Hermione who adhered to the rules and respected the system, but now, she wanted to create her own rules, she wanted to become stronger, and she wanted to prove to Shailene that she, Hermione Granger, would never be inferior to anyone!

Harry didn't agree immediately, he just said he needed some time to think about it.

……

At the same time, in the special lounge for prefects.

The firelight from the fireplace flickered gently, illuminating the faces of the six people. Xie Ling leaned casually on the sofa, his eyes sweeping over the other people present -

Daphne was flipping through the latest edition of the Daily Prophet, while Murray and Susan were discussing the latest Quidditch matches. Cedric Diggory and Elsie Montgomery were each holding a cup of hot drink, listening to everyone's chat and occasionally expressing their opinions. "Norwegian golden salmon and Swedish short-nosed dragon meat have finally entered the British market." Montgomery spoke first, with a tone of anticipation, "I heard that the taste is excellent, and France has already started to import it, so there will be another delicious dish on the table."

"It's not cheap." Susan shook her head and put down her teacup. "My aunt tried it when she was on a business trip to Switzerland. She said the caviar of the golden salmon melts in your mouth and has a faint magical scent. But dragon meat...if it's not handled properly, eating it will cause blisters in your mouth."

"As long as it's a novel ingredient, Britain will never miss it." Cedric smiled, "But compared to these, I'm more concerned about when Hogwarts can resume the normal Defense Against the Dark Arts courses."

When this topic was brought up, the atmosphere became noticeably tense.

"Normal?" Montgomery sneered and put down the cup. "If Umbridge continues to teach, the word 'normal' will no longer be associated with Hogwarts."

Cedric's expression also turned cold. He put down the cup, his voice slightly suppressed with anger, "To be honest, I have never seen a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor like her. She didn't let us practice even one spell for the whole semester. All the class time was spent copying her ridiculous theories or listening to her implying that Dumbledore was a lunatic."

"Sometimes I really wonder whether she is here to teach or brainwash." Montgomery snorted, "It's ridiculous."

Xie Ling tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly for a moment, but no one noticed.

"The current situation of Hogwarts may seem precarious to outsiders." He spoke casually, with a hint of ambiguous ridicule in his tone, "But have you heard? Durmstrang has recently carried out a shocking teaching reform."

This sentence immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Oh?" Daphne put down the newspaper and raised her eyebrows. "I just saw a report that Karkaroff has announced the reopening of admissions to Muggle-born students."

When these words were spoken, everyone showed surprised expressions.

"Is this true?" Murray frowned. "Hasn't Durmstrang always upheld the pure-blood tradition? After Karkaroff came to power, they became even more conservative than before. How could something like this suddenly happen?"

"It's probably due to reality." Sherin said calmly, his eyes thoughtful. "In recent years, Durmstrang's development has lagged far behind Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, especially after we won the highest rating in the European Magical Education Assessment last year. The quality of their students has obviously declined. In addition, the international wizarding community is increasingly dissatisfied with the trend of pure-blood supremacy, so Karkaroff has to make adjustments."

"Who would have thought?" Daphne chuckled. "The magic school that used to be the most hostile to Muggle-borns has now had to bow to reality."

Schelling narrowed his eyes slightly, and a hint of coldness flashed across his eyes. In fact, the reform of Durmstrang was not a decision made on a whim by Karkaroff - it was the result of his promotion behind the scenes.

But he wasn't going to tell them.

"However..." Cedric groaned, "Beauxbatons seems to have been affected as well."

Everyone looked at him, waiting for what to say next.

"Beauxbatons recently hired Desiree Akahet of the Silver Spear as a resident consultant, responsible for the dueling training and development of students." Cedric continued, "I heard that she has brought a brand new dueling system, and her goal is to make Beauxbatons achieve greater success in international magic dueling competitions."

"Silver Spear's men?" Murray raised his eyebrows. "Is Beauxbatons determined to improve its combat effectiveness this time?"

"Daisile Akakhet..." Xielin repeated the name softly, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and a meaningful look flashed in his eyes.

Like Durmstrang's reforms, Beauxbatons' changes also had his shadow. However, in the eyes of the outside world, all of these were just adjustments made by those schools to protect themselves.

"This shows that they have realized that the future will no longer be a competition of academics and bloodline, but a competition of real strength." He said softly, his eyes sweeping over the crowd.

In contrast, although Hogwarts was the winner of this year's European Magical Education Assessment, things were not peaceful inside. Umbridge's Defense Against the Dark Arts class had caused the school to regress.

"...Hogwarts is now the most backward of the three major magic schools in Europe." Susan sighed, her brows full of worry, "Umbridge's course is a complete waste of time. We can't learn anything."

"When the real storm comes, we will pay the price." Xie Ling's voice was low and calm, and his fingertips tapped lightly on the table, as if he had foreseen the near future.