Chapter 546: Deng Jun's Incident

Chapter 546: Deng Jun's Incident
As if cursed by the god of bad luck, shortly after the Gryffindor Quidditch team suffered a nightmare game, a bigger storm was brewing.

On the night of February 2, the sky over Hogwarts was overcast, and a cold wind blew through the corridors of the castle, as if whispering about the impending disaster.

Members of Dumbledore's Army once again gathered in the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor of the castle for secret magical training.

However, no one noticed a subtle anomaly - Marietta Aykmo was not present.

Most people thought she was just busy, after all, attendance at Dumbledore's Army meetings was not mandatory. But no one thought that her absence meant betrayal had already happened quietly.

Marietta's mother, Mrs. Edgecombe, was an employee of the Floo Network Administration of the Department of Magical Transportation at the Ministry of Magic and worked under Umbridge. Umbridge continued to put pressure on Mrs. Edgecombe, implying that if her daughter continued to participate in "illegal organizations", her job would be lost and she might even be further investigated and liquidated.

Marietta finally broke down under repeated threats and intimidation. She chose to compromise under extreme pressure and revealed the secret of Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge.

Umbridge almost jumped out of her chair with excitement when she heard the news.

During this period of time, she had repeatedly hit a wall with Xie Ling. Not only did she not have a chance to deal with Xie Ling, but she was threatened by him. This made her feel very uncomfortable. But now, she finally found a breakthrough - Harry Potter.

As long as she could catch Harry, she could expel Harry as an excuse to officially shake Dumbledore's authority in Hogwarts!

Thinking of this, the smile on Umbridge's face became more sinister and terrifying.

However, unlike Umbridge's ecstasy, Marietta regretted it instantly.

As she tremblingly gave Umbridge the information, she felt a stinging pain on her face - and her heart sank as she looked down at her reflection in the glass.

Ugly pockmarks appeared on her face, forming three eye-catching words - "snitch"!
She covered her face and screamed in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. Only then did she realize that the parchment she signed at the Hog's Head was cursed by Hermione!

But Umbridge didn't care about it at all, and she wasn't even interested in comforting her. She just glanced at her coldly and then directly called together her own followers - the Justice Pickets headed by McLaggen.

After several months of development, the Justice Picket now has a very large number of people - Cormac McLaggen is the captain, Roger Davis is the vice-captain, and below them are Bradley, Chambers, Eddie Carmichael, Skylar Fawcett, Marcus Belby, Stebbins, Summers, Harold Dingo, Patricia Stinson, Kenneth Toler, Farry Jorkins, and Romilda Vane, a total of 14 people.

It is worth mentioning that Roger Davis, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, originally disdained to become McLaggen's follower.

However, due to the appearance of Xie Ling in this world, as a super playboy, he was rejected publicly by Furong and Zhang Qiu one after another. Recently, he was inexplicably broken up by his girlfriend, Ellucy Montgomery, whom he had finally pursued.

All this made him feel extremely humiliated. He seemed to have grown up in an instant. His tall and mighty figure and sports charm on the court were ultimately no match for his immense wealth and power. After being brainwashed by McLaggen, he finally became the latter's follower and tried to seize power. He would definitely make those girls who had humiliated him regret it!
They quickly gathered their men and got ready to go, with uncontrollable excitement on their faces, and they couldn't wait to embark on the journey of arrest.

As long as you succeed in this great feat, Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic will definitely reward you handsomely!
This thought made their blood boil, as if it was infused with dragon blood, and their steps became lighter. Some even rubbed their hands excitedly, with greed flashing in their eyes. They didn't care what Dumbledore's Army did, they only cared about how much benefit they could get from this arrest.

Meanwhile, inside the Request House.

Everything was still the same as usual, Harry was teaching his friends the advanced use of the Shield Charm, Neville was practicing spells, and Ginny was whispering with Hermione about new spellcasting techniques. The whole room was filled with an atmosphere of curiosity, but the next second, the mirror suddenly made a strange sound.

Harry turned around quickly, picked up the magic mirror next to the looking glass and took a look. He gasped instantly - what was reflected was Umbridge's smug fat face!
"Run!" He shouted without hesitation, his voice exploded in the room, and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, with expressions of horror on their faces.

Chaos broke out instantly.

Everyone rushed to the exit, eager to escape this sudden disaster. However, the door was too narrow, and more than a dozen people were squeezed together at once, and the scene was in chaos. Some people stumbled and bumped into the wall, and books and wands fell to the ground, making a harsh sound.

Suddenly, a student at the door pushed hard, and the first person finally rushed out.

"Run!" someone shouted.

Footsteps exploded in the corridor, and they scattered like frightened birds. Harry's heart was pounding, and he prayed as he ran that they would not be stupid enough to run directly back to their respective common rooms - if they did, they would be caught immediately. He glanced around and thought that the library and the owl shed would be better hiding places, as long as they could get in in time -

But now he has no time to care about others, he has to protect himself.

He gritted his teeth and turned right sharply, aiming for the boys' bathroom in front. As long as he could get in, he could pretend that he had been there all along, which might deceive the searchers -

However, just as he was about to reach it, he tripped!
"what--!"

Gravity suddenly lost its control, and he was tripped and fell hard. He lost his balance and hit the ground hard. He slid six feet on the smooth stone tiles before he came to a stop. His knees and elbows were burning with pain.

His head snapped up, and he was face to face with McLaggen's smug smile.

"I got you, Potter." McLaggen shook his wand with disdain on his face, obviously very satisfied with the tripping spell he cast.

What made Harry even more sick was that Romilda Vane was snuggling in McLaggen's arms!
She clung to McLaggen's shoulder like a weak cat, her eyes shining with undisguised admiration and excitement, as if catching Harry was an honor. Her hand gently stroked McLaggen's chest, a false and deliberate smile hung on the corner of her mouth, with a bit of flattery and fawning, she almost hung herself on McLaggen.

"Oh, McLaggen, you're so awesome!" she said in a coquettish voice, her eyes full of flattery and her tone was so gentle that it was sickening.

Harry's stomach churned and he stared at her with disgust on his face, unable to suppress the feeling of nausea.

Romilda Vane is a third-year student in Gryffindor, two years younger than Harry. In the original book, she is just an insignificant minor character.

In the original world, after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Harry suddenly jumped from a despised liar to a hero who endured humiliation. Romilda relied on her beauty and tried twice to seduce Harry to become her boyfriend. After failing, she directly sent Harry a chocolate mixed with Eros.

It can be seen that she is a tea whore who likes to cling to the rich and powerful and is vain. After McLaggen became the captain of the Justice Pickets and showed his power and family background, she took the initiative to offer herself to him and became his inseparable female companion in Hogwarts.

"Disgusting." Harry suppressed his nausea and spat coldly. However, Romilda didn't care at all. Instead, she straightened her back and showed a show-off look on her face, as if the stronger the person she depended on, the more noble she looked.

Harry secretly tightened his wand, ready to fight back. Unfortunately, his action was caught by McLaggen, who had a flash of mockery in his eyes. The next second, he raised his leg and kicked Harry's face hard, with a clean and deliberate humiliation.

"Ugh!" Harry screamed in pain and fell backwards. His wand slipped from his fingers, and his nose was in great pain. Blood immediately gushed out. He covered his face and clenched his teeth. He was in so much pain that he couldn't speak. All he could hear was McLaggen's triumphant laughter.

The next second, a burst of hurried footsteps came closer and Umbridge's laughter rang out.

"Ha ha ha, well done, McLaggen," she said in that sickening voice, then raised her wand and flicked it at the prostrate Harry -

Invisible ropes suddenly appeared from the air and tied Harry up tightly.

He struggled for a bit, but couldn't move at all, the blood from his nose was still flowing, and he looked miserable. But the depths of his pupils began to change, and an ominous black light kept flashing.

"Let's go, Potter." Umbridge didn't notice Harry's abnormality at all. She smiled like a fat toad, her eyes flashing with morbid excitement. "Today you will become the protagonist of the most sensational scandal in the history of Hogwarts!"

Harry had never seen Umbridge so happy before. Her left hand was gripping his arm like a vice, and she turned towards him with a big smile on her face.

"Go and see if you can catch a few more." She didn't forget to remind McLaggen, "Tell the others to go to the library and check if there are any people gasping for breath... and check the bathrooms. Miss Vane can check the girls' bathroom..."

"As for you," Umbridge whispered in Harry's ear in a gentle yet terrifying voice as McLaggen walked away, "you come with me to the Headmaster's office, Potter."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the principal's office.

The office was crowded with people and the atmosphere was depressing and tense.

Dumbledore sat behind the desk with a calm expression, his long fingers clasped together. Professor McGonagall stood beside him, looking very nervous.

Beside the fire, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge stood straight, looking excited, and even couldn't help swaying slightly back and forth, as if he had finally caught Dumbledore's handle. His eyes were shining with pride, and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, obviously quite satisfied with the current situation.

On either side of the office door, Scrimgeour and another Auror stood like guards. The Auror, John Dawlish, was Fudge's confidant. He looked strong, had short, straight hair, and an expressionless face, exuding a dangerous aura. Harry had never seen him before, but from his posture and sharp eyes, he was obviously not an ordinary person.

Behind Fudge, Percy Weasley, wearing glasses, had a blank expression on his face. He held a quill and a thick roll of parchment in his hands, obviously ready to take notes at any time.

"It's really infuriating... an illegal organization has been set up in school..." Harry heard Fudge shouting there, but there was no anger in his voice. Instead, it was full of excitement.

Umbridge did not give Harry a chance to quibble and quickly brought out Marietta as a witness. This time there was no Kingsley to modify Marietta's memory. It can be said that the evidence of Harry's organizing illegal societies and gatherings was conclusive and irrefutable.

In order to protect Harry from being expelled from the Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore had no choice but to take all the blame on himself. In the end, it was a one-sided duel. Dumbledore knocked out all of Fudge's faction, and the entire headmaster's office was in a mess.

Harry and Marietta were protected by McGonagall and were not affected. Before the others woke up, Dumbledore entrusted Hogwarts to McGonagall and took the phoenix Fawkes away with him, who Apparated away.

……

The screen goes back to a few minutes ago.

Just as the members of Dumbledore's group in the Room of Requirement were in a panic, Zhang Qiu calmly cast an Invisibility Spell on himself in an empty corner, blending in with the surroundings.

She frowned slightly, with a trace of worry in her eyes. Although it was only a matter of time before the secret gathering of Dumbledore's Army was exposed, this happened much earlier than Xie Ling expected (Zhang Qiu knew that Xie Ling had the ability to anticipate the enemy's moves and prepare for a rainy day, so she just thought he had a fortune teller working for him). Xie Ling had clearly said it would be in April, but now it was more than a month earlier. She didn't know if it would affect his plan.

But right now she had more important things to do.

She walked to the door of the Room of Requirement, looked at the list of members of Dumbledore's Army nailed to the door, and sneered with disdain. No matter how much Sherin thought highly of Harry and Hermione's abilities in front of them, in Zhang Qiu's heart, they were ultimately just a group of little kids who panicked when things happened. Even leaving this most crucial evidence there would implicate everyone involved in Dumbledore's Army.

She carefully took the parchment with the list on it off the door, folded it and put it in her pocket, then activated the invisibility magic of the Night Wizard's robe and finally cast a silence spell. After making sure that everything was foolproof, she left the Room of Requirement in a leisurely manner.

Back on the corridor on the eighth floor, she looked in surprise as the Justice Pickets ran around the corridor, shouting and busy trying to capture members of Dumbledore's Army. There were more Justice Pickets than she had imagined, and many of them were from Ravenclaw, and what surprised her most were Schuyler Fawcett and Roger Davis.

The former is the seventh-year head girl of Ravenclaw and the representative of Ravenclaw House; while the latter is the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and has the power to select team members.

I never thought they would become McLaggen's followers.

In this way, the Justice Watch is much stronger than Dumbledore's Army as a whole. Of course, compared with the Sleeping Dragon Society, it is still far from enough.

Soon, most of the fleeing members of Dumbledore's Army were captured.

Zhang Qiu saw Kenneth Toler and Farry Jorkins holding Ron's arms on the left and right, holding him firmly in place. Poor Ron, one of his eyes was swollen and red, obviously he was hit hard, and there was bruises at the corners of his mouth, looking miserable.

At the same time, Romilda Vane also came back. She grabbed Hermione's hair with one hand and dragged her back here. Hermione's hands were tied tightly behind her back with ropes, and her face was full of anger and unwillingness.

"Let me go..." Hermione struggled and shouted, "Dumbledore's Army was founded by me. It has nothing to do with Harry..."

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of a slap exploded in the room, and Hermione's face suddenly tilted to one side, and a bright red palm print instantly appeared on her fair skin.

"Shut your mouth, Granger." Romilda withdrew her hand and looked down at her with a mocking smile on her face. "Now you are no longer a domineering prefect, but just our prisoner. You should pray that all of you will not be expelled."