Chapter 551: Two more generals

Chapter 551: Two more generals
Everything happened just as Xie Ling had expected. Marietta took the initiative to ask to join the Sleeping Dragon Society. This was also the plan Xie Ling had made from the beginning, but even Zhang Qiu didn't know about this.

Marietta's appearance, strength, and talent were only average in the entire Hogwarts. Although not bad, she was far from being an excellent student. What Schelling really valued was her mother's identity - Mrs. Edgecombe worked in the Floo Network Administration and was an employee who specialized in monitoring the Hogwarts Floo Network.

As long as he had her protection, it would be equivalent to controlling the surveillance rights of the Hogwarts Floo Network.

As mentioned earlier, the Department of Magical Transportation has always been a place where Umbridge has been deeply involved and controlled. Among Shailling's allies, only Thicknesse works there, so it has always been weak.

Now that he had the relationship with Marietta, all Schelling had to do was let Yaxley and Thicknesse contact Mrs. Aikman, and he believed that the latter would know what to do.

After all, as Schelling said, what he could do would definitely make Hermione's punishment a thousand times more terrible. Since Marietta dared to swear allegiance to Schelling, she had no way out.

After Sherin conveyed the order to Yaxley through Dobby, he put aside the matter of recruiting Mrs. Aikmo for the time being and immediately started his next plan.

……

It has been almost a week since Umbridge became headmistress, and it is now the last day of March.

In the prefect's meeting room, the teapot hummed and the aroma of scented tea wafted out, but the whole room was always filled with a low and depressing atmosphere.

Since the rise of Umbridge's Justice Pickets, the original order of Hogwarts has been completely overturned, the authority of the Student Union and the prefects has been severely weakened, and many of their powers have been deprived. The once bustling prefect meeting room has now become deserted and almost no one is willing to stay here.

Today, Cedric Diggory and Ellucy Montgomery sat here for a rare occasion, but their faces no longer had the high spirits and confidence of the past.

Cedric sat alone at one side of the long table, his fingers slowly drawing irregular marks on the tabletop, his eyes downcast, his brows furrowed, and the whole person was shrouded in the shadow of silence. He was originally the president of the student union, respected and trusted by others, but now, the glory and power he had were easily taken away by Umbridge, and he didn't even have the opportunity to argue - all this made him feel frustrated and powerless.

In contrast, Elsie Montgomery on the opposite side seemed much more relaxed and at ease. She elegantly picked up the teacup and slowly took a sip of hot tea, her expression calm, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.

She did lose the title of student union president, but it didn't seem to affect her too much, and even her usually delicate makeup was not messed up. She always took these trivial matters lightly. Since the student union was no longer in name only, it would be better to be a free person and worry less.

At this moment, Xie Lin pushed the door open, glanced at the two of them, and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"It seems that you are all in a bad mood." Xie Ling casually pulled out a chair and sat down, with his usual gentle and nonchalant smile on his face, as if his arrival had dispelled the haze here.

Cedric nodded to Sherin, forced a smile, and then sighed deeply. He couldn't deny that he felt really bad at the moment. He did nothing wrong, but just because he refused to become Umbridge's lackey, he lost the title of Student Union President. This made him, who had always been upright, feel deeply powerless and disappointed with reality.

Elusi raised her eyebrows and looked at Sherin with a half-smile: "Did you come here specially to comfort us, Malfoy?"

"Comfort?" Xie Lin chuckled, his eyes flickered slightly, and he said in a deep tone: "If you need comfort, I can provide a more interesting option."

Cedric and Elusi looked at him at the same time, with confusion in their eyes.

"You are all dissatisfied with Umbridge's current management, right?" Sherin's smile deepened, and he said slowly: "I am here today to invite you to join a student organization I founded, and work with me to fight against Umbridge's tyranny."

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

The demise of Dumbledore's Army was still fresh in everyone's mind. Everyone witnessed the painful price of opposing Umbridge, which also completely extinguished the fighting spirit of many students who had originally intended to resist. They were just students who had not yet graduated. Why should they fight against Umbridge, who was backed by the Ministry of Magic?
Cedric frowned slightly and lowered his voice: "You mean... an organization similar to Dumbledore's Army?"

His tone was hesitant, and even instinctively cautious. He was naturally dissatisfied with Umbridge, but his family, the Diggory family, had worked for the Ministry of Magic for generations. Not only was his father the captain of the Beast Extermination Squad of the Department of Magical Creatures, but his ancestors had also served as Minister of Magic. Even he himself would most likely join the Ministry of Magic after graduation.

He was not so naive as to risk his own future to fight against the Ministry of Magic just for the sake of the illusory "justice" and a few words from Schelling.

"No, please don't confuse us with them," Sherin interrupted him calmly, the smile on his face deepening with a kind of determined calmness. "Dumbledore's Army is just an overly idealistic student resistance organization. Their leader Potter's behavior is too conspicuous. He has openly disobeyed Umbridge in class several times. The members are too immature and do not have enough sense of confidentiality, so they were easily caught by Umbridge."

He paused slightly, crossed his slender fingers, and added meaningfully: "And we... are different."

Cedric and Elusi held their breath at the same time, their eyes fixed on Xie Ling, waiting for his next words.

Xie Ling's voice was low and slow, like a whisper echoing in the abyss, with an irresistible attraction: "The organization I founded is called the 'Sleeping Dragon Society'." He leaned forward slightly, and his deep gray pupils exuded a strange power, which made people involuntarily concentrate and listen carefully: "It's like a sleeping dragon, waiting for the best time to wake up."

"Sleeping Dragon Society?" Cedric frowned slightly, obviously he had never heard of this name.

"A sleeping dragon should not be disturbed, for it will be angry when awake. It is a very meaningful name," Elusi said lightly. She narrowed her eyes slightly with interest and said slowly, "I have never heard of such an organization in Hogwarts. It seems that you have hidden it well enough."

Xie Ling smiled slightly and did not respond directly to her question.

In fact, although he wanted to attract them to join the Sleeping Dragon Society, Xie Lin did not intend to let them get in touch with the core of the Sleeping Dragon Society. Cedric's integrity and Elusi's fairness made it impossible for them to be truly loyal to him like Daphne and others. But it didn't matter - he had never intended to make them truly "his own people" from the beginning. This was just right.

Since the Dragon Society still needs to remain dormant in the shadows, it will need some influential peripheral members to move around in the open to shape its image and strengthen its momentum. By the way, it can also attract the attention of Umbridge and the Justice Patrol and distract them from the real core members of the Dragon Society.

These two former student union presidents are undoubtedly the most suitable candidates.

"It's not that exaggerated actually." Xie Lin smiled and spoke slowly. "The Sleeping Dragon Society is elitist. Unlike Dumbledore's Army, anyone can join. Only a few people who are recognized by me will be invited. Therefore, its existence is not so easy to be leaked."

Elusi raised her eyebrows and looked at him with interest: "Oh? Then I'm more curious about who are the members of this mysterious Sleeping Dragon Society?"

Without thinking, Sherin said directly, "Not many, about twelve. In addition to me, all the Slytherin prefects—Warrington, Vankanda, Higgs, Osbert, and Greengrass—are among them; for other colleges, there are Susan Bones, Sharpy, and Cadwallader from Hufflepuff, and Zhang Qiu, Murray, and Edgemer from Ravenclaw."

Every time Sherin said a name, Cedric and Elusi's expressions changed.

It was not surprising that Slytherin prefects joined, but the members of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were surprising. They were almost all prefects or Quidditch players of the house, and all of them were important figures in their respective houses.

"Ah, I almost forgot." Sherin smiled meaningfully, "On the day when Dumbledore's Army was destroyed, Katie Bell from Gryffindor also joined us."

"Even Sharpy and Cadwallader..." Cedric was stunned. He obviously couldn't believe that these seemingly gentle Hufflepuff students would actually be involved in such a secret organization.

Elusi chuckled thoughtfully, "I didn't expect that even Bell was convinced by you. It seems that Gryffindor is not a monolithic group."

As a girl from the same college, she knew Katie's character quite well. The girl had always been determined and loyal, especially cherishing the friendship with her Quidditch teammates. But now, she actually joined an organization led by Slytherin, which was really unexpected for her.

Xie Lin just smiled calmly without further explanation. Instead, he said directly: "You are all elites of your respective colleges, and your influence cannot be ignored. The Justice Patrol is quite strong, with at least five prefects and a Quidditch team captain. Therefore, I need your strength to fight against them together."

Cedric was silent for a moment, looked at him with complicated eyes, and said hesitantly: "Your goal is...?"

Sherin smiled slightly, his eyes as dark as the night: "We have only one goal - to wait for the opportunity to overthrow Umbridge's rule."

Elusi looked at him thoughtfully, her tone calm but her eyes sharp: "Personally, I am not opposed to overthrowing Umbridge, but I must know, what exactly do you plan to do?"

"If you have been listening to 'Malfoy Lookout', it should not be difficult to see that the British wizarding community is now facing serious security threats." Sherin's tone became solemn, "Regardless of whether the You-Know-Who has truly resurrected, it is an indisputable fact that the dark forces are ready to move. But what about the Ministry of Magic? Forget about taking countermeasures--"

He sneered and changed the subject: "Instead, they put all their energy into suppressing Dumbledore. This short-sightedness will only give those Death Eaters and dark wizards a precious opportunity to make a comeback... I dare to assert that it won't be long before Great Britain will fall into chaos and panic again."

Cedric and Elusi exchanged silent glances. They originally thought that Sherin only wanted to set up a student resistance organization, but they didn't expect that he was talking about the future of the entire wizarding world. This topic was so heavy that it was difficult to deal with it for a while. Both of them fell silent, as if they were unwilling to face this cruel possibility.

"Not only me, Dumbledore also knew this in his heart." Sherin continued, "That's why he didn't bother to prove his innocence, but simply defeated the Aurors and retreated directly - because he knew that when the Death Eaters really showed up, the Ministry of Magic's actions would become the most deadly backlash. At that time, Umbridge's good days would be over."

Elusi showed a puzzled expression and whispered, "Wait a minute... If that's what you said, even if we do nothing, Umbridge will be driven out sooner or later. So why should we bother organizing a club to fight against her?"

"You are right." Sherin nodded, speaking slowly and calmly, "But you have overlooked the madman McLaggen. Judging from his current performance, he is close to being out of control. In my opinion, his desire for power is too great, which has blinded him and made him lose his mind. What I am worried about is that before the true dawn comes, the people around me will be harmed by him and the Justice Pickets."

"The Sleeping Dragon Society exists to protect the people I care about and prevent them from being bullied and humiliated by Umbridge and the Justice Watch. To achieve this goal, I need you to join us. With you, we will have eight prefects standing on the same front, and we will be able to better protect those students who are unable to resist and defend the fairness and justice of the school."

Cedric frowned, and there was still a trace of struggle in his eyes: "But Umbridge..." He still couldn't make up his mind to go against the Ministry of Magic.

"Don't worry." Xie Lin interrupted him, his tone firm, "I don't intend to confront the Justice Patrol head-on. We don't have to fight them openly... It's more appropriate to deal with people like them secretly from behind. In addition, we can create chaos and divert their attention, making them too busy to deal with it and have no time to bully others. Most importantly, they will never know that it was us who did it."

"Interesting." Elusi couldn't help laughing, her eyes sparkling, "You are really insidious."

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," Sherin said calmly. "Someone has to step up and take on this role. As a prefect at Hogwarts and a champion of the last Triwizard Tournament, I have no choice but to do the job."

Elusi gently put down the teacup, with a meaningful smile on her lips: "You are quite ambitious, Malfoy. But -" She paused and turned her eyes to Cedric beside her, "This is indeed a good opportunity, isn't it?"

Cedric looked at her, his eyes gradually firmed up. Ever since Umbridge took over Hogwarts, he had been deeply dissatisfied with her tyranny, and the violence and tyranny of the Justice Pickets made him extremely disgusted. Originally, as the president of the Student Union, he could do his best to maintain the justice of the school, but now, even this power was taken away from him.

He took a deep breath, his eyes cleared, and he said in a firm tone: "I'll join."

Elusi raised the corners of her mouth slightly, smiled and shrugged: "Since such an interesting thing is presented to me, of course I will not refuse it."

Xie Lin nodded with satisfaction, a smile on his face: "Then I welcome you two to join the Mianlong Society."