Chapter 63: Unknown Creature
Leonard Taylor's fifth year at Hogwarts began with a shock.
The gaze of interest from the surrounding students, the unusual sorting ceremony where the Sorting Hat warned and urged unity, Dumbledore's usual talk, and delicious food.
All of these things were overshadowed by that existence.
There was a creature at the table where the faculty sat that Leo had never seen before.
It looked like a cross between a frog and a human, a frog-human, so to speak. But the feeling of magic seen with the "eye" was completely human.
Is it an intelligent being since it is at the faculty table?
(A new species of magical creature? Or something artificially created? If it was a failure of magic or potion, I should be able to see it, but that's not the case either... What does this mean...?)
Leo's head was about to overheat from the first thing he couldn't understand even when he looked with his "eye".
...In fact, the truth is that it is simply a human being with a frog-like appearance.
The meal ended and Dumbledore was conveying the precautions when the frog-human spoke.
"Ahem, ahem."
Dumbledore also allowed the frog to speak, perhaps because he couldn't ignore it.
"Hello, everyone. I came from the Ministry of Magic to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. My name is Dolores Umbridge."
(She spoke!?)
There are magical creatures that speak human language, but it should be unconfirmed in creatures with frog elements. Leo strengthens his doubt that it is indeed a new species.
"I'm happy to be able to teach you cute students back at Hogwarts. I'll do my best to get along!"
Saying that, Umbridge looked around the entire Great Hall.
Her eyes were especially strong towards Harry, Hermione, and Leo.
After Umbridge's talk ended and Dumbledore's precautions were communicated, it was dismissed.
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From the fifth year, there is a test called O.W.L, commonly known as the owl test.
It is an important test that affects future jobs and is conducted over two weeks at the end of the term. Only students who have achieved a certain grade in this test can proceed to NEWT level classes from the sixth year.
Many fifth graders are not thinking about the future and are considering which classes are fun and which teachers are.
"Future job, huh. I guess it would be nice if I could just do magic research. Hermione, what kind of job do you want to do?"
"I'd like to try researching magical potions. But I plan to decide on my final job."
"That's right. I'm hired immediately. Can you stay with me forever?"
"That's what I intend to do. I guess I'll be working for you forever."
On the morning when classes begin, in the Great Hall, the first-year students are excited about their first class, the fifth-year students are worried about their OWL exams, and the seventh-year students are resentful of their NEWT exams. Suddenly, there's a conversation that sounds like a proposal. The people involved are as usual, but the surroundings are not.
"Hey, hey, hey, did you hear that, brother? I don't know what's going on, but the geniuses are proposing!"
"I heard it, brother. I want to say that they should do such things where there are no people!"
The Weasley twins tease, but Leo and Hermione are used to it. Then Ginny comes over with a sigh.
"Sigh... I'm jealous of Hermione. I wonder if I can find someone nice too."
"Well, when you find such a partner depends on fate. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't met Leo at that time."
"Hmm, I can't imagine. Well, if you're happy now, that's all that matters, right?"
With that, the two of them, who were spreading a happy aura that seemed to extinguish even resentful gazes, gradually made the students disappear as if they were running away from them.
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The time for the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year had come. Leo, unable to discern the true nature of Dolores Umbridge even with the "Eye",
decided to ask the person (?) Now, about the class content, it was worlds apart from Lupin's classes last year. There was no practical work at all, just simply reading the textbook. Many students seemed dissatisfied with this. Regardless of the truth of Voldemort's revival, it's wrong to have no practical work at all in a subject that is supposed to teach how to protect oneself, especially for fifth-year students. But Umbridge ignored both the critical gazes and voices of the students. And Umbridge was casting a disturbing gaze at Leonard Taylor.
Monotonous and boring classes feel longer than they are. Finally, the class ended and the students, who were released, left the classroom as quickly as possible to get away from that presence.
"Leonard Taylor, could I have a moment?"
Umbridge called out to Leo, who was the last one left. She seemed confident that she wouldn't be refused. It was a welcome offer for Leo, who had intended to stay and investigate what this entity was.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I'd like to have a little chat with you. How about over a cup of tea?"
Leo agreed and stepped into Umbridge's room. The room was dyed pink. All the furniture, even the walls, were pink.
(Wow...)
Even Leo, who had seen various phenomena and things in his magical research, had never seen such a sight.
"Welcome to my room. I'm glad to have you."
Sitting on a pink sofa, drinking tea from a pink teacup. He was so glad that the tea wasn't pink. He took a sip. It was surprisingly delicious.
"You drank it. Now, I have a lot of questions for you. Fudge told me not to get involved with you, but you're just a child after all. Could you tell me about Dumbledore's objectives and his allies?"
"Dumbledore's objectives... That man is full of secrets, who knows what his objectives are. For now, isn't it to defeat Voldemort?"
"Specifically? And what are you researching now?"
"The content of my research is top secret. If you're talking about collaborating on research, that's a different story, but I don't intend to do that."
"...Would you like another cup of tea? It's made from the finest leaves. Don't hesitate."
He actually enjoyed it, so he had another cup. Seeing that, Umbridge smiled and Leo said,
"Veritaserum doesn't make a good hidden flavor. It's basically tasteless and odorless. And you put in too much. If you put in too much, you'll end up talking endlessly about not only the information you want but also irrelevant things."
"V...Veritaserum? What are you talking about?"
"It was in the tea. It seems you were trying to get the content of my research out of me, but it's useless. It doesn't work on me."
One of Leo's rings, "Healing", also has an effect on magic potions. If it's a new type of poison, it may take time to detoxify, but if it's an existing magic potion, even if it's Veritaserum, it will immediately become harmless.
"Stop making false accusations. 10 points deducted from Ravenclaw. That's enough, go back."
"Can I ask one last thing? What kind of creature are you?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm a human."
"A human? Not a magical creature of the frog species? Just simply resembling a frog...?"
"Who are you calling a frog!? For your impudent attitude, 20 points deducted from Ravenclaw! Get out!"
Leo, who was expelled, was surprised by the unexpected result.
(I didn't expect that. I can't believe there's a human being that looks so much like a frog without any magic involved... It's a miracle of the human body. But I wonder if the Ministry of Magic is running out of options to use Veritaserum.)
In fact, the use of Veritaserum on Leo was Umbridge's own decision. She had underestimated Leo too much.
The Ministry of Magic, Fudge, intended to avoid interfering with Leo as much as possible.
Umbridge, who reported this incident, was given a pay cut.
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The fact that Umbridge could cause so much confusion in Leo shows that her frog face is not to be underestimated.
Fudge wanted to deal with Dumbledore first before dealing with Leo, but Umbridge, who underestimated him, acted on her own.
Now, will Frog Witch give up with this?