Chapter 612: Umbridge Returns (Edited)

In the following days, the Order of the Cat organized two more special events.

In the second event, Harry and the others were prepared to defend themselves against the Demiguise attack when suddenly, Fish, sitting on top of Fluffy, began to "meow" out of nowhere.

The magical creatures then shifted their focus from the battle and, using their numerical advantage, divided the Cat Knights, holding back the weaker members of the pack like Harry and Cedric, forcing them out of the game, increasing their numerical advantage, and then targeting the stronger ones.

Once again, the Cat Knights were defeated due to Fish's brilliant leadership.

In the third event, Fish led the group of magical creatures from the beginning. This time, they didn't face the Cat Knights directly but used the trees and bushes of the Forbidden Forest as their battleground.

As the magical creatures Fish had brought were small and familiar with the Forbidden Forest, Harry and the others struggled with their guerrilla warfare tactics.

However, the Order of the Cat had trained for this occasion. Some focused on protecting everyone through unity and the Protego Charm, while others concentrated on attacking.

The commanding officer, Fish, had no choice but to let the magical creatures attack with all their might. However, the small magical animals were not skilled fighters, and in the end, they were defeated due to the somewhat ruthless tactics of the Cat Knights to intimidate.

But the Cat Knights also suffered significant losses since they were outnumbered, and their rusty protective magic didn't hold up against the tide of magical creatures.

So, although Harry and the others were pleased with their victory, they didn't have much to be proud of, not to mention Hermione had mentioned that the next special event would involve a new group of stronger magical creatures.

While the Cat Knights continued to work on their magic and eagerly awaited the fourth special event of the Order of the Cat, they received news that soured everyone's mood: Umbridge had returned from St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

And when she returned, she brought the "Educational Decree No. 25" from the Ministry of Magic.

[High Inquisitor's Order of Hogwarts]

[All organizations, associations, teams, or student clubs are hereby disbanded]

[Organizations, associations, teams, and clubs are defined as regular meetings of three or more students]

[Requests for reorganization can be directed to the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge)]

[No student organization, association, team, or club can exist without the approval of the High Inquisitor]

[If a student is found to have formed or joined any organization, association, team, or club without the approval of the High Inquisitor, they will be immediately expelled]

[The above regulations conform to Educational Decree No. 25]

...

Upon seeing the contents of the Educational Decree, the Order of the Cat panicked, and Hermione quickly changed the time on her coin, instructing everyone to gather in the Room of Requirement tonight.

"We've been discovered!" Hannah Abbott said, pale.

"Impossible!" Hermione replied firmly. "We were at Fish's house when we discussed it, there was no one else around, and we all signed a contract. There's no way it leaked... this is just another way for the Ministry of Magic to interfere even more with the school's affairs, and for Umbridge to announce her return."

Upon hearing Hermione's words, everyone became less nervous, but most still wore sad expressions.

"For the first time, I think the healers at St. Mungo's are too skilled... if only Umbridge could stay in the hospital a bit longer," murmured one of the Ravenclaw students.

Harry cautiously looked at Neville, who was looking down, and quickly changed the subject: "Can't Fish give Umbridge another go?"

"Of course not!" repeated Fish and Hermione at the same time.

"That would only make things harder for Dumbledore and give the Ministry more excuses to interfere with the school administration. It would be more trouble than it's worth," Hermione said, seeing the bigger picture.

Fish, on the other hand, didn't think that deeply...

"What if Minerva gives Fish more homework? Will you help me write it, nya?!" Fish questioned, exasperated.

He had been doing homework by hand at Professor McGonagall's house for over a month now. Not to mention the extra assignments this year, as Professor McGonagall had given him a new task...

Anyway, Fish wouldn't attack Umbridge again...

Unless he couldn't help it.

"I have a question..." Angelina suddenly spoke up, "Does that investigation order include the Quidditch team?"

There was an audible inhalation around the room. There were many Quidditch players in the Order of the Cat. The entire Gryffindor team was here, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were more or less the same.

Whenever there was a vacancy in the Quidditch team, they usually searched for new players among the upper-year students who had more flying experience and, like Ron, had spent years on the bench.

Unless they had exceptional talent or money and connections like Draco, it was possible to become a regular player in their third year. For a talented player like Harry to become a regular player in his first year was a once-in-a-century occurrence.

So now, three regular players belonged to the Order of the Cat, and they had the honor of being Cat Knights.

Alicia Spinnet, one of the Gryffindor Chasers and the current head of Fish's Support Order, frowned deeply at that moment...

They had learned a lot about Umbridge thanks to Fish and Hermione, and everyone knew that the old hag had a fear of "half-human, half-beast" creatures and had long suspected Fish.

So...

Most of Fish's support clubs couldn't approve Umbridge's reorganization request.

But now that the Order of the Cat was in motion, the support group didn't matter as much.

What mattered more was the Quidditch team because in less than ten days, it would be November, and following the usual practice, the first weekend of November was when Hogwarts Quidditch season started.

According to the usual practice, as long as there were no accidents, the opponents in the first match would definitely be Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Given Lucius Malfoy's close relationship with Fudge, there was little chance Slytherin's reorganization request would be rejected by Umbridge, while the same couldn't be said for Gryffindor.

Furthermore, the Quidditch team was not the same as the Order of the Cat. It wasn't an organization that could ignore Educational Decree No. 25 and continue to exist secretly behind Umbridge's back.

And if Gryffindor couldn't get Umbridge to approve the reorganization request before the start of the season, it was likely that the Slytherin team would win without a fight, which was absolutely unacceptable to Harry and the others.

Unfortunately, despite all the worrisome discussions, they were unable to come up with a solution. Instead, the group's morale dropped so low that they didn't even feel like finishing tonight's Cat Order training.

In the end, Hermione had no choice but to call it off, and everyone left the Room of Requirement feeling sad.

The only one who didn't feel affected was Fish, who was indeed interested in Flying Brooms but disliked Quidditch, which had a lot of rules about swooping down on a ball.

So instead of getting upset, Fish was somewhat cheerful...

Simple yet lively fights were more to Fish's liking than the boring and complicated game of Quidditch, and every time the Cat Order gathered, Fish had a lot of fun, not to mention the special events where Fish could play as a commander.

"If there weren't a Quidditch match, wouldn't you have more time to come to the Cat Order fights led by Fish?"

?(?ω?)?

Fish asked with great anticipation.