Chapter 654: "The Quibbler" (Edited)

The long Gryffindor table fell silent instantly. Everyone turned their heads to look at Umbridge, while Fish continued to wave his knife and fork, sending food from his plate to his mouth...

Reader letters were not important to Fish; he just wanted to fill his stomach now!

Umbridge stood behind Harry, her toad-like eyes scanning the messy table and the haphazardly stacked letters.

"Why do you have so many letters, Mr. Potter, Mr. McGonagall?" she asked slowly, glancing at the recipients on the envelopes.

"Uh-uh-uh..."

Ψ(Φ~Φ)

With his mouth full of food, Fish let out an indistinct grunt and, without raising his head, pointed to Harry by his side.

He was too busy enjoying his breakfast to give explanations to Umbridge.

"Is it against the law to receive letters now?" Fred exclaimed.

"Be careful, Mr. Weasley, or I'll put you in detention," warned Umbridge, then turned her gaze back to Harry. "Mr. Potter?"

Harry hesitated for a moment.

He had imagined Umbridge's face a million times after watching "The Quibbler," but he was a little wary of actually confronting her.

But Harry also knew that it was basically impossible to hide it, and even if Umbridge had been foolish enough not to find out, Fudge or someone else from the Ministry would have approached him to tell the story.

"People wrote to me because Fish and I were interviewed about what happened to us last June."

"An interview?" Umbridge's voice was higher than usual. "What interview? What are you talking about?"

"There was a reporter... well, it was Miss Rita who asked us questions, and Fish and I answered them," Harry said, offering her the copy of "The Quibbler" he had in his hand. "Here it is..."

She caught it and then looked at the magazine's cover. After seeing the "terrifying" headline, Umbridge's pale face turned an ugly shade of purple.

"When did you do this?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "How could you get in touch with reporters while you were at Hogwarts?"

Umbridge unconsciously glanced at Dumbledore at the staff table. If there was anyone more likely to arrange a meeting between Harry and a journalist, it would have to be the Hogwarts headmaster!

Then Umbridge saw Dumbledore holding a copy of "The Quibbler," reading it with great interest, and smiling and nodding at Harry when she noticed her gaze.

It was him!

Umbridge paled.

She arrived just in time to hear Harry's response: "I don't know, it just appeared to us last month."

This response made Umbridge even more convinced that this had been arranged by Dumbledore to challenge Minister Fudge and undermine the prestige of the Ministry of Magic...

I must inform Minister Fudge as soon as possible so he can be prepared!

Umbridge took a deep breath, glared angrily at Harry and Fish, who continued to eat as if it were not important, and quickly said in her original voice, "100 points deducted from Gryffindor! And as punishment, both of you will be in detention for a week! Starting tonight."

After uttering these words, she grabbed the copy of "The Quibbler" and trotted away from the Great Hall at a "thump-thump-thump" pace.

The students watched her leave and immediately became excited.

Only Fish, who had remained on the sidelines, put down his knife and fork after finishing his breakfast.

"Prrprrprr... I'm so full, nya~"

(?ω?)

Fish slumped in his chair, stroking his stomach and purring happily.

Regarding Umbridge's comment about the punishment... Fish didn't pay it any attention.

Anyway, the punishment was nothing more than a late-night snack for Fish. Fish had already eaten the last late-night snack given by Umbridge, so he could go and get more...

Before noon, huge notices were placed all over the school, not only on the bulletin boards but also in the corridors and classrooms.

The notice prohibited any student from carrying or reading "The Quibbler" magazine, and if caught, they would be expelled.

However, Umbridge's move was futile because the more something is forbidden, the more people want to discover it.

Hermione even burst into laughter when she saw the notices.

So, even though there wasn't a single copy of "The Quibbler" in sight, in fact, everyone seemed to be whispering about the story.

Umbridge was furious and stopped students throughout the school, asking to see their bags and pockets to check if they were carrying copies of "The Quibbler."

However, both pure-blood wizards and wizards born to Muggle parents were always good at standing up to their detested teachers, and their copies were enchanted to appear like textbooks or turned out to be blank, only revealing the words when they wanted to read them.

Umbridge sensed that something was amiss, but her limited knowledge didn't allow her to see through the spell, let alone break it.

Soon it seemed like everyone in the school had read "The Quibbler." It wasn't unusual for Fish to behave like this, so most people were mainly impressed by Harry, and when they crossed paths with him, they patted him on the shoulder or whispered words of encouragement like "well done."

The professors, of course, were forbidden to mention the interview, but they expressed their feelings in various ways. They found any excuse to reward Fish and Harry, and before the afternoon session ended, the points Umbridge had deducted were added back, and Fish had received many snacks.

The only ones unhappy about it were the students whose parents had been accused of being Death Eaters, but all they did was give Harry dirty looks because by doing so, they admitted to having read the article.

Looking at Malfoy and the others' gloomy expressions, and Umbridge wasting her efforts there like a headless chicken, Harry enjoyed the admiration expressed by other students and was in a very good mood.

Snape was right about one thing, he enjoyed being the center of attention. But who wouldn't...?

Unfortunately, the good mood only lasted that night because Harry and Fish had to go to Umbridge's office for a week-long punishment starting tonight.

Harry was familiar with Umbridge's punishment as many Gryffindor students had already gone through it, including Harry.

Fish also knew the punishment since he had treated the backs of many hands.

It's just...

Based on Fish's experience, he was different from the others when it came to the punishment.

So when the two of them arrived at Umbridge's office accompanied, Fish didn't hesitate to make his way in.

"Umbridge, we're here!"

?(ΦωΦ)?

Fish walked carelessly towards Umbridge and sat down, shouting without ceremony, "Fish still wants to eat those cakes from last time and Sybil's scented tea, nya!"