Chapter 294: Umbridge

"Welcome, please sit," Lu Xiusi said, greeting them. "Allow me to introduce our new member, Madam Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. She will be observing and providing guidance for our meetings in the capacity of a consultant."

Harry glanced at her, then shifted his gaze elsewhere. Sirius had said her Animagus form was a toad, a point Harry didn't quite agree with; he felt she was simply a toad that had learned some sort of human-form spell.

"Everyone, please don't feel constrained. You may continue discussing the Horcruxes and researching how to deal with the Order of the Phoenix as usual," she began, using a sugary, affected tone. "The Ministry of Magic will not interfere or obstruct; on the contrary, I will try my best to provide you with some suggestions. We only hope to appropriately constrain the scale of the war."

"We do not advise everyone to use violence and conflict to resolve problems. We encourage equal dialogue and exchange and cooperation. We would much rather see the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters willing to cast aside past grievances, shelve disputes, and gradually resolve various differences through negotiation..."

"Cut the crap," Bellatrix interrupted her with dissatisfaction. "It is a fight to the death between us and the Order of the Phoenix, unless they hand over the Horcruxes and allow us to resurrect the Dark Lord."

"Don't be hasty, Bella," Lu Xiusi advised. "If the Ministry of Magic is prepared to act as a peacemaker, we should at least see their sincerity first. For instance, what benefits are they prepared to promise?"

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Umbridge's expression became somewhat unnatural. She spoke reluctantly: "We can act as a bridge and preside over negotiations. If there is a constant lack of communication, then hatred will only intensify..."

Before she could begin a new round of long-winded preaching, Bellatrix interrupted her again: "In other words, you don't want to offer anything, yet you still want us to be obedient?"

"Just offering suggestions..." Umbridge's voice became much smaller.

"If what she says makes a lot of sense, it's not as if we can't listen," Snape said slowly. "You can write a more detailed report and bring it for us to see next time."

Harry glanced at Snape. He guessed that perhaps it was because Snape was worried about the Ministry leaking information that he had deliberately avoided the Order of the Phoenix meetings. Harry subconsciously felt a bit worried for his godfather, but he quickly set his mind at ease: his godfather would choose different outfits and makeup for different identities. Furthermore, taking a step back, Sirius and Regulus were biological brothers; people would at most suspect that their relationship had eased, not immediately suspect they were the same person.

"Severus, that is a rare fair word from you," Lu Xiusi said with a smile. "I heard you have been very busy lately. How is it? Is there any movement at school?"

"The students seem to be networking," Snape said, his tone of contempt serving as a cover, "but it's nothing more than child's play."

"I need to spend some time on potions; this is unavoidable," Snape continued in a measured tone. "The headmaster's work is also quite time-consuming. Of course, one of the headmaster's important tasks is to safeguard that painting."

"The painting and the diadem are the most important things at Hogwarts. As for the students? Let nature take its course." Snape shook his head slightly, then turned to Umbridge. "By the way, Madam Umbridge, I hope you will write that report as soon as possible. The length of the report had best not be less than twenty inches, otherwise, I'm afraid it will be hard to gain anyone's trust."

"Oh, alright, of course." Umbridge continued to sit steadily in her seat. "I am currently conceiving it."

"Perhaps Severus means that you need a quieter place to ponder the report," Lu Xiusi issued a more direct order to leave. "I can have Dobby take you to pick a guest room."

"No, it's quite fine here," Umbridge replied with a fake smile. She wasn't completely oblivious, she just insisted on not leaving.

Lu Xiusi gave a look, and Antonin said loudly and unceremoniously: "Do we have to tell you bluntly that we don't want you to listen to the rest of the meeting?"

"Most importantly, you are too ugly, sitting here ruins the mood," Bellatrix said lazily.

"How dare you question the authority of the Ministry of Magic? You should even less attack my appearance!" Umbridge stood up angrily. "I demand that you apologize to me immediately."

"To be fair," Sirius whispered to Harry, "Bella is indeed better looking than her."

"Stop putting on an act and being unreasonable," Bellatrix also stood up. "You want to observe our secrets based on a few words? It's simply a pipe dream!"

"You despise the Minister, I will write this into the report!"

"I also want to ask Hake, why send a handsome young man to the Order of the Phoenix, but send us a toad!"

"Then what are you any better! You loose woman, shameless!"

"Shut your mouth, you shrew!"

"What? I think there is something wrong with you!"

"What?! Crucio!" Bellatrix shrieked.

"Eh, no need for that, no need for that." Lu Xiusi hurriedly reached out his hand, though the length he reached was truly limited.

Fortunately, Bellatrix did not draw her wand, and her non-verbal spell-casting skills were not enough to support a complete Cruciatus Curse. Umbridge only slid from her chair to the floor with a deathly pale face, then began struggling to stand up.

Harry, who still had some moral bottom line, wanted to go forward to help, but was quietly stopped by Sirius. He could only change his approach, saying stiffly: "She seems to have a relationship with the British government. Is it appropriate for you to do this?"

"Hmph." Bellatrix let out a breath of contempt, then sat back in her chair, looking at her nails, revealing an indifferent expression.

Lu Xiusi frowned, then clapped his hands. The door to the conference room opened in response, and the large Crabbe and the large Goyle looked over here curiously.

"Madam Umbridge is suddenly feeling a bit unwell. You have Dobby find her a guest room." After finishing this sentence, he glanced at Bella sitting in the chair, then added, "Do not let her leave until the doctor comes."

"Please sit, Hoffa." Watching the two big men carry Umbridge out, Lu Xiusi revealed a smile again. "We still have some face at the Ministry of Magic, no need to worry about this matter."

Harry still wanted to say something, but he felt that Hoffa shouldn't participate too much in these matters, so he raised an eyebrow and sat back down.

"Let's get back to serious business. Have you been to the Heavenly Dynasty to investigate that Nix? Is there any way to prove she is lying?" Lu Xiusi said.

"I'm afraid not." Sirius spoke immediately; he had been prepared for this question. "She married into a Heavenly Dynasty dark wizard family, which is quite difficult to communicate with."

"Actually, Rodolphus wrote a letter to the headmaster of the Institute of Magic to inquire about it." Bellatrix said. "That end told us that Nix and the Tang Sect are indeed real, and the people in that family all have strange quirks, especially liking to marry Blood-Cursed Orcs. Known ones include rabbits and sharks, and there is even a witch who can turn into grass."

"In other words, the goat's tricks won't work either?" Lu Xiusi's face turned ugly all of a sudden. "These people have raised the public's tolerance level all at once."

Harry only then thought of this layer, and he couldn't help but secretly admire Zhang Qiu's meticulous thinking. If you don't weave a lie, fine; once you weave one, it must be perfect. She had protected this weakness in advance.

"This was proposed by that William, let him go study it." Seeing that William hadn't come, Harry decided to take the opportunity to say a few bad words. "Coming up with a bunch of boring schemes and hiding his head and tail, it's truly annoying."

"Right? I said long ago that going to war directly is the most convenient." Bella was perhaps in a good mood because she had won the argument. "Do you have any clues about the seventh Horcrux?"

Harry hesitated. Continuing to play dumb wouldn't lead to mistakes, but it wouldn't lead to any progress either. If he started to lay a little groundwork for the diary, then perhaps he could also pressure Lu Xiusi and find a way to make him make a mistake in his busyness. As for the risk, perhaps there wouldn't be any risk; it all depended on how he planned to say it.

"I have searched the European continent, and I have checked every place where Tom might hide a Horcrux." He said cautiously, in a tone of deduction. "I think, perhaps the last Horcrux must still be at Hogwarts."

"The Horcrux at Hogwarts is the diadem; the Dark Lord would not hide two Horcruxes in the same place." It was Snape who spoke, which made Harry feel a bit strange. However, judging from Lu Xiusi's solemn expression, he must have associated it with the diary, so Harry planned to add a little more material.

"The diadem should have originally been hidden in Albania; Tom must have left some Horcrux at Hogwarts."

Snape's face didn't look good. He said: "I will not allow you to enter the school to search, otherwise the school won't be able to operate. I will keep an eye out for you."

Perhaps Lu Xiusi would feel that Snape wanted to take sole credit for finding the Horcrux, but Harry felt that Snape was protecting the students. In other words, Lu Xiusi would worry that Snape really started looking for something, while Harry felt that this time he could stop at the right point.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll go look at some other places; I should also look for places he occasionally mentioned in the past." Harry shrugged as if it were casual.

Under Lu Xiusi's deliberate guidance, the topic of the meeting gradually went off track. They began to chat about dirty insider deals, including the attribution of the Order of Merlin, or smuggling magical artifacts, etc. Perhaps to prove to Hoffa how much face they had at the Ministry of Magic, Lu Xiusi, Antonin, and Bella spoke very excitedly, and Sirius also chimed in from time to time.

While these few people were talking wantonly about the scandals of the Ministry of Magic, Harry only felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He used a small flask to constantly replenish the Polyjuice Potion. Finally, when he couldn't stand the bitter taste of the potion anymore, the meeting was finally declared over.

Harry now just wanted to rush back to school and finish the remaining homework before dinner. Then, he would have to prepare to participate in the third meeting of the weekend and consider how to continue fooling young Malfoy. ===== CHAPTER 295 =====