HP: The Duelist of Hogwarts - 425

Chapter 425: The Request

Hands clamped over their ears, people fled in all directions: rushing out of the Ministry altogether, bolting back to their own offices, or diving into any room they could find and slamming the door to shut out the sound. It should have been the quiet start of the working day at the Ministry of Magic. Instead, a storm of Howlers were now unleashing accusations and roaring fury, plunging the entire Ministry into bedlam.

If the racket in the Ministry at large was barely tolerable, then in the Minister’s office, the core point of delivery for the Howlers, the blast of sound was enough to rattle the walls. The waves of magical noise thrown off by the letters nearly shattered Fudge’s office.

Fudge clutched his ears, face dark, glaring at the swarm of Howlers whipping around his head. He opened his mouth to order his aides to find out what had happened, but over the din they could not hear a word. They were like two dying goldfish, mouths opening and closing at each other with not a sound getting through.

Only after an entire morning had passed did the Howlers at last finish screaming and drop to the floor piecemeal.

Ears still ringing, Fudge shouted at the aide nearest him, “Go and find out what in Merlin’s name is going on. I did not catch a word of that. All I know is it is something about Hogwarts and Umbridge!”

“What? Minister, why are you just moving your mouth and not speaking?”

“I said… go to Hogwarts…”

“Go to what-works? What is that?”

“I said! Hogwarts!”

“Dog-warts? What is that supposed to be?”

“…”

In the Great Hall, students on their way to breakfast watched as Filch stumbled to the notice board with a small bucket and a fresh proclamation in hand. He quickly scraped down last night’s decree dismissing Joros Jobbins as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, then slapped up the new one.

The new notice was phrased very delicately, but its meaning was clear enough. The proclamation from the previous evening contained certain “misjudgements.” Upon review, Professor Joros Jobbins had proven to be a relatively qualified Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. As for Umbridge, in her role as High Inquisitor she had perhaps been a touch overzealous and created some misunderstandings. Therefore, yesterday’s “inappropriate” notice was being amended.

In short, the whole thing had been a misunderstanding, and things were now back to normal.

When they finished reading, most students practically cheered. Those who caught sight of Umbridge later reported that her face, when she saw the notice, was as ugly and stiff as a dead toad’s. She was not seen again for the rest of the day, which suited Hogwarts students just fine.

In the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, Gavin lay in the Life Alchemy array while talking with Sean.

“I must say, I did not expect you and Harry Potter, the saviour himself, to wield so much influence,” he said. “Having the students write home to complain and then letting their parents bombard the Ministry with Howlers… For that fool Fudge, whose brain is stuffed with pure-blood dogma and his own title, that is a killing blow. He cannot simply ignore the parents and charge ahead. You have him by the throat.”

“This sort of tactic works once or twice,” Sean replied. “Use it too often and Fudge will stop listening. He has a gambler’s temperament. Once he is convinced of something, even ironclad evidence can be dismissed.”

“That Umbridge woman will not give up. Her prestige is in ruins after this. I would wager she is already hunting for something, some case that will let her restore what she lost. Whoever ends up in her sights will be very unlucky.”

Sean already had a strong idea who that unlucky target would be.

And as Gavin had said, Umbridge would need solid proof to reclaim her authority. She could not just pick any random person. She would have to go after someone both students and staff already viewed as a problem.

There was, frankly, only one obvious candidate.

“Sean, I wanted to ask… could we resume our training?”

Sean studied Harry standing before him. He could see at a glance that Harry did not look well. After a moment’s closer observation, his eyes came to rest on the scar on Harry’s forehead. He frowned, took Harry by the arm, and pulled him aside to whisper, “Harry, what have you seen?”

Harry had not hidden his visions of Voldemort’s actions from Sirius or Dumbledore, and he certainly would not hide them from Sean. So the question did not surprise him. He answered quietly, “I saw him getting stronger. His Death Eaters are increasing. And I think… I think he has a plan. He wants to go to the Ministry to steal something.

“I mean, take Mr Podmore’s case. He was Imperiused. Who else could do something like that? I think last time they were using him to try to steal what they wanted, or at least to test the Ministry’s security and smear the Order of the Phoenix.

“You understand me, don’t you, Sean?”

“I do. You want to grow as strong as possible before Voldemort makes his move. Is that right?”

Harry nodded. “Yes. Exactly… Hermione told me you are very busy. She said you use a Time-Turner every day, treating one day as two or three. I know I should not bother you. But I really do not have any other choice.”

“It is all right,” Sean said. “I no longer attend the Potions Club or the Firwood Club. I can free up some time in the afternoons and evenings. Let us say Wednesdays and Fridays at night. Does that work for you?”

“Of course. That sounds great. What time, exactly?”

“Time… Seven o’clock, Wednesday and Friday evenings, in the Room of Requirement. To get in, think ‘the place where Sean Bulstrode teaches magic.’ Do not tell anyone else that. You just need to know it yourself.”

“All right. I have got it, Sean.”

“Good. Go and tell Hermione and Ron. Bring them along when the time comes. If they are not interested, they do not have to…”

Before he could finish, Harry cut him off. “Sean, there is no way Hermione and Ron would not want to come. They have both noticed how much stronger they have grown. They already asked me if there was any way they could learn from you in school.”

Hearing that, Sean smiled and nodded. “In that case, see you on Wednesday.”