Chapter 584: Rumors Gradually Go Astray

Madam Pomfrey completed the basic treatment that the school doctor's office could do. The potion and healing magic made Umbridge's pale and frightening face look more rosy, and the chaotic and complicated magic also calmed down little by little. She recorded After prescribing medication and treatment measures, he stood beside the hospital bed and listened to Principal Dumbledore's arrangements.

Professor Flitwick, who was only half a head taller than the hospital bed, stood on his tiptoes and peered at Umbridge, observing the remaining traces of the Cruciatus Curse on his body, and exclaimed from time to time.

After listening to Pomfrey's explanation, Snape leaned against the wall expressionlessly and glanced in the direction of the door to the school doctor's office.

Dumbledore's voice echoed in the ward: "Poppy, take care of Professor Umbridge. I will bring people from the Ministry of Magic over later... Filius, Severus, you just Go back first."

"Pay attention to the time, Albus. If no one comes before 11 o'clock, I will give her another drop of Living Hell Decoction..." Ms. Pomfrey's voice was crisp. As the only resident doctor in Hogwarts, here In the room, her words were more authoritative than Dumbledore's, "Make sure she gets a good night's sleep."

"see you later……"

The people outside the door quickly exchanged a few glances, retracted their heads in tacit agreement, and walked quietly towards the stairs.

"Loren, what did you mean by the gesture just now?" Hermione looked back and asked in a low voice.

"I mentioned before that the brain is the most complex part of the human body, and the soul is the most mysterious realm of magic..." Loren shrugged and explained, "Umbridge's injury is very complicated. She once felt deep into the soul. In order to escape the pain, she subconsciously closed off part of her reason."

Harry reacted quickly, widened his eyes, took a deep breath and asked softly: "Just like Neville's parents?"

"It's not exactly the same..." Loren said after considering, "The Cruciatus Curse applied to her was more sophisticated, and her injuries were lighter, so she was just a little nervous, hysterical, poor in self-control, and impulsive in destroying things. , lack of judgment on one's own behavior, do things without considering the consequences, slightly out of control in speech and behavior..."

Ron thought for a moment and scratched his head with some dissatisfaction: "So is it possible for her to recover?"

"I said, Umbridge's injuries are very complicated..." Loren slowly shook his head, "Her soul was twisted by the Cruciatus Curse, and her brain was messed up by the Forgetting Curse. Forgetting what happened recently is a Early signs, followed by confusion, impairment of other mental functions, problems using and understanding language and performing daily tasks…”

Harry and Ron looked at each other: "Gilderoy Lockhart!?"

Hermione took Loren's arm and walked forward, frowning as if she was thinking about something. It wasn't until she was approaching the corner that she suddenly spoke softly: "Is there really no way to treat it?"

Loren nodded: "If you want to repair a chaotic brain and a broken soul, the most critical thing is to penetrate into the patient's subconscious. The patient must completely trust the person who enters his brain, and the actor must also be prepared to sacrifice himself... Na Neville's parents risked their lives, risked being tortured to the point of losing their minds by the Cruciatus Curse, and started from the bottom of consciousness without hesitation..."

The voices of the little wizards gradually drifted away until they became silent.

Snape saw the tails of several flying wizard robes disappearing behind the corner. He looked back and glanced thoughtfully at the headmaster with silver hair next to him. Filius stayed in the ward to watch for a while, studying the control techniques of the Cruciatus Curse.

Dumbledore's blue eyes reflected the torches on both sides of the corridor. He didn't speak for a while. He just thought silently for a long time and then slowly said: "Umbridge's father is a wizard, and Mrs. Umbridge is a Muggle. The couple also had a squib son, and I had a conversation with Mr. Alford Umbridge before she entered school..."

"He is a technician at the Magic Maintenance Department, and has never been promoted due to various reasons. Her mother, Ellen, um... behaves informally and speaks straightforwardly..."

Snape listened silently, silently changing the next sentence to frivolity and rudeness.

It was no surprise that Dumbledore knew of these long-hidden matters; the headmaster had lived too long and memory was but one of his few strengths.

"The eldest daughter soon showed her talent for magic after she was born. However, compared to her magic power, her shrewd mind shines brighter, but her intelligence was used in the wrong place... After entering Slytherin, she realized that other students have outstanding talents. With her family background and background, she began to despise her parents and thought Mr. Umbridge was a lack of enterprising person..."

"Later, his younger brother was born. This child did not have the ability to be a wizard. This caused a gap in the whole family. When Dolores was fifteen years old, he split into two parts. The father and daughter lived together in the magical world, and the mother and son hid in the magical world. Muggle society... From then on, Dolores began to pretend that she was a pure-blood wizard in front of everyone she met, and never saw her brother and mother again..."

Dumbledore spoke unhurriedly, with restrained words and careful semantics: "She had excellent grades in school, and immediately after graduation she entered the Ministry of Magic and became a low-level intern in the Office for the Prohibition of the Abuse of Magic. Although her relationship with her colleagues was It’s not very good, and there are even conflicts often, but fortunately, I work hard and get promoted quickly..."

"The information about the Death Eaters is a little vaguer, and it's a little different from your story... It's said that after Umbridge entered the Ministry of Magic, she always flattered her superiors and bullied her subordinates. She always used tricks to take credit for her colleagues' achievements, and framed her along the way. He spread rumors, quickly defeated his competitors at the same time, and rose through the ranks, becoming the youngest Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic..."

Snape's tone was always cold, but there was a sneer at the corner of his mouth, "So no one is willing to sacrifice for her, so no one will enter her consciousness, sort out the dirty brain fluid for her, and piece together the order." A disgusting soul."

Dumbledore did not continue to delve deeper into this topic. After passing through a corridor, he glimpsed the looming stars outside through the diamond-shaped glass, and said softly: "Severus, although I don't know what happened, but I am very happy to see you. As it stands now, that sparkling soul is still intact..."

"I don't know of any magic that can see souls at present..." Snape said nonchalantly, "What you should be concerned about is Voldemort. He dug Azkaban out of Deputy Minister Umbridge's mind. In defense mode, a large number of imprisoned Death Eaters will be released soon."

"I will pass this on to Minister Cornelius Fudge."

"..."

Snape glanced at him, flicked his sleeves, and hurried down the stairs.

Dumbledore smiled and walked upstairs.

…

Thursday afternoon, no classes today.

Loren walked down the marble spiral staircase and saw that the clean and bright bulletin board below had been posted at the beginning of the school year: the auction list of second-hand spell books, the school rules regularly updated by Mr. Filch, the Quidditch team game schedule for the new school year, exchanges A note with a picture of a chocolate frog, a recruitment announcement for the Gobstone Club, a new advertisement for the Weasley brothers looking for someone to experiment with, and lost and found items.

The two notices in the middle are the most eye-catching. One is a countdown to the weekend in Hogsmeade, with two days left;

One is a notice about Professor Umbridge's suspension of classes due to illness. It briefly introduces the relevant matters in large bold letters, with the seal of Hogwarts printed underneath:

"In response to the incident in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class on the afternoon of September 25th, in which Professor Dolores Umbridge lost control of her words and deeds and was suspected of threatening and intimidating students, the school and the Ministry of Magic attached great importance to it, and immediately set up a special working group to carry out the investigation overnight. Investigation. After investigation, Dolores Umbridge was attacked by a dark wizard when she went out alone on the weekend to investigate. She was severely tortured by the Cruciatus Curse and suffered memory damage caused by the powerful Amnesia Curse.

After consultation with Hogwarts, the investigation team decided to temporarily remove Dolores Umbridge from her position as senior minister, temporarily remove her from the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position, and transfer her to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Injuries for recuperation and treatment... Ministry of Magic The Hogwarts School Board of Trustees attaches great importance to the safety and security of students, and will strictly investigate the dark wizards and related personnel involved..."

Loren automatically replaced the long paragraph of nonsense with "Relevant investigation has no results yet" and looked away.

It has been almost a week since the day of the incident. The young wizards had a heated discussion about the truth. The speculation on Tuesday was normal. Dark wizards, Death Eaters, and Voldemort were mentioned repeatedly as high-frequency words. On Wednesday and Thursday, they gradually became It’s outrageous——

For example, Umbridge accidentally took a new drug that George and Fred had not yet developed, and her brain was damaged...

The twin brothers had no choice but to prove their innocence. They ate all kinds of truant candies in the auditorium in front of all their classmates. They had nosebleeds and snot all at once. They were trembling all over and rolling around on the ground. They succeeded in confirming the rumors and were finally punished. I went to the principal and posted a new volunteer recruitment advertisement in the name of the principal's approval.

For example, Umbridge was not fooled by the dark wizard, but was a new scheme devised by the Ministry of Magic to frame Dumbledore for taking control of Hogwarts. Umbridge was actually hiding somewhere watching a show...

For example, Umbridge was not stupid, she just angered Professor Snape and drank Veritaserum unknowingly. She was not talking nonsense in class, but what she meant, Ministry of Magic The investigation is just covering up...

In addition, there are some niche rumors that are not widely spread because they are too outrageous.

At this time, the divination class of fourth-year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was going on happily. Professor Trelawney was walking around in the North Tower classroom. His thin and depressed face in the past few weeks now completely changed his appearance. Shi's eyebrows kept beating, his eyes sparkled behind his black-rimmed glasses, and his whole face was radiant.

"I told her as early as two weeks ago. Yes, many people witnessed the prophecy. I said she would encounter something very dangerous and black... Merlin, she should believe me. !”

The little wizards sitting in the seats were drowsy by the spice smoke. Only a few students listened. Luna from Ravenclaw poked her friend at the front table: "Ginny, Ginny, what do you think Terry Can Professor Lowney really predict?"

Ginny shook her groggy head and turned to look at her with a blank expression: "What? get out of class is over? Oh, then I have to go to the Quidditch pitch as soon as possible, Harry is still waiting for me!"

"..."

On the other side, Loren had left the foyer, walked down the steps, and found the little witch reading a newspaper next to a wilting wild rose bush.

"It's unbelievable! The people at the Ministry of Magic actually said that Umbridge was only temporarily insane. Although she could not resume her post as Deputy Minister, she would soon be discharged from the hospital and continue teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Hermione looked indignant and put " The Daily Prophet was flipping through pages.

"Don't worry, Dumbledore will definitely not agree. Even if you are not confident in the headmaster, there is still Professor McGonagall behind you." Loren simply flipped through the newspaper and didn't see any nutritious news. Even the rumors in it were not as interesting as "The Quibbler". He folded it up without interest.

Hermione sighed and was very sad: "What should I do with the Defense Against the Dark Arts course? There are still 32 weeks to take the exam..."

"..." Loren's eyes twitched slightly, "Teach it by yourself. Anyway, Umbridge only asked us to read "Magical Defense Theory" in class. It doesn't matter whether she is there or not."

Hermione couldn't listen at all. She was self-pitying and muttering something weird like "Having a professor and not having a professor are completely different concepts", "O.W.L.s are the most important exams in a student's career", "It will be meaningless if you can't get a full certificate", "Five years of hard study are in vain" and so on...

Loren was not in a hurry. The little witch was under her own Imperius Curse and might not wake up for a while. He silently took her hand and walked slowly to the Black Lake.

Hogwarts has completely entered autumn, the temperature has dropped, and it is no longer sunny. The gray clouds are like a heavy quilt, and the sky is particularly dense, which has caused Professor Sinistra of the astronomy class to be a little irritable recently, and the homework has doubled.

Loren glanced at the little witch with a trance expression and interrupted her muttering softly: "How about the ancient rune translation homework I corrected for you last time, what grade did Professor Babel give you?"

"O, excellent." Hermione answered subconsciously.

"Look, Hermione, I completed an excellent homework for you, shouldn't you also give me an excellent homework in return?"

"Hmm..."

"Then how about astronomy?"

"The paper on Jupiter's satellites?" Hermione didn't find anything wrong, and immediately agreed, "Give me your written paper, I can help you revise it."

"Then I just copy it once at the end?"

Hermione vaguely felt that something was wrong, and after a little hesitation, she nodded.

Loren happily handed over a blank parchment and solemnly reminded him: "Remember to revise it and give it to me as soon as possible!"

"..."

Hermione's eyebrows slowly twisted together, and she looked up at him, her eyes containing three parts of silence, three parts of confusion, three parts of incredible shock, and one part of the compliment of "You are worthy of it."