Umbridge quickly managed to become the most despised person among the entire student body at Hogwarts.
In a remarkably short period, the student code she established had grown to over a hundred rules.
And after she implemented her self-developed, supposedly risk-free, no-wand-needed, textbook-reading-only new educational model—the level of dislike for her surpassed even the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history, Black, making her the top contender.
In their disdain for Umbridge, the Slytherins found rare common ground with students from the other three houses.
"I just mispronounced one word during recitation!" Daphne, whose makeup was banned, looked haggard and gaunt. "She docked points, gave me detention, and made me do fifty squats! I feel like dying—"
As she described, Umbridge's new punishment method combined physical punishment with mental humiliation—
Every morning during the run, anyone who broke the rules had to either run extra laps, do frog jumps, or squats, all while publicly chanting in front of students and professors, "I am (name), I am a naughty student, I bring shame to my house—", inflicting both physical and mental blows on the students.
"My reflection book is as thick as a book now." Blaise, who was caught faking illness, was genuinely ill this time, suffering from a condition called tendonitis, rubbing his sore hand. "Have you seen the notice board in the Great Hall? It's plastered with everyone's reflection letters—"
The notice board looked like a colorful palette, showcasing all sorts of reasons for punishment, with Gryffindor occupying most of the space, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw taking up a small portion, and the rest mostly authored by Daphne and Blaise.
These two, one being Jane's roommate and the other pretending to faint to help Jane, had both become Umbridge's newfound targets of hatred.
"Everywhere feels like a prison." Due to family connections, Draco and some pure-blood students received preferential treatment, but that didn't stop his complaints from echoing through the common room. "I can't believe we're at a magic school! Not a single spell can be cast! How is this different from Azkaban?"
Students were constantly being dragged into Umbridge's little office, and any action could land them in trouble.
The entire school was engulfed in a pink terror.
"The difference is Azkaban is more comfortable." Theodore read out the latest notice like a menu, listing a series of exams: "Pop quizzes, weekly tests, monthly exams, midterms, finals, surprise tests, baseline tests—failing any of them means you can't advance to the next year."
Though he rarely spoke, when he did, it was always impactful:
"If I drown her in the Black Lake, what are the odds I won't end up in Azkaban?"
Without comparison, there's no harm. The Gryffindors felt that compared to Umbridge, every other staff member was an angel.
"I've never loved Professor McGonagall this much." Ron panted, having been punished to run five laps around the Black Lake, he commented, "I used to think she was too strict, but now, compared to Umbridge, she's like the most adorable cat queen."
"This school has become unbearable!" Hermione shouted angrily, keeping a distance of eight feet from the boys to avoid breaking any rules. "It's completely lost its meaning. Umbridge hates students from Muggle families and wants to torture everyone to death! When will Headmaster Dumbledore return?"
"Even Snape seems kind and approachable now." Harry commented, "Potions class, where I can move my rusty arms, feels like heaven. If it means getting Umbridge out of the school, I'd gladly have dinner with Snape."
His friends Ron and Hermione looked at him in horror, then glanced behind him.
"I'm very pleased to hear such an assessment." A sinister voice came from behind him, "I suppose I'll have to give you the opportunity for that dinner."
Harry turned around stiffly, facing Snape's darkened face, full of cold sweat, looking quite unwell.
"Detention, Potter, five buckets of frogs to skin—"
But instead of seeing the despair he expected on Harry's face, Snape was met with an oddly grateful expression.
This disgusted Snape to no end, making him wish he could open Harry's skull to see if it was malfunctioning.
Little did he know, Harry was thinking—
Detention with Snape = skipping evening self-study = not facing Umbridge's toad face = no detention with Umbridge...
This was wonderful!
He'd never been so grateful to Professor Snape!
He wished he could get detention with Snape every day!
...
Umbridge didn't just become the most hated person among students; she also succeeded in becoming the most detested among the entire faculty.
As someone who had confronted her and had goblin blood, Professor Flitwick was the first to suffer her persecution.
"She has no respect for others! Complete discrimination!" At a meeting of the heads of houses, the senior professor was so angry his beard was floating. "Did you know, while I was teaching, she measured my height with a tape measure and said 'half-breeds with goblin blood shouldn't have teaching qualifications'—"
"Filius, I understand you." Professor Sprout, who was physically and mentally exhausted, had lost a lot of weight. "In your class, she doesn't allow students to use spells, right? She doesn't even let me use herbs for teaching, only allowing students to read textbooks—and I hear Care of Magical Creatures can't use animals for teaching either. She said my attire was shabby and outdated, and for that, my evaluation score was docked 20 points—"
Snape's level of disdain for Umbridge could rival that for Potter and Black.
He wished he could poison her tea and send her off directly.
"Weak physique, sallow skin, greasy hair, unhealthy, possibly contagious." He squeezed the words out through clenched teeth. "That's what my evaluation report says, 'Poor physical condition, needs to join exercise routines, run laps with students in the morning'."
The report spontaneously combusted in his hand, turning into a pile of ashes.
"Speaking of evaluation reports, I managed to detain a few students before her today, but unfortunately, she outright stated my results wouldn't pass." Professor McGonagall's icy tone was filled with anger. "She's going to ruin the children!"
She was now doing her best to preemptively give students detentions to spare them harsher punishments under Umbridge.
Of course, the other three heads of houses were doing the same, making their offices bustling with activity and inexplicably deepening the bond between students and professors.
"When will Headmaster Dumbledore return?" Professor Flitwick asked McGonagall. "It's become Umbridge's one-woman show here."
But Professor McGonagall shook her head, frowning as she replied:
"I heard he's caught up with something very tricky—Grindelwald has taken some Muggles hostage."
The heads of houses let out short gasps, and the influx of bad news left everyone in silence.
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