Chapter 571: The plan failed (Edited)

"Good afternoon, class!" said Umbridge to the group after Fish and Hermione sat down and managed to calm down.

However, they all just looked at her, holding back laughter.

The anger that Umbridge had just been suppressing instantly resurfaced again.

"It's not going to work, is it?" She gritted her teeth and stiffened a stiff fake smile that looked like a facial spasm. "I want them to answer, "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge. Again, please. Good afternoon, students."

She addressed the group as if she were dealing with a group of small children. This made them feel even worse about her, after all, at their age, they hated being treated like children.

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." The group responded unevenly and vaguely.

Only Fish responded loudly and forcefully, "Good afternoon nya, Professor Umbridge!"

?(?ΦωΦ?)?

Albus Dumbledore taught by word, Tom Riddle by example: when you want someone to dislike you but don't want them to suspect you, it's best to like them first.

That way, not only will the person be less defensive of you, but others will unconsciously ignore you.....

This is what the spirit in the diary did when he tried to get Fish to go somewhere dangerous, and Dumbledore was there to explain in detail to Fish why he was doing it.

In fact, Umbridge's face lit up when she saw Fish's performance, she returned to her sweet smile and said in a girlish voice, "You should learn from Mr. McGonagall, please do it again. Good afternoon, students."

Everyone sensed that the old frog obviously wasn't going to stop until she got what she wanted, so they responded impatiently and loudly, "Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge."

"That's right," said Professor Umbridge in a girlish voice, "It's not too difficult, is it? Please put away your wand and take out your quill."

(?ω?)

Fish, who had been trying to play nice slowly, instantly wanted to give up.... This old frog's class was no fun at all!

But after some serious thought, Fish decided he couldn't give up so easily, so he dutifully joined the others, took out the quill Rita had given him, and asked Hermione for a piece of parchment.

Hermione didn't know what Fish was thinking, and was glad to think that her persuasion had worked.

Then Umbridge prattled from the dais about how piecemeal the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes had been, and how the Ministry of Magic had asked her to teach them more correct theory, etc., and to copy what she had shown on the board....

That was wearing Fish's patience to a frazzle, but he repeated about the blackboard in a whisper, letting the shorthand quill Rita had given him write on the parchment.

Glancing at the automatic shorthand pen in front of Fish, Umbridge inexplicably thought of a journalist she hated…even though she now worked for the Ministry of Magic.

The journalist he was thinking of was, of course, Rita Skeeter, someone who had dealt a lot with the Ministry of Magic.

The reason for Umbridge's dislike of Skeeter was simple: Skeeter had once written an article "denigrating" Umbridge, saying that she had ruthlessly taken credit for other colleagues' work and kept it for herself.

This was something Umbridge would not admit, as she had mentioned the names of other colleagues in the reports she submitted to her boss, but it was not up to her to decide who she wanted to take credit for.

The colleagues must have been angry and had deliberately misrepresented the facts, and the reporter, Skeeter, was not so good a person as to publish the story without checking it out.

Of course, the magnanimous Umbridge did not blame her zealous colleagues... who had already been fired from the Ministry of Magic for some "minor unwarranted errors.

The students were curious as to why Umbridge kept looking at Fish's quill after asking them to copy what was on the board.

"Ahem, ahem." said Umbridge to Fish with a fake smile as she noticed the puzzled looks, "Mr. McGonagall, it's more impressive when you copy it with your own hands."

The other students smirked as they heard her say that.

How could they expect Fish to write? The new teacher would take a beating from Fish in a heartbeat.

"No! Fish hates writing!"

(?```?)

Fish firmly refused, folding his arms.

What a good relationship with Umbridge... I'm not going to do it!

For the sake of Minister Fudge's plan.... For the sake of Minister Fudge's plan....

Fish's forceful refusal made Umbridge keep saying it in her mind.

Fish had been right in his feeling that Umbridge didn't like him, or even hated him a little, because she had a natural dislike for half-humans and half-beasts.

Even her reasons for pushing the bill against werewolves didn't really have to do with werewolves hurting people, Umbridge didn't care about the safety of others, she was against werewolves simply because she hated them.

So whether Fish was a supposedly natural Animagus or something else, she wasn't surprised when she saw the cat ears and tail, she instinctively resisted them.

Cornelius Fudge, for his part, was instructed to have Umbridge win Fish over to the Ministry's side.

Not only was he influenced by Fish's affinity, but he knew how popular Fish was at Hogwarts, and that by winning Fish over, the entire Hogwarts student body would align with the Ministry.

Thus, in Fudge's imagination, Dumbledore's plan to use Hogwarts to create a private army would be ruined, and his position as head of the Ministry would be more secure.

He had had Umbridge incapacitate Hogwarts students for the same reason: to prevent Dumbledore from building an army.

And Umbridge, with the Ministry's mission in mind, after a bit of psychological buildup, finally decided not to dislike Fish and continued with her classes.

"Do all students have a copy of Wilbert Slinkhard's Theory of Magical Defense?". she asked.

There was a murmur of affirmation from the class.

"I think we need to go over this again," said Professor Umbridge, "And when I ask you a question, I want you to answer 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge."

Frustrated at Fish, she decided to regain the trust of the other students, but what she didn't understand was that it would only accelerate their dislike of her.

Or rather, Umbridge understood, but she didn't care.

"Once again: do all the students have a copy of Wilbert Slinkhard's Theory of Magical Defense?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge." The class responded loudly, but with increasingly impatient expressions on their faces.

"Very well," Umbridge said, ignoring their expressions, "I want you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Introductory Fundamentals'. Don't talk to each other while you read."

As soon as he heard that she was going to read, Fish, whose patience had long since worn thin, abandoned his original plan and, reverting to his cat form, jumped straight up on the table and fell sound asleep.

Unable to sit still, Umbridge rose from the lectern and walked with heavy steps to Fish's side.

"Ahem, ahem." Umbridge cleared her throat.

(=?ω?=)

Fish wagged the tip of his tail and continued to lie on his stomach, ignoring her.

"Cough, cough!" Umbridge raised her voice.

This time Fish responded a little, opened one eye and looked at Umbridge for a moment, then shifted his posture and buried his head in his two front paws....

and went back to sleep.

(??ω??)