Link and Emily didn't care about the looks from the other students, or rather, they were long used to them.
Ignoring John and the others who wanted to come over and ask questions, the two of them walked out of the classroom hand in hand, out of the castle, and began silently strolling by the Black Lake.
The situation at the moment was a little strange. Both Link and Emily needed to clear their heads and organize their thoughts.
After a long time, when the sun that had once hung high in the sky began to lose its strength, Emily finally spoke, "Link, don't you feel that Umbridge doesn't seem as loyal to Fudge as we first thought? The way she acted in class just now, it was almost as if she wanted to side with us."
Link paused for a moment and said, "That's not strange. Umbridge is exactly that kind of person. But when it comes to her, we can make use of her, nothing more. We absolutely can't trust her as an ally."
His tone was firm beyond question.
Link already had a clear idea of what kind of person Umbridge was.
She was extremely smart, or to put it more precisely, someone with no morals, no faith, only interested in profit.
In his previous life, in the original story, when Voldemort rose to power, this woman had abandoned Fudge to side with him. So of course now, she could just as easily switch over to Link.
Such a person couldn't be trusted.
"In that case, what are we even worried about?" Emily said, her brows arching sharply.
"With old Barty around, our control over the Ministry is basically at its peak. All we need to do now is carry out the plan. As for Umbridge, if she obeys, we'll use her; if she doesn't, we'll just kill her!"
As she spoke, a trace of killing intent flickered across Emily's eyes.
But Link shook his head and said, "That won't work. Actually, the biggest obstacle in our plan isn't Fudge or anyone else, it's Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore will never just sit by and watch us take control over the students. Because, strictly speaking, what we're doing right now isn't that different from what Voldemort once did in Slytherin."
"Using the excuse of 'fighting Voldemort' won't convince Dumbledore to let us go ahead. On this matter, he has his own convictions, convictions that no one can question."
"Old Barty, Fudge, even Umbridge, they're all pieces I'm using to deal with Dumbledore. If we play all our cards now, it'll be much harder to fight the battles that come later."
Hearing this, Emily stopped walking and frowned at him.
"Since you've already thought it all through, then what are you still worried about?"
"Ah, well, I wouldn't say I'm worried," Link said with a strange expression.
"It's just… the situation right now makes things a bit complicated. Look, our original plan was to set Umbridge up as a target, to make her the common enemy so we could win everyone's support."
"But now, not only has she been friendly toward us, she's even drawn a big pie in front of the upper-year students to win them over."
"That means, at least in the short term, those upper-year students won't really hate her."
"But then look at Professor Snape."
"I originally thought of him as an ally, but the moment he started teaching today, he gave us both a hard time. And his reputation is terrible. Among all the Hogwarts students, aside from Slytherins, almost no one likes him."
"So, given the situation, doesn't Professor Snape seem even more suited to be made the 'target'?"
"Absolutely not!"
Before Link had even finished, Emily cut in decisively. "Link, don't forget how much Professor Snape has done for us! You can't do that to him, it would break his heart!"
Link raised both hands, smiling.
"Of course, of course, how could I possibly do something like that? I was just joking. He almost got us into trouble this morning, so I couldn't resist teasing him a bit."
"Don't joke like that. It's too horrible. I can't even imagine what it would look like if that really happened."
Emily muttered unhappily, still looking a little upset.
Link just laughed and coaxed her as they walked, the scene looking no different from their usual playful banter.
But behind that smiling gaze of his, there was a shadow of deep thought.
Because Link knew, he hadn't been joking. He truly had thought, for a moment, about turning Snape into the scapegoat.
It wasn't because of any grudge from this morning's class; he wasn't that petty.
The real reason was that he wanted to get Snape out of the dangerous whirlpool that was Hogwarts.
In the original timeline, Hogwarts had been Snape's grave. As Voldemort's power grew, Snape's situation would only become worse.
Rather than watch this stubborn man sink deeper and deeper, Link would rather play the villain himself to force Snape away from it all.
At least then, Snape's chances of survival would rise considerably.
Of course, doing that would hurt Emily, Madam Flitwick, and countless others. So this kind of desperate measure was something he'd only consider when there was truly no other way.
As the sun set, Link and Emily laughed as they walked back toward Hogwarts Castle.
Even though they still didn't have an answer to how they would keep Umbridge as the "target," dinner still had to be eaten.
But just as they were about to enter the entrance hall, a familiar voice suddenly came rushing toward them from the side.
Link reacted instantly, pulling Emily aside. His left hand shot out, grabbing the person by the throat and pinning them up against the wall, their feet dangling in the air.
At the same time, Arkam, who had been hiding under Link's sleeve, slithered out, baring its blood-red fangs.
When Link finally saw who it was, he froze in surprise.
"Harry?"
"Link, " Harry gasped, clawing at Link's arm, his face turning red from choking. "Let… go…"
Arkam withdrew, and Link released him immediately, patting him on the back to help him breathe again.
"You okay, Harry? Sorry about that, you came running too fast and almost crashed into Emily. I just reacted instinctively."
Harry crouched on the ground, coughing hard, unable to speak. He waved his hand quickly to show he didn't mind.
Just then, Hermione came rushing down the corridor.
Her face was filled with worry, and when she saw Harry's state, she ran even faster.
"Harry?! Link, what happened to him?"
"He ran too fast and nearly hit someone, so we stopped him, no big deal," Emily said before Link could answer. "But what about you two? Why the rush?"
Hermione's expression darkened. She looked at Link, then at Emily, hesitating for a while before blurting out angrily, "It's all because of that Umbridge! Harry's been punished! Starting tomorrow, for the rest of this week, he has to go to her office every evening for detention!"
Link raised an eyebrow.
"Wow! That doesn't sound like something you would say. So, you think this is Umbridge's fault?"
"Of course it is! Do you even know what that pink toad taught us in class?" Hermione said, pulling a book from her bag.
"The Theory of Defensive Magic! Oh my god! It's pure theory, she just makes us memorize and copy passages from the book."
"She doesn't teach us a single thing we can actually use to defend ourselves! How are we supposed to protect ourselves like that? Or pass our exams? She's deliberately trying to make us all useless!"
Link and Emily exchanged a glance.
From what Hermione said, the N.E.W.T.-level Defense Against the Dark Arts class and the O.W.L.-level one were using exactly the same textbook and material.
If that was the case, what was even the point of N.E.W.T.-level classes?
Link didn't believe Umbridge would make such a simple mistake or cut corners like that. That meant there had to be another reason.
Brainwashing?
Or maybe she wanted to weaken the students' fighting ability?
Link and Emily exchanged another meaningful look, and then he asked Hermione with a strange expression, "So, Umbridge didn't mention anything about the Ministry's school recruitment expansion or the Ministry's holiday internship programs?"
"What are you talking about?" Hermione frowned. "I've never even heard of that."
A smile spread across Emily's face. She also pulled out a copy of The Theory of Defensive Magic and told Hermione everything that had happened during their Defense class that afternoon.
By the time they finished, Hermione was trembling with fury at Umbridge's shamelessness, while Emily just kept her bright, cheerful smile.
Now she could be sure.
Maybe because she looked down on lower-year students, Umbridge hadn't implemented the same strategy in the O.W.L. class as she had in the N.E.W.T. one. That meant if they kept following their current plan, they could still win over the O.W.L. students.
Meanwhile, Harry, who had almost been strangled by Link, finally recovered.
He stood up, rubbing the red marks around his neck.
Link stepped forward, took out a bottle of concentrated dittany, and applied it to Harry's skin until the marks completely vanished. Then he asked, "So, Harry, what exactly happened with your punishment?"
"Just like Hermione said, that pink toad Umbridge is trash! She not only refused to teach us anything useful, she even denied that Voldemort is back!" Harry clenched his fists, fury flashing in his eyes.
"I couldn't take it anymore, so I argued with her! And you can guess what happened next. She punished me for yelling at her and calling her a liar!"
"I even went to Professor McGonagall, but she said she couldn't overturn Umbridge's punishment, because disciplining students is part of her authority as a teacher!"
"But I don't regret it. Everything I said was true! I didn't do anything wrong! Even if she keeps me in detention all year, it won't change the fact that she's a piece of garbage!"
Surprisingly, Hermione didn't scold Harry this time. She just patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Wow, you really are brave," Link said slowly.
Harry's mood seemed to lift at that, and he gave a faint smile, clearly pleased by the praise.
But in Link's eyes, there was only pity.
He hadn't been complimenting Harry, not really. At least, not for standing up to Umbridge.
To Link, this kind of "bravery" Gryffindors loved to show was, at its core, just recklessness.
The only reason he'd said it was because he knew exactly how sadistic Umbridge's punishments could be.
If Snape's punishments were mental torment and exhaustion, then Umbridge's were pure physical agony, pain that very few could endure.
And Harry had walked right into it. Wasn't that what they called "brave"?
As Link's thoughts wandered, a group of fourth-year Ravenclaw students came happily down from their tower, passing by them and through the Great Hall toward the Gryffindor side.
It was a completely ordinary sight, but something about it caught Link's attention. He noticed they were carrying potion-making tools, cauldrons and test tubes.
A bunch of Ravenclaws, during dinner time, carrying potion gear toward the Gryffindor Tower?
"What are they doing?"
Link watched them disappear at the end of the stairs, frowning slightly.
"What else?"
Harry explained. "They're going to work at George and Fred's workshop. George and Fred announced last night that they were hiring student part-timers, and this morning they even posted a notice in the entrance hall. By lunchtime, a ton of people had already signed up."
"They've all gone crazy! A student's duty is to study, not to take on part-time jobs!" Hermione fumed.
To her, George and Fred were just leading everyone astray. As Gryffindor's new prefect, she felt it was her responsibility to stop them. She was even planning to write a formal complaint to Cedric, the student council president, asking for an investigation.
But Link wasn't listening to her anymore.
Harry's words were like a shooting star cutting through the dark, suddenly, everything in Link's mind became clear.
He nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Emily, who was watching Harry and Hermione with interest, and said, "I remember at lunch George and Fred came to us saying they already had way more part-timers than they could handle, right?"
"That's true," Emily said, still confused. "Why? Are you thinking of helping them sell their stock?"
"No, no, I'm thinking of something else entirely. If this works out, it could solve the problem we're facing right now. But whether it'll work or not, we'll have to see it for ourselves first."
Link turned to Harry. "Harry, let's go. Take us to George and Fred's workshop."
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