[One Week Later]
[Inside the Gryffindor Dormitory]
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing alarm ringing out, Harry and his roommates suddenly jolted upright in their beds, then stumbled around as they hurriedly got dressed and washed up.
A scene like this was practically a miracle in their dormitory.
Because right now, the sky had only just begun to brighten.
Yet over the past week, this kind of scene had become the norm in their dorm.
Even the famously lazy Ron of Gryffindor was no exception.
After finishing washing up, the group walked out of the dormitory. Only at this point did the sleepy haze on their faces ease slightly.
Ron clutched a stack of books, panting heavily as he complained, "Damn it, why do I feel like life is even more exhausting now than when Umbridge was around?"
The moment he said that, the people nearby immediately shot him angry looks.
At this point, Link's status in the hearts of most people at Hogwarts was practically that of a savior who had just saved the world. Anyone who dared to badmouth him generally wouldn't end up well.
Ron was startled by the glares and hurriedly waved his hands, signaling that he was just joking.
In the end, with Harry smoothing things over, everyone still forgave Ron for his loose mouth.
After all, everyone knew that Ron was also a pretty hardcore "Link supporter." At worst, his behavior could only be described as getting a bit carried away.
The crowd dispersed, and everyone quickly headed toward the Great Hall.
Just as Harry and Ron were letting out a sigh of relief, Hermione appeared from somewhere, holding a pile of books.
With a serious expression, she said, "Harry, Ron, how's your revision going? Did you finish the assignment the group set yesterday?"
"Of course, of course! Professor Granger!" Ron complained again.
"I really don't understand how things ended up like this. Every day now, besides my regular classes, I have to attend D.A. early-morning and evening enhanced tutoring sessions! I'm so tired I'm practically dying! Can't I just get one day off?"
Hearing this, Hermione's eyebrows shot up as she said angrily, "The O.W.L. exams are just a few days away! Are you really unwilling to endure even this much hardship?"
"And honestly, you should be grateful! The things taught in the morning and evening advanced sessions are things you could never learn in other classes. This is a benefit Link specifically arranged for D.A. members, other people don't even qualify to attend!"
Ron couldn't help glancing toward the Gryffindor notice board.
There, it was surrounded by several dense rings of people.
The reason they were all up so early instead of sleeping in was a single D.A. recruitment notice.
This was the most obvious change Hogwarts had seen since Link established the committee-based management system, the D.A. had finally stepped out of the shadows of the Room of Requirement and into the public eye, standing in the sunlight.
Now, notices like these for the D.A. were plastered all over every corner of Hogwarts Castle.
Many D.A. members even handed out flyers every day in the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall, trying to recruit more people.
Even Filch, who normally loathed anything like advertisements or flyers that affected the appearance of Hogwarts, would happily help the D.A. replace worn-out notices with new ones, and did so enthusiastically.
As the main medium of promotion, the content on these flyers and notices was actually very simple.
They only listed the benefits of joining the D.A. and the entry requirements.
And when it came to benefits, the current D.A. could practically be said to have gone all out.
For example, the morning and evening advanced classes Hermione had mentioned earlier.
These two tutoring sessions weren't very long, but the course materials had been custom-designed by experts from the Ministry of Magic's Department of Education at Link's request.
Of course, there was a fundamental difference between these materials and the so-called "expert-designed" materials Umbridge had used.
Objectively speaking, once you stripped away the political factors, these education experts were actually far superior to Hogwarts professors when it came to theoretical teaching.
As a result, these materials naturally received recommendations from almost all Hogwarts professors, including Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick.
Once the professors recommended them, the students naturally flocked to them.
Especially top students like Hermione.
No one understood better than they did just how much these professional materials could help their grades.
On top of that, Link had also transferred some specialized books from the Hogwarts Restricted Section, along with copies from his own collection, and set up a separate small D.A. library next to the main Hogwarts library.
Any official D.A. member could, as long as they explained their purpose, enter the library with an authorization slip and read knowledge that had long been monopolized by pure-blood aristocrats, knowledge they would normally never have access to.
Additionally, D.A. members were granted exclusive use of the Room of Requirement as their activity and rest area.
After passing a review, they could even go to work as management staff at the M.O.M.H.L. factory to earn Galleons.
Or they could exchange outstanding academic performance or unique alchemy and potion inventions for generous scholarships, and so on.
This dense list of benefits, combined with the D.A.'s achievement of successfully overthrowing Umbridge, made everyone eager to join.
However, the current D.A. was no longer the kind of third-rate underground organization that anyone could join.
Its membership review process and standards were so strict they were downright outrageous.
First- through third-year students theoretically didn't even qualify to submit an application, only truly exceptional geniuses who amazed the professors might be admitted through special exceptions.
Fourth- through seventh-year students could submit applications.
But that didn't mean they would be accepted.
D.A. reviewers conducted detailed background checks, examining everything from daily behavior, living habits, and learning attitude to personal ability and even family background. Only those who passed the entire review process could ultimately become D.A. members.
And that was only the beginning.
After joining, they were merely ordinary members.
To become a senior member, or even a core member like Sigfen and Nylan, who could work closely around Link, required tremendous effort.
Thinking back to the rules written on those notices, the bitter, complaining expression on Ron's face vanished completely, replaced by pride and satisfaction.
The reason was simple.
As one of the first people to join the D.A., and someone who had stayed loyal to Link from start to finish, Ron was now a senior member.
Meanwhile, people who used to be on equal footing with him, or even looked down on him, weren't even ordinary members yet and were still scrambling to compete.
Just imagining the looks of envy, jealousy, and resentment they gave him now filled Ron with an intense sense of superiority and pleasure, which finally settled into a silly grin on his face.
"Oh no! He's doing it again!"
Seeing this, Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically and shouted.
Since Umbridge had been driven out, Ron zoning out and grinning foolishly like this had happened far too often.
So much so that the moment he made that face, Hermione and Harry could clearly tell what he was thinking.
Harry scratched his head and said with a chuckle, "Don't say that, Hermione. This really is something worth being happy about. Sometimes, when I think back late at night to Umbridge being kicked out and all the changes that have happened recently, I get so excited I can't even sleep!"
Hearing this, the helpless look on Hermione's face broke into a bright smile.
Wasn't she, and the rest of the Hogwarts students, the same?
Watching Hogwarts thrive like this was simply the happiest thing imaginable.
Chatting and laughing, the two dragged Ron into the Great Hall.
It was already bustling with noise and activity.
Hundreds of people were packed inside, enjoying the delicious breakfast prepared by house-elves working overtime.
Not everyone there was a D.A. member heading to early classes, most were ordinary students.
Especially those, like the trio, preparing for O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. exams.
Because D.A. members enjoyed customized morning and evening tutoring sessions, these ordinary students had no choice but to wake up early and stay up late, pushing themselves through grueling self-study to maintain their rankings.
In terms of sheer hardship, they were actually working harder than Harry and Ron, the D.A. members.
This was also the reason even a notorious lazybones like Ron could stick to the morning and evening classes.
The strong sense of superiority from being a D.A. member, combined with the daily pressure from these hard-working competitors, forced even someone like Ron to stay fully alert.
After all, if he were really outperformed by ordinary students without professional tutoring, where would that leave the dignity of a senior D.A. member?
Hermione found an empty seat and sat down with Harry and Ron. She then took out a timetable and checked it carefully, saying, "Eat quickly. We have the same schedule today. First is the regular D.A. morning class, then Transfiguration in the morning, and Defense Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon."
"Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
Ron, who had been aggressively gulping down milk, suddenly raised his head, his lips decorated with two streaks of "white beard."
"That's great! It's my favorite class! The people teaching us now are all advanced D.A. members who are about to graduate. Their professional level might not be as good as Professor Lupin's, but they're still way better than Umbridge."
"And the classes are semi–self-study too, free, and you actually get to learn real Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's basically heaven!"
Ron spoke with great excitement, but Hermione frowned.
She turned to Harry and asked, "Harry, do you really think it's a good thing for Link to have those older D.A. members teaching us?"
"It's fine, I guess," Harry shrugged. "You know how hard it is to hire a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Hermione, especially when the term is almost over."
"Link already said this setup is just a temporary measure. Next year, he'll recruit a dedicated Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for us."
"And honestly…"
"Those D.A. upperclassmen teach way better than Umbridge ever did!"
"At least they're willing to teach us useful, real magic instead of making us copy from books all day like Umbridge."
"That's exactly the problem!" Hermione suddenly raised her voice, then quickly realized her slip and lowered it again. "Don't you think the proportion of practical combat in their teaching is a bit too high?"
"It feels like… like they're not teaching us defensive magic for self-defense."
"It's like they're training an army!"
Hearing this, Harry actually stopped chewing, staring at Hermione in shock, as if he hadn't expected her train of thought to go that far.
After struggling to organize his words for a while, Harry finally said, "I think you're overthinking it. Link probably just sees that the situation isn't great right now and wants to deliberately strengthen our abilities in that area."
Hermione clearly couldn't accept that explanation and was about to say more.
But at that moment, Ron leaned over and said bluntly, "Why are you so hard to deal with? Before, when Umbridge didn't teach practical stuff, you said that was unacceptable."
"Now that Link has arranged for people to strengthen practical training, you say he's treating us like an army."
"What do you actually want?"
Hermione was so angry her hair practically stood on end, while Harry quietly lowered his head.
He knew very well that another extremely routine argument was about to break out.
And all he needed to do, as usual, was ignore it at first, then step in to say a word or two once they were almost done arguing.
To be honest, this time he actually agreed quite a bit with Ron.
What Hermione had just said really was a bit hard to deal with.
At the same time, a small Hufflepuff boy was dragging a mop almost as tall as himself, struggling as he cleaned the floor.
He painstakingly dragged the mop over to the trio, silently wiping up the milk Ron had spilled during his aggressive drinking, and even clearing away the extra dirty plates on their table.
Harry could clearly see the fine beads of sweat forming on the boy's forehead and the flush spreading across his cheeks.
This level of labor was indeed exhausting for a first-year student who hadn't yet mastered many spells.
That was exactly why tasks like this were usually assigned as punishment to students who had made mistakes, been put in detention, or sentenced to mandatory labor.
However, this rule had changed after Link formed the committee.
Now, most of the less grueling work was voluntarily taken on by these lower-year volunteers.
As for students who broke the rules, their punishment had become real solitary confinement, locked in a small dark room, but for a relatively short time, at most three days.
To many people, that kind of punishment was practically nothing.
What was so scary about being locked in a room for a few days?
Some more introverted people might even welcome the peace and quiet.
But Harry, who had spent years locked in a cupboard by his uncle, knew all too well how terrifying it could be.
Prolonged confinement, combined with extreme boredom and silence, could drive a person insane.
Immersed in those miserable memories, Harry couldn't help shuddering.