Chapter 615: Chapter 613: The Objective of Gryffindor (Edited)
As Harry and the others feared, Gryffindor's request to reorganize their Quidditch team had been blocked by Umbridge for no apparent reason, while Slytherin, as expected, had been approved first.
As for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, Umbridge gave them her approval, albeit with some difficulty.
From Gryffindor, Angelina had submitted her request multiple times, only to have Umbridge reject it for various reasons.
"If this continues, we might actually miss the match against Slytherin..." Angelina complained, desperate, during one of the Order of the Cat meetings, tormented by Umbridge.
The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students glanced at each other, unsure of how to console Angelina and the other Gryffindors.
"Is it because Fish gave her a hard time that they're involved?" Fish asked with a furrowed brow and a hint of guilt on his face.
"Of course not! Fish, you're not a Quidditch player!" Angelina dismissed decisively, without hesitation.
"Really?" Fish looked at her skeptically.
Fish knew exactly what he was, and it seemed highly likely to him that Angelina was just trying to justify herself again.
"Of course it's true!" Angelina nodded heavily, then looked at Harry by her side and, after a moment of hesitation, explained to Fish, "Actually... Umbridge's main target... should be Harry..."
Harry, bewildered, pointed to himself and said in surprise, "Me?"
"Yes..." Angelina sighed.
With that said, she didn't bother hiding it and went straight to the reason Umbridge had refused to reorganize the Gryffindor team several times recently.
"Umbridge says that some members of our team are always saying nonsense and causing panic, that she suspects 'someone' is mentally ill and fears that 'someone' will cause terrible harm to the other students attending the tournament... she wants to carefully examine the team, remove that 'risk factor,' and then have us come to her to reorganize the team..."
Although Umbridge didn't seem to specify who the "risk factor" was, no one was stupid. The only ones who had brought news of Voldemort's resurrection were Fish and Harry, and that was the main point of disagreement between Fudge and Dumbledore.
So after saying this, Angelina looked at Harry with a helpless guilt in her eyes.
She had hesitated to tell anyone. As November approached and all the Quidditch players were becoming increasingly irritable, she worried that the others would force Harry to leave the team in order to approve the reorganization request...
In fact, Angelina herself had entertained similar thoughts more than once over time, and the fact that she was now saying it in front of Harry, in addition to explaining it to Fish, meant that she had the idea that Harry would leave the team after hearing it.
Harry stood up abruptly, his head buzzing, his heart pounding, his whole body dizzy with anger and a contained rage in his chest that wanted to burst out but couldn't.
For a moment, he wanted to go straight to Umbridge's office, do what Fish had done, shove a vial of Forgetfulness Potion down her throat, and use every dark spell he knew against Umbridge.
But after a while, Harry calmed down...
"So... I'll leave the team..." he said, sitting back down with a long sigh, containing his reluctance. "Find a new Seeker as soon as you can. A new Seeker, I think Ginny would be good, I can lend her my broom for a while... I won't be using it anyway..."
"What are you talking about, Harry?!" Ron slapped him on the back forcefully. "There has to be another way!"
"That's right," Fred echoed, "Didn't we face that stupid Umbridge and the Ministry of Magic? What's the point of giving up so easily? Don't you think so, Angelina?"
"Well... uh... yes..." Angelina hesitated but nodded her head.
"The last time our match was interrupted by a Dementor, I'd like to do it properly in a match with you!" Cedric said.
"But what else can I do? She's only targeting me!" Harry grumbled, slightly annoyed, stretching and ruffling his hair. "Once I'm off the team, she won't have any reason to make things difficult for the team..."
He forced a reluctant smile, persuading Ron and the others as he calmed himself. "And thankfully, I can focus my time on the Order of the Cat. Everyone has improved a lot lately, and I have to work on it a bit, or I won't have anything left to teach them."
"But won't that encourage Umbridge?" Hermione suddenly said. "What if she finds out she can blackmail them with the team and make everyone do what the Ministry wants?"
Her words sent shivers through Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, who had already submitted their applications, as Hermione's suggestion seemed highly likely given Umbridge's character.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Room of Requirement became extremely tense.
"Why don't you go and try it with Albus?"
Fish asked, ears moving in confusion.
"It's not nice to bother Dumbledore about something like this, right?" Harry said with pursed lips.
All this time, Harry had been having real issues with Dumbledore.
Since Dumbledore had been hiding everything from him since the summer vacation, Harry might not even know where Hagrid had gone if he didn't receive some information from Fish from time to time, so Harry was actually in a mood of "I won't go see you unless you talk to me."
Fish, of course, had no idea about the complexity of Harry's thoughts but tilted his head and said, "What's wrong with that? Hasn't Albus returned to the school recently? And it seems like he has a lot of free time."
Fish wasn't saying this, but since Dumbledore's return, he and Hermione often found Dumbledore wandering the castle at night with an appearance of having nothing to do, dressed in a nightshirt...
And Professor McGonagall's workload hadn't diminished at all!
"Why don't... I go see Professor McGonagall and ask her first?" Angelina agreed that going straight to the headmistress seemed a bit boring.
"No way, nya! Minerva is already busy!" Fish objected with a snort. "It's obvious that Albus has nothing better to do all day, nya!"
So that Harry and the others wouldn't have to bother Professor McGonagall, Fish volunteered, "Tomorrow is the weekend, Fish will talk to Albus for you, nya! Don't go looking for Minerva!"
(`ω´)
"Then I'll bother you, Fish." Angelina sincerely thanked him.
The truth was she didn't want to rush to see Dumbledore just for this, but she also knew that if she went to the Headmaster, it was likely to be resolved.
So when she saw Fish offering to handle the matter, Angelina was anxious to let him do it.
Harry opened his mouth but didn't say anything.
He had a problem with Dumbledore, but Quidditch was important to him, and it would be great if he could find a way to continue without leaving the team... anyway, it wasn't unusual for Fish to go see Dumbledore, as long as it wasn't Harry himself.
That was Harry's intention, but things didn't always go as he wanted, and the next day, Harry had to sneak away with Fish to see Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.
Because...
The storm was approaching.
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