Ron might dare to talk back to his parents, dare to disobey professors' orders, and dare to get into fights with his classmates, but…
There was absolutely no way he dared to throw a tantrum at Link.
Because he wasn't as proud as Draco.
Countless things that had happened in the past had already proven this, obeying Link brought huge benefits, while doing the opposite only led to pain.
Ron had already understood this deep down, at a subconscious level, so of course he knew what to do.
He respected Link almost with his whole being.
This also proved that this almost primitive beast-taming method worked just as well on humans.
With just a light tug from Link, the anger in Ron's heart instantly dissipated. He obediently stepped aside, and the expression on his face shifted from rage to excitement.
He knew very well that next, Draco Malfoy was about to be in trouble.
And that was exactly what happened.
When Link and the others slowly moved to the very front of the crowd and lined up to face the Inquisitorial Squad head-on, Draco's already deathly pale face instantly lost all remaining color.
There was no need for Link to say anything at all.
Just having that calm gaze fall on him was enough to make Draco start trembling.
"I'm the Inquisitorial Squad's vice-captain… I represent the Ministry of Magic… my father is Lucius… I'm…"
He began muttering to himself nonstop, trying to psych himself up, but his voice grew weaker and weaker.
Draco's performance could only be described as humiliating to an absurd degree.
And yet, not a single member of the Inquisitorial Squad behind him showed even the slightest hint of mockery.
Because they all knew exactly what kind of monster Link Flamel, standing in front of them, was.
If they were in Draco's place, it definitely wouldn't go any better.
Watching Draco, whose self-muttering was gradually getting louder, as if he'd finally worked up a bit of courage, Link let out a helpless sigh.
He actually quite liked Draco. After all, if you ignored that "the world revolves around me" arrogance of his, the kid was actually pretty easy on the eyes.
But the problem was that every single time, even though Draco was scared out of his mind, he still managed, perfectly, to stand on the opposite side from him.
Shaking his head, Link said coldly, "Draco, do you still want to deduct points from me?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, Draco's muttering stopped dead.
He stared blankly at Link, his eyes slowly widening, as if he'd just seen something terrifying.
After a long moment, Draco let out a shrill scream, spun around, and bolted.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone in the entrance hall.
By the time they reacted, Draco's figure had already disappeared up the stairs.
"You... you just wait and see! Headmistress Umbridge won't let you get away with this!"
Draco's deputy threw out a harsh line and then ran off with the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad. He had no choice but to run, Draco, the one meant to take the blame, had already fled. If he didn't run too, the unlucky one would be him.
As they fled in disgrace, thunderous cheers erupted from the entrance hall and the Great Hall.
People cheered as they kept pushing closer to Link, as if they wanted to lift him up and toss him into the air.
Naturally, that wasn't allowed. Emily stopped them easily with just a look.
John and the others all had bright smiles on their faces.
After this initial probing of the Inquisitorial Squad, things were already very clear.
Umbridge's power at Hogwarts was nowhere near as strong as they had expected.
With that settled, what came next would be much easier to handle.
Cedric swept his gaze over the frenzied crowd, then slowly moved closer to Link and said, "This isn't a place to talk. We need to find somewhere quiet and make some proper plans."
Link nodded at that, then looked at Hermione, who was so excited her face was flushed red.
"Go wake Harry up. We'll meet at the M.O.M.H.L. factory in half an hour."
"No problem! As long as it's you, Harry will definitely listen!" Hermione said excitedly. "But why the M.O.M.H.L. factory? The Room of Requirement..."
Before she could finish, Emily cut in, "The Room of Requirement has already been sealed off by Umbridge. We don't mind, but can you still get in?"
Hermione pouted when she heard that. In the end, she didn't say anything, just grabbed Ron and hurried back toward the Gryffindor common room.
Seeing this, Link and the others didn't waste any more time and headed straight for the M.O.M.H.L. factory.
In fact, as one of Link's properties, the M.O.M.H.L. factory had also been sealed off, just like the Room of Requirement.
Link had already learned from Percy exactly what Umbridge was planning.
Someone as greedy as Umbridge would naturally never let go of a huge piece of fat meat like the M.O.M.H.L. factory.
She had long planned to use her authority as headmistress, little by little, to force Link into handing the M.O.M.H.L. factory over to Hogwarts entirely.
That way, most of the factory's output would end up in her hands.
She could even slowly turn the M.O.M.H.L. factory into her own private property later on.
To that end, she had even gone so far as to prepare things in advance with Percy, that "rising star of the Ministry of Magic," giving him a portion of power.
Unfortunately for her, she hadn't expected Percy to be Link's man.
And the direct result of that mistake was that, with Percy's help, the M.O.M.H.L. factory once again became a private base for Link and the others.
Pushing open the doors, Link and his group entered the banquet hall that had been used for the D.A. army's first gathering.
At this moment, all unnecessary decorations in the hall had been removed, leaving only the astonishingly long table in the center and the magical lamps on the walls to either side.
Link took the lead and sat down at the seat of honor. Only then did the others take their seats below him.
This wasn't the small, private conversation Hermione had imagined. It was a large-scale internal meeting of the D.A. army, focused on discussing how to deal with Umbridge as headmistress going forward.
Not long after Link and the others had parted ways with Hermione, Link had already used the D.A. galleons to announce the time and place of the meeting.
Of course, not every holder of a D.A. galleon was able to receive the message.
With Cedric's help, Link's screening process was extremely strict. Only the strongest and most trustworthy students from each house, those who would absolutely never side with Umbridge, were invited to attend the meeting.
For example, the Weasley twins.
Bang!
Not long after Link and the others had sat down, the doors to the banquet hall were shoved open with a loud crash.
George and Fred burst in, looking fierce and furious. They couldn't even be bothered to sit down and shouted straight away, "They've gone way too far!"
"Yeah! They're basically squatting on our heads and taking a dump!"
Looking at the way the two of them played off each other, as well as the other invitees trailing in behind them, Link, Cedric, and the rest all felt a bit speechless.
They exchanged glances, and Link turned his head and asked, "What happened?"
The other invitees had already very consciously found seats and sat down.
Seeing that, George and Fred each pulled out a chair and sat as well, still gesturing angrily as they spoke, "Pretty much the same thing you ran into in the entrance hall!"
Fred looked at Cedric and continued, "You remember Montague, right? The Slytherin Quidditch team's beater."
Cedric nodded.
He did remember the guy.
Because he played dirty, always aiming at people.
George ground his teeth and said, "He's become Umbridge's lapdog along with Malfoy! During break he even tried to deduct points from us. His reason? That our red hair was so ugly it made him lose his appetite for breakfast!"
At that, everyone turned to look at their hair in unison.
Those two heads of short red hair gleamed vividly under the magical lamps.
In fact, red hair had been heavily discriminated against in England, and even throughout European history.
That was because Britain's indigenous people were red-haired.
People like that were generally seen as uncivilized savages.
In the Middle Ages, due to their low status and small numbers, they were often treated as symbols of the devil.
During the witch hunts, most of the "witches" burned at the stake were red-haired.
In contrast, blond hair represented descendants of the Anglo-Saxons, and black hair represented descendants of the Romans, both considered very noble.
But that kind of hair-color discrimination was something from hundreds of years ago.
And among wizards, it wasn't really a thing anyway.
That Montague guy was just grabbing a random excuse to pick a fight.
Noticing everyone's gaze, George and Fred proudly ran a hand through their hair and said, "But he didn't succeed."
"Because before he could even finish his sentence, we stuffed him headfirst into the Vanishing Cabinet on the second floor."
"Wow~" said the Ravenclaw representative sitting next to George in a sarcastic tone. "That's really… quite the achievement."
"Don't get sarcastic with me!" George roared. "I'm telling you, we've decided we're done worrying about causing trouble!"
John grinned when he heard that.
"Sounds like you ever worried about that before."
"Of course we did!" Fred replied. "Otherwise, how do you think we managed to never get expelled?"
George continued, "That already proves we've always known exactly where the line is. We might keep testing around that line, but we absolutely never cross it!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the entire banquet hall fell silent.
Everyone sitting here was no fool. They all understood what the Weasley twins were really saying.
"So…" Link finally spoke. "Does that mean you're planning to do something that crosses the line now?"
When facing Link, George and Fred's confidence was clearly much weaker.
But they still mustered the courage to say, "Since Dumbledore's already gone…"
"Then causing a bit of chaos is only right. Anyway, it's what our new headmistress deserves!"
"What do you think?"
As their words fell, quite a few people in the hall were visibly tempted.
George and Fred's goal was already very clear.
They wanted to rally the D.A. army to join them in a movement against Umbridge, the new headmistress.
This was full-on militant action.
At that moment, the Ravenclaw sitting next to George took a deep breath, stood up with a serious expression, and said, "I object!"
"George, and Fred! Whatever you want to do, go do it yourselves. Don't drag the D.A. into it!"
"Don't you understand?"
"If things really go the way you want, the entire Hogwarts will be thrown into chaos!"
"Umbridge might get hurt a little, but the ones who'll be hurt far more will definitely be us!"
Fred shot him a glance and said, "Then tell me, do you have a better solution?"
That Ravenclaw clearly understood that Link's opinion was the key to the whole meeting. He completely ignored George and Fred's angry stares and turned to Link at the head of the table.
"Lord Flamel, actually, if we change our way of thinking, Umbridge replacing Dumbledore as headmistress might not be a bad thing for us."
"After all, Umbridge's reputation at Hogwarts is terrible, and her foundation is nowhere near as solid as Dumbledore's."
"At a time like this, our support is crucial to her."
"Perhaps we should deepen our cooperation with Umbridge. I believe she would definitely offer enough in exchange for our help."
"For example, the authority to deduct points, which the Weasley brothers just suffered under."
"So what you're saying is, you want us to go be Umbridge's dogs?" George sneered. "I thought you'd come up with something better than that."
Fred followed up, "I'll give your words right back to you, exactly as they are!"
"If you want to be a dog, go do it yourself! Don't drag us into it!"
"Everyone in the D.A. has a backbone. We're not going to do something that disgraceful!"
"Who are you calling disgraceful? Say that again if you've got the guts!"
"So what if I say it again? What, I just used your own words on you, and now you're mad?"
"Weasley, I'm warning you not to go too far! I'm doing this for the good of the D.A. and all the students! Only if we have the same authority can we stand up to the Inquisitorial Squad!"
"Oh right, right, right! Everything you say is correct! Coward! A crow that only feeds on carrion!"
"You!"
———
Along with the shouted insults, the argument in the banquet hall grew more and more intense.
Especially after George launched a full-area attack and called Ravenclaw "carrion-eating crows," the rest of the Ravenclaws joined in as well.
And that directly led to Gryffindor, and some of Hufflepuff, jumping into the fray too.
After all, even though George and Fred's proposal would very likely end the way that Ravenclaw predicted, with both sides badly hurt, or even hurting the enemy for eight hundred while losing a thousand themselves, yhat hot-blooded, charge-in-headfirst approach was simply too appealing to some people.
And yet, as their argument steadily drifted toward the brink of physical conflict, Link remained smiling calmly, as if he were watching a show.
To Link, the scene before him really was interesting.
Whether it was the Weasley twins or that Ravenclaw, they all looked like they were thinking about Hogwarts, thinking about the D.A.
But what was the reality?
All you had to do was think about their respective positions to understand.
In the end, this was a case of where you sit determining how you think.
Gryffindor, represented by George and Fred, was Umbridge's least favored house, and also the sworn enemy of the now-dominant Slytherin.
If Umbridge truly came into power, then in the foreseeable future, they would definitely have miserable lives.
And Ravenclaw?
They were Umbridge's favored house, second only to Slytherin.
In that situation, it was only natural for them to lean toward cooperating with Umbridge.
Once Link understood all of this, the farce playing out in front of him looked like two groups of monkeys fighting over a banana.
Interesting, and old.
There had never been anything new in this world.
Link smiled and shook his head.
And at the same time, the doors to the banquet hall were pushed open once again.
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