Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 233 The Plan and DA Exposure

One hour ago.

When Thea said calmly, "At the latest, Umbridge will catch Potter and his organization within a month," even Dumbledore didn't react immediately.

"You intercepted this message?"

“Yes,” Thea said, “I said before that the members of that organization are not loyal enough. Umbridge is good at exploiting people’s weaknesses. With internal and external troubles, it’s only a matter of time before it is exposed.”

Dumbledore fell silent for a moment, but Thea didn't seem to mind and continued, "Fudge will make a move, so what do you plan to do?"

Dumbledore gave Thea a deep look, a look that sent chills down her spine. "Let me make this clear beforehand, I will absolutely not go against Umbridge this time!"

Umbridge and Fudge were clearly after Dumbledore, and she had no desire to get involved.

Dumbledore lowered his head in disappointment. Thea felt a little guilty at his sudden show of weakness, but remembering the loss she had suffered at the hands of this old fox, she hardened her heart again.

"Professor, it's not fair of you to keep doing this!"

"You forced me to accept a prefectural leader position in exchange for a year's worth of protection money. I've already suffered a huge loss!"

"I've been smiling at Umbridge for so long, and in the end, it's all ruined because of Porter?"

"This is such a bad deal!"

Since Thea had already said all that, Dumbledore knew that if he wanted to continue the cooperation, he would have to approach it from other angles.

“Oh dear, it’s just a special situation,” Dumbledore said with a smile, handing Thea a piece of candy, which she accepted. “Since you were able to stop us this once…”

"I stopped them more than once!"

Thea immediately blocked her way.

Dumbledore wasn't annoyed, and said with a smile, "Couldn't I have sent them a message in advance?"

Thea raised an eyebrow, "Potter and his group are making too many moves, and Umbridge is keeping a tight grip on things... If we don't see any results soon, who knows what Umbridge might do..."

Seeing that this approach was blocked, Dumbledore changed his mind again, "Are you planning to directly break ties with Harry and the others?"

"We're bound to fall out sooner or later, so a few more days won't make a difference."

Thea's calm tone softened Dumbledore's heart.

"So what do you plan to do?"

Thea's eyes lit up; finally, they were getting to the point!

------

By the time the two finished their discussion, it was almost curfew time.

Thea declined Dumbledore's offer to see her off and got up to leave.

As Thea's figure gradually disappeared, Dumbledore's eyes darkened, and he began to sort through the clues he had gathered over the past few days.

Then came Snape's arrival.

"Are you just going to watch Blackla gather his men like this?"

During this time, Snape hadn't been unaware of Thea's actions. Every time he saw those young wizards whose faces clearly bore the name "Black's Army," the shadow in Snape's heart would deepen.

Even Voldemort wasn't this arrogant as to gather almost half of Slytherin's young wizards under his control!

Even the Death Eaters almost all joined their ranks after graduating! There was only one exception: Regulus!

Snape couldn't understand what Dumbledore was up to. Did he really intend to turn Black into a spy?

That's a huge joke!

"Snape, we must trust them."

Believe?

Do you believe Blake will abandon darkness and embrace light?

Do you really believe that an undergraduate student can defeat the Dark Lord?

A dark look crossed Snape's face. "Dumbledore, remember your promise to me!"

“Of course, Severus,” Dumbledore said, his smile unusually fading, “I have never forgotten.”

That would be best!

Before Dumbledore could say anything more, Snape turned and left, the hem of his black robe swaying in a graceful arc, leaving Dumbledore alone in the room once again.

"Wow!"

Fawkes' chirping interrupted Dumbledore's thoughts. Gazing at his old friend, he murmured, "Fawkes, I've always remembered..."

His voice was so soft it was almost a murmur.

He slowly walked to the window, but the moonlight was completely obscured by clouds, and not a single ray of light could be seen.

"...Can I trust her?"

Dumbledore's questions remained unanswered, and he seemed to have long been accustomed to this self-questioning and self-answering pattern.

------

Harry was clearly still reeling from this betrayal.

Even after he was taken to the principal's office, he still couldn't understand why he had been exposed.

In the dead of night, he had imagined that one day Thea might lead him to Umbridge with her wand, but before Thea could even make a move, others stabbed him in the back first.

"Good girl, repeat what you just said to me—"

The high-pitched voice sounded particularly grating to Harry's ears. He kept turning around to look at the little witch who kept her head down. He wanted to know why she had betrayed him.

"me……"

Marietta stammered and couldn't speak. When Umbridge impatiently pinched her chin to force her to raise her head, Fudge, who was next to her, was so startled by her raised face that he jumped back and almost fell into the fire. Fortunately, Delilah caught him in time.

Harry was startled by the face, but he quickly realized that the handwriting on it was Hermione's. No wonder she had all the members sign that parchment—

--etc!

parchment………

Harry stared intently at the parchment Umbridge pulled from her pocket, his heart pounding as if it would leap out of his chest.

“It’s alright. Since Marietta doesn’t want to talk about it, I will,” she said loudly, holding up the parchment. “This parchment is the evidence! Harry Potter ignored the Ministry of Magic’s educational order and secretly gathered his classmates, even though he knew it had been issued!”

"I don't!"

Even though Harry was panicking, he still denied it.

Ultimately, even though Kingsley altered Marietta's memories, Dumbledore still paid the price of losing his position as Headmaster to settle the matter—he portrayed the DA as Dumbledore's Army and took the blame for conspiring against the Minister.

But he wasn't imprisoned in Azkaban; he escaped.

The next day, Ministry of Magic orders were posted all over the school.

Umbridge became the new headmaster of Hogwarts.