I, the Dark Lord, will definitely be a good principal!

The article in "Singing a Quix" eventually spread throughout Hogwarts.

Almost everyone believed that Umchi, the senior investigator, would classify "The Quibbler" as contraband.

but……

No.

Yes, for the next week, Umbridge's focus remained on checking students' appearance, ensuring that male and female students were at least eight inches apart, and searching for previously announced contraband.

Nothing else was done.

Even the student council members have become somewhat more restrained.

This surprised everyone.

Has Umbridge changed her ways?

This shouldn't be happening...

Moreover, in the following days, it wasn't just The Quibbler who took the stand against Umbridge; more newspapers joined in.

Another week passed.

It's December.

As the weather gets colder, students are using spells to keep warm, or they're starting to wrap themselves up more and more tightly.

Angel even caught a cold once—because he lost track of time while learning in the common room, and by the time he realized it, the warmth spell had worn off.

“I bet the Black Lake is right outside the glass windows of the Slytherin common room. Even with a fireplace burning, it’s definitely much colder than the Gryffindor tower! When we’re in the common room, a sweater is all we need!”

Ron looked at Angel, whose ears were smoking from drinking Madam Pomfrey's potion, and said.

Angor touched his nose, realizing he couldn't really blame the temperature in the Slytherin common room...

He still feels a persistent, intermittent pain in his head... specifically, the area behind his ear.

“That’s clear crystal, not glass!” Draco said.

Ron didn't react for a moment. After he did, he coughed and had no idea how to respond.

This is such a strange angle!

"But speaking of which, is the lake outside the Slytherin common room frozen over yet?" Harry asked with great interest.

He was actually quite interested in visiting the Slytherin common room; the "large floor-to-ceiling windows" described by Angle and Draco as being underwater were indeed quite appealing.

Harry was still unaware that he had said the wrong thing.

Draco's eyes lit up instantly.

"There are two key reasons why the lake water freezes only on the surface and not at the bottom. First, water has the highest density at 4°C. When the lake surface temperature drops, the density of the cold surface water increases and it sinks, while the warm water at the bottom rises, creating convection, which keeps the lake bottom water temperature above 0°C."

"Secondly, the ice layer has poor thermal conductivity. Covering the lake surface, it acts like an insulation layer, greatly slowing down the rate at which heat from the lakebed is lost to the cold air outside..."

Before Draco could finish speaking, Harry's eyes began to glaze over.

Why did he ask that question...?

Just then, Hermione walked over and placed a large stack of books on their table: "I heard you two talking about the temperature of the lake's surface, or maybe the temperature at the bottom?"

“No, we didn’t! You misheard me, Hermione!” Ron said hastily, interrupting what could have been the next ordeal.

Harry and he exchanged a glance, their expressions both extremely complicated.

...Who knows why they would enjoy studying these things.

The topic is unusually unrelated to Umbridge.

This is normal, because Umbridge hasn't made any further moves yet—she's still doing the same old things.

Despite the continued oppressive atmosphere, many Hogwarts students began to find ways to make the best of a bad situation because of Umri's lack of action.

At least... as things stand now, Umbridge seems to have succumbed to the public opinion in the newspapers and their rebellious sentiments.

But while the students were happy, Dumbledore became worried.

To be honest, this was the first time Umbridge had felt that things were a bit bad since he arrived at Hogwarts.

He had always regarded Umbridge as a clown, but Umbridge's silence over the past two weeks made Dumbledore feel that Umbridge seemed to have developed a brain.

During a class one day, Dumbledore asked Angor to try to construct a magic circle on his own, while he himself went to the window and frowned as he watched the snowflakes drifting in the night.

Like adding oil to a raging fire, if Umbridge continues to impose new educational decrees after a series of criticisms have appeared in the newspapers, the increasing pressure will inevitably provoke even more opposition.

Then Dumbledore could press his advantage, crushing Umbridge under public pressure and causing more people to oppose the Ministry of Magic's educational reforms, thus completely thwarting any ambition of magic to control Hogwarts.

But Umbridge did not.

Instead, she fell silent and simply continued to strictly enforce discipline.

Dumbledore had never read this quote, but he understood the principle of "once, twice, then less, then exhausted."

If the education order fails to be rendered ineffective through a counterattack in public opinion, then the previous wave of public opinion offensive will inevitably show signs of fatigue.

As it stands now, a rather awkward situation has arisen.

Unless he resorts to force, he has no way to get rid of Umbridge, and Umbridge has no way to issue new educational orders to continue the stalemate with him.

No one knows why Umbridge grew a brain, except for Angor.

"Looks like the other little Tommy is the one who's working... What do you think, Diary-kun?"

Late at night, Angell lay on his bed in his Slytherin second-year dormitory and wrote.