"Now that Dumbledore is back, does that mean all the trouble is over?" asked Hermione disapprovingly.
"Yes," said Neville. "Everything's back to normal."
"I suppose Filch is very happy?" asked Ron.
Ron asked, leaning a Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card against his canteen.
Although he had inadvertently guessed the truth, it was not what everyone thought to be the truth.
"Not at all," said Ginny.
"In fact, he's really, really disappointed …"
She lowered her voice. "He keeps saying that Umbridge is the best thing that's ever happened to Hogwarts …"
The six of them looked back at the same time. Professor Umbridge was lying on the bed opposite them, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Dumbledore had single-handedly gone into the forest and rescued her from the horsemen.
How he had done it — how he had managed to get Professor Umbridge out of the forest unscathed — no one knew, and certainly Umbridge would not say.
She had not said a word, as far as they knew, since she had returned to the Castle.
No one knew what was wrong with her.
Her usually neat grey-brown hair was disheveled, with little twigs and leaves sticking out of it, but she looked as if she had not been hurt at all.
"Madame Pomfrey says she's just frightened," whispered Hermione.
"Angry, rather," said Ginny.
"That's right. She will move. If you try it like this."
Ron said, making a little trotting noise with his tongue.
Umbridge sat bolt upright and looked round in alarm.
"What's the matter, Professor?"
Cried Madame Pomfrey, sticking her head out of her office.
"No … nothing," said Umbridge hastily.
Umbridge hurriedly said, burying his head in her pillow again. "Nothing, I must be dreaming."
Hermione and Ginny burst into muffled laughter under the bedclothes.
"Speaking of the horsemen," said Hermione, stopping short of laughter. "Who's the Master of Augury now? Is it still Firenze? "
"It must be him," said Harry. "The other Wranglers won't let him go back, will they?"
"It seems that both he and Trelawney will continue to teach," said Ginny.
"I dare say that Dumbledore had long wished that he could make Trelawney leave him forever."
Ron said as he chewed on the fourteenth piece of chocolate frog. "Listen carefully. If you want to ask, the prophecy class is useless, and Firenze is not much better."
"How can you say that?" Hermione questioned. "Is it because we just discovered the existence of a real prophecy?"
Heli's heart began to beat faster.
He did not tell Ron, Hermione, or anyone else about the prophecy.
Neville had told them that the orb had been broken when Harry had dragged him up the steps in the Hall of Death.
Harry had not yet corrected that, and he had not yet prepared himself for the look on their faces when they knew they had no choice but to be a murderer or a victim.
"It's a pity it's broken," murmured Hermione, shaking her head.
"Yes, it's a pity," said Ron. Ron said, "But, at the very least, the mysterious man will never be able to know the contents of it. Where are you going?"
Seeing Harry stand up, he asked, looking both puzzled and disappointed.
"Oh — to Hagrid's," said Harry. "You know, he's just come back. I said I would go down to see him and tell him about you two."
"Oh, all right," said Ron sullenly. Ron's tone was a little gloomy. He just looked at the clear sky outside the window and said, "I wish we could go too."
"Say hello to him for us!"
Hermione shouted at Harry, who was walking out of the ward. "Ask him how his little friend is doing!"
Harry waved at them as he walked out of the dormitory, indicating that he had heard them.
...
Even on a Sunday, the castle seemed too quiet.
It seemed that everyone had gone out and came to the sunny field to enjoy the relaxation after the exam, as well as the last few days of the final term without classes and homework.
Harry walked slowly down the empty corridor, gazing out of the window … he could see people floating in groups over the Quidditch field, and two students swimming in the lake with a giant squid.
He found it difficult to decide whether he wanted to be with people or not. When he was with them, he wanted to go away.
But when he was alone, he wanted someone to accompany him.
He thought, however, that perhaps he really ought to go and see Hagrid, with whom he had not had a good talk since he had come back.
Harry had just come down the last marble step into the porch when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Gall came out of the door to the Slytherin Common Room on the right.
He stopped abruptly, and so did they. The only sounds that could be heard now were the shouts, the laughter, and the splashing of water from the field, which came from the open front door.
Malfoy glanced around — Harry knew he was looking for his teacher — then turned his eyes back to Harry and whispered, "You're dead, Potter."
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"That's funny. You should know that I'm here for you …"
Harry had never seen Malfoy so annoyed before.
He looked angrier than ever, and Harry felt a pang of pleasure at the sight of his pale, angry face.
"You'll pay," Malfoy said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'll make you pay for what you did to my father …"
"Oh, I'm so scared now," Harry said sarcastically.
"I thought Voldemort was just a warm-up exercise compared to the three of you — what's the matter?"
He saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Gall looked frightened at the name, and added, "He's your father's mate, isn't he?
You can't be afraid of him, can you? "
"Do you think you're some big shot, Potter?"
Malfoy said, closing in on Harry. "You wait, I'll make you pay. You can't send my father to prison —"
"I think I've done it," said Harry.
"The Dementors have left Azkaban," Malfoy said softly.
Malfoy said softly, "My father and the others will come out soon …"
"Very well, I hope they will," said Harry. Said Harry. "But at least now everyone knows what a mean lot they are -"
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