The massive disturbance caused by Fred and George had become Hogwarts legend.
They'd run Umbridge and Filch ragged for days on end, throwing the school into total chaos.
During Easter break, they'd apparently restrained themselves to avoid interfering with other students' studies, but afterward things escalated even further.
And finally, they created swamps all over the school and departed gloriously on broomsticks.
But that wasn't the end.
After them came a flood of students following in their footsteps, competing as if vying for the now-vacant throne of chief troublemaker.
Dropping dungbombs and stink pellets in corridors became routine.
They hurled foreign objects into Umbridge's room, and during her classes everyone simultaneously used Skiving Snackboxes, causing mass chaos with nosebleeds, fainting spells, and fake colds.
Misfortune struck the Inquisitorial Squad members one after another—just the other day, Pansy Parkinson had been carried to the hospital wing.
Apparently cow horns had sprouted from her head and she'd started mooing like a real cow.
But even that paled compared to Peeves.
He stuck to Umbridge twenty-four hours a day without rest, clinging to her back and talking constantly.
Endlessly telling her to leave the school, ordering takeout in her name whenever she let her guard down, setting fires in her room, and tearing up important documents indiscriminately.
Thanks to this, Umbridge was now sleep-deprived and borderline neurotic.
But when she'd once slept unguarded, Peeves had tried to throw her into the fireplace—beyond a joke now.
This was the result of all the frustration suppressed since meeting Mirabelle finally erupting.
But not everything was fun.
The greatest event terrorizing all fifth-years was finally approaching—the OWL exams.
Edith still hadn't decided what career she wanted to pursue.
But either way, getting good grades would be advantageous for her future.
Good or poor grades directly expanded one's options.
The exams proceeded reasonably well.
She might have gotten some answers wrong, but overall things went smoothly.
At this rate, she could probably aim for an "E—Exceeds Expectations" in every subject.
But she wasn't confident about Astronomy.
That was because during it, Hagrid had been attacked by Aurors led by Umbridge, and McGonagall, trying to stop them, had been hit by concentrated Stunning Spells.
As a result, she couldn't concentrate on the exam at all and submitted many answers blank.
Also, during the final History of Magic exam, Harry had suddenly started shouting, disrupting her concentration again.
Overall the results were decent. But it had become an exam with lingering regrets.
"Ugh... this time was pretty mediocre."
"You're always mediocre, aren't you? That's what happens when you frantically try to cram three days before."
"Ugh... leave me alone."
With exams over, she trudged along the path back to the common room.
At Edith's appearance, Mirabelle smiled wryly as if watching a troubled child.
She'd told her to study properly before exams, but this was what happened when you ignored advice.
"But I mean, there were more interesting things than studying... I couldn't concentrate."
"Good grief, don't blame others."
"Hey, Mirabelle. Can't I open that present yet?"
"No, you can't. ...I told you, didn't I? It only becomes meaningful when viewed at year's end."
At Mirabelle's teasing words, Edith puffed out her cheeks.
The present she mentioned was their annual Christmas gift exchange.
Last year Mirabelle had given her a three-headed dragon statue, but this year she'd presented Edith with something rather strange.
The problem was she couldn't tell what was inside.
It was carefully protected with magic, making it impossible to open until the right time—quite troublesome.
And that's what had prevented her from concentrating on studying, according to Edith.
...Of course, it was just an excuse.
"Well, there's nothing bad inside. Look forward to it."
Mirabelle declared this confidently and moved ahead.
But remembering last year's statue, feeling anxious was unavoidable.
"Edith!"
"Ah, Hermione."
While walking, they ran into Hermione's group just coming out of a classroom.
There were more than usual. Besides Harry, Hermione, and Cedric, there were Ron and Ginny Weasley, plus Ravenclaw's eccentric Luna Lovegood.
They flinched momentarily as if about to do something guilty, but recognizing Edith, their faces immediately brightened.
"Oh, Edith! Perfect timing!"
"Wh-what's wrong, Hermione?"
"It's an emergency! Can you help us too?!"
Taken aback by Hermione's intensity, but recognizing from her desperate manner that this was serious, Edith quickly became serious and nodded deeply.
"What happened?"
"Sirius has been captured by Voldemort! He's being tortured!"
"What?!"
Edith's eyes widened at Harry's panicked voice.
She knew about Sirius. She'd seen him at the Shrieking Shack in third year—impossible not to know.
And that's why she understood. Sirius was Harry's godfather.
If he faced mortal danger, panic was inevitable.
"B-but... I just can't accept this. Sirius should be somewhere he absolutely couldn't be captured. So I think maybe it's a trap by Voldemort."
"...Harry can see You-Know-Who in dreams, right?"
"Exactly. But Dumbledore kept telling Harry to learn Occlumency! So I think... Voldemort might be using the connection to lure Harry out..."
Hermione's anxiety was reasonable. She was calm and seeing the situation clearly.
Indeed, if he could "only" see the opponent's movements, Occlumency wouldn't be necessary.
Why abandon an advantageous element?
Learning Occlumency meant there were disadvantageous elements on their side.
"So I want to confirm whether Sirius really isn't where he should be. But to do that, we have to get into Umbridge's office. So somehow we need to get Umbridge away from her room..."
"Wait."
Mirabelle stopped Hermione's explanation.
Mirabelle was a terrifying student, but at least being definitely not pro-Umbridge made her reassuring.
Not completely an ally, but lately she'd been especially close with Edith, and they'd calculated she'd come along as a package deal—couldn't deny that.
"Umbridge has been quite vigilant since the Niffler incident. It wouldn't be surprising if she'd cast detection charms."
"Th-that's... but then what should we—"
"Simple. There's no need for the roundabout method of luring her away."
Mirabelle showed a confident smile and crackled purple lightning from her right hand.
"We'll eliminate her, by force."
"What?!"
In a way, a simple, clear answer very like Mirabelle.
Everyone including Hermione showed surprise, but only Harry seemed to feel something like anticipation.
After all, he'd been the most oppressed by Umbridge at this school. If Mirabelle was going to attack Umbridge, he couldn't suppress a dark joy.
"Wait, Mirabelle! If you do that, your grades will—"
"No problem. Either way, that woman will soon lose her power at Hogwarts."
Edith tried to stop her, but Mirabelle wouldn't stop.
Crushing Umbridge was already decided in her mind.
"Whether Potter's dream is fact or trap, either way it means Voldemort has made his move. Then the facts the Ministry has hidden will become public. Do you think Umbridge will have a place after that?"
Voldemort moving meant what Harry and Dumbledore had said would be proven true.
Then public opinion would flip and attack the Ministry.
Naturally, Umbridge, who'd vigorously obstructed Dumbledore at school, couldn't remain.
"Meaning whatever she deducts will be immediately revoked. Of course, including everything the Squad has deducted so far."
"S-so..."
"Right, Umbridge's scoring no longer matters."
Mirabelle declared this confidently and advanced.
No need to ask what she intended.
She went to Umbridge's room and without hesitation blew the door off.
Then said casually:
"There, you have business here, right? Hurry up and finish."
At this point, Hermione's plan had collapsed.
In her original plan, she would have found Umbridge, lured her in the opposite direction, and arranged things so other students couldn't approach.
But this was basically announcing their presence.
From this alone, you could tell Mirabelle genuinely didn't care about Umbridge's evaluation.
"I'll stand near the entrance. If any Squad members pass by, I'll stun them."
Mirabelle said this and headed to the entrance, spotting Malfoy who'd happened to be nearby.
Naturally, she wouldn't let him escape.
She immediately pointed her wand and slammed a Stunning Spell into his face, sending him flying.
"Like this. Now hurry up."
Harry swallowed hard and headed for the fireplace.
Mirabelle was truly reassuring as an ally.
He rushed to the fireplace, grabbed Floo powder, and threw it into the grate.
Then thrust his head into the flames and shouted:
"Grimmauld Place! Number twelve!"
After confirming Harry had thrust his head into the fireplace, she turned her eyes to the entrance.
Then Umbridge came running in, flustered.
Apparently detection charms had been active after all.
Seeing Mirabelle, her face showed surprise.
"M-Miss Beresford?! What is this...!"
No response necessary.
What she'd give this woman wasn't words but violence.
Mirabelle silently drew her wand and punched Umbridge hard in the face before she could even react.
Following up as she fell with repeated Stunning Spells until her eyes rolled back.
Then she dragged her to the second floor and kicked her into a Vanishing Cabinet there.
"That's done."
"Y-you're still as extreme as ever, Mirabelle... no mercy."
"Hmph, this is being lenient."
Mirabelle said this and glared at the cabinet where Umbridge had vanished with clear contempt.
But she quickly looked away and returned to the room where Harry's group was.
Edith hurriedly followed after.
Returning to the room, Crabbe and Goyle—when had they arrived?—were struggling with Neville.
Deducing from the situation, the two Squad members had tried to capture Harry, then Neville happened by and, not understanding the situation but deciding to help his friend Harry anyway, had confronted them.
Mirabelle shot Stunning Spells into Crabbe and Goyle's heads from behind and threw their unconscious bodies into a nearby trash can.
"So, how was it, Potter?"
"N-no good... Sirius isn't there! He really is at the Department of Mysteries!"
Harry answered Mirabelle's question almost screaming.
Then he glared at Hermione, making her dejected, before beginning to pace the room irritably.
"I was right! We have to go to the Department of Mysteries now, or Sirius will be killed!"
"But Harry... how? Your broom is being watched by a troll."
However irritated, he wasn't blind to the situation.
At Hermione's reasonable objection, Harry fell silent.
Obviously, to reach the Department of Mysteries, they needed transportation.
But their means of transport—brooms—were locked underground.
Getting to the Ministry's Department of Mysteries was impossible.
"We'll have to go get them."
Harry said impatiently.
He really wanted to fly there immediately.
If that dream was real, Sirius was being tortured right now—every second counted.
He headed for the basement almost running, everyone following.
Partway there, they found Malfoy starting to wake, so they stomped on him to knock him out again.
Reaching the basement, a troll was positioned before a thick iron door, but trolls were just big weaklings from Mirabelle's perspective. No reason to fear.
"Lynnagale!"
"OK! Let's go!"
Faster than Harry's group could raise their wands, Mirabelle and Edith drew theirs.
Wizard combat was ultimately quick-draw, according to Mirabelle.
Draw the wand fast, point it at the opponent fast, and shoot fast.
This trinity was both basics and secret technique.
Adding bullet speed to make it impossible to dodge or defend! That was the combat essence passed from Mirabelle to Edith!
Therefore what they'd unleash here was the fastest, best strike!
"Voltage Raid! Lightning, pierce through!"
Blue and gold lightning from their wands struck the troll's chest dead center.
The electrical power was one ampere, one hundred thousand volts! An attack that would definitely kill a human.
However high a troll's vitality, it couldn't withstand this.
Its massive body tilted, then it fainted, foaming at the mouth.
That it didn't die showed this creature was pretty absurd itself.
"Yes! We beat it!"
"Next, we're smashing the door! Match me, Lynnagale!"
Stepping over the fallen troll, they activated their next spell.
Patronus magic with Mirabelle's unique arrangement.
An offensive Patronus that attacked opponents with what normally only protected the caster!
Training continued since third year had finally allowed Edith to use this magic.
"Invaderent Patronum!"
"Go!"
From behind Mirabelle emerged a shapeless silver guardian.
It transformed like a Boggart into a knight in Western armor.
Behind Edith appeared a white-winged horse—a Pegasus.
That such a thing emerged as her Patronus showed how un-Slytherin-like this girl was.
The knight mounted the Pegasus, becoming a heavenly cavalry charging straight at the door.
The Pegasus seemed to grimace as if finding something heavy, but that was surely a mistake.
The two Patronuses collided with the door, then used arms and legs to launch continuous attacks.
"Blow away!"
Rush, rush, rush!!
With their combined attack, the steel door groaned, cracked, then finally shattered.
During this, Harry's group did nothing, just stood stunned.
"E-Edith's amazing..."
"When did she learn magic like this..."
Hermione and Harry stared wide-eyed at Edith.
Mirabelle being strong was already a given—the surprise was definitely Edith.
Honestly, she hadn't given such a strong impression, so this was unexpected.
Especially this year with DA training, they'd thought they were definitely superior.
"Well, I can explain while we fly. Time's precious right now, isn't it?"
Looking slightly embarrassed as she scratched her cheek, Edith indicated the brooms.
Harry agreed, quickly switching his thoughts and grabbing a broom.
"Alright, then I'm going... but you all stay here."
Harry looked at Ginny's group as he said this.
Where they were going was the Ministry, possibly with Voldemort there.
They might not return alive—an extremely dangerous place.
That's why Harry had no intention of taking a crowd.
And honestly, this group made him anxious.
If he could choose members from DA besides himself, Hermione, and Cedric for rescuing Sirius, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and Ron would definitely not be the choices.
On the other hand, Edith, though not a DA member, was a trustworthy companion, and her abilities had just been proven.
Mirabelle... well, her abilities were certain.
She seemed so reliable she'd kick Death Eaters around on her own if left alone.
Either way she'd probably survive anything, so in situations like this, she should actually be welcomed.
"With all due respect, I'm just as worried about Sirius as you are!"
"You're still—"
"I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who over the Philosopher's Stone!"
Harry tried to make Ginny back down using age as a reason, but Ginny showed no signs of backing down.
Neville, Luna, and Ron nodded in agreement.
"Harry, we DA members were all together. Everything was for fighting You-Know-Who, right? Now's our chance to actually do something. Please, take us with you!"
"Yeah!"
"No leaving us out now, Harry!"
So ultimately no one would choose to stay here.
Harry didn't know whether to be exasperated or pleased at his companions' bravery, making a complicated face.
But apparently giving up, he tousled his hair and said almost desperately:
"Okay, fine, do what you want."
Even debating was wasting time.
Harry mounted the Firebolt and flew high into the sky toward the Ministry.
***
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