Chapter 613: No More Pretending, Time to Reveal Everything
Umbridge's reaction was quicker than Kyle had anticipated.
By Friday afternoon, it was time for the sixth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Before Sirius had been taken away, the original plan had been to learn new spells. But now, the professor had changed.
When Kyle and Kanna entered the classroom, they found Umbridge already seated behind the podium, dressed in her usual hideous, shaggy pink cardigan.
The room was silent. Kyle, without a word, chose a random seat at the back. Despite sitting as far away as possible, he couldn't avoid catching Umbridge's attention.
First, there were the rigid rules.
Umbridge required every student to append the words "Professor Umbridge" to the end of their responses—for example, "Yes, Professor Umbridge" or "No, Professor Umbridge." Everyone followed the rule, except Kyle, who ignored it entirely, acting as though he hadn't heard.
Umbridge, unsurprisingly, took note and called him out directly.
"Why don't you do as I ask?" she asked in her high-pitched voice. "Are a few insignificant honors making you so arrogant that you think you can ignore your professor?"
"Sorry, Mrs. Umbridge," Kyle replied. "If the Second-Class Order of Merlin is considered 'insignificant,' I assume you must have plenty of them. How about bringing them out and showing them off?"
Umbridge's expression darkened instantly. If she had a Merlin medal, she wouldn't have needed Kyle to say anything—she would have flaunted it already.
"No way, you can't not have one," Kyle added in an exaggerated tone. "If you don't even possess such an 'insignificant' honor, how can you be a professor? Or did you bribe the headmaster with a few Galleons?"