"Huh?"

"Huh huh?"

"Copying the textbook?"

"They can even do that?!"

Aileen rolled her eyes, her expression rapidly shifting from surprise to blankness, finally settling into the apathetic face of an orphan.

Less than fifteen minutes after Umbridge's professorship contract was signed, Diagon Alley, and indeed all major book companies, had completely cleared and removed Wilbert Slinkhard's *Defensive Magical Theory* from their shelves.

Printing orders from Gringotts Wizarding Bank directly pushed back the book's supplement plan by a year.

Understandably, when Hogwarts sent out requests for book purchases that afternoon, they were unable to successfully procure the textbook.

According to Aileen's plan, faced with the harsh reality, even Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge would have to change her methods, at least offering some practical magical skills in the Hogwarts classroom.

Except…

"Miscalculated. You should never overestimate the shamelessness and lack of principles of politicians."

Aileen never imagined that Umbridge, the toad, would resort to this!

Compared to silently reading Wilbert Slinkhard's "peaceful defense theory," copying large sections of the original text was far more agonizing than simply zoning out - an activity that could be quantified with excruciating accuracy.

Grindelwald was right, the most troublesome thing in the world is introducing politicians and idiots into a plan.

Aileen reluctantly copied "Chapter One, Basic Introductory Principles" of *Defensive Magical Theory* from the blackboard, her thoughts drifting elsewhere. The pit she dug herself, she could only jump into for a class.

Currently, Umbridge hadn't done much that was truly awful, beyond being somewhat lazy and passive.

At most, she would "suggest" some changes to the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum to Dumbledore later...

After all, Dolores Umbridge wasn't the subject's lead instructor. If Professor Lupin were to speak up, unless the pink toad suddenly decided to abandon politics for teaching, these issues would be easily resolved.

Having experienced a back-and-forth with the Ministry of Magic last semester, Aileen had long grasped the logic of these politicians.

Unless it touched their status, power, or personal interests, they were more accustomed to compromise in the face of clear responsibility and direct confrontation, or else circled like vultures on the sidelines. If everything went smoothly, they would follow behind and take credit, and if problems arose, they would swoop down from the sky to devour the scraps.

Just like Albus Dumbledore gambling his personal honor and reputation to promote this new curriculum reform.

Within Hogwarts at present, any tenured professor had the right to insist on their teaching plan.

But unlike before, while promoting their proposals, the proposer also had to stake their career and social reputation - *The Daily Prophet*, *The Quibbler*, and other influential magazines would publish this commitment simultaneously.

If the final teaching results didn't meet expectations, the proposer not only had to issue a public apology but also was barred from participating in education, administration, publishing... any work involving public influence, for ten years, and had the obligation and responsibility to provide one year of academic compensation, including but not limited to material and employment assistance, to the affected students.

As the focus of the wizarding world's attention, Hogwarts' new curriculum plan was almost a weather vane.

Not just the British wizarding world, but also the French, American, and German wizarding worlds…

Any magical society with its own education system was paying attention to the series of educational reforms being implemented at Hogwarts. Whether it succeeded or failed, it would inevitably leave a mark on the direction of magical education for decades to come.

Under such public opinion and social pressure, political factors and the influence of ancient magical families were minimized.

"In this round, I play an 'Albus Dumbledore'… old fogies and bureaucrats, are you willing to play yourselves as cards to exchange and gamble with me? I bet you don’t dare—"

Aileen copied from *Defensive Magical Theory*, while calculating her hand cards and deck in her mind.

As a pacifist, Wilbert Slinkhard, the author of *Defensive Magical Theory*, advocated for using passive methods to face conflict, opposing the use of offensive spells, even for defensive purposes.

And this was precisely the approach the wizarding world had long been accustomed to - waiting for the opponent to make a mistake and then counterattacking.

Unfortunately…

As the final "King," Aileen's hand was far too luxurious. According to Grindelwald's earlier assessment, if she were ruthless enough, she could even squander nearly five centuries of accumulated power to ignite the world.

"If you don't play your cards, that's for the best… a fairy tale story needs a complete main cast…"

Aileen glanced at the witch with a fake smile on the desk not far away, dismissing her with a sneer.

But, on second thought.

If the upper-year courses were not taken into account, Umbridge's teaching method did have some merit in terms of basic education.

After all, compared to directly learning how to cast and defend against spells, pre-emptively emphasizing the theoretical foundations and applicable contexts, and the standards of judgment under social environment and regulations, were more important in a time of peace.

Even Dumbledore had to admit that Hogwarts graduates were somewhat lax in their legal awareness.

Often, when wizards encountered threats, they were more inclined to use the most convenient magic to solve the problem, rather than the most appropriate spell. Typically, each year's Hogwarts graduates were the biggest headache for the Auror Office and the Accidental Reversal Squad. Newly freed from casting restrictions, they were too quick to let themselves go.

Every school needed a villain character. After all, learning magic was inherently compulsory.

As Hogwarts' studies became increasingly demanding, and a more far-reaching advanced education ladder emerged in the wizarding world, education based on knowledge as an examination threshold would inevitably appear in this castle. Happy education could never support society's need for elites.

If Umbridge were willing to shoulder this blame, Hogwarts wouldn't be without a place for her…

"Aileen!" Hermione said softly.

"What is it?"

Aileen looked around and noticed that the entire class was still buried in their writing.

Umbridge was still looking around the classroom with those swollen eyes. Judging from the witch's unfocused gaze, the Ministry official seemed to be sleepwalking, and there wouldn't be any sudden pop quizzes.

"Aileen, stop daydreaming. I can't help you if you don't hand in your homework later."

Hermione said in a low voice, with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

Even though Professor Umbridge hadn't continued to pursue their tardiness, the initial show of force had somewhat taken effect. Perhaps only this fearless white-haired ball of fluff dared to continue defying the odds in this situation?

"Eh, what homework? Don't worry, I'm good at copying. I've always been—"

Aileen blinked in confusion, then smiled dismissively.

As a hero who had fought her way out of China's examination system in her previous life, copying from the blackboard was a habit ingrained in her soul. She could even copy while watching TV.

"Look down, Aileen, look down!"

Hermione sighed, her tone noticeably anxious as she saw the smug look on Aileen's face.

"Look closely at what you've copied on your parchment. Besides the first few lines, the rest is blank… you haven't even dipped your quill in ink once, have you? It's already turned two pages… what are you going to do later?!"

"Eh?" Aileen was stunned for a moment, then nodded in realization. "Oh, you mean that… um…"

She looked at the quill in her hand that had long run out of ink and the faint lines on the parchment.

Unlike the classrooms of her previous life, the writing tool used at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was, for the time being, the quill.

Since a quill was a dip pen and not a fountain pen, the amount of ink it could hold was limited to the nib. Therefore, if one didn't remember to dip the pen frequently while writing… the writing would start to fade after a few words, until it became an unwritten book.

"Can't be helped… sigh… let me give you a demonstration in advance…"

Aileen shrugged helplessly, then, in Hermione's incredulous gaze, picked up the ink bottle and poured it onto the blank parchment, the bluish-black ink spreading almost instantly, staining the entire parchment in a mess.

"See, isn't that solved? If I weren't in the front row, I wouldn't even bother to write."

"You're…"

Hermione's lips twitched, and she weakly supported her forehead.

"An ink bottle spilled? Do you think Professor Umbridge is stupid? This is a magic school, Aileen. A simple *Scourgify* can make the ink stain disappear… but the written words won't disappear because of that…"

"I know, Hermione. Let me see the page you've copied."

Aileen nodded nonchalantly, pulling a blank diary from under her bottom and placing it under the parchment.

Then, she glanced at the content on Hermione's page and, taking advantage of Umbridge's inattention, tapped her parchment with her wand. "*Verto*!"

As the girl's voice fell, the ink that had stained most of the parchment contracted and changed as if it were alive.

Some of the ink followed the grooves of Aileen's previous notes and the content of Hermione's writing, gradually appearing on the parchment, while the excess ink flowed outwards along the edges of the parchment, falling into the pages of the blank diary.

"There, isn't that good - simple and easy…"

Aileen blew on the still-wet parchment with satisfaction and winked triumphantly at the little witch beside her.

"Miss Granger, you are right. This is a magic school, after all. Did you really think that the great Empress would be stupid enough to copy from the blackboard, non-stop, for more than two hours? Magic is not just the functions taught in class."

"You're cheating… that's not fair!"

Hermione rubbed her sore wrist and said softly, puffing out her cheeks.

"Teach me quickly. If you keep it to yourself, I'll report you to the professor!"

Aileen glanced at the little beaver who was almost completely shaped like her and couldn't help but want to tease her. But considering that she had just provoked Hermione not long ago, she quickly turned those death-seeking words into a proper explanation.

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"Well, this is actually a basic application of Transfiguration - liquids also have a certain shape. I'm just moving them to the corresponding positions, and then making slight adjustments based on your draft… similar to book printing."

"Transfiguration? I'll try… Aileen, can you cover me with an illusion charm?"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, a hint of eagerness flashing in her amber eyes.

As a Gryffindor, she usually seemed to be following the rules, but that was only because she believed that following the school's rules was what a student should do and was most conducive to learning… but that didn't mean that Hermione wouldn't look for shortcuts.

"Of course, no problem. Wait half a minute. I'll extract and simulate the scene first as a loop material…"

Aileen agreed readily, not feeling any surprise.

You know, Hermione was never just a model student who only listened to the teacher's words - in the original book, she burned Snape's robes in the first year, encouraged Harry to blow up the potions cauldron, steal potions, and lie to get signed permission to read forbidden books in the second year, time-traveled to rewrite the plot in the third year, established the SPEW in the fourth year, and instigated the students to form the DA in the fifth year…

Compared to Aileen, Hermione Granger was only slightly less of a witch because she was still young.

Aileen looked at the light in Hermione's eyes and hummed happily.

"A Gryffindor witch may be about to descend ahead of time…"

Perhaps, next semester, she could consider getting this little girl to be a "prefect (Gryffindor)"?

Then, her wand was gently drawn out, drawing a mysterious and complex arc under the cover of her skirt and desk.

"Binary Inversion Architecture Modification Magic" - activated!

…………

Half an hour later, Professor Umbridge finally stopped switching the blackboard and stood up again.

She began to ask the students to read aloud the content they had just copied, which was another extremely tedious and boring process. After a series of copying and reading aloud, many students' eyes gradually became dull and numb, as if their souls had floated out of the classroom.

What shocked and impressed everyone was that even with such boring content and form.

The two little witches sitting in the front row of the classroom still showed no signs of absentmindedness. Hermione and Aileen completed each of the goals set by Professor Umbridge with full concentration - their enthusiastic attitude towards learning was so high that even Umbridge was somewhat shocked and had to stand up from her chair from time to time and lead a few sentences.

After another half hour, the students gradually began to feel a little overwhelmed.

"Oh, students, let's stop here for today."

Professor Umbridge said, revealing her small, pointed teeth and raising her eyebrows to add.

"I regret that most of the gentlemen and ladies were distracted in the second half of the class, except for a very few students. This is a very bad attitude towards learning, and I hope that it can be improved next time…"

"Of course, just as I said before the class, my class has clear rewards and punishments."

Umbridge smiled softly, continuing in that affected tone.

"Miss Granger and Miss Kaslana, although you were two minutes late, I saw a delightful attitude in your performance in this class. You have each earned 10 points for your house…"

After a brief silence, many students' eyes slowly began to wake up from their numb state.

No one had any dissatisfaction with the decision to award points to these two little witches. After all, from the performance in this class, Aileen and Hermione did show the admirable learning attitude that the first and second place should have.

"Ahem, um, let me think, besides this…"

Professor Umbridge smiled even more kindly, carefully looking at the two little witches who were still sitting up straight.

"After this class, I would like to ask the two of you to help collect and check the impromptu copying. If any students have not completed the copying task, please compile the list and bring it to me next week - and of course, the students' homework as well. Please collect them all together and give them to me at that time."

As a senior official from the Ministry of Magic, she was not like other professors who were unwilling to share the work.

Appropriately selecting some trustworthy assistants among the students could help her manage the class better and allow her to have the energy to take care of other work - in addition to being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Umbridge was also an investigator.

Outside of class time, she also had to take the time to evaluate and investigate the reform courses and make suggestions.

"As for the homework… referring to today's class content, analyze in detail why Wilbert Slinkhard said that 'anti-curse' is an inappropriate word, and how to distinguish between 'curse' and 'non-curse'."

Her puffy eyes scanned the classroom, her voice slightly raised, becoming cold, sharp, and harsh.

"Complete it before class next Wednesday, at least three feet long, and no excuses will be accepted… Do you understand?"

A weak reply echoed in the classroom.

Before Umbridge could raise her eyebrows, a spirited reply suddenly rang out in front of her.

"Yes, Professor Umbridge!"

Under the reminder of Aileen and Hermione, the students belatedly reacted and tried to muster the last bit of their spirit to answer in unison, lest they be asked to repeat the answer again.

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"Hmm, very good… I hope it can be more uniform next time…"

Umbridge pondered for a few seconds, seemingly hesitating whether to continue establishing her authority.

Due to Aileen and Hermione's high level of learning enthusiasm, and the lack of content, she had been standing and leading the class for at least half of the time during the subsequent classes. She was also a little tired from standing for more than an hour.

After hesitating for a moment, Umbridge finally snorted softly and waved her hand.

"That's all for today, class dismissed—"

…………

At the same time.

"Okay, okay, class is dismissed… let's call this game a draw."

As Umbridge announced the end of class, Aileen breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Hermione could react, she quickly put away the chess pieces on the desk, stuffing them all into her schoolbag, and began to organize the few pieces of parchment and books that she had written on the desk, ensuring that their positions were roughly the same as "outside."

"You're cheating again, Aileen - you clearly lost, kf1-Bd4-rc5…"

"I can't hear you, I can't hear you, that's just a possibility that you've calculated in advance. How do you know that I won't make a 'hand of God' that you can't imagine? An unfinished game is a draw, isn't that common sense? Besides, I have to concentrate on maintaining the illusion."

"As a balancing compensation, I've already let you have a knight plus two pawns, that's not an excuse!"

"That's right, we have to collect the homework. Don't play, don't play, next time I'll teach you an even more interesting chess game."

Aileen shook her head, trying to change the subject.

In the past hour and a half, the great Fairy Queen, the mistress of destiny, the all-knowing and all-calculating Third Generation Dark Lord experienced the most painful human-computer teaching in her life. She was ravaged by a terrible humanoid Ai to the point of losing faith.

Humans, after all, can't beat a calculating machine.

The facts prove that even if you're not human… it still doesn't work.

Perhaps next time she should try Go, or Chinese chess, something like that. Theoretically, at least during the time when Hermione is familiar with the rules, she can still briefly experience the joy of ravaging a simple computer a few times.

As for now, restoring the crime scene as soon as possible is the most important thing.

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Hooray~ Another big chapter~~

Only one day left until the continuous month of 4000+ words a day! Fat Gu, charge!