Under Hermione's impeccable legal offensive and the threat of a "three-year tour of Azkaban" precedent...
Umbridge was forced to give up all her malicious props.
The electric probe, the crystal ball that could reflect darkness, and the bottle of suspicious Potion were put back into the drawer one by one.
The sickeningly sweet pink of her office now looked more like a morbid flush of extreme rage.
"Very well, Miss Granger."
Umbridge squeezed the words through her teeth, her fake smile looking worse than a sob,
"It seems you have made quite sufficient preparations for your... 'pet'.
Then, we shall proceed with the most basic oral inquiry and... a simple magic reaction test."
She practically spat out the word "simple" through gritted teeth.
"Of course, Madam Undersecretary."
Hermione nodded modestly, but there wasn't the slightest hint of retreat in her eyes,
"We will fully cooperate with all legal assessment procedures."
She lightly emphasized the word "legal," which, like a small needle, pricked Umbridge's nerves once again.
Umbridge suppressed the urge to strike down the sharp-tongued mudblood before her with a Crucio on the spot; she took a deep breath and turned her attention to her true "prey."
"Now, please have your... creature revert to its animal form."
she commanded, her eyes flashing with undisguised malice.
Hermione gave Lia's back a reassuring pat.
Lia nodded obediently, and in a flash of soft white light, she transformed back into that snowy-white, fluffy Ragdoll Cat, sitting quietly on the carpet and looking at Umbridge with those innocent big blue eyes.
This harmless appearance only fueled Umbridge's rage further.
She stood up with a fake smile and slowly raised her wand.
A short, stubby, and rather ridiculous-looking birch wand.
"Don't be nervous, little thing."
Umbridge said in her sickeningly sweet voice, "I just want to check your magical reaction... this is a very, very gentle inspection charm."
As she spoke, she pointed her wand at Lia.
However, just before she uttered the incantation, Lia's Danger Intuition system alarm was already blaring in her mind!
That was no inspection charm!
Lia could see it clearly: inside that light was a twisting black poisonous needle as thin as a cow's hair!*
Once it hit, though it would leave no external wound, it would cause intense neurological pain, enough to drive any creature insane!
Umbridge's plan was well-calculated.
As long as Lia lost control and retaliated due to the intense pain, she could logically declare her "aggressive" and thus seize custody.
But she wasn't facing an ordinary cat.
She was facing Lia, with her Oscar-worthy acting skills, and a super-student who had already written a perfect script for her.
At the very moment that nearly invisible spell-light was about to touch Lia's body—instead of bristling her fur and letting out a threatening hiss as Umbridge expected, Lia didn't launch any counterattack.
She simply executed the "script" that Hermione had explained to her in detail last night in bed while feeding her treats.
"Meow-ahhh—!!!"
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