The Admiral of Hogwarts

January passed quickly under the weight of an astonishing amount of homework and Umbridge's meddling. Before they knew it, February had arrived, bringing with it warmer, more humid weather, and the second Hogsmeade trip of the school year.

This Hogsmeade day happened to fall on Valentine's Day, and to be honest, as he got older, the ship girls, especially the married ones, were making bigger and bigger moves in front of him.

Of course, Hugo wouldn't ignore the ship girls' feelings. For example, for this year's Valentine's Day, Hugo agreed to the ship girls' request to have a good gathering in the private room under the Hogsmeade restaurant.

As for the others, whether they had partners or not, they were all looking forward to this day. After all, under Umbridge's high-pressure control, everyone needed to find a good reason to relax.

On Valentine's Day morning, Hugo took a special shower and sprayed on some perfume that Veneto had given him last time, and then met up with his sister in the common room.

"It seems like having too many girlfriends isn't a good thing either." Hermione joked to her brother, having learned about the special relationship between Hugo and the other ship girls after becoming a ship girl herself.

Although the human part of her was a little unhappy with her brother's actions, the ship girl part of her could completely understand Hugo's actions as an admiral.

As for why Hugo was going to Hogsmeade with his sister today, the reason was simple. After all, the ship girls needed to be treated fairly on this day, so it wasn't appropriate for him to go with Veneto.

"You're right, but that's just how it is—let's go." Hugo nodded, revealing a helpless smile, and then went downstairs with Hermione, passing Filch's inspection and leaving the school.

As they passed the Quidditch pitch, they saw Ron and Ginny flying in the air. However, even those who weren't Quidditch enthusiasts could see Ron's reluctance.

"I really hope Ron performs well. Yesterday, I heard Angelina crying in the stall in the bathroom. The pressure from these newcomers is too great for her." Just as Hermione was speaking, Hugo saw Ron miss a very simple shot.

"They do need to practice more. After all, if they lose too badly next time, we might have to face Slytherin head-on." Hugo nodded and said.

"By the way, why has there been so little news from Mars recently?" Hermione asked seriously, shaking her head slightly and turning her gaze away from the Gryffindor team that was training. "It feels like there's less than half as much."

"This is mainly because the construction on Mars needs to be refined temporarily, so although the workload is not small, the resource consumption is obviously much smaller." Hugo said with a smile.

"So recently, most of the large items have been transported to the asteroid belt for resource extraction. After all, compared to the surface of the planet, extracting various materials in those asteroid belts can more effectively reduce costs."

After chatting about these things, Hugo and Hermione quickly brought the topic back to this year's OWLs exams. Although from any point of view they didn't need to worry about the exams, Hermione's habits still made her a little sensitive in this regard.

"You really don't need to be nervous about this, dear sister." After leaving the school gate and walking on the road, Hugo said to Hermione helplessly.

"I believe you've already learned almost all of the knowledge points by now. And you don't need to worry about future work at all, so I really don't know what you're nervous about?"

"Um—actually, I'm not sure either." After hearing Hugo's question, Hermione thought for a moment and showed a helpless expression. "I just feel nervous."

"I think this may be because you are mentally allergic to exams." Hugo shrugged and said. To be honest, he really didn't expect that his sister could still be so nervous about exams even if she wasn't human anymore.

However, this also shows one thing from the side, that is, the mental pressure of exams may be equal to all creatures, even if you are not human, you can't escape this rule.

When they entered Hogsmeade, they found that the streets were full of students, strolling around, looking at the shop windows, and gathering together to play. It seemed like they wanted to vent all the depression of the past month or so.

"Let's go to the owl post office to send a letter to our parents first, and then go meet up with the Avengers." Hermione suggested after looking at the situation. "I knew we should have raised an owl."

"In fact, most owls can't fly halfway around the world to deliver letters." Hugo shrugged and said. "And Ginger and Fish Cake are much better than other pets."

"Of course, I never said they weren't good." Hermione nodded with certainty. "However, going to the post office at this time always means seeing the faces of those Ministry of Magic reviewers, which feels really bad."

"It's a bit strange. The year Sirius Black ran away, there were Dementors everywhere here. But this time, ten Death Eaters directly broke out of Azkaban in arms, and the situation is even worse. But there aren't any Dementors nearby."

Hermione said thoughtfully, looking at the wanted posters with glue that hadn't dried yet plastered on the door of a store.

"I guess the Dementors are out of control now, but Fudge still wants to pretend that everything is fine." Hugo shrugged and said to his sister.

"For example, the fact that these prisoners escaped is a fact, which can't be hidden at all, so the Ministry of Magic will naturally do something to show that they are not just guys who take salaries and do nothing, such as issuing wanted posters or something."

"Do you think it's useful to just put up wanted posters everywhere here?" Hermione asked a little puzzled after looking at the situation on the street.

"You have to look at it from what perspective. If it's to catch criminals, it's definitely not going to work. I don't think those Death Eaters who are staying with the Double Socket will run here, or even be easily caught." Hugo shrugged.

"But from another point of view, the wanted posters can fool ordinary wizards and make them believe that they are protected by the Ministry of Magic and that everything is safe."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Hermione said with wide eyes, "Those Death Eaters are still wandering around, and if the Ministry of Magic only does things like this now, the situation will only get worse and worse."

"There's no way, because Fudge has already set his sights on Dumbledore, so he doesn't want to, and doesn't have the ability to solve these problems." Hugo spread his hands with a helpless expression.

"So no matter what, I hope that the Death Eaters or the Double Socket can create a big news story and float to the surface, only in this way can we more easily advance to the next step."

For Hugo and the others, chaos is the best opportunity for development, because only in that situation will no one stare at Hugo and their every move, making it easier for them to absorb fresh blood.

When the two of them finished writing their letters and came out of the owl post office, it started to rain. The cold rain hit their bodies and faces, making them feel uncomfortable.

"Let's go to the restaurant quickly." Hugo said to Hermione, "Avenger said that all the dishes are ready, and everyone has arrived, so we can start the party as soon as we get there."