Upon hearing that they could catch Gryffindors violating school rules, Montague and his group immediately became excited.
As for why it wasn't someone from another house, Montague had his own reasoning... Teaching others to use dangerous magic, this was so Gryffindor; it must have been their idea.
Thinking of this, Montague immediately said, "I have no problem, Professor."
"I will definitely be able to root them out," Millicent quickly followed.
Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle couldn't help but look at Malfoy, but to their surprise, Malfoy was unusually quiet today, having said nothing from the beginning.
This was not like him.
"Draco, are you unhappy?" Pansy couldn't help but ask.
Malfoy was definitely not happy; if he could, he would have gladly left the room and returned to the safer Slytherin Common Room.
But now he couldn't say anything and could only pretend that nothing had happened.
Subconsciously, he glanced at Kael again.
Others noticed Malfoy's action and also turned their gaze to Kael... It was then that they remembered there was another person in the room who wasn't a Slytherin.
"I almost forgot," Montague obviously misunderstood Malfoy's intention, stepping forward to stand in front of Kael, "Professor, should we first get rid of this unrelated person to prevent him from tipping off those who broke the rules?"
"As far as I know, they have quite a good relationship."
"Oh, that's unnecessary," Umbridge said, "he..."
"Oh, I get it now, so you must be planning to interrogate him here, right."
Before Umbridge could finish, Millicent squealed excitedly, "As a friend of the Weasley Brothers, he must know a lot."
"I advise you to spit it out quickly," Montague said with a sinister grin at Kael, "or you can choose not to, but then we might have to use some methods..."
Seeing Montague threaten Kael, Malfoy couldn't help but shiver, realizing for the first time that someone could be even dumber than Crabbe and Goyle.
Malfoy stepped back two steps, trying to distance himself from Montague as much as possible.
"What are you doing, get back here," Umbridge said, "Kael is not an irrelevant person, and for this operation, you must follow his command."
Millicent's laughter stopped abruptly, as if a goose suddenly had its neck wrung, and stared incredulously at Umbridge.
"What?" Montague also frowned, "Professor, I must have misheard, you're letting a Hufflepuff lead us?"
"That's correct, exactly so," Umbridge, growing a bit impatient, "If you're unwilling, you can leave now."
Montague's face turned unsightly, but he finally said nothing more.
"Since there are no objections, let's settle it this way," Umbridge nodded contentedly, "Kael will lead your actions with the assistance of Argus Filch.
"Additionally, during the operation, each of you will have rights above that of a Prefect; you can freely enter and exit the castle at any time and are only accountable to me. Even if other professors want to stop the operation, you can ignore them."
This privilege was indeed significant, considering that even real Prefects couldn't normally leave the common room after curfew.
Unless there were special circumstances, like when it was their turn to assist Filch in patrolling the castle... Prefects had this responsibility.
But even so, they could only stay on fixed floors and couldn't roam freely as Umbridge's privilege allowed.
Not to mention the final point.
Kael stroked his chin, suddenly thinking that if he were daring enough, he might even enter Snape's private collection room under the pretense of searching for clues.
Of course, whether Snape would retaliate was another matter entirely.
Unlike Kael, given such substantial privileges, the Slytherins didn't seem particularly happy.
But Umbridge didn't care about them either.
"Alright, what are you waiting for?"
Upon hearing her words, Malfoy, who had been eager to leave, was the first to walk out of the room, followed by Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"By the way, if you need anything, feel free to tell me," Umbridge smiled at Kael, the last to leave, "I trust you won't disappoint me."
"Of course, Professor," Kael, without changing his expression, nodded and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.
Outside, the Slytherins who had just left hadn't gone, but were standing in various spots along the corridor.
Montague and Millicent stood beside a suit of armor not far away, while Malfoy was near a staircase further away.
Kael paid them no mind.
But as he was about to leave, Montague suddenly jumped out to block him.
"I don't know what trick you used to gain Professor Umbridge's trust," Montague said with a cold face, "but don't think you can command me."
"Oh?" Kael raised an eyebrow, "If that's the case, why didn't you say so earlier, or are you suddenly thinking of defying Professor Umbridge's orders now?"
"Of course not," Montague sneered internally, mocking Kael for trying to use such a clumsy method to frame him.
"I'll find those people myself," Montague said, "without needing your involvement."
"Why? It's also part of the task assigned to me by Professor Umbridge."
"Because I absolutely won't take orders from a Hufflepuff," Montague arrogantly stared at Kael, "Don't even think about it!"
"That's right," Millicent appeared out of nowhere, echoing Montague's sentiment.
"A Hufflepuff isn't fit to lead us."
Kael watched their performance without speaking, but his gesture seemed to be taken by Montague as fear and compromise.
"You can participate, but this operation must be led by me," Montague took a step forward, "How to do it, when to act, will all be decided by me, you have no objections, right?"
"Hmm... Is this a threat?" Kael asked.
"You can consider it that way," Montague clenched his fist, grinning menacingly, "If you don't want to suffer, you better do as I say. Also, I advise you not to report to Professor Umbridge, or else you'll regret it."
"Tsk, I really don't get it..." Kael sighed, "Are you always this brave, or did you drink too much Joyful Potion?"
"What do you mean..." Montague asked coldly.
"Nothing much, it's just that I don't want someone else to carry out this task," Kael said as he gently flicked his wand, "Watch your head."
"You..." Montague wanted to retort.
But at that moment, the suit of armor beside him suddenly moved, as if alive, and swung its heavy two-handed sword fiercely at Montague.
With a loud clatter, the entire corridor's paintings were startled awake.
Clouds of dust and tiny stone fragments fell, landing on Montague's nose, yet he didn't dare to move a muscle.
Because that two-handed sword stopped less than an inch from his head, he could clearly feel the chill emanating from above.