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"Any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled."
— The Decree[src]

The Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven was the third and last Educational Decree created by Dolores Umbridge in her capacity of Hogwarts High Inquisitor.[1] This Educational Decree made the possession of the magazine The Quibbler an expulsion offence.

History[]

Background[]

On 14 February 1996, during one of the usual Hogsmeade weekend trips, Harry Potter gave an interview to Rita Skeeter concerning the night Lord Voldemort returned. This interview was published in the March edition of The Quibbler.[2]

On 23 March, during breakfast, Harry received a free copy of The Quibbler from the owl post from Xenophilius Lovegood, the editor, along with some mail from the magazine's readers, deeming him either a hero or mentally incapacitated. Dolores Umbridge, upon learning of the interview, confiscated Harry's copy of the magazine and immediately decided to pass a new Educational Degree.[1]

Creation[]

The Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven was passed by Umbridge by mid-morning of 23 March 1996 to prevent the students from reading the interview about Voldemort's return. Umbridge managed to pass the Decree merely hours after learning of said interview.[1]

Reaction[]

Given the interview "spread lies" about the return of Voldemort, Umbridge posted the Decree all over the school's halls and classrooms, instead of the usual proclamation on the common rooms' announcement boards.[1]

Curiosity arose on the students after reading the prohibitions and, in a small amount of time, all the school seemed to have read the interview. Umbridge patrolled the school checking the students' bags in search for copies of the magazine but was unsuccessful as copies were jinxed to appear as ordinary textbooks or white pieces of parchment. The teachers, forbidden of talking about it under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six, managed to reward Harry for his courage by offering large amounts of points for doing simple tasks, giving him boxes of Squeaking Sugar Mice and predicting his eventual rise to the post of Minister for Magic.[1]

Upon reading the magazine and the recent contradictions of the Daily Prophet, some of the more doubtful students, like Seamus Finnigan, started to believe Harry and Albus Dumbledore's claims about Voldemort.[1]

Abolishment[]

The decree was abolished after Umbridge's suspension from her post of High Inquisitor and Dumbledore's return to his post of Headmaster following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, in the summer of 1996.[3][4]

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 26 (Seen and Unforeseen)
  2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 25 (The Beetle at Bay)
  3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 36 (The Only One He Ever Feared)
  4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38 (The Second War Begins)
  5. Although not identified, it is most likely seen on the wall along with the others.
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