Chapter 632: A Strange Atmosphere at the Sorting Ceremony Ginny turned and pressed her back to the wall.She could almost see heat rising from the top of her head.Her eyes |
Perhaps because of safety concerns, the Hogwarts Express had been canceled outright.
In its place, the fireplace that had been activated and connected to the Floo Network at the end of last term was now being used again, and one young wizard after another was stepping out of it.
Sure enough, when Draco turned his gaze toward the fireplace, he saw Professor McGonagall standing there with a stern face, directing this year’s new first years.
Among them were plenty of little wizards who had used Floo Powder for the first time. The moment they landed, their faces turned green and they staggered to the wall, dry heaving.
Interestingly enough, Madam Pomfrey, standing nearby, was already stuffing chocolate into their mouths, clearly having anticipated this exact scene.
In a way, for little wizards who had only just come into contact with magic, that sort of arrival experience was undeniably awful...
Draco withdrew his gaze and instinctively touched the Prefect badge on his chest.
Come to think of it, as a Prefect, he should have been helping the student body maintain order and assisting the professors this year, just like last year.
Setting aside reporting to the student body, he should at least have taken on part of the work. Yet Draco had only appeared at school at the very last moment.
Compared with Pansy and the others, who had arrived ahead of him, Draco’s behavior could only be called neglect of duty...
“The Sorting Ceremony should be starting soon.”
“Indeed, it should. You really are quite ‘punctual,’ junior.”
“...”
Draco froze for a moment.
He did not even need to turn around to know who it was, because the only person who would address him that way was the Head Girl.
Penelope Clearwater.
She was looking at Draco with a smile that was not quite a smile, and if one looked closely, there was also a faint trace of scrutiny in her eyes.
Those pretty blue eyes moved slowly up and down over him.
Bright, lively, and carrying a touch of cuteness.
She looked almost like a curious little cat.
As for the reason, that could be understood from the gasps rising around them...
“Is that... the one from the Daily Prophet!?”
“A wizard from the Malfoy family.”
“That is right. He is the genius wizard who defeated Death Eaters all by himself!”
“So beautiful. He is like a gemstone come to life!”
Perhaps because most of the wizards in the hall were first years, and still did not understand what restraint was, they blurted out their thoughts without the slightest attempt to hide them.
They were even openly talking about him right in front of him...
...
Under Penelope’s amused gaze, Draco, with no interest in indulging them, simply turned and walked out of the hall.
Otherwise, he was starting to suspect those little wizards might actually rush him for autographs. As for Penelope, she made no move to stop him.
Still, that curious look in her eyes seemed to say everything...
In any case, as Draco approached the site of the Sorting Ceremony, he could vaguely hear Professor McGonagall’s angry shouting coming from behind him.
It seemed those little wizards still did not know what kind of professor she was...
“Interesting.”
Although it was not as though he had never received this sort of treatment in Slytherin before, it still felt rather fresh.
After all, Slytherin wizards were never very good at expressing their emotions, and something as inelegant as idol worship was even more out of character for them.
And now, it seemed he was receiving the same treatment Harry Potter once had...
“But that also means Father’s plan really is going very smoothly.”
“What plan?”
“Hermione?”
“I already know everything. I truly did not expect that during such a short holiday, you would manage to do so many ‘good’ things.”
The moment he reached the entrance to the Great Hall, a figure came down from the staircase around the corner, and somehow she seemed even prettier than before.
It was Hermione, whom he had not seen in quite some time.
Now sixteen, she looked a little more mature, and her tall, graceful figure drew the eye immediately.
And given the timing of her appearance, one could not help suspecting that she had been lying in wait on this path from the start, just to catch Draco here...
But there was a half smiling, half sarcastic expression on that delicate face, and for some reason it made Draco feel faintly guilty, much the same way he had when facing Pansy earlier.
What she had just said sounded like praise on the surface, but the way Hermione was grinding her teeth made it obvious that she was actually rather unhappy.
After all, Hermione knew very well how dangerous Death Eaters were...
“After just one holiday, our Mr. Malfoy has turned into a famous celebrity.”
“...”
“You even made it into the Daily Prophet. So when are you going to give me an autograph, genius wizard? Or should I say, new star of the wizarding world?”
“...”
Pretending not to understand, Hermione tilted her head slightly.
Watching her walk toward him with a cold little smile and catlike steps, Draco twitched helplessly at the corner of his mouth.
That is how you ask for an autograph?
With the way you are gritting your teeth, anyone who did not know better would think you wanted to bite me to death...
If it were Pansy, Draco was completely confident he could calm her down in no time.
But Hermione was not that easy to fool... or rather, not that easy to handle, and with her, he did not have nearly as much confidence.
At the very least, explaining himself would take a fair amount of time...
As though she had seen through his thoughts, Hermione lightly kicked his calf with her foot. “I have plenty of time, so do not try to change the subject, and do not answer my question with another question.”
As she spoke, Hermione was intently studying Draco’s leg, completely unaware of the look in his eyes.
In the end, they both knew perfectly well that Hermione did not really want an answer or an explanation.
She cared about him.
She worried about him.
That was what the girl had really wanted to convey to Draco.
One could even say...she had missed him.
Perhaps it really had been too long since they had last seen each other.
In a rare burst of impulse, Draco reached out and wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist.
“Ah, what are you doing?”
“Did you not want an explanation?”
“Then explain, but why is your hand on... mm!?”
A sudden step forward.
A sudden kiss.
That abrupt, forceful intimacy instantly washed away the grievance and unease in Hermione’s heart.
He lowered his head.
She rose onto her toes.
And that scene slowly widened the eyes of someone hiding around the corner of the stairs. The blush creeping up her neck was nearly as red as her hair.
Is this really something I get to watch for free...?
...
Ginny turned and pressed her back to the wall.
She could almost see heat rising from the top of her head.
Her eyes were full of embarrassed anger.
Precocious as she was, Ginny naturally knew exactly what kind of awful, mortifying scene was unfolding below...
“Pervert. Shameless. This is school. Aren’t you afraid someone will see you?”
Her legs felt strangely weak, and she was almost short of breath. One hand pressed against her pounding chest, while inwardly she kept cursing the pair below... no, cough, that outrageously bold Draco Malfoy.
When had their relationship gotten to this point...
No, that bastard, how dare he!
Having watched the whole thing from beginning to end, she naturally knew very well who had taken the initiative.
Ignoring the fact that Hermione had shown almost no real resistance as things went on, the dazed and thoroughly flustered Ginny shoved all the blame for this entire mess straight onto Draco’s head.
Because this was not the Hermione Granger she admired, smart and proud as she was.
Only after some unknown amount of time did Ginny cautiously poke her head back out, only to realize that the two people below were already gone. She had no idea when they had left.
Still, the moment she noticed that, Ginny finally let out a breath of relief.
She looked as though she had just come through a fierce battle...
Even though it was already over, the moment she thought of what she had just seen, her face still burned fiercely.
Biting her lower lip, she could not help muttering under her breath, “...Jerk.”
It was not the first time she had used those words, but compared with before, there was now a strangely subtle undertone mixed into them.
At the same time, Ginny felt a wave of resentment toward Hermione...
“Did Hermione forget all about me?”
She had no idea whether Hermione had remembered that she was still upstairs, then gotten embarrassed and dragged Draco away, or whether Hermione had not remembered her at all and had only stopped because the Sorting Ceremony was about to begin.
But no matter which it was, it did not change the fact that Hermione had left Ginny behind...
Yes.
There was a reason Ginny had been here in the first place.
In fact, if Hermione had not dragged her here to lie in wait for Draco, then honestly, Ginny would never have shown up at a place like this, and certainly not at such awkward timing.
And she definitely would not have seen that heart pounding, face heating scene just now.
In short.
Not only had her friend forgotten her off to the side, she had also been force fed a whole mouthful of couple nonsense.
It was only natural for Ginny to be upset about that...
...
Still unaware that she had forgotten Ginny, Hermione had already arrived at the Sorting Ceremony with Draco.
Which meant the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
The Sorting Ceremony was still quite a formal occasion.
Naturally, Hermione had to return to her own house table, rather than sit together with Draco at the Slytherin table.
Even if Professor McGonagall might turn a blind eye, Snape would never allow it.
Not to mention, Hermione had no intention of doing that anyway. If anything, the farther she was from Draco right now, the better.
Because at the moment, she needed to calm down...
Hermione had been completely unprepared for Draco to be that forceful. It was not until she pushed open the doors of the Great Hall that the chaos in her head finally began to settle enough for her to think properly again.
And the moment she recovered, Hermione’s very first reaction was to take a step away from Draco. The wary look in her eyes, and the movement itself, made it perfectly obvious that she was glaring at him like he was some kind of criminal.
Faced with that look, Draco merely chuckled and shrugged, as though the one who had just bullied her was not him at all...
Noticing his gaze, Hermione bared her little teeth. “I am warning you, do not try anything. Everyone is looking this way.”
And just as Hermione said.
The moment they stepped into the Great Hall, every wizard already seated at the house tables waiting for the new students to enter turned to look at them, the pair who had arrived almost last.
More precisely, all those eyes were fixed on Draco.
Compared with the excited first years who looked as though they had just seen a star, however, the wizards here were far calmer, and far more complicated...
Regret.
Envy.
Defiance.
Curiosity.
The little snakes of Slytherin in particular were split quite sharply into two camps.
One side was full of regret and eager attempts to curry favor.
The other was openly excited and thrilled.
Clearly, those Slytherin wizards trying to ingratiate themselves now were hoping to make up for what they had done to Draco last year.
As for the ones who had chosen to follow Draco early on, they were simply happy for Draco, and for the choice they themselves had made...
It was hard to imagine so many different judgments and attitudes gathering around a single person at the same time.
But under all those stares, Draco’s steps only paused for the briefest moment before he calmly walked toward Pansy, who was waving a small hand at him.
Seeing this, the professors at the staff table exchanged glances in silent understanding.
Because composure like that alone was enough to show that Draco possessed the makings of a powerful wizard...
As for Hermione, who had come in with him, she had long since returned to the Gryffindor table.
While straightening her robes, Hermione covered her already slightly swollen lips with one hand. “Just like I thought, he pulled everyone’s attention onto himself completely. Wait... did I forget something...”
Catching sight of the empty seat beside her from the corner of her eye, Hermione only then realized that something seemed a little off.
Hermione: “...”
Had she... forgotten someone?
...
Draco’s appearance was only a minor interruption.
Once Pansy waved him over to sit down, the restlessness in the Great Hall gradually died away.
Though it seemed quiet, the heavy breathing gave everyone’s emotions away. And the moment Draco noticed where all those eyes were directed, he immediately understood the strange atmosphere.
They were all fixed on the passage reserved for the professors.
And with the head seat still empty, it was not hard to tell who everyone was waiting for...
“Looks like everyone is very concerned about that wizard’s injury.”
“Mhm... unless they see it with their own eyes, no one is willing to believe that someone like him could actually be injured.”
Pansy’s whisper beside his ear perfectly summed up what everyone around them was thinking.
But Draco did not believe Dumbledore would reveal his true condition so easily.
Because only by preserving that air of mystery and strength could he maintain the intimidation carried by the name of Dumbledore.
And just after Draco said something that might disappoint everyone’s expectations, that silver white beard, so long it could have been tucked into a belt, appeared before all of them.
The current Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!