Chapter 742: Draco Decides to Find Snape Actually, what Draco wanted Ginny to do was not especially surprising.He wanted her to pay closer attention to Ron Weasley.More p |
Faced with everyone’s gaze, Pansy and the others’ first reaction was to glare back.
Although they trusted Draco just as much, they did not want him taking that risk, even if it might not be much of a problem for him.
Only...
At this point, even if Draco did nothing, it seemed there was no way out.
Because Amycus Carrow on the platform had already noticed what was happening below.
More precisely, his attention had never truly left Draco.
After all... whether it was Malfoy or Young Malfoy, they were the Death Eaters’ greatest enemies, traitors in the eyes of the great Dark Lord!
Thump, thump!
Amycus Carrow tapped his wand and looked toward Draco, his voice tinged with excitement. “It seems you have already chosen a volunteer. Very good!”
The young wizards below froze.
They had looked at Draco, but not because they meant to push him forward as a volunteer.
But faced with the professor on the platform, who had frightened them into submission from the very beginning, all the young wizards could do was remain silent and avoid Pansy and the others’ angry glares.
They really had not meant to...
Compared with the wizards who were worried about Draco, however, there were still a few exceptions.
For example, Ron Weasley was staring fixedly at Draco with a mocking look in his eyes.
It was as if he wanted nothing more than to see Draco get thoroughly taught a lesson by the new professor.
What he did not know was that although Amycus Carrow had a cold smile on his face, his attention and magical fluctuations had already been raised to their highest level.
Because as long as someone was a Death Eater, they could never forget the final outcome of that previous battle.
After all, the casualty count taken after that battle had ended had given them a brutal shock.
That aerial battle alone had cost them many comrades...
...
Come to think of it, there had actually been a similar scene in a previous Defence Against the Dark Arts class.
If he remembered correctly, the one teaching at the time had been Barty Crouch Jr., who had taken Polyjuice Potion and disguised himself as Professor Moody.
If there was any difference, it was probably that the Amycus Carrow before them was even more unrestrained...
However.
That was only toward other people.
After a brief pause, everyone who thought Draco was about to be in trouble suddenly saw Amycus Carrow, who had just been cruel enough to attack a student with dark magic, shift his gaze away from Draco.
It was as if nothing had happened.
No one knew the reason.
But everyone could sense that Amycus Carrow was definitely wary of Draco...
They just did not know why he had suddenly changed his mind.
“However, before that, I must first let you understand the charm of dark magic.”
The abrupt change nearly left the young wizards below unable to react.
Could he have been afraid?
The quick-witted wizards immediately remembered the report about Draco from before.
“Did we all forget that Draco has killed quite a few Death Eaters?”
“I remember that too.”
“So that’s why it turned out like this...”
Naturally, none of these words were spoken aloud. They were exchanged only through looks.
At the same time, their fear of Amycus Carrow was no longer as strong as it had been at the beginning.
Amycus Carrow, who did not notice these changes, simply began teaching as if nothing had happened.
“Dark magic. These are spells that are easy to master and capable of immediately displaying tremendous destructive power. The most representative among them are the Killing Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Imperius Curse.”
“Yes, in your eyes, this is extremely evil and cruel dark magic, but...”
Amycus Carrow spread his arms, and a fanatical look appeared on his face.
That almost devout expression made the pupils of the young wizards below contract.
“When I was young, I thought the same. Until the Great Master made me understand what power a wizard should truly possess!”
“...”
“The powerful force that can control life and death!”
They swallowed.
If they had still been confused at first, then the instant they heard Amycus Carrow say the words “Great Master,” they understood.
That was the symbol of dark magic.
The Dark Lord, one of the most powerful dark wizards in history!
...
How should it be put?
Although his madness at the start had terrified everyone to the point their scalps went numb, Amycus Carrow’s normal teaching afterward actually caught everyone by surprise.
Although everything he taught was related to dark magic, it had to be said that if Amycus Carrow went to Durmstrang Wizarding School as a professor, there would probably be no problem at all...
Hermione had just walked out of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Still looking dazed, she stared blankly at Draco. “So these Death Eaters really are seriously acting as professors?”
“It seems so, though everything they teach is about dark magic.”
“But what is the point of doing this? They can’t possibly have come here just to share their thoughts on casting dark magic...”
“Probably because they want to turn all these students into Death Eaters.”
“...How is that possible?!”
Draco’s words made Hermione laugh in disbelief.
Only when she saw the serious expression on Draco’s face did the smile slowly vanish from her own.
Although she did not know what Draco was basing that judgment on, he must have had his reasons.
So these Death Eaters who had entered Hogwarts had all come here with that goal in mind?
What a joke...
...
It had only been one morning.
Yet it was already easy to sense the enormous changes taking place at Hogwarts.
More precisely, when Draco and the others walked into the Great Hall and were about to start eating, they saw many people enter with all kinds of injuries on their faces.
Some were bruised and swollen.
Some seemed mentally unwell.
But what stood out most was the obvious fear and unease in their eyes whenever they looked toward the professors’ table.
The sight made Pansy and the others, who had just finished Defence Against the Dark Arts, look over at the students who had entered the Great Hall in confusion...
“What happened to them?”
“They all look injured.”
“Don’t tell me the Dark Lord has invaded Hogwarts?”
“...”
Pansy’s guess made Hermione roll her eyes speechlessly beside her.
If Voldemort really had led those dark creatures into Hogwarts, then the students in front of them would definitely have suffered more than these visible injuries.
If no one went mad and no one died, that really would not be the Dark Lord’s style...
It was worth mentioning that a large portion of these injured young wizards seemed to be little lions from Gryffindor, which made Pansy glance meaningfully at Hermione several times.
“Parkinson, that look of yours is extremely rude.”
“Ahem!”
In any case.
Judging from the scene alone, it would be easy to think these people had just been in a group fight.
But from their terrified eyes and trembling bodies, it was obvious that things were not nearly that simple.
At the very least, an ordinary fight would never make them react like this.
Just as Pansy and the others were considering whether they should find someone and ask what happened, they happened to overhear the students nearby talking.
From the sound of it, they seemed to know quite a lot...
“Did you hear? The infirmary is already packed.”
“Tch! It’s only the first day. How are we supposed to get through the rest of the year? They’re not really going to make us learn dark magic, are they...”
“We can only behave ourselves, I suppose. Besides, compared with the ones who got detention, we’re already lucky.”
“Damn it! Why has it become like this? Those damned Death...”
“Keep your voice down. Do you want to be caught by those ‘professors’ and given detention?”
“...”
Hearing this, Draco and the others finally had a rough idea of what had happened.
Or rather, the same thing had just happened in their class, so they immediately realized where those students’ injuries had come from.
The only difference was that Amycus Carrow had used the Cruciatus Curse, which left no visible wounds on the surface...
Withdrawing his gaze, Draco glanced at the professors sitting at the professors’ table and sneering coldly. “They may have put on the skin of professors, but at their core, they’re still Dark Wizards.”
That pointed conclusion made Pansy and the others nod in agreement.
At the same time, it was enough to show that the current state of the wizarding world had definitely reached an extremely terrible point.
Because these Death Eaters were not taking anyone else’s opinions into consideration at all. Or rather, they were not worried in the slightest about whether doing this would cause trouble.
Let alone whether they would be sent to Azkaban.
And this was exactly the result the Dark Lord wanted to see...
...
In any case.
With these people appearing, and with the whispers spreading quietly in private, it took only one day, not even until the sun had fully set, for every student at Hogwarts to understand exactly what kind of people these new professors were...
After looking at those people, Hermione blinked with a strange expression. “From a certain perspective, this actually saves us quite a bit of effort.”
“That’s certainly possible. The more outrageous these Death Eaters become, the more most people will realize that joining us is the right choice.”
In a sense, the outcome Hermione mentioned was indeed very likely to happen.
But before that, what they wanted to know more, and what worried them more, was what exactly was happening in the wizarding world right now.
Especially now that these people dared to use the Three Unforgivable Curses on students inside Hogwarts...
“Draco, do you have any thoughts?”
“That depends on how far our Weasley can go.”
“Weasley... Which Weasley are you talking about?”
Just as Pansy was about to ask which Weasley he meant, Ginny Weasley walked over to them with a very complicated expression on her face.
And just like that.
Ginny did not say a word. After pulling out a chair and sitting down, she simply stared hard at Draco with pitiful, aggrieved eyes.
She looked as if she had suffered some unfair treatment.
As for the reason, everyone present had already guessed it.
Or rather, there was only one possibility.
It had to be that Ron Weasley, who had somehow reappeared at Hogwarts...
...
Originally, Draco and the others were supposed to be the ones looking for Ginny Weasley.
Unexpectedly, she came to them first, and it seemed to have something to do with Ron Weasley...
“What happened, Ginny?”
Hermione asked while pushing a bowl of steaming pumpkin soup toward her.
The answer to that question mattered a great deal to Hermione and the others, and even Draco looked over.
Compared with Pansy and the others, however, Draco had a vague guess about why she had come...
Sure enough.
In the next second, Draco heard a certain name leave Ginny’s mouth.
“Ron, he...”
“What happened to him? He didn’t bully you, did he?”
“No...”
“What? Someone like that won’t even spare his own sister?!”
“...”
Ginny did not know what to say. She had thought Hermione and the others merely disliked Ron a little.
But judging from their expressions and tone, this was no longer a simple dislike. It had already reached the level of intense disgust...
“Uh... stop talking, Parkinson.”
“Why... Fine, I won’t say anything.”
Only when Hermione noticed that Ginny’s expression seemed off did she belatedly nudge Pansy beside her with her elbow.
Pansy realized it too and swallowed the words that had nearly slipped out.
She had almost forgotten.
Ron was still Ginny’s brother...
...
Just as Ginny was about to say something, Ron Weasley, who had just walked into the Great Hall, noticed what was happening on their side.
In that instant, an extremely frightening expression appeared on his face, making the companions who had entered with him wonder if they had imagined it.
“Ron? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing... I just saw something I don’t want to believe, but don’t find surprising either.”
Ron Weasley had no intention of answering properly. After tossing out a perfunctory reply, he headed straight for the Gryffindor table.
His unwillingness to say more made the companions behind him exchange glances.
Although he had indeed disappeared for a while, the Ron Weasley in front of them now seemed like a completely different person, someone deeply unfamiliar...
Among them, Neville Longbottom, who was worried about Harry Potter, seemed not to notice at all. He sat directly beside Ron and began asking about the situation outside.
Scratching his head, Neville whispered his question. “Ron, how are things outside right now? Is Dumbledore really...”
“Ah, it’s just as you all know. Dumbledore is dead. As for the safety issue you’re worried about... as long as you behave yourselves, I don’t think you need to worry about your safety.”
“...Ron, you?”
Those words left Neville stunned, and the other little lions secretly listening nearby also showed looks of confusion and anger.
The disdainful tone he had used toward Dumbledore just now might have been their imagination.
But the words that followed truly made them furious.
Neville’s confusion, however, made the other wizards who had nearly acted on impulse calm down for the moment...
“Ron, what do you mean? Behave ourselves? With those Death Eaters? That doesn’t sound like something you would say at all... Ron.”
“...”
The clink of knife and fork.
The scrape of a blade cutting through meat.
Ron Weasley, focused on the steak in front of him, did not even glance in Neville Longbottom’s direction. He only said flatly, “So you want to resist those Dark Wizards? Using the dark magic you learned from them?”
“...”
Biting hard into the steak still streaked with blood, Ron Weasley turned his head and gave everyone beside him a cold smile. “Even Dumbledore is dead. What can you do? Don’t be stupid.”
The surrounding young wizards stared blankly at Ron Weasley as he smiled coldly at them.
They all instinctively avoided those eyes that seemed to be glowing green.
And the blood and scraps of meat still caught between his teeth...
...
“Ron has changed. He’s changed so much I don’t even recognize him anymore.”
Ginny’s words made Pansy and the others exchange glances.
To be honest, they did not care at all what had happened to Ron, so naturally, they could not understand or empathize with Ginny’s feelings.
Still, they finally understood why Ginny looked so wronged...
“Did Ron say something to you?”
“So that bastard did bully you, didn’t he?”
“Don’t talk, Parkinson.”
“Hah? Why shouldn’t I talk? Is it because you’re jealous of me?”
“What would I have to be jealous of...”
Halfway through, she saw Pansy deliberately puff out her chest as she spoke.
She looked at Pansy.
Then she lowered her head and looked at herself.
In that instant, she understood everything!
A vein bulged on her forehead.
Hermione gritted her teeth. “...Wizard duel, Pansy Parkinson!”
“Hmph, you think I’m afraid of you?”
Looking at Pansy and Hermione with their foreheads pressed together, Ginny, who completely failed to understand why things had turned into this again, looked blankly toward Draco.
As for Draco.
Elegantly enjoying his black tea, he somehow brought the conversation back to the previous topic.
“About that, there’s something I want you to investigate. Ron Weasley. Why did he return to Hogwarts?”
“I can, but...”
But are you not going to stop those two?
They are about to have a wizard duel...
...
Actually, what Draco wanted Ginny to do was not especially surprising.
He wanted her to pay closer attention to Ron Weasley.
More precisely, he wanted her to monitor his movements...
Interestingly enough, when Ginny heard this request, she agreed without the slightest hesitation, as if she also believed it was necessary.
Her explanation afterward made everyone understand why Ginny had agreed so readily...
“Ron has been acting strange.”
“Strange? Isn’t he always like that?”
“No... It’s more like he’s become unfamiliar. He isn’t the Ron I know at all.”
“What do you mean? Is he a Death Eater in disguise?”
That guess made Ginny part her lips slightly, and deep worry appeared in her eyes.
Fortunately, in the next second, Hermione refuted Pansy’s idea.
“That’s impossible.”
“Granger, how can you be so sure it isn’t?”
“Of course I have a reason for saying that.”
As Hermione spoke, she carefully took out the Marauder's Map, because she was not sure whether Ron Weasley knew about it as well.
Once everyone leaned closer, she kindly enlarged Ron Weasley’s name on it.
“Now do you understand?”
“I see... It really isn’t someone else in disguise.”
Ginny blinked.
Although she had seen Hermione take out this magical map before, she had not expected it to have the ability to verify someone’s identity.
On that map, the name Ron Weasley was written clearly...
It had to be said that with this magical map, there was no need to worry about enemies infiltrating them.
Even though they already understood how miraculous the Marauder's Map was, Pansy and the others still could not help feeling relieved once again that it was in their hands.
In the end, it was all thanks to Draco’s foresight in tricking it out of Harry Potter’s hands first.
Otherwise, they really would have no way to find Harry Potter now, wherever he had disappeared to...
...
In any case.
What they could confirm now was that Ron Weasley was indeed himself, not someone disguised as him.
Still, Hermione and the others were a little curious as to why Draco cared about such a minor figure.
After all, he was only an ordinary student.
At most, he was simply on good terms with Harry Potter...
After first giving Ginny an apologetic look, Hermione finally voiced the doubt in her heart. “This may sound harsh, but is it really necessary for us to waste time on him?”
“Probably... intuition. I just feel that we might be able to get some important information from him.”
“If you put it that way...”
Although it sounded somewhat unreliable, when Hermione thought about everything Draco had done before, there had indeed always been a reason behind it. After thinking it over, she could not come up with any reason to stop this.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall, who was still serving as Deputy Headmistress, appeared in the Great Hall.
But one thing was obvious.
There was clear exhaustion on her face, along with a trace of helplessness, as if there was nothing she could do...
Noticing her slowly walking in their direction, Draco narrowed his eyes. “It seems our Professor McGonagall hasn’t been having an easy time lately.”
“With so much happening, and with her having to clean up the mess those Death Eaters have made, I wouldn’t know what to do either if I were her.”
Hermione, who had the closest relationship with Professor McGonagall among everyone present, looked toward her with concern.
Pansy, who had not expressed any opinion, instead grew somewhat curious.
“Tell me, why would Professor McGonagall, with all her responsibility and sense of justice, agree to let these Death Eaters into Hogwarts?”
“Huh? That’s right. Why?”
With Professor McGonagall’s strict and impartial personality, how could she possibly tolerate those Dark Wizards mistreating her students?
Let alone using dark magic to harm them.
At that thought, the curiosity on Pansy’s face grew even stronger...
“Perhaps I should go find my dear godfather. Only then can we take the initiative.”
Draco’s mutter made Pansy and Hermione look at each other.
Obvious worry could be seen in the girls’ eyes.
Pansy, who had never liked hiding her thoughts, directly tugged at Draco’s robe. “Wouldn’t that be too risky? After all, no one can guarantee that Snape has nothing to do with the Dark Lord...”
Hermione, on the other hand, made a request. “I know we can’t stop you, so what can we do to help?”
Their approaches were different.
But Draco clearly received the concern from both girls.
In response, Draco merely reached out and placed his hands on top of both girls’ heads.
That perfectly even-handed gesture made Pansy and Hermione roll their eyes at Draco in unison, but neither of them slapped his hand away. Instead, they tacitly accepted the intimate gesture.
As for Ginny beside them, she bit her lower lip and glared fiercely at Draco, who made no attempt at all to hide the fact that he was a scumbag...
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