Chapter 733: The Worst Sorting Ceremony in History The Ministry of Magic’s decisions had indeed thrown the professors and students into considerable confusion, and the im |
Because they were so rare and precious, most wizards truly never had the chance to see a living fire Dragon in their entire lives.
To be precise, even catching sight of a fire Dragon’s shadow from afar would already be something worth bragging about.
As for facing a fully grown fire Dragon at such close range, perhaps a person would only ever get a chance like that once in their life.
Roar.
Above them, those terrifying wings that cast their shadow over the ground seemed capable of sending a person flying with just the slightest flap.
And those slit pupils, each as large as a human head, were staring fixedly at the humans below.
A chill ran across Ginny’s scalp. Her legs went weak, and she could barely keep her grip on the wand in her hand.
If Hermione had not still been standing quietly beside her, and if Hermione had not warned her earlier, Ginny might have grabbed them and run at once.
Even so, facing such an enormous shadow put tremendous pressure on her.
“It’s coming over.”
Luna said the words Ginny had been stammering over.
It was worth mentioning that Luna, who had been so excited and thrilled earlier, now had a faint nervous tremor in her voice as well.
It seemed that even Luna, strange as her behavior usually was, could not control her heartbeat or avoid instinctive fear when faced with a fully grown and dangerous Dragon.
But what the two girls did not notice was...
From beginning to end, Hermione, standing beside them, had not shown any fear. Instead, there was a trace of helplessness on her face.
Because only she knew that the figure Luna had seen sitting on the Dragon’s back was real, not some illusion.
And there was only one hateful wizard capable of sitting on Norberta’s back.
...
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The fierce wind stirred up by the beating wings forced Hermione and the others below to use magic to steady themselves so they would not be blown away.
Even so, when the Dragon landed on the ground, Hermione and the others still ended up looking quite disheveled.
Luna, in particular, had been wearing a whole pile of strange ornaments. Now, all of a sudden, she looked much cleaner and far less odd than before.
Just as Hermione held down her hair and glared angrily up at the Dragon’s back, Ginny tugged at her robe in terror. “Hermione! That fire Dragon is stretching its head toward us!”
Ginny, tense and frightened, had not yet noticed that the fire Dragon’s eyes seemed a little too human.
Especially that teasing gaze. It was as if she had been corrupted by her master, and she kept moving her enormous head closer in Ginny’s direction.
Sharp fangs.
Sparks of fire.
Just as magic surged violently through Ginny’s body, a very familiar and very hateful voice came from the Dragon’s back. “Allow me to introduce my companion, Norberta.”
“Draco...”
“Come on, Norberta. Say hello to our new friend.”
“Roooaaar!”
“Drop dead, Draco!”
“Hahahahaha.”
Seeing Ginny Weasley roaring right along with Norberta, Draco let out a deeply satisfied laugh from the Dragon’s back.
Faced with this all-too-familiar scene, Hermione could only slap her forehead in exasperation.
“This... awful man...”
...
After they had introduced themselves to each other, sort of, Luna seemed to latch onto Draco.
She apparently wanted to try what it felt like to sit on a Dragon’s back.
As for Ginny, because she had just been so emotional, she was now still a little short of breath. She sat off to one side, resting while glaring fiercely at Draco.
However, every time Norberta’s gaze swept over her, Ginny still instinctively shrank her head back.
It seemed she had not recovered from the shock just yet.
At this point, it was hard to tell who was actually the Gryffindor student. Luna showed no fear at all as she circled Norberta’s body, looking very much as though she wanted to reach out and touch her.
No, in fact, she was already doing it.
“Draco, can I touch her claw?”
“Yes.”
“Draco, can I touch her wing?”
“Mm.”
“Draco, can I touch her mouth?”
“.....”
Faced with a Luna who was completely different from usual, not only Hermione, but even Draco felt a little surprised.
Who would have thought that Luna, who normally showed no emotional fluctuation toward anything, had this side to her?
“Since you’re so interested, would you like me to take you for a flight?”
“Really?!”
“Of course. Seeing someone like Norberta so much makes me happy too.”
Because Draco liked dragons so much, whenever he saw someone else who liked them as well, he wanted to share that joy with them. He had even offered to take Luna for a flight.
As for Norberta?
In truth, she wanted to soar through the sky more than anyone.
...
Because of the news of Dumbledore’s death, along with the departure of many professors, nearly every activity at Hogwarts had ground to a halt.
Not only had all classes been temporarily suspended, even the final exams that were supposed to take place had been canceled.
That change came as a pleasant surprise to the young wizards, but it left Hermione gloomy for quite some time.
However.
What happened next made it impossible for any of them to feel happy.
The decisions issued directly by the Ministry of Magic did not stop there.
Among the various orders that directly affected Hogwarts, there was one in particular...
For the safety of Hogwarts students, the Ministry of Magic had forcibly canceled all upcoming holidays at Hogwarts and forbidden students from leaving the school!
In other words, apart from the graduating seventh-years, who had already left school early, every remaining Hogwarts student had to stay at school and wait for the next academic year to begin.
And compared with not being able to go home, the textbooks and magical supplies they would need for the next school year suddenly seemed far less important...
When the Ministry’s order appeared in the Great Hall, every wizard who heard the news gathered around the enormous bulletin board.
The parchment, stamped with the Ministry of Magic’s official seal, was pinned to the wall...
Its contents soon caused quite a commotion, and the news spread at an astonishing speed.
“Why can’t we go back?”
“Are they joking? Do they really expect us to stay at school?”
“What exactly is happening out there?”
“Damn it!”
“I want to go home... sob...”
Not far away, Draco and the others stood at the edge of the crowd, watching and listening to all of it.
“Isn’t this basically putting everyone under house arrest at Hogwarts?”
Looking at the wizards gathered around the bulletin board, Hermione voiced her thoughts in a heavy tone.
If she had not already braced herself for it, she might have become one of them too.
Restless and uneasy...
Ever since that day, Ginny and Luna had also been staying with Draco and the others. At that moment, Ginny looked at Draco in shock. “Is this what you mentioned last time? That the Ministry of Magic would make a move soon. Is this their first step?”
“I think so.”
“Hostages?”
“That, and because they can’t make a move openly, they want to take control of Hogwarts from the inside.”
Draco narrowed his eyes.
In fact, that notice packed with information contained far more than just that one order.
New prohibitions.
Changes among the professors.
And... Severus Snape, appointed Headmaster of Hogwarts!!
...
Perhaps everyone’s minds had been overwhelmed by too much information.
Because of that, the matter of Snape becoming Headmaster did not seem to cause much of a stir.
Or rather, with the situation having deteriorated this badly, a mere black bat taking the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts no longer seemed all that important.
They might even consider themselves lucky that the wizard sitting in that position was at least a professor they knew, rather than some wizard who had suddenly crawled out of a random corner.
In any case.
As for Snape becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts, even the little snakes of Slytherin were in no mood to celebrate or mock the students from the other houses...
In a corner of the Great Hall.
Draco and his group stayed there, watching from a distance as the wizards in front of the bulletin board refused to leave.
The reason they were unwilling to go was not only that they needed time to digest such an enormous amount of information, but also that they were hoping a professor would step forward and explain everything.
Or perhaps they wanted to hear that this was nothing more than a joke from the Weasleys.
That faint hope was what kept them there...
Beside him, Hermione spoke hesitantly. “Professor Snape... is the new Headmaster of Hogwarts?”
“According to what’s written there, that should be the case.”
“Then does that mean Professor Snape is on our side? Draco...”
Hermione’s words made Pansy and the others look over, and even Ginny pricked up her ears.
Unfortunately, Draco’s answer was not one that would let them breathe a sigh of relief.
“I don’t think our Dark Lord would let a wizard beyond his control sit in that position, do you?”
“So...”
“So Snape is definitely not one of ours. Or rather, even if he wants to help us, he can’t do it openly.”
Draco gave his judgment directly, leaving the girls little room for wishful thinking.
And what he said next cast an even deeper shadow over their hearts.
After a pause, Draco continued with another matter. “Besides that, we also need to pay attention to those newly appointed professors.”
“Newly appointed professors?”
“Draco, do you mean...”
Glancing at Hermione’s slightly parted lips, Draco turned his gaze back toward the Great Hall. “Barring any surprises, our newly appointed professors are very likely to be subordinates the Dark Lord specifically planted here.”
“...”
The Dark Lord’s subordinates had another very famous name.
Death Eaters!!
...
The Ministry of Magic’s decisions had indeed thrown the professors and students into considerable confusion, and the impact reached every wizard in the school.
Among them, some young wizards who refused to accept it tried to break through Hogwarts, which had begun entering a semi-lockdown state. They wondered if they could secretly slip out, or even get the Hogwarts Express running.
Naturally, such an absurd task had no chance of succeeding.
After all, without Draco stepping in, how could students who had not even mastered truly powerful magic possibly break out of a Hogwarts surrounded by Death Eaters?
Rumor had it that some people had even seen a few Dementors and Giants.
In fact, if not for certain reasons, Voldemort might not have used such a “gentle” method to take control of the castle at all...
In any case.
Although there was certainly nothing good about this situation, for Draco and the others, it did make Penelope and Ginny’s work go much more smoothly. Even some Gryffindor students had joined their infiltration plan.
That’s right.
Draco and his group had given this plan a simple, straightforward name.
Operation Stealth!
The purpose of this plan was built on one premise: when the future invasion came, Draco and the others had no intention of directly confronting the Death Eaters, much less the Dark Lord himself.
Instead, they would hide inside Hogwarts Castle and appear only at the critical moment.
Because power had to be concentrated at a single point in order to deal the greatest damage.
As for food, thanks to Draco having built a good relationship with the House-elves long ago, they did not need to worry about that.
Interestingly, because of Norberta, the House-elves were actually delighted.
Not because they liked a fire-breathing Dragon, but because their workload had increased...
...
In short.
During this brief holiday, no one, not even the professors, knew that right under their noses, an organization was quietly growing stronger.
Although most of its members were students with little real strength, and they often acted on impulse alone, it had to be said that wizards of their age were at a stage where their blood ran hot, where they believed in the light... believed that justice still existed in the world.
Especially with Draco leading them, this plan actually seemed to have a real chance of success.
As for how they got along and cooperated, there were still occasional frictions and disputes between the houses, but under Draco’s domineering magical strength and Hermione’s capable management and support, no major problems arose in the end.
It was Norberta’s presence that caused the young wizards to stir up trouble from time to time...
As time passed, the new term slowly arrived.
Today was the long-awaited Sorting Ceremony.
Although so many things had changed, Hogwarts’ traditions did not seem inclined to change with them.
It was easy to see that many professors were absent, as were many familiar faces. Even Dumbledore, who should have been standing in the central position, would never appear again.
And just as they had already learned beforehand, the wizard who had now taken Dumbledore’s place was naturally their newly appointed Severus Snape.
Only, even though Snape had become Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was still wearing the black robes that never seemed to leave him.
The gloomy aura surrounding him made people wonder whether this was even the Hogwarts they all knew so well.
Yet faced with this rather sinister-looking new Headmaster, no one seemed willing to step forward to object or question anything.
That included Minerva McGonagall, who had previously served as Acting Headmistress.
Professor McGonagall, who had disappeared for a long time before finally reappearing here, said nothing. She simply handed over the position of Headmistress, as if she had no attachment to it at all.
She even stood in the same familiar place as in previous years, preparing to conduct a Sorting Ceremony that seemed no different from any other year...
...
A chair.
A shabby old Sorting Hat.
Clearly, nothing had changed, yet the atmosphere in the Great Hall was strangely silent.
Every young wizard was exchanging looks. Most of them were trying to read some crucial piece of information from the professors’ faces, and even the house ghosts seemed to have no desire to speak.
It had to be said that this was probably the worst Sorting Ceremony in history...
In any case.
Snape did not care in the slightest what the young wizards below were thinking, nor did he care about the strange atmosphere before him.
At that moment, he simply fulfilled his duty as Headmaster and began the speech before the Sorting Ceremony.
Snape swept his gloomy gaze around the hall. “What should I say... Ah, yes. The professor you all hate most has now become your Headmaster. I imagine this is news that will make everything about today even worse for you.”
“But to me, your thoughts are unimportant. What matters is that during my time as Headmaster, you would do best to become a little more stupid, much like... our Mr. Longbottom.”
Draco was not sure whether it was his imagination.
He thought he saw Snape’s gaze linger on him for a few seconds.
Was that a hint that he should act a little more stupid?
Or was Snape trying to say that he already knew Draco had once turned into Longbottom?
Either way, Draco realized that he had to keep an even lower profile from now on...