Facts proved that the ones who suffered heavy losses were not only John and the others, because when Link and the others arrived at the Great Hall, they discovered, almost everyone there was complaining about this sudden inspection.
"I swear we'll never get our stuff back!" John said, red-eyed. "Back in primary school, the headmaster confiscated my set of Rie Miyazawa's Santa Fe photo albums. He said he'd return them to me later, but even by the time I graduated, I never got them back!"
"Me too! They took away one of my comics back then!"
"I thought a magic school would be different! But it turns out the black crows under heaven are all the same shade!"
Link quietly listened to his roommates' complaints, but the expression on his face grew more and more strange.
Everyone else's comments were still kind of normal, but what on earth was John saying?
"John, you were reading that kind of stuff already in primary school?" Finally, Link couldn't help but ask.
But upon hearing this, John showed not the slightest bit of embarrassment, instead, he answered proudly, "Yeah! Didn't I tell you? My dad is a famous photo collection hobbyist, this is called a son inheriting his father's work!"
Link covered his face. He honestly didn't even know what to mock anymore.
Luckily, just then, the professors and staff entered through the main hall doors.
Among them, the heads of the four houses, McGonagall, Snape, and the others, walked at the front, while the other professors and staff, like Hagrid and Filch, followed behind.
Most importantly, none of them looked happy. Some had heads bowed, expressions hopeless and disheartened.
Others, like McGonagall and Snape, wore stern expressions, their faces full of anger.
Under their influence, the once-noisy Great Hall instantly fell silent. Clearly, no one wanted to get on the bad side of a professor right now.
Upon seeing this, Professor McGonagall, who had already reached the podium, gritted her teeth and coldly said, "Just recently, we confiscated a large amount of contraband from Draco Malfoy's dormitory and imposed severe punishment on him. I believe most of you have already heard about this."
"And through the case of Draco Malfoy, we've come to realize the shortcomings in our professors' usual management. Thus, we had today's sudden inspection of all students and staff."
As Professor McGonagall spoke, everyone in the hall instinctively turned their eyes toward the Slytherin table, searching for Draco's figure, even the Slytherins themselves were no exception.
Because if things were really like that, then Draco Malfoy had completely ruined them.
BOOM!
A terrifying beastly roar pulled everyone's attention back.
On the podium, Professor McGonagall had transformed the wooden desk in front of her into a massive lion nearly as tall as two people.
It was baring its teeth and glaring at the students, obviously, that roar just now had come from it.
But compared to this ferocious beast, Professor McGonagall's expression was even more frightening.
"You all have truly let me down!"
"As students! You don't focus your minds on studying, but instead waste it on those filthy, improper things! And some professors, as teachers, you set such examples for students and you don't even feel ashamed!?" On the stage, Professor McGonagall was roaring like a furious lion.
By the end of her words, her face was flushed red, and even her body started trembling. She staggered slightly and could barely remain standing.
Seeing this, the massive lion quickly bent down and supported her with its head, while Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout immediately stepped forward to help her down.
At the same time, Snape stepped up to take her place on the podium.
"I must say, your behavior has truly opened my eyes. But don't worry, I won't enjoy this joy alone. Regarding the results of this inspection, I will select a few representative examples, write them into a list, and post it in the entrance hall for all to admire."
Snape said this with a wicked smile, completely ignoring the pale faces beneath the podium.
"And in light of your poor performance, the four heads of houses have discussed and unanimously agreed that Hogwarts' moral education has reached a critical turning point and must change."
"For the remainder of this term, all of you will be put in detention, and the place of detention will be your dormitories. We will form patrol teams to continuously inspect Hogwarts day and night."
"Apart from class and mealtimes, if anyone is caught wandering the castle, they will be immediately expelled! Furthermore, your dorms will be inspected and graded daily, and your incoming and outgoing letters will be checked. You…"
As Snape slowly continued, the students' faces below the stage were no longer just pale, they were now utterly desperate.
Because if things really carried out as Snape described, then they would basically lose all freedom, becoming golden canaries trapped in cages.
This was something they, who were used to free and easy days, could not accept.
For a moment, many people beneath the stage felt a strong urge to protest.
But as they looked at the gloomy-faced Snape on the podium and the wand in his hand, they all simultaneously gave up the thought.
Even the brave Gryffindors were no exception. Of course, the real reason Gryffindors didn't explode wasn't fear of Snape or fear of being expelled, it was that they were afraid of angering Professor McGonagall even more.
Unlike all the faces around him, full of pained expressions, Link couldn't help but laugh at this moment.
Because he knew very clearly that this so-called improvement of "moral education" was simply Dumbledore's excuse to search for Tom Riddle's diary.
That said, Link still thought Dumbledore's actions were not thorough enough.
If it were up to him, not only would he implement military-style management in Hogwarts, he would even suspend all classes and place everyone under house arrest.
Because under this kind of inspection intensity, even if Tom Riddle's diary wasn't found immediately, it would most likely be found in one of the later inspections.
This would force the so-called Heir to take further actions.
But letting students continue attending classes like this meant the Heir could still move around and interact with other students, which would make the entire search much harder.
Still, Link could understand why Dumbledore only went this far.
After all, Dumbledore deeply disliked this kind of rigid management style, letting students still attend class was probably his bottom line.
Taking a deep breath, Link reached to squeeze his custom combat pouch at his waist.
Currently, inside were four doses of Polyjuice Potion and the blood of Boreas.
The effect of combining these two potions was comparable to Harry's Invisibility Cloak, and would be enough to let him evade patrols and sneak out.
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