As Draco was mulling over matters concerning his own godfather, he finally realized that the singing—which had sounded no different from screaming—had already ended.
In its place came Professor McGonagall's stern voice.
She was calling the first-years up to the stage one by one. It was time for the Sorting Ceremony...
"Euan Abercrombie!"
Absentmindedly watching the terrified first-year, who looked as though he fully expected to die at the hands of a Vampire, Hermione leaned in close to Draco's ear and whispered,
"Dumbledore doesn't seem to be objecting? And the lyrics of that song just now..."
Soft and small... cough!
That faintly sweet, warm breath pulled Draco out of his thoughts. Following Hermione's gaze, he immediately understood what she was pointing at.
As for the lyrics?
He hadn't paid attention at all earlier, so Draco decided to ask about it later...
"Clearly, Dumbledore had no intention of stopping it. You and I both know that so-called Educational Decree doesn't really have any binding power over him."
"But he still went along with it."
"Confidence, perhaps?"
Their riddle-like exchange left Pansy, who had been listening in with a completely lost expression, edging closer as well...
Even mascots have dreams too!
"Are you talking about Dumbledore?"
"Who else?"
"I wasn't asking you, Granger!"
"I'm telling you to stop interrupting us. Is that really so hard to understand, Parkinson?"
Forehead to forehead.
Behind them, faint phantom images of a cat and a dog seemed to rise into the air.
From glaring at each other to outright physical contact, it really looked like their relationship was getting better...
Yeah, right.
...
Fortunately, everyone's attention was fixed on the Sorting Ceremony, so no one noticed what was happening on Draco's side.
As for why Hermione wasn't sitting with her own house?
She had used her authority as a Prefect. The official explanation was that it allowed her to better maintain order during the Sorting Ceremony...
Whether she was maintaining order or becoming the one disrupting it didn't really matter.
Because Penelope, a senior with a genuinely decent personality, ended up giving Hermione plenty of leeway.
She didn't try to dissuade Hermione like the others, nor did she lecture her with lofty principles. Instead, she even teased and encouraged this brave, adorable junior who was boldly pursuing love.
After all, wizards who ruin other people's romances get kicked by Unicorns!
Just as Pansy and the others had noticed, it was impossible to read anything from Dumbledore's expression, and just as impossible to tell what the old wizard was thinking.
After all, this was a battle-hardened old fox who could face the entire Ministry of Magic head-on.
Snape, on the other hand, was a different story. His expression had grown even darker than before, and he kept casting suspicious glances around.
That haggard look made it seem as though he was forcibly suppressing something...
Keeping his own observation to himself, Draco gestured toward Gryffindor House. "I think you should be looking for a breakthrough with Potter, not with Dumbledore."
After saying that, Draco turned to Goyle, who was shrinking off to the side in an attempt to minimize his presence, and asked what lyrics the Sorting Hat had actually sung that made Hermione so concerned...
After Draco's reminder, Pansy and the others froze for a beat before all turning their eyes toward Harry Potter at the same time.
That perfectly synchronized turn caught Draco's attention out of the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help shaking his head with an amused smile.
Who would have thought that the two adorable girls in front of him both had such deep ties to Draco?
Especially the one who had once been so soft and pliant beneath him... cough!
Although neither of them understood why Draco's expression suddenly turned a little awkward, his reminder hadn't been meant to divert their earlier clash.
What mattered was that, after that article came out, Harry Potter's life and social standing had clearly taken a severe hit.
Setting aside the final outcome of the Wizengamot trial, the reactions of the newly arrived first-years and those easily swayed lower-year students told the story well enough. When they looked at Harry Potter now, they no longer saw the savior who defeated the Dark Lord.
The admiration of the past had turned into fear, along with anger born from feeling deceived...
Even wizards who didn't fully believe the reports couldn't help but harbor doubts about Harry Potter himself. They began to reconsider whether crowning him the "Chosen One" back then had been far too hasty and careless.
Could Harry Potter really have defeated the Dark Lord?
And as a baby, no less?
Then what kind of intentions did Dumbledore have, the one who kept emphasizing and promoting this version of events?
Only when someone's halo starts to fade do people finally see the truth hidden behind it, begin to think seriously, and dig up all the doubts they had unconsciously ignored before...
"Well? Notice anything?" Draco asked.
"...Nothing special," Pansy replied. "Other than no one sitting next to him, and the fact that he looks pretty miserable."
Honestly, Draco hadn't expected much from Pansy's answer to begin with. He quietly shifted his gaze to Hermione, who was frowning in thought.
Before falling out with Harry Potter, Hermione knew exactly how popular he had been. Wherever he went, there were always people around him...
But Harry Potter's popularity had never been about personal charm.
After such a miserable childhood, the fact that he hadn't gone dark was already impressive enough. What people usually saw in him was awkwardness in social situations and a reckless urge to prove himself.
He might make a decent friend, but he was never cut out to be a leader, let alone someone with genuine charisma.
It could be said that without the halo of the Chosen One, very few wizards would have been willing to follow Harry Potter. At the very least, he would never have stood at the center of attention.
Now, it was as if he had been returned to his original state.
"Draco, are you trying to tell us..." Hermione began.
"Have you noticed?" Draco interrupted. "Everything Potter has was given to him by Dumbledore."
What Draco truly wanted to convey wasn't how pitiful or wretched Harry Potter looked at the moment.
It was the real purpose behind that article.
The wizard it was truly aiming at wasn't Harry Potter, the so-called Chosen One, but the one who carried the greatest halo and authority of all—Albus Dumbledore...