Ever since news of Dumbledore's death spread, all sorts of opportunists had come crawling out of the woodwork.
Especially after the Ministry of Magic changed its stance and began targeting Dumbledore's remaining supporters, the few shrewd wizards who understood which way the wind was blowing started making a spectacle of themselves all across the wizarding world.
These wizards began attacking Dumbledore relentlessly, now that he could no longer speak for himself.
The Daily Prophet hardly needed to be mentioned.
Almost every day, it published some new scandal about Dumbledore.
Interestingly, The Daily Prophet had not reported a single piece of news about the Dark Lord since then, as if the wizarding world had truly found peace.
Aside from The Daily Prophet, the hottest topic now was probably the biography personally written by Rita Skeeter, the former editor and reporter of The Daily Prophet.
Strangely enough, this biography was entirely about the already-dead Dumbledore, not Rita Skeeter herself.
Or rather, by putting Dumbledore's name directly in the title, her book had become a sensation.
Rita Skeeter might be a witch, but she certainly understood how to create hype.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.
Yes, that was the title of the biography.
The contents used Rita Skeeter's favorite method of leading the reader by the nose.
After reading the book, wizards could not help questioning whether Dumbledore had truly been so great and noble. Some even began to believe the image described in its pages, that of a cunning man skilled at deceiving the world.
And the ironic part was that this biography had been allowed into Hogwarts.
"Is everything written in here true?!"
Hermione closed the biography by Rita Skeeter in her hands and looked at Draco beside her in shock.
Although Dumbledore's image had fallen again and again in Hermione's mind after everything that had happened, she still found it hard to believe that the kindly-looking old man had such a side to him in private.
Or perhaps Hermione, who was still rather innocent, simply did not yet understand what exchanges of interest between adults looked like.
...
In response to Hermione's doubt and conflicted expression, Draco only shrugged. "He simply did what he believed was right. Though in my opinion, he was far too stubborn and inflexible."
Draco was not making a biased judgment of a dead man. Rather, even if Dumbledore were still alive, Draco would still say the same thing.
"But compared with all the discussion about someone who's already dead, I'm more interested in the part at the very end."
"The part at the end... If I remember correctly, it talks about how terrible Snape and Potter's relationship was, then guides everyone into thinking Potter framed Snape for Dumbledore's murder because he hated him."
Hermione truly lived up to her reputation as a know-it-all. Her excellent memory made Pansy, who had been playing with Draco's robes beside him, glance at her.
Ginny, who did not know Hermione that well, looked surprised as she checked the contents of the biography.
As for why Ginny Weasley was here, it had a great deal to do with what they were about to do next.
Ignoring Ginny's fuss, Draco continued, "It's obvious that someone behind the scenes is trying to clear Professor Snape of suspicion."
"You mean... the Ministry of Magic?"
Hearing Hermione's words, Ginny could not help interrupting their conversation.
"That's impossible. According to what you said before, the Ministry of Magic is under that person's control right now, and Snape is..."
"Is what?"
"..."
"You mean Snape is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, don't you?" Draco blinked with a hint of mischief.
"...How do you know that?" Ginny looked around and only then noticed that Draco, Hermione, and the others did not look surprised at all. It was as if they had known this long ago.
In truth, Ginny had no idea that when Draco and Snape met for the last time, Snape had not directly revealed his identity, but had used another method to let Draco know.
Perhaps that was the tacit understanding between godfather and godson.
It was precisely because of Voldemort and Dumbledore's confidence that a double agent like Snape had been born.
And Draco had no intention of telling anyone else about that.
"In any case, I think our Professor Snape is very likely to take the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts next, with help from the Ministry of Magic."
"That... How is that possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. Maybe Death Eaters will even become our professors."
"..."
At Draco's increasingly outrageous words, Ginny rolled her eyes, not believing him in the slightest.
But as she made a face, she completely failed to notice that Pansy, Hermione, and even Luna, who had come along with them, all wore thoughtful expressions.
After all, Draco had never been the type to make wild claims for no reason.
Led by Hermione, Draco and the others arrived at the end of the corridor.
At the very end stood a marble knight statue, both hands gripping a stone sword.
Ginny, who had no idea why they had come here, was just about to ask when Hermione turned lightly on her feet, then lifted her chin with elegant pride.
"Welcome to our... Hogwarts branch of the Draco Constellation!"
Ginny: ???
Wait!
What was the Draco Constellation?