Although Snape had become the new Headmaster of Hogwarts, his sharp tongue showed no sign of changing. Or rather, he had no intention of changing it at all.
His gloomy nature made the young wizards below fall silent in fear. None of them dared make a sound, afraid those black bat eyes would fall on them.
Still, they ought to be glad they would no longer have to take Snape's classes this year.
Come to think of it, perhaps the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor position really was cursed.
After all, no wizard had ever managed to keep that seat for long. They could only last a single year as professor.
In a sense, though, Snape had turned misfortune into good fortune...
Compared with Dumbledore's habit of speaking in ways that often left people baffled, Snape's bluntness made the atmosphere feel deeply wrong.
Anyone who did not know better might have thought they had wandered into some dark lair.
After Snape sat back down, Professor McGonagall, who had always been responsible for presiding over the Sorting Ceremony, walked straight to the stool where the Sorting Hat had been placed.
"We will now begin the Sorting Ceremony. First... please come forward."
Compared with the Professor McGonagall of before, the stiffness in her expression was obvious.
If she had once carried herself with warmth, then the Professor McGonagall standing here now remained at Hogwarts only out of duty and the desire to protect the other wizards.
She watched silently as the new students came one by one to the center of the long tables.
It was clear that not only were there unusually few new students this year, there was also no excitement or joy on their faces at the thought of starting school.
What they showed instead was helpless confusion and fear...
What were these new students afraid of?
Noticing this, Draco frowned deeply.
"Is it because they were forced to come here? Or is there some other reason?"
The parents of these new students certainly were not fools. They must know what kind of crisis and upheaval Hogwarts was facing right now.
In any normal person's mind, before the situation was clear, no reasonable parent would allow their child to risk entering such a dangerous place.
In other words, aside from being forced, there was no other possibility...
"I remember now!"
The one who spoke was Hermione, who had also been observing alongside Draco.
Her words made Pansy and the others look over curiously.
"What did you remember, Granger?"
"I remember the word Draco said before."
"The word?"
"Hostages!"
These new students were the first step in Voldemort's rule over the British wizarding world!
...
Because there were so few students, this strange Sorting Ceremony went by very quickly.
It was worth noting that there was not a single burst of applause or cheering throughout the entire process.
The only sounds were Professor McGonagall calling out names, and the Sorting Hat's listless voice...
At last, after Professor McGonagall carried the Sorting Hat off the stage and Snape stood up once more, the most important Sorting Ceremony of the year came to a hurried, silent end.
He rose.
His black robes swayed.
Snape first swept his gaze over the students below, then let out a cold laugh. "Well then, before the banquet begins, I believe you ought to know who your new professors are this year."
As Snape's words fell, unfamiliar faces rose one after another from the professors' table.
In fact, many wizards had noticed these people from the very beginning of the Sorting Ceremony.
It was hard not to notice them.
Because the way those wizards looked at them was like hunters sizing up prey.
As for the professors who did not stand, their faces were livid as they silently watched everything unfold.
Especially Hermione.
She saw the tense expression on Professor McGonagall's face. In particular, the moment Snape finished speaking, Professor McGonagall's face suddenly turned extremely grim.
Looking at the "professors" who had stood up, Hermione frowned and turned to Draco. "The aura around those wizards really is wrong. Could they really be..."
"Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow. Mm... Death Eaters through and through."
Draco gave Hermione no chance to cling to hope, directly shattering it with the facts.
In fact, Draco was not the only one who recognized them. There were likely others present who knew who they were as well.
The Carrow siblings...
Although at first everyone had thought the Dark Lord was completely finished, and the two of them had made up an excuse to avoid being locked away in Azkaban, after Voldemort returned, the siblings had once again gone back to the Dark Lord's side.
Because of that, compared with those wizards who had been locked in Azkaban and long forgotten, quite a few people still knew of the Carrow siblings.
But no one had expected that these two would actually become professors at Hogwarts, and as Death Eaters at that...
"So those professors are all...?!"
"I'm not sure about that. After all, I don't know everyone."
Draco shook his head.
Compared with those few special, powerful wizards, how could Draco possibly know every Death Eater?
After all, even Draco himself had no idea how many Death Eaters had died by his hand...
...
Just as Hermione learned the Carrow siblings' identities from Draco, Snape happened to introduce the two Death Eaters.
"Amycus Carrow, your new Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Alecto Carrow, who will be taking over as Professor of Muggle Studies."
Following Snape's introduction, the Carrow siblings each gave the wizards below a sinister grin.
Their terrifying appearance made even the younger wizards begin to tremble uncontrollably...