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...