Eating dinner with Death Eaters was, without question, a novel and thoroughly awful experience.
Throughout the meal, aside from Draco, every time the girls took a bite of the dessert on their plates, they nervously glanced toward the professors' table.
Their wary, anxious expressions made it seem as if an Avada Kedavra might come crashing down halfway through the banquet.
It could be said that none of them tasted a thing during that dinner, and every bite was eaten with their hearts in their throats...
"My Merlin, nothing could be worse than this."
"It really is unbearable."
"We have to be careful. You all noticed it too, didn't you?"
"Mm... those wizards keep looking over here from time to time. Their target must be Draco, right?"
"What other reason could there be besides Draco?"
The girls' worries were not unfounded.
Compared with the other young wizards, those Death Eaters aimed far more of their sneering looks at Draco.
Clearly, they had come with Draco in mind.
Of course, if Harry Potter were still at school, he would undoubtedly have been their target instead.
What was puzzling was why these Death Eaters had not made a move yet.
After all, those lunatics had no idea what discretion or restraint meant...
Seeing that Draco still showed no reaction at all, even Pansy, who trusted him so much, could not sit still. "Why don't you leave first, Draco? I'm afraid those people will attack you the moment the banquet ends."
Pansy's worry made Hermione and the others tense up as well. Ginny, who had somehow ended up here too, even drew her wand.
As for Draco, he remained perfectly calm. He even used wandless magic to peel a few shrimp for Hermione.
That unhurried manner of his slowly affected the girls. Although they were still uneasy, they gradually calmed down.
Only then did Draco finally speak.
"They won't make a move. At least, not now."
"How can you be so sure?"
After finishing peeling crab for Pansy, Draco finally glanced toward the professors' table. "Since they had no intention of acting from the start, they won't act in the short term either. I think some kind of deal must have been made."
"A deal? With whom?"
That unexpected answer made Pansy and the others prick up their ears.
But Draco only shook his head.
"It's only a guess. Perhaps... Snape agreed to some condition from the Dark Lord."
"I see. After all, Snape is the only one who could possibly have done that."
"But what kind of condition would it be?"
"As for that..."
Draco glanced toward Snape's seat.
In truth, he wanted to know that too...
...
The next day.
After the Sorting Ceremony ended, Draco and the others welcomed the new term.
This also meant that Draco had now risen to seventh year and was about to begin his final year as a student at Hogwarts.
Compared with the professors who had become Death Eaters, however, there was another matter that made Pansy furious. Draco had, against all expectations, failed to become Head Boy!
This shocking and completely unreasonable result was utterly unacceptable to Pansy.
Because in Pansy's eyes, no one besides Draco was qualified to become Head Boy and sit in that position.
Of course, if she could have become the Head Girl while Draco became the Head Boy, then everything would have been even more perfect.
But now, none of that was possible...
Nearby, Hermione finally could not bear listening to Pansy's muttering anymore and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Although I'm also very surprised that Draco didn't become Head Boy, as for you... hmph, I can guarantee you never had a chance of becoming Head Girl."
"What is that supposed to mean, Granger?!"
"I'm simply saying that I'm far more suited to the position of Head Girl than you are."
"Hah?!"
Seeing Pansy and Hermione start going after each other again, Ginny, who had long since grown used to the sight over the holiday, was honestly no longer surprised.
But this time, Ginny seemed to want to try interrupting them.
"I mean, Draco didn't become Head Boy anyway. Is there any point in the two of you arguing about this?"
"How arrogant of you, Weasley."
"Stay out of this, Ginny. Right now, I'm going to make her understand that I, Hermione Granger, am the witch most suited to stand at Draco's side!"
"I can't pretend I didn't hear that!"
Amid the two of them bickering, Draco and his group finished breakfast and welcomed their first class of the new term.
And the professor for that first class was one of the Carrow siblings...