Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 283 The New Principal

"Scrimgeour's death was officially attributed to being killed by Death Eaters, and he was portrayed by the media as a war hero."

The news Lupin brought left Harry speechless for a long time. He hadn't expected that the person who had handed over Dumbledore's belongings to them just a few hours earlier would become a corpse in the blink of an eye.

"I heard... the Ministry of Magic has fallen?"

Harry remained silent, while Hermione seized the opportunity to ask her questions and try to get more information.

“…Not yet,” Lupin’s expression was somewhat strange. “Crouch denied it that very night…”

Crouch? It's him?

"This is the second piece of news I have to tell you: Crouch is now the Minister for Magic. Last night, he not only refuted the rumors, but he also did something big: he killed Pierce Sinkness and produced evidence that the man was under a mind-controlling spell."

"...Is Crouch really that amazing?"

Hermione fell silent. She suddenly realized that she had always underestimated Crouch. Perhaps it was because his son had become a Death Eater that they had developed some kind of resentment towards Crouch.

"He is indeed very capable. At least he has managed to preserve half of the Ministry of Magic and prevent it from becoming a mouthpiece for Mystic."

Harry sensed the praise in Lupin's tone. To be honest, in this situation, there weren't many people who could stand firmly against Voldemort.

Even though he wasn't a member of the Order of the Phoenix, everything he did was something only a hero could do.

The atmosphere is still calm so far, if Lupin hadn't mentioned wanting to travel with the three of them.

"Perhaps my father would rather know why you don't protect your own children."

The sharp words left Lupin speechless.

"I can't believe that the person who taught me how to defeat Dementors is a coward."

Perhaps it was a provocation, or perhaps it was simply disappointment and irony; in any case, Lupin left in anger.

Hermione looked helplessly at Harry and Ron, who were about to start arguing, but in the end she could only forcefully step in and stop another round of escalation.

In the days that followed, the trio's only progress was finding out the whereabouts of the locket and Rita Skeeter's fabricated story about Dumbledore's past.

Perhaps the second point can be ignored, because the newspaper was stuffed into the trash can after the three of them finished reading it.

"Perhaps we need to plan how to get the locket."

Hermione's suggestion was agreed upon by the other two.

They then began to discuss how to sneak into the Ministry of Magic and started preparing potions and other necessities for the coming period of time.

Time flowed by slowly amidst their busy schedules, until the first day of September, when the trio received some shocking news:

"Snape became the headmaster of Hogwarts???"

"This is utterly alarmist!!!"

Hermione couldn't help but scream, startling both Harry and Ron.

"If Snape hadn't held his wand to the professors' heads, no one would have agreed to him becoming headmaster."

Harry noticed the sarcasm in Ron's tone and immediately replied, "It must be the Death Eaters."

Harry pointed to a photo in the newspaper, in which Snape was standing next to several Death Eaters who had been standing on the rooftop that night.

"It's hard to imagine what Hogwarts will be like this semester."

Hermione's sadness affected the others, and Harry could only try to encourage them again, "We can't interfere in the battles at Hogwarts, but at least we should focus more on what's happening now."

Harry tapped the notebook on the table as he spoke; it contained the information they had gathered from their investigations of the Ministry of Magic over the past few days.

------

At the same time, Harry and his friends were encouraging each other, while in a cabin on the Hogwarts Express, the tension of war was palpable.

"Theodore, I'm saying this one last time."

"What you need to do now is stay at Hogwarts quietly, instead of thinking about reasons to drop out every day!"

On the comfortable and soft sofa, Zabini looked at his friend, who was impossible to get along with, with a rather troubled expression.

He had lost count of how long he had tried to persuade Theo, using both soft and hard tactics, but the kid seemed to be bewitched and insisted on hitting a brick wall!

"Zabini—"

Faced with his friend's anxiety and frustration, Theodore remained remarkably calm. "I know perfectly well what's urgent right now. Otherwise, why do you think I'd be sitting here obediently instead of somewhere else..."

Zabini naturally knew which "other place" Theodore was referring to.

Riddle's old house.

In the eyes of these little snakes, the Riddle House was equivalent to a temple in the eyes of Christians, a holy place they longed for.

pity………

Zabini glanced subtly at Draco, who had remained silent throughout.

The temple is wonderful, but it is not something that ordinary people can afford.

Have you seen Gella?

Draco's sudden voice startled the two of them.

"She went to buy something, she'll be back in a little while."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Gella pushed the door open and came in, carrying a huge pile of snacks.

"Hurry up and help me, it's so heavy!"

Zabini got up and took some of the snacks, which finally stopped Gella's shouting.

"Why did you buy so much?"

"It's alright," Gella said, tearing off a piece of candy and stuffing it into his mouth. "I just ran into a junior who I liked, so I shared some of my snacks with her. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how I would have brought them over."

"Junior?"

"Hmm, one Hufflepuff."

Inside the private room, the three boys' eyes flickered slightly.

Although they knew that Gellar had no prejudice against any of the four houses, at a time like this... to bring up a Hufflepuff junior in a roundabout way...

Something is not right!

Gella chose to ignore the probing gazes of the three.

Fortunately, Daphne and Pansy returned not long after.

The group exchanged some recent information in hushed tones, then closed their eyes to rest, as if Draco and the other two had completely forgotten about the junior student.