Although the Triwizard Tournament had been forcibly terminated, the students from the other two schools did not immediately leave Hogwarts, as they suddenly seemed far less important than before.
The reasons were unclear even to the students themselves, including Fleur. Even Fleur Delacour—Madame Maxime's most cherished student—had barely seen her Headmistress, let alone exchanged more than a few words with her recently.
All they knew was that Madame Maxime had been leaving early, returning late, always rushing about with a worried expression on her face. Whatever she was dealing with, none of them knew.
Fleur had even overheard Madam Maxime arguing with Rubeus Hagrid at one point...
Yet if Beauxbatons seemed neglected, Durmstrang Institute was in far worse shape.
Their Champion, Viktor Krum, and their Headmaster had both vanished without a trace after the first task. If everyone hadn't witnessed Viktor Krum being selected as a Champion, and if they hadn't confirmed that the wizard who brought them to Hogwarts was indeed their Headmaster, many would have assumed the pair had never arrived at Hogwarts at all.
Their disappearance had naturally become a source of concern among the younger wizards—especially for those who believed the Ministry's official explanation.
"You think it's possible that the people who kidnapped Harry were the Durmstrang Headmaster and Viktor Krum?"
"It could be. I mean, that is a dark magic school."
"I always thought their Headmaster looked like bad news."
Though not notorious, Durmstrang's reputation in Britain was already poor because the school neither rejected dark magic nor hid its faint support for it. So such speculation wasn't surprising.
The small group whispering among themselves glanced toward the nearby Durmstrang students, whose mood was heavy and downcast. Their Headmaster and Champion's bizarre disappearance clearly left them unsettled.
Even more strange was that there had been no answers at all, almost as if something were being deliberately hidden...
...
Life at Hogwarts seemed to return to normal. Whatever was happening beyond the school grounds appeared to have no effect on the students' daily routines.
Despite all that had happened, Draco and the others still had to attend class. Their upcoming exams weren't going to be canceled either. If not for the professors' distracted expressions and Dumbledore's increasingly rare presence at school, Hermione and the others might have thought that person had never returned at all—that all their fears were nothing but needless worrying...
"Draco, you know what's going on over there too, right?"
Following Hermione's gaze, they saw the Durmstrang students surrounded by an unnerving atmosphere.
Hermione was referring, of course, to the prolonged disappearance of Igor Karkaroff and Viktor Krum.
Draco had his own information.
"According to the reports, that Durmstrang Headmaster seems to have fled."
"…Huh? Fled?! Why?"
Hermione hadn't believed Harry Potter's disappearance was connected to Karkaroff, but she never expected that the reason for his absence would be this.
And what kind of existence could force a Headmaster to run?
Hermione struggled to picture it...
Draco looked up from his book and glanced at Hermione's adorably stunned expression. "It's simple. He's a Death Eater—and one who betrayed that man."
"A Death Eater... the Headmaster of a Wizarding School?!"
"Nothing surprising. After the Dark Lord's defeat, most Death Eaters 'switched to the light.' Besides, did you really think every Death Eater joined him willingly?"
"..."
"Some did, perhaps, but those ones are all locked up in Azkaban now."
Hearing all this for the first time, Hermione blinked slowly, finally grasping the weight of what Draco meant.
"That man... is he really that terrifying...?"
Being from a Muggle family, Hermione found it difficult to imagine a Headmaster of a Wizarding School abandoning everything because of a Dark Lord who had only just been resurrected—whose strength might not even have fully returned.
After all, he was a Headmaster like Dumbledore. Even if his abilities weren't impressive, they couldn't be that unimpressive—could they...?
"Well... what about Viktor Krum? If I'm not mistaken, something must have happened to him."
"Unfortunately, we don't know much about his whereabouts, or rather…"
"Hm?"
Draco's hesitation made Hermione tilt her head in confusion. She caught a strange uncertainty in his expression, as if even he wasn't entirely sure.
Her innocent and puzzled look snapped Draco back to the moment. "That question," he said, "is something we'll have to ask our Chosen One himself."
"You mean Harry Potter? But… huh?"
Halfway through her sentence, Hermione let out a soft gasp.
Because—
She saw Harry Potter...
...
Unlike last time in Hogsmeade, everyone assumed Harry wouldn't return so quickly. Maybe, just like the previous year, he wouldn't appear until the very end of term.
But to everyone's surprise, when lunchtime arrived, Harry Potter was already sitting in the Great Hall, eating. It looked as though he had come well before lunch even began and had simply been waiting there...
As more and more students filed into the hall, news of Harry Potter's return spread rapidly.
Harry now felt like an exhibit in a zoo. Every wizard entering the hall made a point of looking his way, and the more "enthusiastic" ones even walked over to exchange a few meaningless words with him.
Only when a sizable crowd of concerned friends had gathered around Harry—leaving no space for anyone else—did the rest of the curious students finally stop trying to get close.
The Gryffindor lions, however, had no such restraint. Their excited, frantic attempts to push forward looked like Rita Skeeter during one of her interviews with Harry.
But none of them noticed the heavy, irritable look in Harry's eyes...