Because of Umbridge's interference, every class lately had grown increasingly dull and lifeless. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought the ghost professor from A History of Magic had taken over.
Even Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration Class had turned into nothing more than "armchair theory," with no hands-on practice at all.
Worse still, whether by design or not, whenever Professor McGonagall held class, a pink figure could always be seen sitting in the very back row.
Rain or shine, she was there, like Professor McGonagall's shadow.
That was Umbridge...
And because of Umbridge's blatant attempts to make things difficult for Professor McGonagall, the recent Transfiguration Classes had made little progress. Much of the time, Professor McGonagall was forced to deal with Umbridge instead.
As a result, the students could only study on their own. Those unwilling to do so either stared off into space or hid behind their books, whispering quietly with their friends.
Most unexpectedly, their Chosen One, Harry Potter, had actually fallen asleep during Professor McGonagall's class.
In a sense, the consequences weren't much different from being caught sleeping in Snape's class. After all, this was the strict and impartial Minerva McGonagall.
Meanwhile, Draco and Pansy weren't paying attention to their books, nor to the two professors...
"Draco, I've found some leads on what you asked me to look into."
"Oh? That fast?"
"It wasn't exactly a secret. Of course, no one knows if she's hiding anything, but..."
"But?"
"Hmm... Tonks... isn't she your cousin? Why the sudden interest in her?"
Tonks.
Full name: Nymphadora Tonks.
Just as Pansy said, the witch named Tonks was indeed Draco's cousin.
That wasn't unusual. Among pure-blood aristocratic families, intermarriage was common. What truly puzzled Pansy was why Draco had suddenly taken the initiative to investigate her whereabouts...
And it was precisely this curiosity that ended Pansy's "cold war" with Draco, returning them to their usual dynamic.
Faced with her question, Draco wasn't in a hurry to hear the details. He shifted his arm slightly where it had sunk into something soft and said, "Hermione already told you, didn't she? About going against The Quibbler."
"Hmm... you mean the day you ditched us and ran off to Ravenclaw all by yourself?"
Although Draco felt he had every reason to argue with her choice of words, the increasingly warm sensation against his left arm made him swallow the rebuttal.
He cast a quick glance at Hermione, who was busy preparing for her O.W.L.s. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to them, Draco licked his lower lip.
"What if I told you that the last time I heard about my cousin... it was from a Weasley?"
"A Weasley? You mean... that poor Weasley family?"
Setting aside Pansy's prejudice, it did seem strange. Tonks, who carried half of the Black family's noble blood, shouldn't have had much reason to cross paths with the Weasleys, who had always hovered on the fringes of the pure-blood world.
And yet, these two families, which should have had nothing to do with each other, were brought together by something Draco had heard from a certain righteous red-haired girl...
"Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks... Not long ago, Ginny Weasley mentioned both of their names in the same sentence."
"Huh?"
"If it were just one Black, you could call it a coincidence, but..."
"So that's why you had me investigate them?"
Yes.
After returning from Ravenclaw, the first thing Draco set people to investigate wasn't The Quibbler, nor the prophecy the Ministry was so concerned about.
Instead... it was the whereabouts of two wizards with Black blood.
...
Once she understood the reason, Pansy finally shared what she had found.
More precisely, it was information gathered from their followers and her family.
It wasn't much, and it didn't go very deep, but it was enough to point to something...
Pansy glanced around cautiously, then leaned in closer, lowering her voice.
"As for Sirius Black, ever since he was captured by the Ministry last time, there's been no news of him at all. It's like someone deliberately erased his trail. But it's pretty obvious... that was Dumbledore's doing."
"Mm. Before Lockhart disappeared, that's the same conclusion I got from him. So... what about my cousin?"
"As for Tonks, there's nothing particularly suspicious. She's just an ordinary Auror without much of a reputation. And you know how Aurors are, they come and go without a trace. They're not easy to keep tabs on."
As the Ministry of Magic's top combat force, Aurors were kept under strict confidentiality.
From their missions to their identities and even their families, everything was tightly protected to prevent outside threats.
Hearing this, Draco showed no real disappointment. He knew this was already the limit of what Pansy and the others could uncover. After all, it involved the Ministry's most elite division.
Just as he was thinking, a sudden shout filled with fear and anger rang out, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone hitting the ground.
It was Harry Potter, collapsing out of nowhere.
"That scream?"
"Was that Potter?"
"What's wrong with him? Don't tell me he's gone stupid from sleeping?"
"A nightmare?"
The students turned toward the source of the noise, and a wave of laughter spread through the room. The Slytherins, in particular, were suddenly wide awake.
But what caught Draco's attention was how wrong Harry Potter looked. His face was far too pale.
"Mr. Potter, do you have a problem with my class?"
It was Professor McGonagall. Even though her Transfiguration Class had been thrown off course by Umbridge, that didn't mean she would tolerate this kind of disruption.
As McGonagall questioned him, Harry Potter, still visibly shaken, rushed toward her as if grabbing onto a lifeline.
"Professor, Voldemort has captured Sirius!"
"What?"
"I saw it, just now, while I was asleep!"
"..."
"..."
The entire classroom fell silent.
At that moment, Draco noticed the twisted look on Professor McGonagall's face, and the almost feral expression on Harry Potter's.
If he had heard correctly, then what Potter just said was...
Voldemort had captured Sirius.