Actually, what Draco wanted Ginny to do was not especially surprising.
He wanted her to pay closer attention to Ron Weasley.
More precisely, he wanted her to monitor his movements...
Interestingly enough, when Ginny heard this request, she agreed without the slightest hesitation, as if she also believed it was necessary.
Her explanation afterward made everyone understand why Ginny had agreed so readily...
"Ron has been acting strange."
"Strange? Isn't he always like that?"
"No... It's more like he's become unfamiliar. He isn't the Ron I know at all."
"What do you mean? Is he a Death Eater in disguise?"
That guess made Ginny part her lips slightly, and deep worry appeared in her eyes.
Fortunately, in the next second, Hermione refuted Pansy's idea.
"That's impossible."
"Granger, how can you be so sure it isn't?"
"Of course I have a reason for saying that."
As Hermione spoke, she carefully took out the Marauder's Map, because she was not sure whether Ron Weasley knew about it as well.
Once everyone leaned closer, she kindly enlarged Ron Weasley's name on it.
"Now do you understand?"
"I see... It really isn't someone else in disguise."
Ginny blinked.
Although she had seen Hermione take out this magical map before, she had not expected it to have the ability to verify someone's identity.
On that map, the name Ron Weasley was written clearly...
It had to be said that with this magical map, there was no need to worry about enemies infiltrating them.
Even though they already understood how miraculous the Marauder's Map was, Pansy and the others still could not help feeling relieved once again that it was in their hands.
In the end, it was all thanks to Draco's foresight in tricking it out of Harry Potter's hands first.
Otherwise, they really would have no way to find Harry Potter now, wherever he had disappeared to...
...
In any case.
What they could confirm now was that Ron Weasley was indeed himself, not someone disguised as him.
Still, Hermione and the others were a little curious as to why Draco cared about such a minor figure.
After all, he was only an ordinary student.
At most, he was simply on good terms with Harry Potter...
After first giving Ginny an apologetic look, Hermione finally voiced the doubt in her heart. "This may sound harsh, but is it really necessary for us to waste time on him?"
"Probably... intuition. I just feel that we might be able to get some important information from him."
"If you put it that way..."
Although it sounded somewhat unreliable, when Hermione thought about everything Draco had done before, there had indeed always been a reason behind it. After thinking it over, she could not come up with any reason to stop this.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall, who was still serving as Deputy Headmistress, appeared in the Great Hall.
But one thing was obvious.
There was clear exhaustion on her face, along with a trace of helplessness, as if there was nothing she could do...
Noticing her slowly walking in their direction, Draco narrowed his eyes. "It seems our Professor McGonagall hasn't been having an easy time lately."
"With so much happening, and with her having to clean up the mess those Death Eaters have made, I wouldn't know what to do either if I were her."
Hermione, who had the closest relationship with Professor McGonagall among everyone present, looked toward her with concern.
Pansy, who had not expressed any opinion, instead grew somewhat curious.
"Tell me, why would Professor McGonagall, with all her responsibility and sense of justice, agree to let these Death Eaters into Hogwarts?"
"Huh? That's right. Why?"
With Professor McGonagall's strict and impartial personality, how could she possibly tolerate those Dark Wizards mistreating her students?
Let alone using dark magic to harm them.
At that thought, the curiosity on Pansy's face grew even stronger...
"Perhaps I should go find my dear godfather. Only then can we take the initiative."
Draco's mutter made Pansy and Hermione look at each other.
Obvious worry could be seen in the girls' eyes.
Pansy, who had never liked hiding her thoughts, directly tugged at Draco's robe. "Wouldn't that be too risky? After all, no one can guarantee that Snape has nothing to do with the Dark Lord..."
Hermione, on the other hand, made a request. "I know we can't stop you, so what can we do to help?"
Their approaches were different.
But Draco clearly received the concern from both girls.
In response, Draco merely reached out and placed his hands on top of both girls' heads.
That perfectly even-handed gesture made Pansy and Hermione roll their eyes at Draco in unison, but neither of them slapped his hand away. Instead, they tacitly accepted the intimate gesture.
As for Ginny beside them, she bit her lower lip and glared fiercely at Draco, who made no attempt at all to hide the fact that he was a scumbag...