Because of the Tom and Philosopher's Stone incidents, Hogwarts' professors had been questioned by the Ministry of Magic for a long time. Combined with the headmaster's sudden disappearance, it had nearly left them running around like headless chickens. Many affairs had gone unmanaged, and even marking papers and publishing results had been delayed by several days. As a result, this year's summer holiday began more than a week later than usual.
Still, following tradition, the school held the House Cup ceremony on the final day before the holidays.
Although the students found it strange that Headmaster Dumbledore had not attended, that did not stop them from cheering for the long-awaited summer break.
This time, without Dumbledore giving Gryffindor preferential bonus points, Slytherin ultimately won the House Cup. It was their seventh consecutive championship.
But Draco Malfoy could not bring himself to be happy.
Tom was gone. While it was nice that no one in Slytherin would ever overshadow him again, he no longer craved attention as much as he once had.
He had witnessed how a true Slytherin conducted himself, and he wanted to try moving in that direction.
Draco Malfoy looked toward the Gryffindor table, where several equally dejected young wizards sat.
He walked over without bringing his lackeys.
When he reached the place where Tom used to sit, Draco Malfoy asked Harry, "Can I sit here?"
"Malfoy..." Ron Weasley immediately became wary. "What are you trying to do?"
Although Tom's mediation had kept Harry and the others from having as terrible a relationship with Draco Malfoy as they had in the original story, they were hardly on good terms.
Draco Malfoy ignored him. After thinking for a moment, he simply sat down. "Professor Murphy said we could sit wherever we wanted, didn't he?"
"That was Tom's seat." Hermione