The massacre or other persecution everyone feared never came. It was as if nothing had happened, except that all transportation had been banned.
But the wizards could still clearly sense the change in atmosphere. Even the air seemed heavier. Diagon Alley was deserted, and the Leaky Cauldron had closed outright. The storm was still brewing.
The Ministry of Magic's next move came swiftly. Since its official establishment in 1707, its seven departments had remained almost unchanged.
Anyone with eyes could see what the newly established Department of Magical Education and Oversight meant. No one knew where Hogwarts, that sacred place of magic, would be led, because its thousand-year independent status had now come to an end.
The new department had been prepared to make its presence felt from the moment it officially announced its establishment. The first Director of Education issued a statement directly: from this day onward, Hogwarts would be placed under the Ministry of Magic's jurisdiction and supervision, and all educational activities would be carried out within the bounds permitted by the Ministry.
Furthermore, they announced to all currently enrolled Hogwarts students and their parents that anyone who returned to school before July 1 would not be held accountable by either the school or the Ministry. Those who failed to return by the deadline would be expelled permanently, and all businesses and departments under Ministry supervision would no longer consider accepting them.
The news caused an uproar. Everyone knew who controlled Hogwarts now.
The people managing that school in the future would no longer be those respected old professors, but wicked Death Eaters and dark wizards.
Under Armando Dippet and in even earlier times, Hogwarts had possessed extremely strict school rules, with a teaching atmosphere harsh enough to make Filch pine for it day and night.
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