Madara's eyes narrowed slightly. "You think what she clings to is rules? No. What she clings to is order. Rules are merely the shell of order. Dumbledore is gone. She won't try to challenge the authority of the Board of Governors, because she knows that would plunge Hogwarts into even greater chaos. She will follow the rules and protect what Dumbledore left her within the boundaries the rules allow. You can't do anything to her because she won't give you the chance."
He returned to the desk, picked up the completely unadorned wand lying on it, and spun it once in his palm. "So don't try to crush her head-on. She won't give you that opportunity."
Greengrass was silent for several seconds before asking, "Then what should we do?"
Madara slid his wand back into his belt, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked toward the darkness outside the window as it was swallowed by the night. "Wait for her to make a mistake."
"What if she doesn't make one?"
"Then make her think she has." Madara's voice turned cold, like a blade being drawn. "Hogwarts isn't a castle. It's a ship. The captain is gone, but the first mate is still at the helm. The ship is still moving, and it hasn't strayed from its course. But the sailors aboard—the students, the teachers, the people hiding in the hold with their own agendas—they will fall into disorder. As long as someone loses control, the first mate will have to deal with it. As long as she deals with it, she will be distracted. And once she is distracted, she will make mistakes. We don't need to wait for a major mistake. We only need a crack. One crack is enough. No matter how sturdy a ship is, if