Chapter 675: Professor Horace’s Party As time passed, the parties hosted by Horace Slughorn gained an increasingly famous reputation among the young wizards.In fact, all |
Setting aside the relationship between Snape and the Malfoy family for the moment.
Looking only at the tangled history between Harry Potter and Snape, it should have been very difficult for Harry Potter to even come into contact with a spell like Sectumsempra, let alone master it.
Because behind every powerful spell, there may be a family’s interests and inheritance at stake. Only with those things can such families remain above the vast majority of wizards for generations.
After all, spells are a kind of resource.
Having grown up in that kind of environment, Pansy and Astoria naturally understood the hidden implications better than anyone else.
That was why, the moment they heard Harry Potter might be able to learn Sectumsempra, their expressions turned so grave and shocked.
Because what they saw was far more than the small part Hermione could see...
Although Hermione knew Sectumsempra had been created by Severus Snape, she did not understand the full seriousness of it, so she began analyzing the possibilities.
“Could it have been Dumbledore’s request? I think even Professor Snape might not be able to refuse him.”
“That’s why I don’t think Dumbledore is that kind of rigid person.”
“You really don’t understand anything, Granger.”
“...What do you mean?”
Seeing the smug look on Pansy’s face, the veins at Hermione’s temple started throbbing uncontrollably.
But when she noticed that Draco and the others were staying silent, Hermione gradually realized there had to be some secret here that she did not know.
Watching Pansy and Hermione, who had been on the same side a moment ago and then turned into enemies again the next second, Fleur smiled, clearly entertained.
Perhaps because of Draco, Fleur found she was not nearly as put off by them as she had imagined.
In fact, for someone who had always found it hard to make true friends, she even envied the relationship between them...
...
Just as Pansy was explaining the reason to Hermione,
Draco turned his attention to Fleur. He had a great many questions he wanted to ask.
He lightly tapped the floor with his cane. “Any new news from Father’s side?”
“Mm, not really. There’s not much worth mentioning. But our allies have run into quite a bit of trouble lately.”
“You mean... the Ministry of Magic?”
“More precisely, our cowardly Minister of Magic. With how unstable the wizarding world has been, his seat hasn’t been very secure lately.”
“Oh?”
“Rufus Scrimgeour.”
The name Fleur mentioned made Draco think of the wizard with the sharp, piercing eyes, the Head of the Auror Office who had once tracked down Sirius Black.
An elite Auror known as the old lion.
And if Fleur had brought up Rufus Scrimgeour, then the one who had stepped forward to compete with Cornelius Fudge for the position of Minister of Magic must be that old lion who commanded the Aurors...
“If it’s him, then he really could cause our Minister of Magic a great deal of trouble.”
“In fact, if not for our support, the Minister of Magic might already have been replaced. After all, the Dark Lord’s resurrection has made a great many people question the Ministry’s competence.”
“So the Ministry has now split into two factions because of the conflict between those two?”
“Exactly.”
Cornelius Fudge, seated at the top and holding most of the power.
And Rufus Scrimgeour, who commanded the Ministry’s strongest fighting force.
In a very short time, Draco pieced together a rough picture of the Ministry’s current situation, and at the same time understood the doubts that had been puzzling him before.
“I see... So that explains why Cedric and the others were able to appear at Hogwarts.”
If Cornelius Fudge was inclined to ally himself with Lucius, then Rufus Scrimgeour, who wanted to take his place, was clearly trying to move closer to Dumbledore’s side.
In other words, Cornelius Fudge had already lost control of the Aurors.
Thinking of that, Draco suddenly grew curious. What kind of expression was Dolores Umbridge, the one in charge of the Three Decrees, wearing right now...?
...
By this point, Draco understood what was happening outside, as well as the choice his father and the others had made.
Surely even someone like Cornelius Fudge had something on him that could be used or bargained with.
And next, there was something else Draco wanted to know...
“Do we know now what happened with Dumbledore’s injury?”
“As for that... all we know so far is that it’s connected to the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes. It seems he triggered a magical trap that had been set in advance.”
“A magical trap? It seems that Dark Lord really does understand Dumbledore very well.”
The fact that Voldemort had revived by relying on Horcruxes was no longer some enormous secret.
But what Draco was curious about was just how many Horcruxes that death-fearing Dark Lord had actually made in the first place.
Thinking of that, Draco murmured, “Maybe we should investigate how the Dark Lord first learned about Horcruxes.”
As had been said before, knowledge of Horcruxes was not something an ordinary wizard would ever have the chance to come across.
Taboo.
It was always something held only in the hands of a few.
And naturally, that was true in the wizarding world as well...
Hearing Draco mutter to himself, Hermione, who had been paying close attention to this side of the conversation, suddenly spoke up.
“Even so, how can you be sure, Draco, that he learned it from someone else?”
“I don’t.”
“Hah?!”
Draco’s answer made Hermione roll her eyes.
But then she heard what he said next.
“But don’t forget that diary.”
“The diary? Isn’t that one of that person’s Horcruxes... wait!!”
“Looks like you’ve figured it out too.”
Draco had never doubted Hermione’s intelligence or how quickly she caught on.
Pansy, who could not understand what the two of them were talking about, cut in impatiently.
“What are you two talking about? What does that have to do with the diary?”
Hermione frowned.
“Don’t you know? The Dark Lord that appeared from that diary took the form of himself as a student.”
And that meant...
Voldemort had created the diary Horcrux while he was still attending Hogwarts.
...
Because Draco had been directly involved in everything that happened that year, the details surrounding the diary were not much of a secret to Pansy and the others.
The diary.
The Horcrux.
Tom.
Even the way Draco had dealt with that Basilisk back then. None of it was a secret among the girls close to him.
Only Fleur Delacour, standing to the side, was completely lost at this point...
In any case, the topic Draco had raised truly caught the girls’ attention and stirred their curiosity.
Even the little incident that had just happened at Honeydukes was temporarily pushed to the back of Pansy and the others’ minds.
Unable to grasp the crucial point no matter how hard she tried, and seeing Hermione with that thoughtful look on her face, Pansy, who suddenly felt like an outsider, stamped her foot anxiously.
“What are you all talking about? Is there something wrong with that diary?”
Even if the soul inside that diary had really appeared in the form of Voldemort as a student, so what?
Too lazy to think it through herself, Pansy instinctively wanted Draco to give her the right answer directly.
But before Draco could speak, Hermione beat him to it, looking at Pansy with open disdain.
“It’s a huge problem. If you’d actually use that head of yours, the one filled with nothing but Draco, and think properly.”
“Are you calling me an idiot, Granger?!”
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to tell.”
“...”
Well.
By now, Fleur no longer found this scene strange. She had even started to think this was the normal course of events.
But at this point, she did understand what Draco was getting at.
“So, Draco, what you mean is that you suspect that Horcrux was actually made by the Dark Lord himself while he was still studying at Hogwarts?”
Pansy’s lips parted slightly, and a glimpse of her pink tongue could be seen.
“You mean... when he was around our age, that person was already trying to touch this kind of forbidden magic, and he actually succeeded?”
That doubtful tone was not just Pansy’s alone.
Even Hermione, who was always at odds with her, and the other girls as well, all found it rather unbelievable.
“Creating a Horcrux isn’t the kind of thing you can figure out just by sneaking into the Restricted Section. Even if the Dark Lord’s talent was far beyond ordinary people, I still don’t think he could have done it so easily.”
For some reason, Hermione felt as though Pansy’s remark was taking a jab at her.
Draco, who had already expected this reaction from them, merely shrugged unhurriedly.
“That’s why I suspect someone was helping our classmate Tom behind the scenes.”
“...So, from the way you’re talking, do you already have a suspect?”
Hermione had assumed Draco already had someone in mind, but instead she saw him shake his head.
Before the girls could roll their eyes, Draco added calmly,
“Given the Dark Lord’s background, who else do you think he could have gotten that kind of knowledge from?”
“His parents are absolutely out of the question... Books? No, I’m sure of it. Even in the Restricted Section, there’s absolutely nothing about Horcruxes.”
“As for Dark Wizards, there’s no reason they would have had contact with the Dark Lord when he was still just a student, so the most likely possibility is...”
Hermione suddenly seemed to think of something, and she looked at Draco hesitantly.
Could it be... one of the professors at Hogwarts?!
...
Draco’s guess did sound hard to believe.
But before long, Pansy and the others began trying to accept the idea. It was the result of the trust they had built up in Draco over time.
Even Fleur, who had not known him for long, was influenced by the way Pansy and the others trusted him without reservation...
Before parting, Fleur also said she would take the matter seriously.
“I’ll report all of your thoughts on this. As for whether your father will believe it, that’s not something I can decide.”
Knowing how important this matter was, Fleur did not stay any longer and turned to leave at once. Still, the flirtatious glance she threw at Draco before leaving was enough to make Pansy and the others furious once again...
Happy times always passed especially quickly.
Before long, it was afternoon, and time to head back to Hogwarts.
As they entered the castle, they saw the gatekeeper, Filch, again.
He was still holding the iron rod they had seen that morning, waving it back and forth over the young wizards.
That stern and serious expression made it hard not to wonder whether this wide-eyed gatekeeper had stayed by the entrance the entire day without leaving.
As though the moment he stepped away, he would miss out on a hundred million Galleons...
Likewise, Draco, with his “special privileges,” was hardly troubled at all. He passed straight through the Hogwarts gates and made his way to the Great Hall.
While they were waiting for dinner to begin, Hermione slowly came back from her thoughts, then seemed to remember something and leaned closer to Draco’s ear.
“If it’s really like you said, and the Dark Lord knew about Horcruxes because a certain professor taught him, then what are you trying to learn from that professor?”
Even though they had not actually started investigating yet, Hermione already seemed to assume Draco would be able to find that suspect.
That trust made Draco cast her a strange look.
That heated gaze made Hermione shrink back awkwardly.
“...What’s with that weird look? I’m asking you a question.”
But with her cheeks flushed red, Hermione had no force at all when she said it. She looked more like a little kitten begging for food.
Ahem.
Noticing the look Pansy was sending from the other side, Draco gave a light cough to cover it up, then asked Hermione in return,
“Aren’t you curious how many Horcruxes that mad Dark Lord actually made?”
“...Draco, you mean?!”
“Could there really be more than one?!”
The more deeply you understood Horcruxes, the more you realized just how dangerous that magic really was.
It was true that it granted its creator a kind of conditional immortality, but the effect it had on the soul was something no wizard could fully control.
Because there was one extremely important condition for creating a Horcrux.
That was... splitting your soul.
One, two, three Horcruxes. Perhaps if things remained under control, the changes and the corresponding side effects might not be obvious.
But no one believed that was something without risk.
That was also why Pansy and the others had not immediately thought in terms of multiple Horcruxes.
Because… those who desecrate the soul will, in the end, be toyed with by Death.
...
Voldemort had created more Horcruxes than just those.
Draco’s conclusion left Pansy and the others momentarily speechless.
After all, they were not completely ignorant when it came to Horcruxes.
And while they were shocked by Voldemort’s madness, they also began to feel a faint unease about the future of the wizarding world.
If things were really as Draco had analyzed, then wouldn’t that mean...
“So until every Horcrux is destroyed, even if that person fails... he can still keep coming back to life?” Hermione voiced her thoughts, her eyes wavering.
“Though it does require paying a certain price, from a theoretical standpoint, yes.”
“...”
Draco’s calm tone, and the fact that he did not seem worried in the slightest, left Hermione speechless. She tapped the empty plate in front of her, clearly not treating this as a small matter.
Clink, clink.
The silver fork in her hand rang crisply against the plate.
After calming herself a little, Hermione carefully glanced at the classmates gradually filing into the Great Hall.
“Then shouldn’t we first figure out which professors taught at Hogwarts during those seven years?”
She paused, then continued,
“And that person must have been very close to whichever professor it was. Otherwise, there’s no way that professor would have shared something this forbidden.”
“That’s true. With the Dark Lord’s talent for manipulating people, maybe he really did make use of some professor that way. But Granger, have you considered another possibility? Isn’t it also possible the Dark Lord used some method that made...”
“You mean methods like Veritaserum or the Imperius Curse, the kind that can control or force people?”
“Since you already know...”
Interrupting Pansy once again, Hermione flatly rejected her suggestion.
“That’s impossible. We’re talking about the method for creating a Horcrux. The Dark Lord was certainly insane, but he wasn’t some fool who never thought things through.”
“...”
Well.
Even Pansy felt her own argument was not all that convincing.
Magic involving the soul was already dangerous enough. If you added methods like Veritaserum or the Imperius Curse, which only introduced even more uncertainty, that would practically be suicidal.
Not to mention that controlling a Hogwarts professor was hardly as simple as saying the words...
...
With the influence behind Draco, investigating every person a Hogwarts student had come into contact with over seven years at school might still be somewhat difficult.
But if they only wanted to find out which professors had been teaching at Hogwarts during that period, then that was actually easy enough.
After all, it was not some secret worth hiding.
If anything, to reassure parents and make them willing to send their children to Hogwarts, the school needed not only a good reputation, but also excellent professors with formidable magical ability to earn the trust of the wizarding world.
Letting those professors stand in the light was Hogwarts’ best possible advertisement...
The Hogwarts Library.
Hermione was flipping through a massive tome on the table, so thick and heavy it was nearly the height of a house-elf, while explaining what she had found.
“I’m not sure which professor was especially close to the Dark Lord back then, but every wizard who taught at Hogwarts during those years is recorded here.”
Pansy’s expression turned rather strange as she watched Hermione pat the pages of the book.
Compared with the list of professors, Pansy was far more shocked by the huge, heavy volume in front of Hermione.
“The Hogwarts Chronicle... who would even be interested in a book like that?! A lunatic?”
In truth, Hermione not only knew that this book existed in the library, she also seemed to have read what was recorded in it before.
Otherwise, she would not have brought Draco and the others here right away, nor would she have been able to flip to the relevant section and find the key information so quickly.
She really did live up to her reputation as a know-it-all.
Even this kind of obscure knowledge was within her grasp.
As for Pansy’s exaggerated remark, Hermione ignored it completely. Or rather, she was already so used to that kind of reaction that it no longer surprised her...
After casting Pansy a brief sidelong glance, Hermione continued.
“It’s worth noting that Dumbledore was also teaching at Hogwarts at the time. It seems he wasn’t Headmaster yet.”
“Oh, so what subject was Dumbledore teaching back then? Charms?”
“That is not our focus today.”
After glaring at Pansy for wandering off topic, Hermione fixed Draco with a serious look.
“Based on what you said earlier, Draco, if Dumbledore was already on guard against the Dark Lord while he was still a student...”
At that, Hermione hesitated and looked toward Draco.
“Under that assumption, I really don’t think the Dark Lord would have had a chance to complete a Horcrux, unless he had already planned to make one very early on.”
Hearing that, Draco took the heavy book Hermione handed him and lightly ran his fingertip over one of the names on the page.
“There’s nothing wrong with the direction of your reasoning or your doubts. In fact, Dumbledore thought the same thing at the time. But you seem to have forgotten something very important.”
“Something... important?”
“What if there was a hidden place, somewhere no one could find, where our classmate Tom could quietly research Horcruxes?”
“Huh? Where in Hogwarts would there be a place like that? Even the Room of Requirement wouldn’t be impossible to...”
Halfway through, Hermione suddenly remembered something, and her mouth fell slightly open.
That unexpectedly adorable expression made Draco chuckle.
“Remember now... the Chamber of Secrets, said to be openable only by Slytherin’s heir?”
A one-in-a-million genius.
And a madman daring enough to try and put it into practice.
The deeper they investigated and the more they learned, the more clearly Voldemort’s talent and brilliance came into view.
Genius and madman.
Perhaps it was precisely because he possessed both that Voldemort became the Dark Lord who could stir the entire wizarding world into chaos.
...
In truth, investigating exactly how many Horcruxes the Dark Lord had made, and in what forms those Horcruxes existed in the world, was not just a whim on Draco’s part.
This was actually a task Lucius Malfoy had assigned him.
After all, no one was better suited to investigate this matter than Hogwarts students.
Not only were most of the professors who had taught during the Dark Lord’s school years still at Hogwarts, but Draco and the others also had the advantage of being students themselves.
With that identity, they could approach those professors while minimizing the chance of drawing suspicion from Dumbledore, or from any eyes the Dark Lord might have planted inside Hogwarts...
Still, even after narrowing the range down to a certain extent, actually uncovering the truth was no easy task.
Setting aside the question of which target to start with, just figuring out how to gather information was enough to give Pansy and the others a headache for quite a while.
After all, Draco and the others had no intention of alerting the enemy.
Once the other side became wary, there would be no way to investigate the matter clearly.
And unless someone was an idiot, no one would ever admit to having murky ties to the Dark Lord, especially at such a sensitive time.
It was easy to imagine just how difficult this investigation would be...
...
The Slytherin common room.
At the moment, Pansy was sprawled limply across the table as if all her strength had drained away.
Beside her sat Draco, quietly deep in thought.
Looking utterly listless and not the least bit ladylike, Pansy shook her head weakly.
“Did we get it wrong? We’ve spent so much time on this, and in the end we still haven’t made any progress at all.”
Aside from the professors who had taught at Hogwarts back then, Pansy and the others had also spent quite a bit of time approaching the ghosts, those beings who had been around for who knew how long, and trying to coax information out of them.
Most frustrating of all, they had not gotten a single useful piece of information...
Hermione had also come up empty-handed. She first shoved away the face that kept edging closer and closer to her with obvious disgust, then explained her own situation.
“Same on my side. Though Peeves seems like he might know something. We might be able to get something out of him.”
“Peeves? What if he’s just tricking you? Don’t forget, that troublemaker lives to mess with students. Who knows whether anything he says is true?”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything. And besides, it’s only a feeling.”
“Mm... if it’s Peeves, always flying around the castle causing chaos, then maybe he really did happen to see some kind of secret.”
Listening to the information the two girls had gathered, Draco lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his fingers.
To be honest, Draco had never had very high hopes from the start. Rather, trying to pry secrets out of wizards so much older and more experienced than they were had been nearly impossible from the beginning.
Unless that professor happened to be Lockhart, the sort who loved stirring up trouble...
Just as Pansy and Hermione were sighing, Astoria spoke up to comfort them.
“It’s not time to give up yet, is it? Aren’t there still people we haven’t approached?”
“At this point, aside from Headmaster Dumbledore, whom we can’t get near, and Snape, who’s been in an especially bad mood lately, we’ve already investigated just about everyone we could.”
“No... there’s still one more.”
Just as Hermione thought of a certain professor, the common room door happened to open.
And the person who entered, smiling as he walked in with his round belly, was Professor Horace.
“Aha! Minerva didn’t lie to me. Dear Miss Granger, you really are here.”
They heard Professor Horace’s voice from afar.
He seemed to spot Hermione immediately. Having suddenly appeared in the Slytherin common room, Professor Horace came over to Draco and the others with narrowed, smiling eyes.
If one looked closely, then as Horace walked toward Draco in the firelight, it was possible to see something like a hot glow burning deep in his eyes.
Especially when his gaze swept over Draco, it was as if he had seen some priceless treasure, and a peculiar light flashed through his eyes...
Cradling his round belly, Horace greeted them with a beaming smile.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Good afternoon, Professor.”
“Good afternoon, Professor.”
“Good afternoon, Professor.”
Other than Draco, who simply nodded, Pansy and the others all stood and returned the greeting with impeccable manners.
Truth be told, after spending so much time around Pansy and the others, Hermione had gradually picked up all those ladylike manners as well. At a glance, no one would have guessed she was actually a young witch from a Muggle family.
And once Professor Horace noticed that, the smile on his face visibly widened...
Professor Horace, who had suddenly appeared here, did not seem inclined to explain his purpose right away.
Instead, he abruptly began sharing memories of the days when he had still been Slytherin’s Head of House...
“Nothing has changed here at all. If not for everything that happened, I might still be Slytherin’s Head of House even now.”
It was a rather rare sight.
This old man, usually so full of energy, had suddenly grown sentimental as he reminisced about the past.
But he quickly came back to himself.
“My apologies. Lately I keep ending up like this without meaning to.”
Draco spoke directly.
“So, Professor, what did you come to see us for?”
“Oh, right, I nearly forgot. I came to invite Miss Granger to one of my parties. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss it again, would you?”
“...A party, but...”
“Of course, your friends are more than welcome as well. Then it’s settled. I very much look forward to your coming.”
“...”
Although Hermione knew Professor Horace had a habit of not listening to what other people were saying, she had not expected it to happen to her personally.
Watching the professor’s retreating back as he came and went entirely on his own terms, Hermione finally turned toward Draco with a helpless expression.
In response to Hermione’s pleading look, Draco merely shrugged.
“Isn’t this perfect? After all, our final target was just that Professor Horace.”
Yes.
Just as Draco had said.
Given the state of their investigation so far, the biggest suspect was still Voldemort’s Head of Slytherin at the time.
In other words, Horace Slughorn, who had just walked out of here.
...
As time passed, the parties hosted by Horace Slughorn gained an increasingly famous reputation among the young wizards.
In fact, all of them treated being invited as a great achievement, something worth bragging about to others.
Because if Professor Horace invited you to one of his parties, that meant you belonged to that select group of outstanding students. To put it more bluntly, Professor Horace’s parties clearly separated the mediocre from those worth cultivating.
Although this was entirely based on Horace’s own selfish interests and judgment, the young wizards still flocked to it, afraid of being lumped in with the mediocre.
In a way, Professor Horace’s approach was not only deeply utilitarian, but also very realistic...
Even so, this gathering known as the Slug Club had already been held several times, and the number of attendees was only continuing to grow.
“The party’s being held in... right, Professor Horace’s office.”
It was Hermione, climbing the marble staircase, who spoke into Draco’s ear.
Pansy, who was not interested but still could not quite stop herself from worrying, had also come along.
In fact, as the little princess of the Parkinson family, Pansy had naturally received an invitation from Professor Horace as well. She simply had not attended any of the parties since the start of term, just like Hermione.
This time, though, aside from Astoria, who was not feeling very well, all of them had come, including Draco...
While glancing at the other witches and wizards around them who were clearly heading to the same place, Hermione lowered her voice and shared what she had heard.
“Did you hear? Apparently a Vampire might be at the party.”
“A Vampire? Who told you that?” Draco’s expression turned a little strange.
“Ginny told me. Well... more precisely, Luna told her.”
Looking at Hermione, who seemed rather excited, Draco was not sure whether he ought to ruin her enthusiasm.
Vampires did exist in the wizarding world, and a few of them really did get along well with wizards, but...
Before Draco could answer, Pansy spoke for him.
“I think you’re getting excited too soon. I don’t know why you’re so interested in those Vampires, but this is Hogwarts. There’s no way they’d let dark creatures like that in here.”
“...”
Because she was curious about something new, Hermione had forgotten that for a moment.
And just like that, Pansy seized the chance to mock her thoroughly...
“No way, no way. Does anyone really think they’d see a Vampire in a professor’s office?”
“...”
Faced with Pansy’s teasing expression and smug look, the vein at Hermione’s temple slowly began to throb.
And just as Hermione was about to explode, a young witch suddenly appeared around the corner of the corridor. She was walking this way in robes studded with silver sequins, and that unusual outfit immediately drew snickers from the others.
Clearly, in Draco’s mind, there was only one person with such an unconventional sense of style.
It was Luna Lovegood...
...
By the time Draco and the others reached their destination,
it was immediately obvious, whether by design or by magic, that Professor Horace’s office was much larger than an ordinary professor’s office...
Inside the room, emerald green, crimson, and gold drapes hung from the ceiling and walls, making the place feel as though it were inside a great tent.
Even more interesting was the golden lamp hanging from the center of the ceiling, bathing the whole room in a reddish glow. Looking closely, one could even see little fairies flickering inside it.
That discovery made Hermione’s eyes light up, as if those little fairies were dancing in her eyes as well.
And from a distant corner came loud singing, accompanied by something that sounded like a mandolin...
The sight left the young witches and wizards who had been invited for the first time utterly dumbfounded.
No feast at Hogwarts could compare to a party like this.
Draco, however, was experienced enough with this sort of occasion that he remained calm. He led Pansy and the others to a corner, then quietly waited for the party to begin, and for the person they had come for to make an appearance.
As for Luna, who had also been invited...
Although they both liked Gurdyroot tea, and had once gone through that life-and-death battle together, Draco and Luna could not really be called friends.
And Luna was not the sort who excelled at socializing either, so after entering the party, she showed no sign of coming over. She simply wandered around the room on her own.
She looked so natural doing it that anyone who did not know better might have thought Luna herself was the host of the party.
It was worth mentioning that Draco did not see Ginny Weasley anywhere beside her.
Whether Ginny had not been invited, or was busy with something else, she was not there with Luna...
Once they had settled into the corner,
“So, which one is the Vampire you were talking about?”
At that, Hermione tore her gaze away from the house-elves carrying heavy silver trays and glared at Pansy through clenched teeth.
“Parkinson, no one will think you’re mute just because you stop talking.”
“I’m only trying to save you from disappointment.”
“Before you say that, why don’t you wipe that smile off your face first?”
“Hm, is it really that obvious?”
As Draco listened to the girls bickering beside him, his eyes moved over the other young wizards in the room.
He noticed that every one of them either came from an illustrious family or ranked near the top of their year.
But the most eye-catching of all was still Harry Potter, who was glaring at him with open resentment...
Just then, the host of the evening finally appeared.
“Welcome, my children!”
Professor Horace looked especially lively tonight.
He came out wearing a velvet hat with a tassel, which matched the velvet smoking jacket on his body perfectly.
And in his hand was a glass of oak-matured mead, apparently his favorite drink.
The very next moment, without greeting anyone else, Professor Horace headed straight for Draco and the others...
“Come with me. There are so many people I want you to meet!”
Horace spotted Draco at once, and the enthusiasm in his manner made him very hard to refuse.
More accurately, Horace had no intention of giving Draco and the others the chance to refuse. And since they had their own purpose in coming, they had no intention of refusing either.
And so, with both sides perfectly in step, Horace very smoothly led Draco and his group across the entire party.
And Draco and the others immediately drew the attention of many people...