Draco and the others' first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year ended with Gryffindor losing twenty points and Harry Potter being assigned detention.
Even so, what had happened in class drew far less attention from the other students than anyone might have expected. In less than a day, no one was talking about it anymore.
Rather, the terrible relationship between Harry Potter and Snape had long since ceased to be news. There was nothing particularly surprising about it.
At most, people were only a little taken aback by Harry Potter's nerve.
And with Draco having become the new idol of this year's first-years, apart from those Gryffindors who already disliked Snape, hardly anyone cared about the incident at all.
What Draco and the others were more concerned about instead was Harry Potter's strange behavior...
As they walked out of the classroom, Hermione brought up what she knew.
"Actually, at the start of term, Ginny already mentioned to me that Potter seemed a little off, and that it might have something to do with you."
"Because of me?"
"Ginny didn't say much in detail, but I'm guessing it has something to do with what The Daily Prophet has been reporting, right?"
Lately, The Daily Prophet had either been reporting disappearances in the wizarding world or singing the praises of the Ministry of Magic's power.
And in its efforts to crack down on Dumbledore's influence, the Ministry had made Harry Potter one of its main targets.
It seemed the Ministry had completely given up on the idea of trying to win Harry Potter over.
That was why Hermione had brought up The Daily Prophet...
But Draco didn't seem to care much about any of it. At that moment, he appeared somewhat distracted.
To be precise, of the few of them there, Hermione was the only one acting remotely normal.
Ever since they had left the classroom, Pansy, walking on Draco's other side, hadn't said a single word. She had simply kept her head lowered, lost in her own thoughts the entire way.
If one looked closely, it was easy to see that Pansy's steps were a little unsteady, and she seemed rather weak in the knees.
As for the reason...
That definitely had something to do with the magic ice silk on her legs having ended up in a bit of a mess...
...
Afternoon.
After lunch, it was time for Potions.
Following the familiar route down to Hogwarts' underground classroom, they arrived at the room that had always belonged exclusively to Snape.
When Draco and the others reached the door, they saw that only around a dozen students had come for today's advanced Potions class.
Compared with the other subjects, Potions clearly had a higher threshold, and its grade requirements were far stricter.
Perhaps it was just as Snape had said before...
There would be no foolish wand-waving here, so most people would never believe this was magic. Nor would they ever truly appreciate the wonder of a cauldron simmering gently over a low flame, white steam curling upward with waves of fragrance, or understand the mysterious magic of liquids slipping into human veins, the kind that could stir the heart and cloud the will.
To put it bluntly... Potions was not a subject fools and idiots could master.
In other words, every student who could appear here was a clear-headed and intelligent wizard...
Naturally, there was no sign of Goyle and Crabbe here, nor was Neville Longbottom anywhere to be seen.
Worth mentioning was that Pansy did not seem to be here either.
What surprised Draco, however, was seeing Harry Potter among the students. Draco had never noticed any particular talent in him when it came to this subject.
He could not help wondering whether Harry Potter had received some special treatment from someone...
In any case.
The moment Draco appeared, the other wizards, who had just been chatting and greeting one another, immediately quieted down. The looks they turned on him carried faint traces of awe and tension.
As expected of students chosen by Professor Horace.
Compared with other more impulsive students, the wizards here were far more cautious, and they understood how to treat someone stronger than themselves.
At the very least, they were not like Harry Potter, incapable of hiding their emotions at all...
Hermione was in a very good mood, probably because Pansy was not here.
Even Harry Potter's unnerving stare from not far away seemed unable to put a damper on her cheerfulness.
Holding her books, Hermione sat down beside Draco with complete ease.
"Professor Horace. Do you know much about him?"
Since the professor had not arrived yet, Hermione wanted to get a little information from Draco first.
But when Draco felt the thigh pressed against his beneath the table, he could not help suspecting that Hermione was not truly interested in learning about Professor Horace at all, and had some other unspeakable purpose instead.
Glancing at Hermione's slightly flushed face, Draco blinked lightly.
"You mean Slughorn? How should I put it... that man... you could say he's a very pure Slytherin."
"A pure Slytherin?"
"He doesn't care about blood status, and he doesn't care what kind of background you have. The only thing he cares about is how much value you, as a person, can offer him."
Simply put, profit came first.
And in Horace's eyes, outstanding talent was something very "valuable."
In other words, every wizard who could appear here possessed a certain amount of value...
As he answered Hermione, Draco swept his gaze around the room.
Unlike before, the underground classroom was already filled with steam and rich, tempting scents, the sort of scents that would never appear in Snape's Potions lessons.
In Draco's memory, Potions class was supposed to smell unpleasant and feel gloomy.
But this enticing fragrance reminded him of Pansy's favorite honey pie, and of the scent of sunlight warming his skin...
Wait.
"This feeling of contentment...?"
Draco narrowed his eyes and looked at Hermione beside him, only to see the girl pressing her lips together and smiling at him in a languid, lazy way.
That unusual reaction immediately made Draco understand what kind of potion was inside the golden cauldron in the center of the classroom, the one giving off that fragrant aroma.
Just then, the door to the underground classroom opened...
Before the man had even fully stepped inside, his round belly had already entered first, followed by the great mustache quivering above his mouth. The smiling look on his face made it seem as though he was genuinely eager to see his students.
"Very good, very good, very good. Everyone, please take out the tools and ingredients you'll need. And don't forget your Advanced Potion-Making."
Professor Horace.
This old man with the bulging belly and walrus-like mustache was Draco and the others' Potions professor for the year...