Though it was only the briefest flicker, Draco still caught the odd look in Horace's eyes.
He could more or less guess what it meant. "Is he trying to invite me into his Slug Club?"
He lifted an eyebrow.
Disgust flashed plainly across Hermione's face. "What kind of revolting name is that?"
"Don't underestimate that club. It's a gathering Horace Slughorn started back when he first began teaching at Hogwarts."
"It specifically invites outstanding students, the children of famous and successful people, and children from families with strong connections in the wizarding world."
"When he first began teaching? You mean that weird-sounding club has been around for decades?"
"Exactly. If you knew who was in it, you definitely wouldn't look down on it."
As he said that, Draco gave Hermione a particularly pointed look.
The seriousness in his eyes made Hermione's heart jolt.
"You actually know who some of the members are?"
"Of course. As far as I know, its members include the owner of Honeydukes, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, an official from the Goblin Liaison Office, the captain of the Holyhead Harpies Quidditch team, and even Tom Riddle, someone you know very well."
"..."
That string of names left Hermione staring in shock, her mouth falling open.
Industrialists, officials, celebrities. Some of them were the kind of important figures she had no way of coming into contact with at all right now.
And... Tom Riddle?!
Wasn't that Voldemort?
The moment Hermione remembered exactly who Tom Riddle was, she looked up in stunned disbelief. "You just said... Tom Riddle? But isn't that..."
"That's right. It's exactly who you think it is. I didn't misspeak, and I certainly didn't remember wrong."
Draco's crisp answer immediately shut down any other explanation Hermione might have tried to come up with.
Looking back at Professor Horace on the platform, with his round belly jutting out and not looking remotely like some formidable figure, Hermione suddenly found herself growing curious about this so-called Slug Club...
...
No one noticed anything unusual about Horace, or the conversation Draco and Hermione had just had.
And after Harry Potter sat back down in his seat, Horace gave the rest of the students no chance to notice anything either...
"All right." As he spoke, Horace pushed out his already bulging stomach a little farther. "I've prepared a few potions to broaden your horizons. Purely for my own amusement, of course."
"By the time you finish the advanced class, all of you should be able to brew things like these. Now then, even if you haven't made them yourselves yet, you've certainly heard of them or read about them in books."
"So, who can tell me what this potion is?"
As Horace pointed toward the golden cauldron near the back of the classroom, every young witch and wizard in the room turned to look.
At that exact moment, Draco saw Hermione, seated beside him, shoot her hand high into the air.
She was so quick and practiced that even Professor Horace, seeing it for the first time, froze for a few seconds.
He probably hadn't expected anyone to have the answer so fast.
Once he gave her permission to speak, Hermione immediately delivered the answer she already knew by heart. "It's Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that forces whoever drinks it to tell the truth."
A perfect answer.
You could hear from Professor Horace's laugh just how pleased he was with Hermione's response.
In a way, choosing Hermione for his class was also indirect proof that his judgment had not dulled with age...
And when Hermione went on to identify the next few potions correctly as well, one after another, the sheer depth of her knowledge left every student in the room staring at her in astonishment. The only ones who kept a straight face were Draco of Slytherin and Harry Potter, who was from the same house.
After all, in the past five years at school, they had seen scenes like this more times than they could count. To students from those two houses, there was nothing remarkable about it anymore.
Only the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students, who rarely had class with Gryffindor, were shocked enough to react like this...
"So this is the legendary know-it-all?"
"Now I finally get why everyone calls Granger that."
"How does she even do it?"
Given enough time, they might have been able to answer Professor Horace's questions too. But to give a perfect answer in such a short time was another matter entirely...
...
Veritaserum, Polyjuice Potion, Love Potion.
From the signs these potions showed when completed to the effects they carried, Hermione gave flawless answers to every question.
And with each correct response, Professor Horace's attitude toward her grew warmer and warmer. There was even a trace of surprise in his eyes.
Perhaps this was the first time in all his years of teaching that he had ever met a student this outstanding.
"Excellent, excellent. I take it you must be Miss Granger."
"You know me, sir?"
"Of course. You're very close friends with Mr. Malfoy, aren't you?"
Professor Horace's wink and meaningful smile made Hermione flush and shoot Draco, beside her, an accusing glare.
It made sense.
No matter how brilliant Hermione was, there was no way a professor meeting her for the first time would recognize her on sight. More likely, he cared a great deal about everything connected to Draco and had looked into it beforehand.
And since Hermione was almost always with Draco, Horace would naturally know who she was as well...
But that was the extent of it.
His next question made it obvious that Horace didn't really know much about Hermione's background.
"Granger? Are you the child of Hector Dagworth-Granger, founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"
That long name left Hermione looking bewildered, while Draco, beside her, vaguely remembered that there did seem to be such a person in the wizarding world.
What Draco had not expected was that Professor Horace would actually connect the two.
Was Horace's memory really that extraordinary, or were his connections just that terrifying...?
Realizing it was a misunderstanding, Hermione hurriedly waved her hand. "No, probably not, Professor. I'm muggle-born."
To everyone's surprise, Professor Horace showed no sign of disappointment at all.
On the contrary, he looked at her with a broad smile, then glanced at Draco sitting beside her.
"Very good, very good. Twenty points, well deserved, to Miss Granger of Gryffindor."
When it was over, Hermione shot Draco a look that was both proud and puzzled. Draco only shrugged. "I told you before. This Slughorn doesn't care whether you're a muggle."
"Mm... that really is... a very unusual Slytherin."
At that moment, Hermione seemed to understand why so many students were willing to get close to Professor Horace...