Although the way she had been raised, along with the environment she grew up in, had always left Pansy indifferent to those "commoner" wizards and even openly disdainful of them, to put it bluntly, she looked down on them...
But as she grew older and gained more experience, and with the existence of an oddity like Draco at her side, Pansy had gradually come to realize that the values and beliefs drilled into her by her elders were not necessarily so absolute or correct after all.
Hermione Granger, her love rival, had especially made one thing clear. Among those wizards, there truly were exceptionally outstanding people.
That was why, when she heard Hermione's somewhat fanciful idea, Pansy had still chosen to remain silent.
Because she could see the benefits in it.
Or more precisely, Pansy had already read from Draco's expression that he, too, had agreed with Hermione's idea...
...
And so, before everyone's astonished eyes, Hermione chose Neville Longbottom, who looked timid and never seemed able to refuse anyone, as her very first target.
Although Mr. Longbottom was visibly nervous when he came up to Draco, and had quite obviously been dragged over by Hermione, the result still satisfied her.
At the very least, Draco had shown everyone present that he was not actually as difficult to approach as they imagined.
Even if he still wore a blank expression the whole time he was sharing his experience...
In any case.
If you truly wanted to change how someone thought, that was never something you could accomplish overnight.
Just like changing other wizards' impression of the Malfoy family, it would definitely take quite a bit of time to achieve.
So Hermione was not so arrogant as to think that this one small incident alone could accomplish the final goal.
But more than that, what made Hermione happiest was not that the first step had finally been taken.
It was that Draco had actually been willing to do it. That was the real reason for her joy.
Even a day later, Hermione's face was still full of happiness, which made Pansy roll her eyes from the side...
Just as Pansy was feeling a little envious, Goyle's rough voice rang out by her ear. "Patil's parents are taking her home. She and Eloise Midgen both withdrew yesterday."
When they turned around, they saw that Goyle was reporting everything that had happened at school recently to Draco.
In truth, this was nothing new.
Just a few days earlier, someone had been called out in the middle of class.
Then they were told that their mother had been murdered, and after that, Draco and the others never saw that witch again.
Things like this were happening almost every day...
...
Outside the window, a cold, misty drizzle fell.
The weather seemed to be weeping for the wizarding world as it was now.
Goyle's words drew both Hermione's and Pansy's attention.
Hermione reacted the most strongly, because the witch who had been called out halfway through class was from Gryffindor, her own house.
Watching someone you knew disappear from your life right in front of you was indeed a deeply shocking thing for anyone...
"People are panicking... the attacks outside are becoming more and more frequent."
Hearing that, Pansy nodded in agreement. "That's true. Just from the information we have now, there have already been several incidents involving Dementors attacking crowds."
If the Death Eaters and dark creatures still had some restraints, then the Dementors had no such concerns at all.
Like mad dogs that had been let loose, they were constantly "feeding" all over the wizarding world...
Speaking of intelligence, although Draco had not yet made much progress in building a house-elf intelligence network, after that conversation with Lucius, he had gained access to the family's own network.
And the one providing the information was naturally none other than Dobby.
While serving as a bodyguard, he had also become their source of intelligence.
That was why Draco and the others, even while at Hogwarts, were able to know in near real time what was happening outside...
"Have you noticed?" Hermione lowered her voice. "His seat has been empty a lot lately, just like Hagrid's."
"I think he's been leaving the school to deal with matters related to the Order of the Phoenix. The current situation doesn't exactly allow him to stay at school all the time."
The "he" Hermione meant was, of course, Dumbledore, who had rarely been appearing at school lately.
As for the information about the Order of the Phoenix, Draco had heard it from Ginny and then passed it on to Pansy and the others.
Interestingly enough, Ginny herself probably did not even know that much.
But compared to that...
"Hagrid... has he been absent because he's dealing with that giant in the Forbidden Forest?"
"That part isn't very clear, but he definitely didn't leave to send him back to the giants' tribe. After all, those giants have already gone over to the Dark Lord."
Just as Hermione and Pansy were whispering to each other, Professor Horace suddenly rose from the teachers' table and started walking toward Harry Potter's seat.
That action alone made everyone in the Great Hall turn to look.
Playing with his beard and thrusting out his great belly, Professor Horace greeted the somewhat startled Harry Potter with warm enthusiasm. "Harry, Harry, just the person I was hoping to see."
"Um... Professor?"
"How about coming round to my place for dinner tonight? We're having a little gathering, only a few rising stars. I've invited McLaggen, Zabini, and the charming Melinda."
"..."
"I don't know if you know her. Her family owns a large chain of apothecaries."
As for Harry Potter's roommates sitting beside him, Horace ignored them completely, not even willing to spare them a glance.
From that alone, it was easy to see just how differently Horace treated different students.
And after saying all that, he did not seem to think Harry Potter would refuse him, so he did not even wait for an answer. He simply turned and headed straight toward the Slytherin side instead.
It seemed Horace's next target was Hermione Granger, who was blinking in surprise...