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...