Horace Slughorn was an especially talkative man. He bustled around in the kitchen for a while, then invited Dumbledore and Anton to sit down and enjoy some morning tea.
Well, to be precise, Anton had fruit tea. Slughorn mixed a special cocktail for himself and Dumbledore, one that glimmered with a faint purple light.
It looked positively radioactive.
"You shouldn't have burned my letters!" Slughorn took a sip of his drink, then invited Dumbledore to try the blueberry cheesecake ice cream cake he had prepared. He turned a somewhat grave look on Anton. "You're a Ministry of Magic official now, too. Do you know a man named Dirk Cresswell?"
Anton blinked and shook his head to show he didn't.
"He's the director of the Goblin Liaison Office in the Magical Creatures Management and Control Department. One of my favorite students, though he came from a Muggle family. He's very talented."
Anton wasn't about to look down on the director of the Goblin Liaison Office just because Uncle Lupin was head of the Magical Creatures Management and Control Department. Old Ronaldo, his mentor at the Ministry, had once told him about the Ministry's internal ecosystem. Being high-ranking and holding the key to real power were two entirely different paths.
And the director of the Goblin Liaison Office held the key to real power. His position involved more than just maneuvering between Pure-blood Families or internal Ministry politics. It even touched on the deeper workings of the Wizarding World.
For instance, the support of Professor Slughorn, who had taught countless students and enjoyed a lofty position among the Pure-blood Families.
He was clearly better than Dumbledore at maintaining the ties he'd built with his students over a lifetime of teaching.
"We have a good relationship, and we've kept in close touch." Slughorn