They said birds of a feather flocked together, and there was a reason Hermione, Draco, and the others never quite fit into Cabin's inner circle.
Unlike top students like Hermione and Percy, Cabin's members weren't as widely read or knowledgeable. Instead, they were more devoted to magic itself.
This was clearest from Anton's experience sharing his knowledge in his day-to-day lessons.
His Dark Wizard followers had all signed up for courses at Azkaban Academy and often came to attend classes, but they were more interested in the basic courses and the Everyday Magic Anton was researching.
Harry, Ron, Dudley, and Crabbe were more inclined to learn the kind of magic that was more powerful and looked more impressive.
Hermione, Draco, and Percy preferred magical fields that could bring them social influence, such as the various branches that had grown out of Anton's Gray Magic.
These three groups had different pursuits: life, combat, and politics.
By comparison, Goyle, that simple-minded lug, was remarkably pure-hearted.
Whatever Anton felt like teaching him, he would study earnestly. When George and Fred were feeding the animals, he would cheerfully help them feed the little creatures. Even the flowers and plants Hannah had been too busy to tend lately, with her work in the Wizarding World, had been left in Goyle's care.
It was the sort of thing people instinctively foisted on a newcomer in the workplace.
It also meant Goyle was steadily becoming part of Cabin's inner circle.
Anton's hunch had been right. Everyone really did like the pure-hearted, simple-minded Goyle.
Getting along with people was a curious thing. Even though Hannah and Anna both liked Hermione as a friend, there was still an invisible gulf between them.
Grindelwald had once given Anton some advice about Goyle.
He believed the main reason Goyle hadn't taken