The Great Hall, with its five long tables, was much more crowded than before. The Gryffindor table was now only about a corridor's width away from the wall.
Slytherin, meanwhile, was positioned against the wall on the other side of the Great Hall.
Between the two houses lay, in order, the tables of Hufflepuff, the exchange group, and Ravenclaw.
Caught off guard by the news, Harry turned around in astonishment. His gaze passed over Hannah, Dom, Marietta, and Parkinson's shoulders before settling on Malfoy, who sat beneath the wall looking slightly sickly.
As if by coincidence, Malfoy seemed to sense Harry's scrutiny. Just as he was carefully cutting up a portion of lamb, he looked up.
Facing Harry's probing gaze, something flickered in Draco's gray eyes, but they quickly returned to their vacant state. He lowered his head as if nothing had happened and resumed dealing with his dinner.
"Where did you hear that, Hermione?"
Harry turned his head, frowning at Hermione.
"Slytherin and Ravenclaw had Herbology together this afternoon. Nott questioned Malfoy in class about why he wouldn't be participating, and Padma overheard their conversation. Padma told Parvati during the run earlier—"
Hermione bit into a pumpkin pasty while lowering her head to count the names on the parchment in her hand.
"Give me your list, Ron. The notice says prefects have to submit it to their Head of House before ten tomorrow. I need to total up the people you registered. Ron?"
The hand she held out to Ron received no parchment for quite some time. Hermione looked up and found Ron staring at her blankly as well.
"Isn't Malfoy Slytherin's prefect?"
Seeing the impatience in Hermione's eyes, Ron immediately began frantically rummaging through his bag.
"Professor Breen's notice only said that prefects were to compile the list