"Whoa, that's the Malfoy family for you. They certainly know how to splash out." After the Malfoys left, Su Er picked up the cloth pouch, opened it, and tipped its contents onto the table with a pleasant jingling sound.
"How much is there?" Hermione asked curiously. She had stayed silent all this time, watching events unfold.
"At least a hundred." Su Er glanced over the coins and clicked his tongue in admiration. "A tidy little windfall."
Draco Malfoy had certainly been unwilling to come here to apologize. Old Malfoy surely knew at least something of what his precious son had experienced that night a week ago, yet he had brought Draco Malfoy here anyway.
After all, according to Su Er and the others' account, Draco Malfoy had been the first to confront the Death Eater. He had held the Death Eater off, allowing Su Er and the others to succeed in their "surprise attack."
There was nothing much to that in itself, but the problem was that Old Malfoy had once been one of the Death Eaters. No, he still was, and would be in the future too.
That meant Old Malfoy could use this incident to clear his name if necessary.
However, although it had not made the papers, many wizards knew about it, and word would inevitably reach the Noseless Freak, who had already briefly acquired a physical body. How Old Malfoy would protect himself from the Noseless Freak's suspicions was not Su Er's concern.
With a swish, the compartment door slid open again.
Ron and Harry came in, with Ginny tagging along behind them.
"We just ran into Malfoy outside," Ron said as soon as he entered, his face full of disgust at the unwelcome encounter. Then his gaze became firmly fixed on the Galleons on the