"Ahem!" Pansy had clearly noticed the three boys' expressions and immediately cleared her throat, hoping they would remember where their loyalties lay.
Draco understood at once and immediately asked, "Who else did Slughorn invite?"
"Um, ** Hopkins, Megan Jones, Ernie Macmillan, and Zacharias Smith. Oh, and Zabini and Davies," Bulstrode said.
"Zabini and Davies, I know," Draco said thoughtfully.
"Hopkins, hmm, I know about him. He has a very influential uncle. Macmillan goes without saying; his family has always done pretty well. I'm rather surprised Smith was invited, though. And what qualified Jones for an invitation?"
Megan Jones was a girl with considerable allure.
She had once shown a keen interest in Harry. After Harry and Qiu became a couple, however, she had kept a little distance. She was a girl who knew her boundaries.
Her mother was a witch, and her father was a Muggle. That sort of situation was common in Hufflepuff.
"Her uncle is now third-in-command at the Auror Office," Pansy said.
"Oh, that explains it. Who else? Anyone from the other years?" Draco continued asking.
"I don't really know the ones from the other years, but there was a Belby, from Ravenclaw. And McLaggen, from Gryffindor..."
"I know McLaggen. His uncle is a senior Ministry official. But Belby? What qualifies him?" Draco frowned.
"Perhaps his uncle? Damocles Belby," Pansy said again. "He must be one of Slughorn's most outstanding former students."
"That fellow who likes dealing with werewolves?" Draco scoffed.
"Slughorn really has dreadful taste. I think he's gone senile. And to think my father used to say he was an excellent wizard back then. My father seems to have been quite a favorite of his, too. Ha, I suppose he didn't know I was on the train. Otherwise..."
"I don't think so," Pansy said, shaking