Chapter 834: Chapter 713: Conna Did Not Take the Train_3
But right now, the room was packed with people.
"Harry, Kael." As the two pushed the door open, Slughorn jumped up immediately.
He seemed to have dressed up on purpose today; his thick silver beard was neatly trimmed, and just like the gold buttons on his vest, it sparkled in the sunlight.
"You actually came together—what a huge surprise!"
"And this must be Mr. Neville Longbottom. Hello."
Neville nodded stiffly. He still hadn’t figured out what was going on, so he just copied how Kael behaved and sat down at the closest empty seat.
Strangely, ever since Kael walked in, the atmosphere here seemed to get a little weird, or more accurately, some Slytherin students started acting odd.
Some hung their heads low, others whispered in little groups, but whenever Kael glanced over, they’d instantly pretend as if nothing had happened.
Frankly, this was perfectly normal. Ever since Kael had given Montague a little lesson last year, most Slytherins had chosen to keep their distance from him.
Especially this past holiday—Kael had brought plenty of trouble to their parents, too.
"Everyone’s here now," Slughorn said happily. "Let me introduce you. This is Blaise Zabini."
He casually pointed to a boy beside him. "Harry, you definitely know him—you’re in the same year."
Both Harry and Zabini acted as if they hadn’t heard, not reacting at all: typically, Gryffindor and Slytherin were sworn enemies, and wherever both sides were present, there would always be gunpowder in the air.
The fact they weren’t brawling on the spot already counted as polite.
Slughorn went on to introduce the others.
"This is Cormac McLaggen, Kael, he’s in your year as well..."
"Kael, I’m very glad to see you here." McLaggen raised his hand, greeting formally.
Kael nodded in response.
"Marcus Belby, also seventh year..."
Unlike the tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Hufflepuff was still quite popular... at least when Slughorn was introducing the others to Kael, everyone was enthusiastic.
"All right, how delightful..."
After the lengthy introductions, Slughorn said with satisfaction, "A chance to get to know you all better. Everyone take a napkin and try this."
He waved his wand, and instantly everyone had a plate of wild pheasant appear in front of them.
Long-feathered pheasant, a Fantastic Beast unique to the Appalachian Mountains—with no special abilities other than being fast, but the meat was delicious.
Kael wasn’t surprised that Slughorn managed to get his hands on this stuff... but this probably wasn’t made by the House-elves, but by Slughorn himself.
As for the taste... well, it was like tossing a flat, round stone into the water, and it didn’t even make a single splash.
Slughorn should really apologize to the long-feathered pheasant.
And, as everyone was eating, Slughorn kept throwing out all sorts of questions.
"Marcus, have you seen your Uncle Damocles recently? I had the honor of teaching him back then."
"Cormac, I happen to know you often see your Uncle Tibulus; he mentioned you to me before..."
"Zabini, how’s your mother? It’s been two years since we last met, but I still can’t forget her orange pie."
They called it a chat, but Slughorn’s tone was more like an interrogation—everyone was on edge.
Kael also noticed that as soon as Belby accidentally admitted he didn’t get along with his uncle, Slughorn lost all interest in him.
When distributing pie, Slughorn even conveniently skipped him—maybe on purpose, maybe not.
But instead of getting mad, Belby looked relieved. Catching Kael’s eye, he blinked, flashing a look of being utterly set free.
"Did you catch that?" Harry scooted up next to Kael, whispering, "Slughorn keeps bringing up some relative of theirs."
"No, you’ve got it wrong," Kael shook his head lightly. "It’s precisely because of those relatives that they got invited."
"That’s just..." Harry opened his mouth but didn’t say the word "snob."
"Exactly as you think," said Kael.
Harry glanced again at Slughorn, who was dividing up the pudding, and liked him even less.
Of course, not liking someone was one thing—but since he was still a professor, Harry kept it inside, only wishing internally that lunch would finish soon.
Rather than wasting time here, he’d much rather chat with Ron or finish another essay.
Neville felt the same way; every time Slughorn brought up his parents, it made Neville feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.
"Now..."
Twenty minutes later, Slughorn stood up and announced solemnly, "Let me introduce two other guests."
"Harry Potter—people now call him the ’Star of Salvation.’ Yes, after that dreadful night over a decade ago, that title has stuck to him... Some say you must have extraordinary powers..."
A subtle but cold snort rippled through the room.
Harry felt as though he’d been slapped twice—the sides of his face burning red.
Luckily, Slughorn shifted the focus quickly.
"And Kael..." Slughorn placed the biggest slice of pudding in front of Kael.
"Your father and I are good friends. Back when I taught him, I knew he was bound for great things—and he proved me right, becoming the youngest Minister at the Ministry of Magic."
"But what I hadn’t expected was for his son to turn out even better than him."
"Thank you for the compliment, Professor." Kael said calmly, though right now he just wanted to Apparate away to Hogsmeade.
...
