Although Draco had given everyone in the Great Hall a magical demonstration that was not only standard, but perfect as well, and although, when guiding Pansy and Hermione in practicing Apparition, he made no effort to hide his method from the others and instead explained the techniques and tricks of Apparition with complete openness, even so, by the time this special Apparition class ended, not a single person had successfully cast proper Apparition again...
In fact, not only had no one succeeded, but more and more cases of Splinching kept happening one after another, turning the Great Hall into an extremely bloody scene.
If the professors had not stepped in in time to save them, it probably would not have been easy for them to walk out through those doors with all their limbs intact.
And when set against that, Draco's successful mastery of Apparition became even more impressive.
Even Hermione, known as a know-it-all, needed Draco's help to avoid an accident, let alone everyone else, who had no such treatment.
In short.
Under those circumstances, this Apparition lesson really was not a pleasant or friendly experience for most of the young wizards.
Perhaps this was also meant to let them recognize the cruelty of the wizarding world ahead of time...
...
As the weather gradually turned colder, most of the young wizards liked to curl up in their own House common rooms and keep warm by the fire.
And even though the Slytherin common room was located beneath the lake, it was still very warm inside.
At this moment, Draco was tucked into the best corner of the common room with the girls...
Although they wanted to find a weakness in Professor Horace, even after two weeks, Draco and the others still had not found a chance to sneak into Professor Horace's office.
Pansy, however, had not been keeping close track of how things were progressing. To her, as long as she could stay by Draco's side, everything else seemed far less important.
Hermione, on the other hand, had been unable to let the matter go. During this time, she kept bringing it up to Draco every so often.
Her concern over it had even made her temporarily forget that she still had not successfully cast Apparition in class...
"You look really unwilling to accept it, but you weren't the only one who failed."
"...But not no one succeeded, right?"
As she said that, Hermione deliberately flicked her eyes toward Draco.
Miss Granger had never been willing to admit defeat in matters like this. Even if the person in question was someone she liked, she still wanted to keep up with him, or even surpass him.
It might seem like an unnecessary thing to get hung up on, but this was also one of Hermione's unique charms, one of the things that made her shine.
At the very least, Draco admired that trait in Hermione very much, and it was also the biggest reason she had truly attracted him...
But Hermione's frustration was not actually all about Apparition.
"You haven't forgotten the important thing, have you?"
"What important thing?"
"The Pensieve, obviously! Don't tell me you've completely forgotten about it."
"O-of course not."
"If you haven't, then why are you stuttering?"
"Who's stuttering!"
Not wanting to keep bickering with Pansy, Hermione turned straight toward Draco, because she wanted to know what Draco was thinking about the matter.
Surely they were not just going to give up like this?
She was still very curious about the Horcruxes.
Meeting Hermione's curious gaze, Draco lightly twirled the Serpent-Head Cane. "Actually, our chance is coming very soon."
"A chance? What kind of chance?"
"Dobby sent word that our Potions professor seems to be planning to make the Christmas party bigger."
"So..."
"And since he was the one who proposed the idea, and even became the organizer, he'll naturally have to spend time and energy on it. In other words, until the Christmas party is completely over, Professor Horace won't be able to pull himself away from it."
"I see. You mean we can leave early, or even not attend the Christmas party at all, and take that chance to quietly sneak into his office and find the hidden Pensieve!"
Although Astoria had not been there at the time,
after hearing the whole story from Draco and the others afterward, and combining that with what Draco had just said, she immediately understood the plan Draco had in mind.
And once Draco nodded in confirmation, the adventurous part hidden deep inside Hermione's heart began to pound faster.
In the professors' eyes, Hermione was a clever and reliable good student. But what they did not know was that among Pansy and the other girls, Hermione was actually the boldest one.
In fact, when it came to sneaking into professors' offices and the Restricted Section, Hermione seemed to be both the most experienced and the most excited about it.
By comparison, even Draco, who liked breaking rules and certainly had the ability to do so, had actually never once set foot in the Restricted Section...