The usual crowd was sprawled across the black leather sofas and armchairs. Draco Malfoy was holding court by the fire, Pansy Parkinson hanging on his every word. Blaise Zabini and Mattheo Riddle were playing a silent game of wizard’s chess on a low table, while the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astoria, shared a sofa, whispering over a magazine. Lorenzo Berkshire was half-dozing in a corner chair.

On the largest sofa, a space had been conspicuously left empty next to Theodore Nott.