Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 448 Horace Slughorn
"Severus, I just agreed... You will be the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts for one semester. You should know the curse in this class. I don't want to lose such an excellent teacher as you... Besides, you and McGuffin will be very busy in the future."

"……very busy!"

Dumbledore emphasized pointedly.

At this time, the house-elf had already brought the Thestral carriage over.

"Okay, get in the car! We have another Potions master, Snape, before leaving for Gringotts tomorrow morning."

"Who are you talking about? Who is my successor."

"Horace!"

"The old spider?"

"He's your professor, Severus! Don't you also benefit a lot from his club? Although I don't agree with his teaching method." Dumbledore said.

Snape curled his lips, but said nothing.

He went on, "But can you get him back to take my place? Horace isn't Moody... so easy to talk to."

"Well, that's a problem, I was going to take Harry with me. But..."

Dumbledore looked at McGuffin.

"According to his well-informed level... he should have noticed McGuffin. I'm afraid he wants to see you more now, and Harry can also be used as another bait to attract him."

"Albert, it's up to you to convince him."

"I?"

"Well, that's right."

When McGuffin desperately recalled how Harry convinced the chubby old spider in the plot.

Snape then asked,

"Is it just him? Isn't there anyone else? That old spider just sees the wind and turns, and don't forget the Dark Lord is still his student... There are so many good candidates for the job, and I know a lot of good potionists if I can..."

It can be seen that he still has some objections to his successor being Horace.

Dumbledore stepped into the Thestral carriage, turned around after hearing this, and said, "It's because Voldemort is his student... I have to invite him."

"Where do you think Voldemort's knowledge about [Horcrux] came from, such ancient knowledge of taboo black witchcraft...according to Voldemort's caution...he will definitely find a wizard who is highly respected, values ​​​​him, and will not deceive him for confirmation."

"You mean!" Snape's voice rose twice.

"Well, when I got Tom Riddle's notebook... that is [Horcrux] last year, I started to re-investigate Riddle's life trajectory, especially during Hogwarts... because I found out that this Muggle notebook was only issued during this period."

"That is to say... the time to make this notebook [Horcrux]... should be when he is about to graduate. Only then will Tom Riddle have the conditions to cast this dangerous black magic."

"This means...he must have left traces in someone's memory. I learned from the memories of several old classmates in North America where Voldemort hid...When Voldemort was about to graduate, Horace held a certain party, and Voldemort was very excited after that...Maybe that memory is very helpful for us to investigate how many [Horcruxes] Voldemort made."

"If I'm not mistaken... Voldemort has been interested in certain numbers since he was a student."

"..."

Dumbledore got into the carriage, and Snape followed.

The conversation between the two reached the ears of McGuffin outside.

"Come on up, McGuffin, don't you really miss this place? Maybe... Moody can arrange a 'suite' for you to live in?" Snape urged coldly from inside.

Damn Batmonger!
McGuffin tidied up his face, put on a curious look, and got into the carriage.

The rainstorm is still going on... The raindrops are big and small, beating rhythmically on the roof of the car,

There were bursts of thunder outside, and the golden snake danced wildly... Just like before, streaks of golden light rumbled past the side of the carriage.

When Dumbledore and Snape finally stopped discussing Voldemort, they realized that McGuffin was trying to divert his attention to a small spider in the corner of the carriage.

In order to see this little thing clearly, he also made a very small and very weak [Fluorescent Charm] to illuminate the corner.

Snape sneered at the sight.

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "Don't be nervous, McGuffins, thestrals have their own way to avoid those thunder and hurricanes in bad weather... They even like this kind of bad weather to prey... I thought you like this kind of creature, you should know this."

This reassured McGuffin a lot, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous looking at the lightning passing by again and again, and wanted to ask how long it would take to land.

"Professor? Where the hell are we going?"

"London!"

Sure enough, McGuffin had noticed that they were galloping towards London.

- Boom!
There was another loud noise, and the carriage trembled slightly.

McGuffin trembled, and hurriedly grabbed the wand in his pocket to embolden himself.

"Professor, why can't we [apparate] directly to that Professor Horace's home... no, near his home?"

"I know [Apparition] can take people there." McGuffin asked after swallowing.

"[Apparition] moving to someone else's house...moving near a wizard's house...is extremely vulgar and rude. And most wizard's houses have magic to resist unwelcome apparators—even if they move near the wizard's house, it will attract extra attention from some wizards, such as Moody...A wizard like him will set up some detection alarms for the [Apparition] spell...Once he finds someone coming uninvited, he will even act first,...This can easily lead to a series of conflicts."

"And Horace's students are spread across half of the Ministry of Magic... I have to say that he has a much better relationship with the students than I do. If [Apparition] gets to him... we will very likely face the siege of half the Auror team."

"By the way, don't tell me I forgot, I have to say hello to him, just in case—"

After speaking, Dumbledore took out his wand, waved it, and a small silver phoenix fell on his shoulder.

"Horace! I will call on you this evening... no, in a little while...."

He said to Silver Phoenix, and tapped the glass of the compartment with his magic wand, opening a small opening there, and cold water vapor was blown in through the gap...

The phoenix turned into a ray of silver light and flew out, disappearing into the dark sky. Only then did Dumbledore seal the glass window again.

After doing all this, he turned to look at McGuffin and said again, "What did I say? Oh, by the way, Horace Slughorn is an extremely cautious wizard who is different from you and me. How should I put it...he prefers to be more realistic."

"You mean extremely material!" Snape interrupted coldly. "And I don't think there is any difference between Albert and him. Both are extremely vain and extremely pushy..."

"That guy is just another form of expression. He loves to collect valuable students...McGuffin, you and Harry will become his new collection...to show off to those high-ranking officials and people with power. Is this the purpose of you bringing the McGuffin? Albus? Why don't you bring Harry, so the probability of inviting this guy back to Hogwarts will be higher."

"Uh, I do mean that, but... Snape, you're mistaken. MacGuffin is different from Horace. He didn't initiate trouble...he just..."

Dumbledore was also a little unable to defend McGuffin, after all, since three years ago... Hogwarts has had a series of bad luck.

"Hey! Severus, when the time comes...you will know."

Dumbledore's words came to an abrupt end, causing various suspicions in McGuffin and Snape's hearts,

McGuffin stared at the pointed wizard hat of the old bee—I don’t know when, the spider in the corner of the carriage had climbed to the roof, and began to descend to the wizard hat bit by bit along the spider’s silk, and began to spin silk and weave a web...

As the Thestral carriage sped fast, the thunderstorm began to decrease gradually, and everything in the rain became hazy... Looking down from the glass window, the ground was no longer the black waves of the North Sea, but had become an endless road or jungle, grassland... and the occasional Muggle farm passing by...

There was silence in the carriage, and several people took advantage of this gap to rest.

After the thunder subsided, McGuffin began to lean against the wall of the carriage to take a nap, and waves of tiredness hit his eyelids and brain like waves.

He closed his eyes and took a nap.

until……

--boom!

There was a sound, like hitting something.

"Wake up, we're here." Dumbledore called softly.

McGuffin's brain was a little chaotic.

"Recover quickly!"

After casting a spell on himself, he became sober.

"Severus, Albert! Alright... let's get out of the car!"

"Where is this place?" After several people got out of the car, looking at the rows of Muggle houses, Snape asked with some displeasure.

"This is the charming Barbic Ellen complex, Severus!"

"Horace has some special requirements for his own residence. He especially likes to live in an environment where there are no wizards living around him, and he often changes houses... In his words, it makes him feel a little bit safer... Ever since Voldemort appeared, he has developed this habit... until now."

"Okay, let's move forward!"

At this time, that Yinfeng suddenly appeared in front of them, circling around, trying to lead the way.

With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore concealed the carriage of the Thestral carriage and let it move slowly behind them.

While leading the way, he was rummaging in his pocket for something.

It's the silver lighter.

Dumbledore held it up high, and after a dozen light-click-click-clicks, all the streetlights in the entire street went out.

into darkness and silence,

Only in the distance... a house suddenly lit up, as if reminding them where their destination was.

The drizzle is hazy, and the lights and scenery in the distance are very blurred.

The wheels of the carriage turned slowly, running over puddles, splashing water and small stones... From time to time, the snorting and neighing of thestrals could be heard.

Although McGuffin had cast the [Waterproof Curse] on himself, the icy mist around him still gave him goosebumps.

Now he is desperately looking forward to at least a place to rest, if there is a fire to warm up - even better.

This street is unusually steep and wide... On both sides are two- and three-storey houses,...private garages, beautifully manicured gardens, small private swimming pools, and even some wealthy families have courtyards as large as several people, and even tennis courts... It can be seen that the people who live there seem to be Muggles with sufficient funds and a good living environment.

Although McGuffin had expected from the plot that Horace was a wizard who pursued material comforts, he did not expect that he could actually live here.

Even if the vast majority of wizards in the wizarding world live together with Muggles, it is because of lack of money that they have no choice but to do so...Once they have Galleons, they usually choose to live in some magical villages, or use magic in their houses...Just hide it like Sirius' old house, and don't mix with Muggles.

Few wizards would choose to live in such an environment.

"Here we go! Oh, it seems Horace is in a good mood..."

Dumbledore stopped in his tracks.

They are now facing a house with a lot of 'character'.

A few white stone pillars support the corridor eaves, white marble steps, and a resplendent and resplendent gate... It is full of inconsistent Roman architectural style, even a bit like the Muggle White House.

What's more, it's very funny... when they came to the fence of the courtyard of the house...they saw that the lights were actually - floor lamps, they illuminated this somewhat exaggerated house in the hazy rainy night.

It was hard for McGuffin to imagine that this was a place where wizards lived.

And this house is also the largest and most gorgeous house in this district-for a wizard, this residence is very inappropriate.

Because it will attract the attention of Muggles, ... it will be easy to be exposed when wizards cast spells.

Besides, such a large courtyard is difficult to take care of without magic.

Snape obviously also had this suspicion. He stared at Dumbledore and asked the old bee with his eyes,
— Did you go to the wrong house?
"That's right! It's here."

Dumbledore answered in the affirmative, the silver phoenix above their heads was circling back and forth, pointing to the road ahead.

Looks right.

Fenghuang led the three of them to a very tall iron fence to block the door.

The corners of McGuffin's eyes twitched, and he saw that there was a door wrapped in black iron.

Two doors—creaking and creaking noises, slowly and automatically opened, as if inviting guests to enter.

"It seems that Horace already knows we are here, let's go!"

After passing the gate, there is an unusually exquisite cobblestone path.

In the dark, everything was blurry in the place where there was no light... Then the faint light, McGuffin saw the left side of the courtyard, there seemed to be a Japanese-style garden decoration...waterwheels, canals...and further away...it seemed to be a Chinese-style gazebo...here...it seemed that its owner was trying to create an oriental atmosphere.

However, this mixed feeling made McGuffin very uncomfortable.

The three of them followed the path and came to the marble steps.

At the splendid golden gate, a fat old man in a purple and white checked pajamas stood to greet them.

(End of this chapter)