I, Hogwarts Second Week

Dumbledore and Slughorn stood back to back, one tall and thin, the other short and fat, and they waved their wands in unexpected unison.

The furniture jumped back to its original position one by one, the decorations returned to their original shape in mid-air, the feathers went back into the cushions, and the damaged books were automatically repaired and arranged neatly on the bookshelf.

The oil lamp flew to the small table by the wall and was lit again. A large number of broken silver picture frames flew to the other end of the room and landed on a desk, becoming as bright as new again. Everywhere in the room The damaged, torn, and gaping places were restored to their original appearance.

The stains on the wall were automatically wiped clean, as if there were no blood stains.

"What kind of blood is that, by the way?" Dumbledore asked, his voice drowning out the sound of the newly repaired grandfather clock.

"You mean the one on the wall? It's fire dragon blood." The other party shouted in reply.

At this time, the chandelier automatically jumped back to the ceiling, making a deafening sound of creaking and tinkling.

As the piano made its last tinkling sound, the room finally fell silent.

"Yes, Albus, fire dragon's blood," the wizard said enthusiastically, shaking his wand at the end, "you reminded me, this is the last bottle in my collection, and the current price on the market is astonishingly expensive. However, maybe, It can still be used, don’t waste it.”

He walked to the sideboard with heavy steps, picked up a small crystal bottle on the top of the cabinet, and looked at the viscous liquid inside carefully against the light.

"Well, it's a little dirty." He put the vial back on the sideboard, then couldn't help but turned to look at Dumbledore with a blushing face.

"These kids—"

"Oh! Let me introduce you." Dumbledore smiled and walked up to the little wizards. He first pointed at Owen, "This is Owen, Owen Sanchez. You should know that he is now a famous therapist. .”

"I saw him in the newspaper, the Rosier boy."

Dumbledore smiled noncommittally and pointed to the others, "Harry Potter, over there is Miss Ginny Weasley, an excellent witch. I dare say that some adult wizards don't know as much about spells as she does. Behind them are Mr. Ron Weasley and Miss Keyart Stewart. You may have heard from some sources about some of their actions this year. The Federation suppressed the news. You know, this is to protect them. .”

"I know, I know." The man looked like a hungry wolf, staring at them with a smile and bright eyes.

"Miss, I don't think I need any further introduction."

"Oh! Of course - Miss Granger." The man walked up, suddenly grabbed Hermione's hand, held it and said, "The rising star of the wizarding world, the recipient of the Order of Merlin, first class, my God, it's really incredible. I dare to imagine that there would be such an outstanding little wizard."

"Children." Dumbledore pointed to the man and said to the young wizards, "This is an old friend and colleague of mine named Horace Slughorn."

Professor Slughorn shook hands with each of the little wizards, and then turned to look at Dumbledore, with an alert expression on his face.

"You think this will convince me?"

"I think it's enough." This time, Dumbledore did not make any detours with Professor Slughorn. He said straightforwardly, "No matter what my purpose is, in this chaotic era, Hogg Watts is the safest place to be. Unless you want people to come visit and pretend to be a couch."

"I'm going to think about it," said Professor Slughorn.

"Of course, at least we can have a drink," said Dumbledore, "for old time's sake."

"Whatever." His words were a little stiff.

Dumbledore just smiled and led him to a chair.

The chair looked very much like the one Slughorn had just impersonated.

The little wizards were a little idle.

Hermione asked, "Mr. Slughorn, um. Can we visit your house?"

"Of course." Slughorn's expression was very strange, and there was some regret in his eyes. He was annoyed by what Hermione had just called him, sir - if he was a professor.

oh! Merlin!

That girl will definitely become the best student he has ever met in his life.

Thinking about it, Slughorn couldn't help but look at Dumbledore who was enjoying himself.

There was more resentment in his eyes.

Owen actually understands the tangle in Slughorn's heart right now.

This is a refined and self-interested person.

He didn't want to get involved with either Dumbledore or Voldemort.

If it hadn't been for the incident in America, he might have joined Hogwarts without hesitation.

Because on the surface, Dumbledore seems to have a greater chance of winning.

But the fall of the United States had a huge impact on an old wizard like him who could get some inside information.

The power Voldemort possesses is far beyond his imagination.

Not to mention that the Pretenders and Purifiers are now entangled with the Death Eaters, and even merged.

This means that even in Hogwarts, there may be "pretenders".

It's simply not safe there.

Dolores Umbridge will be able to bring the Pretender into Hogwarts this year, but there is no guarantee that others will not.

If the little wizard is replaced during the summer vacation, who can find out?

All that being said, it's only natural that Mr. Slughorn would be hesitant.

Hogwarts is a very safe place, but on the other hand it is also the most dangerous place.

It's so attractive.

Nowhere is safer than Hogwarts.

"Professor Dumbledore wants Mr. Slughorn to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Harry, who was visiting other rooms, asked Owen with a puzzled look, "He looks too old."

Yes, Slughorn is almost the same age as Dumbledore. It doesn't matter if the professor of other courses is older, but Defense Against the Dark Arts is a practical course. If Harry is worried that Slughorn will be in the class Breaking your waist is absolutely reasonable.

"I guess he is here to teach us Potions." Hermione said at the side. ""Hogwarts: A School History" mentioned that Professor Slughorn was the former Potions Professor or Slater. Dean of the Forestry College.

After he retired, he reserved his place for the best students. "

"Snape?" Harry's eyes widened. "Oh! God! He has wanted to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor position for a long time. He applies for it every year! Is he finally going to get it this year?"

"Obviously," Owen said.

"No -" Harry wailed, "My favorite course is now - gone."

"Looking on the bright side, maybe your favorite course this year will become Potions?" Owen said, holding back a laugh.

"How is that possible?"

"It's impossible, Mr. Slughorn, but I like you famous little wizards the most." Owen explained with a smile, "Everyone has their own favorite things, and our Slughorn - —Professor, what he likes most is to take famous little wizards under his tutelage. Why do you think Principal Dumbledore wants to take us with him?"

"So that's it?" Harry, along with the other little wizards, all showed such expressions.

Only Koyatel didn't care.

This kind of thing has happened to her before.

When she was in Ilvermorny, the professors almost always treated her this way.

The little wizards were chatting when Professor Slughorn walked in from outside the house.

With a smile on his face, he looked at Owen.

"I was just chatting with Dumbledore outside. I heard that you were the one who found the [Pretender] from the little wizards at Hogwarts?"

"Oh - that's because they are too stupid." Owen said casually, "Umbridge is too anxious. If that person continues to hide for a while, my method may be useless."

"The Patronus Charm?" said Mr. Slughorn. "I heard that all the little wizards at Hogwarts now know this charm?"

"Not everyone can do it," Owen said. "Most young wizards above fourth grade can do it."

"Really?" Slughorn suddenly looked a little lonely on his face, "Times have really changed!"

During the years he was away from Hogwarts, the school was full of talented people, which was as unbearable to him as a goblin throwing a galleon into the Thames.

In the corner of the room, there is a bookshelf with many photos on it.

There are several stories high.

During the conversation with Slughorn, Harry saw his mother in a photo on the bookshelf.

"You look a lot like your father." Slughorn walked over, stopped next to Harry, and said slowly.

"Yes, others say so," said Harry.

"It's just that the eyes don't look the same, your eyes..."

"Like my mother, yes." He heard this so many times that he felt a little tired of it.

"Humph, yes, of course, as a teacher, you shouldn't favor students, but I just prefer her. Your mother." Slughorn saw Harry's questioning eyes and added, "Lily ·Evans, she is one of the smartest students I have ever taught, lively, lovely, talented, and a charming girl.

I often tell her that she should be in my college, but I often get a very rude reply from her. "

"You are all students of Gryffindor House!" he said immediately.

"Owen and Keyatre are not, they are Hufflepuff students." Harry said.

"Oh! This is a bit surprising. I always thought that the little wizard who could figure out how to deal with the [Pretender] was a Ravenclaw student."

"Haha." Owen grinned and chuckled.

"Oh - look at this picture."

As he spoke, Slughorn took a picture frame from the shelf.

In the photo frame were four little wizards. They looked small, about the same size as the little wizards standing next to them now.

Harry recognized the four immediately.

From left to right are Snape, his mother Lily and father James, and finally Sirius.

His dad held up a strange-looking trophy that looked a bit like a crucible.

The mother is holding a child.

Harry rubbed his head, pointed at the photo and said, "They actually took a photo together? And the child my mother is holding, is that me?"

"Haha." Slughorn laughed, "That's not you. Your mother was only sixteen at the time."

"Oh -" Harry felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

"This is a photo they took during the World Potions Masters Tournament held in New Zealand. We were not well prepared at that time, and some other situations happened at the time. Hogwarts only finished fourth."

As he said that, Slughorn had a look of regret on his face, "The potion formula we chose at that time was too conservative, and it was difficult for the judges to give high scores. In fact, the top few finished products had some problems, to say the least. But their formulas are bolder and more unique. It’s a pity anyway.”

"As for the child in Lily's arms"

Slughorn stopped talking. He was not willing to tell these little wizards about the tragic fate of the child.

So she just briefly said, "Her mother passed away unexpectedly, and finally Professor Xia Ti, the wife of Chang'an Imperial College, adopted her.

I heard that she has now grown into a powerful witch. He is the youngest professor in the history of Taixue. "

"Zhang Xiaolin?" Owen interrupted.

After all, she can only be the youngest professor in the history of Taixue.

"Oh? Do you know him?" Slughorn's eyes lit up. "It's true that geniuses always have a mutual understanding. I'm not surprised by this."

"We met by chance." Owen said simply.

While Harry continued to stare at the photo in a daze. Everyone else also focused on the shelf filled with photos of celebrities.

"These are all my former students, all signed photos, and I take them with me wherever I go. You'll see Barnabas Guffey, editor of the Daily Prophet, oh, and now Hogg Editor-in-Chief of the Watts Magic Newspaper, he was always interested in hearing my opinions on the current situation.

And Ambrosio Froome of Beedukes, who gave me a gift basket every year on my birthday because I was the one who introduced him to Ciceron Harkis and made him Got his first job and there's more to come.

If you crane your neck you can see it, it's Gwenog Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpies. People often wonder why I have such a good relationship with the Harpies. I can get it if I want to. Free tickets, and..."

At this point, he became very excited and wanted to introduce everyone in the photo to them.

Looking at the wizards who hold important positions or are well-known, and listening to Slughorn describing their relationship with him, one can clearly feel the influence of this old wizard. He is like a spider, weaving a story. An invisible web.

And Slughorn seems to enjoy showing off these relationships.

This made Owen feel very familiar.

Because Miss Granger next to him was doing the same thing, and she had even reached out to foreign countries.

He touched Hermione's shoulder and looked at her with a smile on his lips.

The little witch naturally understood what Owen was thinking.

But she couldn't refute it. No matter what the goal was, from a practical point of view, the development of D.A. was indeed very similar to Slughorn's network of contacts.

"Huh?" She turned her head, thinking about how to retort, but unexpectedly saw an acquaintance in a photo.

"Sir, is this also your student?"

Owen looked in the direction of Hermione's finger and found a very special photo in a very remote corner.

It wasn't a magical photo, just an ordinary Muggle photo.

The characters in the picture do not move.

But the person in the painting surprised Owen.

"Ah -" Slughorn looked thoughtful, and it took him a while to remember something, "I remember it was a summer vacation - Regulus - oh - that is, Sirius's younger brother, he brought I brought some of my friends to visit me and asked me some questions about potions."

"They are all a group of very talented wizards, and the questions they ask are quite novel and tricky. To be honest, although I have been on the path of potions for hundreds of years, not all questions have answers."

"Do you remember their names?" Hermione then asked.

"Of course," said Slughorn, "because I put their names on the back of the picture."

After that, he picked up the photo frame and turned it over.

"Well - from left to right, they are, Roy Silver, Gabriel Rozier, Regulus Black, McCowen Hunter, and Chronos Stewart."

"Hey, it's true, Owen, that's your mother." Hermione looked at Owen in surprise.

The other little wizards were also attracted by Hermione's words.

Everyone looked at the photo.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron could recognize three of them, Roy, Owen's mother Gabriel, and Sirius' brother Regulus.

As for the other two, they didn't know them.

"Maybe they are all members of the Saints." Owen said, his eyes lingering on his mother's appearance.

It's a pity that he has nothing similar to this woman now.

Except for that damn silver hair.

"Sir, are they only looking for you because of the potion?" Owen raised his head and looked at Slughorn.

"Of course - what else could it be?" Slughorn suddenly became a little panicked.

He added, "It's all old stuff. They came to me decades ago and asked those questions, and I've forgotten all about them now."

"You just said that the questions they asked were very difficult." Koyatel suddenly said from the side, her scarlet eyes filled with scrutiny.

The surrounding atmosphere suddenly became silent and depressing.

"Regulus, do you know how he died?" Owen looked at him with a somewhat aggressive look, "I might as well tell you that he may have died of starvation. He was trapped in a tower and could not get out or move forward. No."

"Why is he there? Did my mother give him something?

I can guarantee that they are definitely not familiar with each other. They may have only met once or twice. Maybe it was after meeting you that what happened next happened. "

"The back of the photo says, May 1979."

"And Regulus also died in the same year."

"Chronos Stuart. I have heard of this name." Koatl continued, "It was one of the alchemical creations of the [Purcher] and the goblins. It was one of the failures. He once escaped. I was imprisoned, so the goblins would keep me under strict supervision. It was impossible for Chronos to come to England without any purpose, because at that time the goblin brotherhood was all over the country. You must have something very important here. ,otherwise--"