Harry Potter and the Secret Treasure

Chapter 1237 Spider's Web

Slughorn seems to have a strong obsession with teaching and beckoning outstanding wizards.

"Sirius is a very talented boy. He and your father were best friends in school. They were always inseparable. They were the two best students in that class." He said, "The Black family They are all in our house, but he ended up in Gryffindor, what a pity, his brother Regulus is in our house, if only both of them were with me."

Slughorn spoke with the tone of an avid collector who has lost an auction to a rival, clearly lost in memory, staring at the opposite wall, turning lazily in place so that the whole The back is heated evenly.

"Of course, there were still a lot of good students in that class. As I said before, your mother was the smartest student I had ever taught. She was Muggle-born. I couldn't believe it when I found out. I thought, if she is so good, she must be a purebred."

"Alvin and Hermione are also Muggle-born," said Harry, "the two of them are the best students in the whole year."

"Well, yes, sometimes it happens that Muggle-born students outperform purebred students." Slughorn said, taking another quick look at Ivan and Hermione, " It's weird, isn't it?"

"Not surprising." Harry replied coldly.

"Horrible prejudice," whispered Hermione, with a hint of determination in her voice.

"Professor, don't you also support the ridiculous theory of pure blood supremacy?" Ivan asked.

Slughorn was the last Head of Slytherin House, who taught Voldemort and most of the Death Eaters.

Perhaps, like them, he was a pure-blood admirer.

Paranoid, old-fashioned, stubborn, believes that pure-blood wizards should be above everyone else.

"what?"

"I don't think whether a student can learn magic well has nothing to do with his birth, but depends on whether he works hard." Aiwen continued, "Perhaps in ancient times, pure-blood wizards would inherit the power of their blood, monopolize the knowledge of magic, and be more powerful than Ma. Wizards born in melons should be powerful, but now that power is exhausted and all knowledge is shared, look at those pure-blood wizard families, what is left besides the heavy burden? The magic world should break the monopoly of pure-blood wizards, into a new era."

The reactions of Ivan, Harry, and Hermione surprised Slughorn a little.

"My God, don't you think I'm biased!" he said. "No, no, no! I'm not a pure-blood supporter."

"Your attitude makes me doubt it." Ivan said, looking back at the corridor, "Maybe we should leave."

"Wait, don't go, this is a misunderstanding, I have no prejudice against Muggle-born wizards at all, and Albus can prove it for me." Slughorn said, "By the way, Harry, I Didn't I just say that your mother was one of my favorite students in my life? There is also Dirk Cresswell, who is one level below her, and is now the director of the Goblin Liaison Office. He is also a Muggle-born , a student with high qualifications and a good relationship with me, he still often reveals to me valuable inside information in Gringotts. Aiwen, I know the details of what happened to you in Egypt from him."

Without waiting for Ivan and the others to answer, he jumped up with a smug smile on his face.

Slughorn waved his hand and pointed to the many shiny frames on the chest of drawers, each of which contained a moving figure.

"Look at this, these are my ex-students, these are signed photographs, I carry them with me wherever I go. You'll see Barnabas Guffey, editor of the Daily Prophet, oh, Now editor of the Hogwarts Gazette of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he's always interested in my opinion on current events. And Ambrosio Froome from the Honeydukes Candy Shop, who every year on my birthday, He's going to send me a gift basket because I introduced him to Ciceron Hakis that got him his first job! And the back, if you crane your necks, you can see, It was Gwenog Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpies, and people used to wonder why I got on so well with the Harpies, that I could get free tickets if I wanted to, and ..."

At this point, he seemed to be in high spirits, and he wanted to introduce everyone in the photo to them.

Looking at these wizards who hold important positions or are very well-known, and listening to Slughorn describe their relationship with him, one can clearly feel the influence of this old wizard. He is like a spider, weaving a whole world. Zhang invisible big net.

Moreover, Slughorn seems happy to show off these relationships.

"Are these people your students?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, they are all my best students. Of course, there are many others, I have taught more students than that, but this wall is too small, I have to put their photos away, You should really see, when I celebrated my birthday last year, they gave enough presents to fill this room."

"It sounds really good." Ivan said, but he didn't doubt that Slughorn had such influence.

He is also the oldest professor, unlike Dumbledore, he will deliberately make friends with his students.

Well, outstanding students, and invite them to join the club he organizes.

"Do any of these people know where to find you, and can send you something?" Harry asked, unable to help but wonder, given the gift basket full of candy, Quidditch tickets, and asking for his opinion and advice. How could the Death Eaters not be able to track down Slughorn if those people could find Slughorn?

Harry's question made the smile off Slughorn's face as suddenly as the blood on the wall.

"Of course not," he said, looking down, in low spirits. "I haven't been in touch with anyone for a year."

For a moment, he looked a little uneasy, then shrugged.

"However... these days, cautious wizards try not to show their faces. Dumbledore is also right, and I know what he is bringing the three of you tonight, but serving at Hogwarts at this time is tantamount to Declaring publicly that I support the Order of the Phoenix! As much as I believe their bravery is admirable, I'm not a person who likes mortality very much."

"You don't have to join the Order of the Phoenix to teach at Hogwarts." Harry said, with a hint of ridicule in his tone, "Most of the teachers in the school are not members of the Order of the Phoenix, and no one was killed. .”

"Yes, Hogwarts is not the Order of the Phoenix," Hermione added.

"Unless you count Quirrell, of course, but he deserves it, because he's working for Voldemort."

"On the contrary, Hogwarts is now the safest place in the world. If you read the newspapers on time every day, you will know that Voldemort's return has made a lot of noise. In the past few months, there have been frequent There are attacks and people are dying every day." Ivan said, "These are all planned by Voldemort behind the scenes, don't you want to know why?"

Chapter 1238 Agree

Slughorn shuddered at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"Why did that devil who can't even mention his name do it?" He asked hesitantly.

"The vampire clan in Slytherin has a magic that will make Voldemort's power stronger." Ivan said, "He is going to use this magic. If he succeeds, no one will be his opponent."

"How could there be such magic," said Slughorn in disbelief. "What is it?"

"Similar to black magic that alters body and soul, but more sinister..."

"My God, a more evil and powerful Dark Demon?"

"Yes, Professor, are you going to hide like this for the rest of your life?"

Slughorn didn't answer, he was out of his mind for a while, and seemed to be carefully examining what Ai Wen said.

"I don't think Voldemort could have defeated Dumbledore," said Harry suddenly. "No matter what he ends up with, as long as Dumbledore is headmaster, Hogwarts will be safer than anywhere else."

"It is said that Voldemort is only afraid of him alone. Even before, when he was the strongest, he didn't dare to approach Hogwarts, right?" Hermione asked.

"It's true, Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort is afraid of." Ivan nodded.

There was another silence, and Slughorn sighed heavily.

"Well, probably, the devil who can't even mention his name has never dared to compete with Dumbledore." He muttered reluctantly, "but if he becomes more evil and powerful..."

"Voldemort may surpass Dumbledore in strength, but he will never be defeated." Ivan said, "What's more, we will stop Voldemort, prevent him from successfully casting that magic, and find a way to defeat him."

"Don't keep calling him by his name, don't you know he's got a spell on it?" Slughorn said disapprovingly, "it'll make him sense we're here..."

"So what? He didn't dare to come here at all." Aiwen said disdainfully, "Calling Voldemort by his name is the first step to muster up the courage to defeat him. There are many people who can do it. Be brave, Professor .”

"You are indeed brave, but very unwise." Slughorn thought for a while, "But you are right, Hogwarts is indeed the safest place at present. I think, since I did not join the Death Eater Hell, the devil who can't even mention his name can't possibly consider me a friend... In that case, I'm afraid I'll be safer staying by Albus's side, no matter whether he will become stronger in the future."

"If you just want to protect yourself, there is no safer place than Dumbledore's side."

"Well, I read the news of the murder of Amelia Bones, and I can't pretend that her death didn't touch me, considering she had so many acquaintances in the Ministry, so much protection, strength Not weaker than me, both..."

Just then, Dumbledore re-entered the room.

Slughorn was taken aback. He seemed to have forgotten that Dumbledore hadn't left the house.

"Oh, you're back, Albus," he said. "You've been away a long time. Are you sick?"

"No, I was just looking through those Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I really like the sweater knitting patterns on them. They look very warm. Maybe I should knit myself a sweater like this. Okay, Alvin, Harry, Hermione, we've been bothering Horace for so long, I think we should go."

"You're leaving?" said Slughorn, startled.

"Yeah, I think, I can see that the game is doomed, I haven't persuaded you to go back to Hogwarts."

"Well, defeat?" Slughorn looked very disturbed. He fiddled with his two fat thumbs and watched anxiously as Dumbledore wrapped his traveling cloak tightly. Ivan and Hermione also put on their coats. Harry He zipped up his jacket.

"Well, I'm sorry you won't take the job, Horace," said Dumbledore, making a farewell gesture with his uncharmed hand. "If you could come back, Hogwarts would I am very happy. You know, we have greatly strengthened the security precautions this year, and you are welcome to come and have a look as long as you want.”

"Okay, no problem, I, alas, you are too kind, I said..."

"Goodbye then," said Dumbledore.

"Goodbye," said Harry.

"Goodbye, Professor!" Hermione waved.

"Goodbye." Ivan looked at Slughorn, who was sweating profusely, and waved his hand.

They had just reached the front door when they heard a shout behind them.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it!"

Turning around, Dumbledore saw Slughorn standing in the doorway of the living room, panting.

"Are you willing to come back to work?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Slughorn impatiently. "I must be crazy, but yes, I would."

"Great." Dumbledore immediately beamed with joy. "Then, Horace, we'll see you on September [-]st."

"Well, no problem," Slughorn muttered.

As they walked along the garden path, Slughorn's voice came again behind them.

"I'll ask for a raise, Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore chuckled as the garden door closed behind them.

They walked down the hill through the black and curling fog.

"You did a good job," said Dumbledore. "You managed to convince Horace."

"But we didn't do anything?" Harry said in surprise.

"We're just telling him what's going on," said Hermione. "Well, he doesn't look very determined, and besides, he seems very afraid of Voldemort."

"Also interested in the three of us." Ivan added, "especially Harry."

"That's it, you let Horace see how much he can benefit from returning to Hogwarts." Dumbledore said softly, "As for his interest in the three of you, well, what do you think of him?" ?”

"I'm afraid of death, greedy for material enjoyment, and like to show off." Ivan said bluntly.

"I think he's quite likable, except for the pure-blood part," Hermione said, "although he later explained that he was not a supporter of the idea of ​​pure-blood supremacy, but he obviously discriminated against Muggle-born wizards." .”

Harry nodded approvingly, Laghorn was indeed likable in some ways.

But as Alvin and Hermione said, he seemed vain, fond of material comforts, and, despite what he said was otherwise, he could be a wonderful thing for a Muggle-born. Wizard, showed too much surprise, it makes people uncomfortable...

Chapter 1239 Back to the Burrow

"Horace is not the support of the pure-blood theory, and his saying that should be just an inappropriate metaphor." Dumbledore said, "As he said, Harry, your mother was his favorite at school." One of the students."

Laghorn mentioned Lily so many times that Harry tried to think of her mother as a young man.

"I have to use one to describe it, because Horace has a lot of students in his eyes." Dumbledore continued, "He likes to make friends with famous, successful, and powerful people. His sense of manipulation, he himself never wants to be in charge, but prefers to take a back seat, that way the world is wider and more at ease. When he was at Hogwarts, he always liked to pick his favorite students, sometimes because of their Ambition or intelligence, sometimes because of their charm or talent, and he had a very uncommon knack for picking people who would go on to be successful in all walks of life."

"It's the wizards he showed off to us." Ai Wen said, "Look, he didn't forget to take their signed photos with him when he ran for his life, and he never forgot the gifts everyone gave him. How much does he like it? This feeling."

"It may have become his instinct, a part of his life," said Dumbledore.

"By the way, professor, we just heard him talk about a club, and those people are all members of this club..."

"Yeah, Horace built a club around himself, made up of his favorite protégés. He got them to know each other, make useful connections, and there was always some sort of benefit in the end, or a free case of His favorite candied pineapple, or the opportunity to recommend a clerk to the Goblin Liaison Office." Dumbledore nodded and said, "He uses this to exert his influence..."

"Like a spider!" Hermione said in a low voice and quickly, and went with Ivan just now.

Immediately, a big fat spider appeared in Harry's mind. It spun a thread here, a thread there, and formed a web around its body, attracting delicious and juicy flies to it. Come.

"Okay, let me tell you this." Dumbledore continued, "I don't want you to dislike Horace, that is, Professor Slughorn, but I hope you will stay vigilant. He will definitely come to win you over Yes, especially you, Harry, you are sure to be his highest priority, you will be the jewel in his collection: the Boy Who Lived, or, as they call you these days, 'The Savior'. "

"Will he come to win me over? But Ivan..."

"Yes, he will also win over Ivan, and he will not let go of every student who can make a difference in the future." Dumbledore said, "But you have also seen just now that he is very wary of Ivan. I think he should keep a distance from Ivan for a period of time."

"why?"

"Horace has suffered in this regard before, which made him not like wizards with too much magic power." Dumbledore thought for a while, and added, "Maybe it's out of the instinctive fear of danger, maybe it's I don't want things to get out of his control. I think he'll examine Ai Wen for a while before deciding whether to do it, but it's a matter of time. And you, Hermione, when he really realizes that you are unusual , I definitely won't be able to resist doing it to you..."

Hermione's face was blushing, not knowing whether it was because of the freezing fog of the night, or because of Dumbledore's compliment.

She seemed a little embarrassed, and leaned against Ai Wen.

Ivan couldn't help but think, Dumbledore said that Slughorn had suffered in this area before, which made him particularly cautious about power. This should refer to Voldemort's matter. He still remembered that Riddle was Got information about the Horcrux from him.

Therefore, Slughorn is also one of the few wizards who knows that Voldemort has made multiple Horcruxes. This incident has become the source of his fear. Slughorn believes that Voldemort is invincible and cannot be killed, but this The old wizard didn't know that Voldemort was already moving in a more evil direction.

For a while, no one spoke, and everyone was thinking about their own thoughts.

Looking at the deeper night, Harry felt a chill in his body.

He thought of the words he had heard a few weeks ago, words that had had terrible and special meaning for him: two people cannot live both  …

The prophecy ball foreshadowed the prophecy that he was chosen by Voldemort, what would happen to his future?

After a few minutes, Dumbledore stopped, standing parallel to the church they had passed earlier.

"We have to hurry up, it's too late, I wrote a letter to inform Molly that I will take you there, she must be waiting for us now." Dumbledore said, "Come on, hold my arm .”