demon hunter at hogwarts

Although the process was somewhat tortuous, what was gratifying was that by the end of get out of class, almost all the students had brewed a passable intelligence-enhancing agent.

This kind of situation is not too common in Snape's class.

"Professor Black, if you continue to take this course, I won't worry about next year's OWLs exam." A Gryffindor student revealed the truth.

Most students cannot guarantee that they will still complete all the steps 100% correctly with a silent Snape standing behind them.

"Don't even think about it." Regulus immediately gave up the unrealistic thoughts of the young wizards.

Percy raised his hand again.

"Mr. Weasley?"

"Professor Black, I found that in your recipe, the amount of scarabs, the timing of adding ginger root, the direction of stirring the armadillo bile, and the temperature of the fire are all slightly different from the preparation steps in the book." Percy Take out a copy of "The Book of Potions" written by Zygmunt Bacchi and read about the information about intelligence enhancers.

"Professor Snape is much more professional than me when it comes to potions. You can ask him directly for advice on this issue." Regulus smiled, "Because he gave me this formula."

Percy blushed and muttered something inaudible.

Several Ravenclaw students also looked at Regulus with inquiring eyes, obviously they had the same doubts as Percy.

"In fact, when I first got this formula, I had similar questions." Regulus took out two crystal bottles from his briefcase, both containing green potions, and explained, "Here are There are two bottles of intelligence-enhancing agent that I prepared before class. The bottle on the left was prepared according to the steps in the book, while the bottle on the right was prepared using Professor Snape's method that you just used."

After placing the two bottles of potions together, the little wizards discovered that the bottle on the right looked better.

"Although I am not an expert, I can still judge the quality of the process, so I judge that what Professor Snape wants to teach you is what he thinks is the best preparation method." Regulus concluded, "Of course. If you have a better idea, you can innovate on your own, as long as this potion can achieve the effect. But I have to remind you that behind a mature formula, there may be hundreds or thousands of failures. Your current knowledge Reserves are far from enough.”

The little wizards all nodded in agreement.

After all, they are still at the stage where they will make mistakes if they follow the instructions. It is too early to propose improved formulas now.

"As for homework...a paper on the proper use of entheogens, two feet long."

A howling.

After class, Regulus quickly fled the Potions classroom and cast a cleansing spell on himself.

He suddenly understood why Snape's hair was always greasy.

Time flies so fast, and in a blink of an eye, Christmas is approaching.

Most students would choose to go home during the holidays to reunite with their relatives, and Regulus was finally able to take a normal means of transportation - the Hogwarts Express back to London.

For him, last Christmas had not passed that long. After all, ten years had passed between his eyes opening and closing during that deep sleep at the bottom of the lake.

But for Harry and Sirius, this Christmas means a lot more.

Needless to say, Sirius, the dementors in Azkaban were not in the habit of sending Christmas greetings to the prisoners.

When he was at the Dursleys' house, Harry couldn't experience the joy that Dudley felt when he spent Christmas.

There were gifts all over the house, and they all belonged to Dudley. He had nothing but some rags from Aunt Petunia.

So when Harry woke up and saw the gifts piled beside the bed, he was immediately moved to tears, lost all sleep, and devoted himself to the vigorous action of opening the gifts.

First there was a large package, which contained a crudely packaged, huge piece of fudge, accompanied by a card that said "Saint Yen Kuai Lok, Harry".

Based on the rough packaging method and the greeting card with two misspelled words, Harry concluded that the gift came from Hagrid.

The second gift was a book called "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", with some words from Moon Face on the title page.

Those posters and postcards of the Chadley Artillery were, of course, given by his new friend Ron Weasley; and the package that occupied the largest space was the Zuko gift package carefully selected by Sirius, which contained various items. A wide variety of toys, including but not limited to pull-out fireworks, wizard chess, crackling exploding tiles, and colorful firecrackers.

As for that inconspicuous little box, it was a brass moonglass given by Regulus. The gift gave detailed instructions on how to use it.

And, of course, a toothbrush from the Dursleys.

"Harry! Breakfast is ready. Hurry downstairs to eat. Dumbledore will be here in a moment." Sirius's voice came from downstairs.

After Harry went downstairs, he found that the living room had been decorated, with shining stars floating on the Christmas tree, and occasionally trailing shooting stars, circling around the Christmas tree.

Kreacher was making dessert in the kitchen, while Regulus held Antalis and trimmed her paws.

The radio in the house played rock music by the Weird Sisters. Sirius used a chicken leg as a microphone and sang and danced to the beat of the music.

The portraits of Black ancestors on the wall had their ears closed and their eyes closed.

"Merry Christmas."

As soon as Harry finished speaking, Antalis suddenly opened her eyes, jumped up from Regulus's arms, arched her body alertly, and stared outside the room.

"Calm down...I'm just saying hello, I won't react so big, right?" Harry was startled.

"It's not you..." Regulus also noticed an anomaly: someone invaded the area of ​​No. 12 Grimmauld Place, but the detection magic did not alert him.

"We have guests."

Sirius turned off the radio and Regulus picked up his wand and walked to the door to observe the situation outside through the looking glass.

Outside the door were two old men, one tall and thin, the other short and fat.

The tall and thin one is Dumbledore, and the short and fat one is Slughorn.

Regulus breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.

"...Merry Christmas, Professor." He was very confused and didn't know why Dumbledore called Slughorn. "Headmaster, you were here about half an hour earlier."

"Ah... I went to pick up Horace first. He is very willing to spend this Christmas with us, but I didn't calculate the time... Why don't you invite us into the house? It's quite cold outside." Dumbledore said seriously Rubbed his hands.

Regulus hurriedly welcomed the two people into the house.

"Harry! Merry Christmas!"

Harry hurriedly put down the sandwich in his hand and stood up to shake Slughorn's hand.

"Let me think about it... I have to give you something." Slughorn fished in his pocket for a while, took out a crystal bottle filled with sunshine-like golden potion, held it between his fingers and shook it, " guess what is this?"

"Joy potion?" Regulus immediately recognized the contents of the bottle.

"Correct answer, Mr. Black, ten points for Slytherin... Sorry, I'm used to it." Slughorn smiled and pulled Harry over and put the elixir in his hand, "When you are in a bad mood, you can Take a few drops, but don’t drink too much, otherwise you might end up singing non-stop.”

Harry chuckled, remembering Sirius who had been singing just now.

"Thank you, sir." Harry thanked him seriously.

"In this case, I can't come empty-handed." Dumbledore suddenly walked over with a smile, waving his unique, bumpy wand.

The wooden torch appeared in the air, and then a flame bloomed at the top of the torch, emitting a soft orange light.

Harry had the illusion that the flame was beating like a heart.

Sirius' eyes widened when he saw the torch, and the unfinished chicken leg fell to the ground.

"...This is a great Christmas gift, Albus." Slughorn said in admiration.

"Nothing, it's just a piece of cake..." Dumbledore handed the torch to Harry, "A piece of Gubler fairy fire. You can insert it in places that need long-term lighting."

"Gublai fairy fire?" Harry muttered to himself.

"Yes."

"It's so beautiful..." Harry looked at the flames that were constantly changing colors with fascinated eyes.

Dumbledore nodded and smiled.

"What on earth is that?" Harry suddenly raised his head and asked.

"..."

"Gubrai Fairy Fire, eternal fire." Regulus explained, "To put it simply, the torch in your hand will never be extinguished. Ordinary wizards cannot do this."

Harry immediately grabbed the torch with both hands, for fear of accidentally dropping it, then walked towards Dumbledore and said awkwardly: "Sir, this thing is too expensive..."

"There is no reason to take back a gift given out." Dumbledore said kindly, but there was an undoubted majesty in his tone.

Regulus gave Sirius a wink, and Sirius immediately pulled Harry and said, "In that case, let's find a place to put it properly. How about the attic?"

Harry nodded mechanically.

The two went upstairs.

"Albus, didn't you say that Regulus had something amazing that you wanted me to see?" Slughorn said suddenly cheerfully.

"When Harry and the others come down, we will go see it together." Dumbledore replied.

"What are you playing at?" Regulus asked Dumbledore in a low voice while Slughorn wasn't paying attention.

"Horace may know something, but he doesn't intend to tell me." Dumbledore explained. "I hope that our success today can give him a little confidence."

"What are you muttering about?" asked Slughorn.

"It's nothing."

"I know, you are planning to surprise this old guy like me. Right?" Slughorn said with a smile, "To be honest, I kind of miss the days of teaching at Hogwarts. Although retirement life is leisurely, But sometimes it’s so boring…”

Soon, Harry and Sirius set up the Gubler fire and returned to the living room.

"Everyone, follow me." Regulus led the way to the basement.

Only then did Harry realize that what he had always thought was a wall was actually a staircase going down.

He was about to ask Sirius, but found that his godfather's expression was extremely serious at this moment.

"Don't touch anything after you get in, okay?"

Harry nodded.

Regulus lit the lamp.

The layout of the basement is a bit like Snape's office, with shelves and display cabinets everywhere, but the area is obviously much larger than Snape's office.

It contains various dark magic instruments, part of the Black family's collection of books that were rescued by Regulus, and some strange potions with exquisite packaging and unknown uses.

"I finally understand why my father wanted me to make friends with the Black family back then..." Slughorn admired and tapped a crystal bottle on a shelf with his wand. The indigo potion inside immediately turned into bright magenta.

Harry passed by a pair of plates engraved with a golden hollow hexagram and a silver solid five-pointed star respectively. Looking at his face reflected on the bottom of the plate, an impulse controlled his body and he unconsciously reached out to grab it. That plate.

Sirius reached out and grabbed his hand. Harry felt a cold breath rush to his forehead and couldn't help but shudder and retracted his hand.

Dumbledore looked deeply at Sirius.

"...Don't let the people in Borgin-Bock know about this place, otherwise they will go crazy thinking about it..." Slughorn muttered to himself.

"They are more concerned about the things in Lucius's house," Regulus said.

"So, what do you want to show me?" Slughorn asked curiously.

Under his expectant gaze, Regulus took out an ordinary wooden box, opened it, and placed it on an empty bookshelf.

"Merlin's cavities! This is... Salazar Slytherin's locket!" Slughorn exclaimed, "This is a priceless thing! Where did you get it?"

Regulus bit his lip and did not answer.

"Horace, you are really knowledgeable and you can recognize him at a glance." Dumbledore took over.

"Every Slytherin wants to see its magic! According to legend, this locket has various magical powers, but only the heir of Slytherin can open it." Slughorn said impatiently, "Do you have any Method?"

"We don't know how magical it is. Unfortunately, he is now a Horcrux." Dumbledore said lightly.

Upon hearing the word "Horcrux," Slughorn's face instantly turned pale, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He took a few steps back in panic, and murmured: "I remembered something. , forgive me for being with you..."

Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder and said encouragingly: "Don't you want to see it destroyed with your own eyes?"

Harry rubbed his eyes. He clearly saw Slughorn's figure disillusioned for a moment, but as Dumbledore's palm fell, it returned to its normal appearance.

At this time, the retired potion professor's face no longer looked happy, but was replaced by deep fear.

"Let's begin." Dumbledore ordered.

Sirius grabbed Harry and walked to Dumbledore, but his eyes were fixed on Regulus.

As Regulus removed the shielding magic cast on the wooden box, Harry suddenly let out a soft cry.

"What's wrong?" Sirius immediately asked with concern.

Harry rubbed the scar.

"My head hurts a bit."