Professor, please pay the debt

"What do the Death Eaters want my useless old bone for?" Slughorn asked rhetorically.

"I suppose they want you to use your ingenuity for repression, torture and murder," said Dumbledore. "Can you say they haven't come to recruit you?"

Slughorn gave Dumbledore a savage look for a moment, then whispered: "I didn't give them a chance. I've been erratic for a year. Never staying in one place for more than a week. From a Muggle dwelling moved to another Muggle residence—

The owner of the house is on vacation in the Canary Islands.I've had such a comfortable stay here that I really can't bear to leave.

It's easy once you get the hang of it, they don't use looking glasses, they use those ridiculous burglar alarms, you just cast a Freeze spell on them.Also, don't let the neighbors see you when you move the piano in. "

"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "But isn't that a tiring life for a good-for-nothing old chap who wants to live a quiet life? Think about it, if you went back to Hogwarts Ci-"

"If you want to tell me that I live more peacefully at that nasty school, Albus, you might as well save yourself and stop talking!

Yes, I've been hiding here and there, but since Dolores Umbridge left, I've heard some bizarre rumors too!If that's how you treat teachers now—"

"Professor Umbridge has run afoul of our centaurs," said Dumbledore. "I suppose, Horace, you wouldn't be walking into the Forbidden Forest and calling a bunch of angry centaurs "dirty." Dirty bastard." "

"She did such a thing?" said Slughorn. "What a fool. I always hated her."

Harry laughed softly, and both Dumbledore and Slughorn turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry..." Ha said quickly, "it's just—I don't like her either."

Dumbledore stood up suddenly.

"Are you leaving?" Slughorn asked immediately expectantly.

"No, I just wanted to ask if I could use your bathroom," said Dumbledore.

"Oh..." said Slughorn, visibly disappointed, "down the hall, the second door on the left."

Dumbledore walked across the room.The room fell silent as the door closed behind him.

After a moment Slughorn stood up, but seemed uncertain what to do.

He stole a glance at Harry, then strode over to the fireplace, turned his back on the fire, and roasted his big ass.

"Don't think I don't know why he brought you here," he said suddenly.

①The Canary Islands, located in the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean, became a Spanish colony in 1497 and were later changed to two provinces of Spain.

Harry just looked at Slughorn.Slughorn's teary eyes flicked to Harry's scar, and this time saw his whole face clearly.

"You look a lot like your father."

"Yeah, that's what other people say," said Harry.

"It's just not the eyes. Your eyes—"

"Like my mother, yes." Harry had heard it so many times that it got a little tiresome.

"Hmph. Yes. Of course, as a teacher one shouldn't be partial to students, but I was partial to her. Your mother . . . "

Seeing Harry's questioning gaze, Slughorn added, "Lily Evans, one of the brightest students I've ever taught. Lively and sweet. A charming girl. I've often told her she should At my academy. I often get very rude answers from her."

"Which college are you in?"

"I was Head of Slytherin," said Slughorn.

"Oh, come on..." He saw the expression on Harry's face, and immediately said, waving a stubby finger at him, "Don't be hostile to me because of this! I think, you must be like her, yes Gryffindor's, right? Yeah, it's usually handed down from generation to generation.

But there are exceptions.Ever heard of Sirius Black?You've no doubt heard--of the papers the last two years--died a few weeks ago--"

It seemed that a pair of invisible hands were tightly grasping Harry's internal organs.

"Yeah, back then, he was your father's good friend at school. Everyone in the Black family was in my college, but I didn't expect Sirius to go to Gryffindor!

What a pity - he's a very talented boy.I got his brother Regulus as soon as he came, but if only I had them both. "

He spoke with the tone of an avid collector who has lost an auction to a rival.

He was obviously lost in memory, his eyes were looking at the opposite wall, and his body was turning lazily in place so that his entire back could be evenly heated.

"Of course, your mother was Muggle-born. I couldn't believe it when I found out. I thought she must be purebred for being so good."

"I have a best friend who is also a Muggle-born..." said Harry. "She was the best student in the year."

"It's strange how it happens sometimes, isn't it?" said Slughorn.

"Not surprising," said Harry coldly.Slughorn looked down at him in surprise.

"Don't you think I'm biased!" he said. "No, no, no! Didn't I just say that your mother was one of my favorite students in my life? And Dirk was a class below her." Cresswell - now Head of Goblin Liaison - was also a Muggle-born, a highly qualified student, and still regularly gives me valuable inside information about Gringotts!"

With a smug smile on his face, he jumped up and pointed to the many shiny photo frames on the cabinet, each of which contained a moving little figure.

"It's all my former students, it's all signed photos. You'll see Barnabas Guffey, the editor of the Daily Prophet, who's always interested in my opinion on the current situation.

And Ambrosio Froome from Honeydukes Candy – he sends me a gift basket every year for my birthday.

Because I was the one who introduced him to Ciceron Hakis and got him his first job!

And in the back—you can see it by stretching your neck—is Gwenog Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpies...  

People often wonder why I have such a good relationship with the Harpies when I can get tickets for free if I want to! "Speaking of this, he seemed to be in high spirits.

"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?

The smile on Slughorn's face disappeared as suddenly as the blood on the wall.

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

Harry felt Slughorn startled at his words.For a moment, he looked a little uneasy, then shrugged.

"However... These days, prudent wizards try not to show their faces. Dumbledore has a point, but serving at Hogwarts at this time is tantamount to publicly declaring that I support the Order of the Phoenix! Although I believe they are brave and fearless , admirable, but I'm not much of a fan of mortality—"

"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.

It was hard for him to sympathize with Slughorn's pampered life when he thought of Sirius hiding in a cave and eating rats to survive.

"Most of the teachers weren't members of the Order, and none of them were killed—unless, of course, you count Quirrell, but he deserved it, because he worked for Voldemort."

Harry knew that Slughorn would be like other wizards who would be terrified to hear him say Voldemort's name aloud.

As expected, Slughorn shuddered and protested loudly, but Harry ignored them.

"I think that as long as Dumbledore is Headmaster, the staff at the school are safer than most. He's the only one Voldemort is said to be afraid of, isn't he?" Harry continued.

Slughorn was absent-minded for a moment, seeming to mull over Harry's words.

"Oh, yes, the devil who can't even mention his name has never dared to take on Dumbledore." The devil who can't even mention it won't be able to treat me as a friend... In that case, I'm afraid I'll be safer staying with Albus...

I can't pretend that Amelia Bornes' death didn't touch me... She had so many acquaintances at the Ministry, so much protection, all..."

Dumbledore re-entered the house, and 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, have you had a stomachache?"

"No, I was just looking through the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I like sweater knitting patterns. Well, Harry, we've been bugging Horace for a long time, and I think we should go." .”

Harry obliged, standing up immediately.Slughorn seemed taken aback.

"You are leaving?"

"Yeah. I think, I can see it's a lost game."

"defeat……"

Slughorn looked disturbed.He fiddled with two fat thumbs, watching anxiously as Dumbledore wrapped his traveling cloak tighter and Harry zipped up his jacket.

"Well, I'm sorry you refused to accept the job, Horace..." Dumbledore said, raising his uninjured hand in a farewell gesture, "If you can come back, Hogwarts Ci will be delighted. We have greatly enhanced security precautions, and you are welcome to come and take a look at it any time you wish."

"Okay... well... that's too kind... I said..." "Good-bye, then." "Good-bye," said Harry.