Professor, please pay the debt

There were only three students in Potions class that afternoon: Harry, Ernie, and Draco Malfoy.

"You're not old enough to Apparate?" Slughorn asked amiably. "Not seventeen?"

The three nodded.

"Well..." said Slughorn cheerfully, "since there are so few of us, let's make something fun, and I want you each to give me something fun!"

"Sounds great, sir," Ernie flattered, rubbing his hands together.Malfoy didn't smile at all. "What do you mean, 'interesting' stuff? he asked irritably.

"Oh, surprise me," Slughorn replied lightly.

Malfoy opened his Advanced Potion-Making with a sullen face, and it was obvious that he thought the class was a waste of time.

Peering at him over his textbook, Harry saw that he was undoubtedly paler, with that dull gray to his skin, perhaps because he had seen so little sunlight these days.

He had no air of pride, excitement, or arrogance, and was as downcast as a defeated rooster.

Harry felt that nine out of ten of his virtues were due to Lucius' disappearance.

Snakeface attacked Azkaban for the second time, causing a large number of prisoners to escape or disappear. Under Scrimgeour's black box operation, Lucius was labeled as missing. Once the news was announced, Drake never appeared again in the auditorium.

It's hard, but... bear with it!

Harry thought coldly in his heart.

He didn't intend to tell Drake about Lucius' situation at all. Who knows if this kid has inherited the crazy gene of the Black family. If he speaks out, it will spoil his own affairs.

There was still a Slughorn to deal with, and because Harry had a little plan in mind, he worked extra hard in this class, making it out of the secretions of the bandymagum and the sting of the Billywig bug. A glass of digestive potion.

"Ah, that looks wonderful," cried Slughorn an hour and a half later, clapping his hands as he stared at the sunlit golden liquid in Harry's cauldron. You just happened to be full, so this potion will come in handy."

"Yes, sir..." Harry said temptingly, "If you do yourself a favor, you will find the difference."

"Really? I have to say that the taste of Xiaoshiling is not very good, oh... But I found that the color you made is slightly different, um, well, let me try..."

Slughorn scooped up a small spoonful with his fat, short fingers, brought it to his lips, tasted it, and said, smacking his lips, "Yes, oh, yes, no more disgusting stinky socks Taste, ho, how do you do it? Well... just the bandems and sting needles, I didn't taste the other ingredients, you know, my tongue is smart, you didn't change the recipe, did you, boy.

At the same time, two other people in the classroom also approached, and they stared at Harry with obvious hostility.

Harry didn't pick them up at all, just smiled at Slughorn, "That's right, Professor. There are really no other ingredients. The reason the taste is different is that I baked the stinger of the Billywig bug. It was added after it dries, and the medicinal effect remains the same, but the taste is much better.”

"Oh! I'd say it's unorthodox, but what a genius inspiration, Harry."

Slughorn suddenly became happy, and he stared at the Diet Spirit greedily, "And it's very practical... When you're craving French dinner, but you have to drink a bottle of stinky socks potion first, that's a shame." What a disappointment!"

Of course Harry knew the potion was useful, especially for a glutton like Old Walrus.

So he gave the whole pot to Slughorn, and hypocritically said that it was for him to study the possibility of improvement.

This made Slughorn elated, and he generously gave Harry ten points, and he wasn't interested in whatever Ernie and Draco did.

As soon as the bell rang for the end of get out of class, the angry Ernie and the expressionless Malfoy left immediately.

Harry deliberately dawdled for a while, until the two of them disappeared, before he walked up to Slughorn, "Professor, are you free tonight?"

"Please wait……"

Slughorn solemnly took out several crystal vials from his robe, and filled them with the Diet Spirit, "I don't want to waste your work."

Seeing Harry staring at the crystal bottles, he explained, "Old-school wizards do this, take them with you!"

"Very prudent," Harry flattered.

It wasn't until the cauldron was empty that Slughorn looked at Harry, "What's the matter, boy, do you need help?"

"Yes, if you are free."

"Oh, I'm always available for you. Tell me, then."

The old walrus smiled kindly while putting the crystal bottles into his robes, and there was a clanging sound from the wide robes, which made Harry guess that there were a huge number of crystal bottles.

"Oh, sir, it's Hagrid..." Harry knew what to say now, "he's very upset...you won't tell anyone, Professor? I don't want to get him into trouble..."

Slughorn's curiosity was clearly piqued. "Well, I can't guarantee that..." he said roughly, "but I know that Dumbledore has great faith in Hagrid, so I believe Hagrid won't do anything too terrible..."

"Oh, it's that giant spider, Hagrid's been keeping it for years...it lives in the woods...talks and does a lot of things—"

"I also heard that there are acromantia in the forest."

Slughorn looked out the window in the direction of the woods and said softly, "Is that true?"

"Yes..." said Harry, "but this one, Aragog, was the first one Hagrid had, and he died last night. Hagrid was very sad, and he wanted someone to bury Aragog with him, and I Say I'll go. Just tonight."

"It's touching!" Slughorn's small eyes rolled a few times. "But I have to say that it's not in compliance with the regulations. You know, if you get caught, you will be in big trouble."

"But I promised Hagrid."

"Great friendship."

Slughorn's tone was so perfunctory, and it looked like he was about to leave the professor, that Harry realized he had to tell the truth.

"Actually, it has nothing to do with greatness, you know, only old madmen like that."

There was an unmistakable sneer in Harry's words, which amused Slughorn, and he walked out of the room with him, wrapping his big fat hands around Harry's shoulders.

"I didn't go to the funeral because of any friendship, not at all, I hated that brute, even though Hagrid liked him, he almost ate me, I went there because, that's how the old spider's body was buried It's a pity."

"what!"

Slughorn yelled like a bell, and Harry couldn't help looking at the roof, feeling that the place was shaken and dust began to fall.

"Acromantula's venom is very precious... If the beast had just died, the venom might not be dry... Of course, if Hagrid is unhappy, you can't..."

"So I hope you can come with me." Harry looked at him shrewdly, "Bring a bottle of wine."

"Hey, you elf!"

Slughorn immediately understood Harry's strategy, "Let me lure Hagrid away? Oh, I have to say, it's quite risky, as far as Hagrid is concerned, if he gets angry, the two of us But I can't deal with it. And I'm not at ease... Can you collect the venom of the acromantia? It's impossible to teach this in school."

Harry smiled confidently, and took out a crystal bottle containing a golden yellow liquid from his pocket.Slughorn was instantly blinded.

"My God, you really know how to do it, but... have you already collected it... You know, it is almost impossible to get venom from a live acromantula..."

"Don't worry, professor, Aragog's body is intact, this bottle was donated by his descendants."

"How did you do it...Of course, some young spiders are not too fierce, maybe you can deal with them, but this is too dangerous, Harry, promise me, don't do it again."

"But it seems too wasteful not to collect it... maybe a pint is worth a hundred Galleons!"

"It's two hundred, my son, two hundred galleons, there is no legal channel for this thing, so the black market is rampant... To be honest, my salary is not high..."

In this way, Slughorn was persuaded, and they agreed to meet Hagrid together at dusk.