Chapter 697 Horace Slughorn

The village of Barberton seemed very big, but it was actually not small at all. The group walked for more than ten minutes before Dumbledore finally stopped in front of a dilapidated house.

"Oh! God, God!" he exclaimed.

Kyle and Harry followed his gaze.

The first thing they saw was a carefully maintained path with neatly manicured gardens on both sides of the path, but what was incompatible with these was the house that looked like it had been blasted by a blasting spell.

The front door was reduced to a floor of broken wood, with only a small piece the size of a table remaining, hanging crookedly on the door frame.

Dumbledore looked around and whispered: "Kyle, Harry, pull out your wand and follow me."

He walked cautiously up the garden path, followed closely by Kyle and Harry.

Then Dumbledore pushed open the front door, wand in hand.

"Flashes of light."

The situation in the room was worse than outside. It was a mess. It seemed that everything had been turned out. A piano fell to the ground and the keys were scattered everywhere.

There were also broken vases, glass shards, and various mats and other things scattered everywhere on the ground.

In addition, there was a large blood stain on the wall that was dazzlingly red.

"Something terrible must have happened here," Dumbledore said softly.

But the nervousness in his tone had disappeared, and now it was a bit... well, artificial.

"Yes." Kyle nodded and said, "Harry, can you help move the piano to the armchair? I feel like there should be something underneath."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

Although Harry didn't understand why he put the piano on the sofa, since Kyle said so, he must have a reason.

So Harry obediently pointed his wand at the piano.

The piano slowly floated up, and then under Harry's command, it landed on the inverted armchair.

The next second, the armchair screamed, "Ouch, take it away!"

Harry was startled, his hand shook, the spell was interrupted, and the piano fell heavily.

The screams became louder, sounding like mandrakes that had just been pulled out.

Dumbledore waved his hand in time and moved the piano aside.

"Good evening, Horace." Dumbledore said with a smile, "It's okay with you."

Harry stared with dumbfounded eyes. In the blink of an eye, the armchair turned into a fat, bald old man squatting there.

He held his waist, narrowed one eye, and looked at Dumbledore with tears in his eyes.

"That's a piano, why didn't you stop them..." He struggled to get up, "Do you know how painful it was?"

"I'm sorry, Horace," Dumbledore said, "but it's not my fault. There are absolutely no flaws in your Transfiguration, and I didn't find any."

"Although you said that..." The fat old man glanced at Dumbledore angrily, but he didn't seem so angry anymore.

"Well, there's really nothing we can do about it. I should drink some Felixir in advance."

He sighed heavily, and the tips of his beard on both sides stood up.

"Want us to clean it up for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Please, I really need to rest for a while."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "How about Kyle, Harry, leave it to you? Oh, I forgot to introduce you to you, this is my old colleague, Horace Slughorn."

"No problem, Professor," Kyle said, waving his wand.

The furniture jumped back to its original position one by one, the broken vases and glass returned to their original appearance in mid-air, and the keys on the ground returned to the piano...

On the other side, after Slughorn heard Dumbledore's words, the man suddenly stopped rubbing his waist and immediately looked at the two of them with his round eyes.

His eyes immediately fell on Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar.

"Oh, could he just be..."

"Yes, Harry Potter." Dumbledore said with a smile, "There is another one you should have heard of, Kyle Chopper, the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, formerly a second class... "

"Wait, what does this mean? I haven't heard that there is a new first-class medal in the magic world recently."

"Oh, this is inside information. Connelly seems to be interested in boosting the morale of the wizarding world." Dumbledore said calmly, "Being the youngest recipient of a first-class medal is a good topic."

While they were talking, the whole room had become completely new, and even the blood stains on the wall had fallen into a small glass bottle.

Kyle looked at the bottle.

Well, the fire dragon's blood is stained with dust and is no longer suitable for brewing potions... What a pity.

Kyle slipped the bottle into his pocket.

"Oh, that's my last bottle." A trace of distress flashed in Slughorn's eyes, but he had no intention of paying attention to it at the moment.

"Don't think you can convince me with this, Albus, I've said it many times before, the answer is no."

When he said this again, his eyes glanced at Kyle and Harry from time to time.

"Will he really get a first-class medal?"

"It's just that Connelly has this idea." Dumbledore said, "Okay, let's not talk about it. Why don't you buy me a drink? Just think of it as a way to remember the past."

"Just one drink then." Slughorn said, he stood up, took a few glasses from the shelf, and poured a little more mead into them.

It was really just a little, probably just enough to cover the bottom of the glass. It was obvious that he wanted Dumbledore to finish it quickly and leave.

Kyle and Harry also got a glass, of course, not much, maybe just a mouthful.

"Thank you." Dumbledore took the glass and didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, he drank a sip with joy. "It tastes really good, not like the product of the Leaky Cauldron."

"Of course, this is the collection of the Oak Barrel Bar, which uses the honey of the three-tailed bee." Slughorn said proudly: "I went there when I went to Romania before, and bought it from the boss at a high price."

Oak Barrel Bar?

Kyle always felt that the name was a little familiar, and then he suddenly remembered it when he heard Romania again.

The bar in the gathering place next to the Fire Dragon Sanctuary seems to be called this name... Strange, didn't Charlie say that their signature drink is brandy?

Kyle picked up the glass in confusion and took a sip, then put it back in place.

Very good, now it is certain that Slughorn was cheated by someone as a fat sheep.

He drank the honey of three-tailed bees at Newt's place. Let's put it this way, that unique sweet taste is not in this wine at all.

Not surprising, the normal operation of the Oak Barrel Bar... Chris was also cheated at the beginning and bought two bottles of fake brandy, but later Charlie took it to exchange for two real bottles.

Kyle put down the glass silently without pointing it out.

I don't know if it's because he has been tense these days. After taking a sip of wine, Kyle suddenly felt a little sleepy and sat there in a daze.

I don't know how long it took, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Kyle... Kyle..."

"Ah, what's wrong?" Kyle suddenly woke up and turned to look at Harry who was pushing him.

Dumbledore didn't know where he went, and there was only one person left next to him.

"Nothing." Harry said, "Mr. Slughorn just asked you which house you were in."

"Sorry, I didn't hear it." Kyle looked at Slughorn and said, "It's Hufflepuff."

"Oh, the same house as your father." Slughorn didn't care, "But I like your mother more, smart, rational, confident... She was the pride of the entire Slytherin at that time."

He took a sip of honey wine, as if he was caught in some memories, "Of course, as a teacher, I shouldn't favor students, but I do favor her.

"I still remember that in order to seek justice for your father, she beat a fifth-year student into the school hospital for a week, and then blocked him in the common room, scaring him so much that he didn't even dare to leave the dormitory.

"This kind of bad behavior should be punished by detention, but I didn't do it. I just deducted ten points from her."

"Ah, don't get me wrong."

Slughorn quickly added: "I'm not encouraging you to break the school rules. There was a reason for it. The student said a very vicious swear word to her friend in front of her, and that word is absolutely not allowed to appear in school.

"Your father wanted to go up and reason with him, but he also ridiculed him indiscriminately. To be honest, I still insist that his subsequent results are his own fault."

"Of course, I still say that I don't encourage you to break the school rules."

Harry found that Slughorn had been looking at him intentionally or unintentionally while talking, as if this matter was related to him.

But just when he was about to ask, the other party directly changed the subject.

Perhaps because he felt it was not appropriate to discuss this topic with students, Slughorn stood up and said: "Come on, I'll show you my students. "

He led the two to a cabinet and pointed to some photo frames on it and said:

"These are all. You will see Barnabas Guffey, the editor of the Daily Prophet. He is always interested in listening to my views on current affairs... and your father, Kyle, who was also one of my favorite students at the time. I always felt that he had all the qualities that a Hufflepuff should have... Oh, he is here."

Slughorn pointed to a photo frame, "Originally your mother was also there, but later for some reason, she disappeared from the photo... You can definitely understand why, right? "

Kyle nodded.

It should be because Diana entered the Department of Mysteries, but he didn't know the more specific reason.

Slughorn introduced a few more names, basically all of them were very famous people in the wizarding world.

Kyle was looking at the photos, and Harry was talking to Slughorn.

"I think that as long as Dumbledore is the headmaster, the school faculty will be safer than most people. It is said that Voldemort is only afraid of him..."

Harry suddenly shouted loudly, scaring Kyle.

Slughorn was a little absent-minded, as if he was thinking about his words.

"Speaking of safety..." Kyle walked over and whispered, "Harry, do you know what happened to Umbridge?"

"I don't care what happens to her..." Harry said with his neck stiff, and sighed after a moment, "Well, I didn't expect someone like her to insist on opposing the Death Eaters, but the newspaper only said that she was attacked, but I don't know what happened later.

"But I heard from Ron that St. Mungo's is now surrounded by Aurors, especially the ward where she is."

Slughorn fell silent again.

He had to admit that this incident also touched him a lot. Umbridge was attacked by Death Eaters in St. Mungo's, under the eyes of so many wizards. What about him?

Since he did not join the Death Eaters, it was impossible for the Death Eaters to regard him as a friend. In this case, it might be safer to be with Dumbledore...

Just as he was thinking about it, Dumbledore just walked into the room at this time.

"You're back, Albus." Slughorn came back to his senses and said, "Why did you take so long? Did you have a stomachache?"

"No, I flipped through those Muggle magazines," Dumbledore said, "Okay, Harry, Kyle, we have been bothering Horace for a long time, it's time to leave."

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes." Dumbledore said, "It's already late, and Kyle has to go to the Ministry of Magic to work early tomorrow morning. If it's later, it may affect his rest."

"Wait, go to the Ministry of Magic to work?" Slughorn couldn't help but say, "So that's true, he was hired as an exception?"

"Of course." Dumbledore nodded, "Didn't you read the newspaper? He has been in the position of Senior Minister's Assistant for nearly half a year."

"Senior Minister's Assistant who hasn't graduated yet..." Slughorn muttered to himself, his eyes flickering.

"Goodbye then." Dumbledore walked to the door. "Although I'm sorry that I can't work with you again, you can always come back to Hogwarts if you want."

"Goodbye." Harry waved his hand.

As the three of them walked out of the room, they heard a shout from behind.

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

Slughorn ran out breathlessly, "I must be crazy, but yes, I am willing to go back to Hogwarts."

"Great." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Then, Horace, see you on September 1st."

"Okay, no problem." Slughorn muttered, "I will ask for a salary increase..."

"Well, I'm sorry, I don't have the final say on this." Dumbledore turned his head and glanced at Kyle, "In fact, someone can make me take 50 Galleons less a month with just one word."

"Really?" Slughorn's eyes brightened.

Although he didn't know what happened, the fact that the headmaster's salary was deducted at will showed that Kyle had real power, not just a position.

"It doesn't matter." He said with a smile, "Salary and other things don't really matter. I just... miss my old colleagues a little bit. How are Minerva and Filius?"

"They are all fine." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Then we'll see you on September 1st." Slughorn waved his hand and said.

The three of them set foot on the path outside again.

"Professor Dumbledore..." Harry whispered, "Why did that Slughorn suddenly agree?"

"You should call him Professor Slughorn now." Dumbledore corrected, "I think he should have seen the benefits of returning to Hogwarts."

"Benefits?"

"Yes, such as you and Kyle."

Dumbledore continued, "Slughorn likes material enjoyment and likes to make friends with famous, successful, and powerful people. But he is quite special. The people he is good with have all worked their way up from their student days.

"And he has a very unusual ability. He can always pick people who will stand out in various industries in the future."

"I see. "Harry nodded, "No wonder he agreed immediately after knowing that Kyle was a senior assistant minister."

"You are also responsible for this." Dumbledore said, "The boy who survived the catastrophe, or as the newspapers say now, the savior..."

Harry couldn't help but shudder when he heard this title. He didn't like this title, and he didn't think he had done anything.

It was nothing more than someone digging up what he said before about the return of the mysterious man.

They walked forward again.

"Okay." Dumbledore stopped and turned around and said, "I may be very busy later. If you have any urgent matters, Newt can find me."

Kyle nodded, "I know."

"Then, do you need me to take you back?"

Kyle could see that Dumbledore seemed to have something to say to Harry alone, so he shook his head.

"No, Professor, I can go back by myself."

After that, he waved to the two of them and disappeared.