Astoria vaguely sensed Jon's emotions and saw that he was absent-minded after hearing the news from Professor Trelawney, and left the Headmaster's office on her own initiative.

After she descended the spiral staircase, Jon Hart, who was sitting in the headmaster's seat, suddenly looked up with a grim glint in his eyes.

"Phineas. He ordered softly, "Please contact Severus, and we'll meet in front of the Potions classroom in ten minutes." ”

"Okay, Jon!" Headmaster Phineas Black nodded solemnly instead of giggling, and soon disappeared from the portrait.

"Do you need to call someone else?" On another portrait, Headmaster Dexter Fosco asked with some concern, "Only you and Severus ...... words"

"No need. Jon shook his head.

He took a sip of the polyjuice potion from the teapot, then tipped Albus Dumbledore's elderberry wand to his waist and strode down the spiral staircase and out of the Headmaster's office.

......

When Headmaster Albus Dumbledore arrived at the Potions classroom in the basement of the castle, Severus Snape, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, was already waiting for him.

The two just exchanged glances with each other, but neither spoke.

The eyes of the two men looked at the Potions office in front of them at the same time.

Dumbledore walked over to the Potions teacher's office and knocked lightly on the door. Snape took the opportunity to lean against the wall and hide in the shadows.

"Who!" came Horace-Slughorn's lazy voice from the office.

"It's me, Horace. Dumbledore spoke calmly.

"It turned out to be Albus...... You haven't been to see me since I was discharged from St. Mungo...... Bring me something good......" Slughorn's big grin came to an abrupt halt.

Because when he opened the door to his office, he saw Dumbledore's iconic elderberry wand, now pointing at him.

"I don't quite understand...... Albus ......," he stammered.

"I want to ...... The masquerade should be over though, Horace. Dumbledore smiled, his wand raised in the air, neither released nor lowered.

"What masquerade...... Slughorn said, quietly grabbing his wand with his right hand—

"Expelliarmus!" a cold spell sounded from one side suddenly.

Severus Snape emerges from the shadows, and he snatches Slughorn's wand.

"Oh...... All right...... Severus, you're here too, good evening!" Slughorn suddenly laughed, as if relieved: "Albus, you don't need a receptive, you don't need a truth potion...... I'll give an account, I'll give it all from the beginning!"

......

Snape glanced at Dumbledore with some confusion, for things were going more smoothly than expected.

The balding fat old man staggered into his office and sat down on his recliner.

"How did you show it?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"What shall I say...... Horace, you've left too many holes, and you're unlucky that one of your companions betrayed you just a few days ago!" said Dumbledore, who seemed to find it ridiculous.

The other party patted his broad forehead with his chubby hand and nodded thoughtfully.

"Can you tell me, then, did I ask you to be a teacher at Hogwarts, or did Tom ask you to be a Death Eater, Horace?" Dumbledore looked curious, as if he was not interrogating a "prisoner" at all, but chatting with a friend.

"Of course, I promised you to come to Hogwarts as a teacher. Slughorn said as a matter of course: "The main thing is that I was so unlucky, just three days after I promised you, a former student suddenly came to visit me...... Coincidentally, there were Death Eaters following her at the time, so ......"

"Diana Greengrass?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"That's right, it's that silly girl. Slughorn nodded, "The Dark Lord had noticed her, but he was too weak to openly attack a Ministry of Magic official, so he had to send someone to follow her...... But unexpectedly, my whereabouts were exposed. ”

"I see!"

"You know, Tom and I know each other well, and I know Tom very well...... I think you can understand my situation, Albus, I have no choice, I'm not so brave enough to face death, though I still want to be with you in my heart, Albus!" Slughorn defended.

"I can understand that, otherwise you wouldn't have gone into hiding after Tom returned. Dumbledore said lightly, "But you betrayed your student like that?"

"You mean Diana?" Slughorn shrugged, "yes, I guess I betrayed her, but the Dark Lord has been eyeing her for a long time...... I just told the Dark Lord that she was making a Horcrux for her daughter, and the Dark Lord happened to be an expert at this...... The Dark Lord sent someone to find her, and under coercion and temptation, this silly girl was fooled......"

Dumbledore frowned, but did not speak.

"The Dark Lord's target should be your student, Jon Hart, right?" Slughorn began, "I don't know much about the specifics, but I'm glad he's smarter than Diana, and maybe the silly girl finally came to her senses...... Anyway, the Dark Lord's plot didn't succeed, did he?"

Slughorn paused, then continued:

"Of course...... I also have a lot of love for that kid, even though he poached my biggest secret......"

“...... So as soon as I stepped on the Hogwarts train, as soon as I got out of the Dark Lord's control, I tried to warn him! Diana's daughter, the infatuated girl who could be seen through her mind, I knew she had a way to contact Hart, so I whispered to her the truth......"

Squinting at Snape's slightly cold gaze, Slughorn covered his mouth and then lowered his tone: "Of course, I don't deny that I leaked everything I said I knew about that Hart to the Dark Lord...... But it's just for life, it's a stopgap measure!"

He hurriedly added: "Besides, that kid has nothing to do so far, right...... There's a little bit of credit for that, right?"