As Harry pushed open the door to the Headmaster's office, Ryan looked around the office and saw that everything was the same as before. The starry black night sky outside the window adds a sense of tranquility to the house.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk reviewing a large pile of papers, and Ryan felt that the headmaster was in good spirits now, but he looked a little tired. Come to think of it, Professor Deng Liduo, no matter how powerful he is, is now a centenarian. If you don't know magic, it's a miracle that someone of this age can live on their own.

Even though the lifespan of people in the wizarding world has greatly increased, there are still certain laws of nature that cannot be defied. In such a tense situation, as the greatest white wizard has so many things to deal with every day, it is normal for Dumbledore to be a little tired as an old man over a hundred years old.

"Ah, it's you!" Dumbledore looked up, his gaze moving from the papers to Ryan and them, "Is there anything wrong with this late hour?"

"Sir—I got it, I got Slughorn's memories with the help of Lane and them. Harry pulled out a small glass vial and showed it to Dumbledore. The headmaster was stunned for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "Harry, this is exciting news!

With that, Dumbledore stood up, turned to the back of his chair, and took out the meditation basin from the cabinet and placed it on the table. Then he poured all the memories from Harry's bottle into it. "Now, we're finally going to see ......"

Dumbledore then waved at the three men standing at his desk. "By the way, you all come and have a look, this is very important for all of us......"

Ryan and Hermione were both using the Meditation Basin for the first time, but Harry had described to them how he felt when he used the Meditation Basin, so Ryan took Hermione's hand and leaned forward together, then took a deep breath at the same time, and plunged headlong into the silver substance.

They felt as if they were floating, falling through the swirling darkness as if they had been randomly teleporting in the space before. The only difference is that there is no feeling of being squeezed or even oppressed physically. Suddenly, they find themselves in a room.

Soon, Dumbledore and Harry appeared alongside the two men. They looked at Slughorn, much younger than he was in the house, with thick, shiny grass-yellow hair and a ginger mustache, sitting in a comfortable winged armchair with his feet resting on large velvet cushions, a small glass of wine in one hand and a box of candied pineapples in the other. Six or seven teenage boys sat around Slughorn, including Voldemort, who was still named Tom at the time, and Ryan recognized the gold ring set with the resurrection stone flashing on his hand.

It can be seen that Slughorn was very optimistic about Voldemort back then, because Ryan saw him swear to Voldemort. "—I'm sure you'll be the Minister of Magic in twenty years. Maybe only fifteen years, if you send me candied pineapple regularly. I have a very hard relationship in the ministry. ”

"It's a disgusting reality. Ryan heard Hermione muttering to herself, for someone like her who had a little idealist tendencies, it was always uncomfortable to see such a naked deal.

Also unhappy with this state of affairs was the young Voldemort, who was then named Tom Riddle, who said as the other boys were laughing at a time. "I don't know if politics is right for me, sir, first of all I have no background. ”

The two boys next to him looked at each other and smiled. Ryan felt that by this time Tom Riddle had spread the word that his ancestor was Salazar Slytherin by some means, and no doubt the boys who were laughing knew that their head had a prominent ancestor.

"What," said Slughorn cheerfully, as a member of a certain family of pure-bloods28, he could tell the student's family history from a person's habits. Tom Riddle's visceral identification with pure-bloodism after knowing that he was a Slytherin descendant, and the pure-blood style he learned from his Slytherin classmates, clearly led Slughorn to think that he was of noble birth. "It's all too clear that your talent must have come from a decent wizarding family. You've got a bright future ahead of you, Tom, and I've never missed a student. ”

Just then, the little golden clock on Slughorn's desk struck eleven, and he began to chase away the students. "Oh my God, it's time, it's time to go, boys, or we're in trouble. Lestrange, turn in your papers tomorrow, or you'll be locked up. So do you, Avery. ”

The boys began to line up to leave the office, and Slughorn stood up to clean up, but there was movement behind him. Turning around, he found Riddle still standing.

"Hurry up, Tom, you don't want to be caught until the lights go out and you're still outside, you're a prefect......"

"Sir, I want to ask you something. ”

"Then ask, kid, ask ......"

"Sir, I would like to ask if you know...... Horcruxes. ”

After hearing this, Ryan and the others were in good spirits at the same time. Because they knew that the paragraph they needed most was coming up soon, everyone adjusted their state and listened attentively to every word that followed.

Slughorn glared at young Voldemort, his fat fingers caressing the foot of the cup absentmindedly. "Defence Against the Dark Arts subject, huh?" But the four people here could tell that Slughorn knew it wasn't schoolwork.

"No, sir, what I read in the book, I don't understand much. Riddle is a brilliant portrayal of an unbelievable but extremely studious figure of such an evil magic prop.

Slughorn was blinded by this illusion, and he spoke to Riddle in a serious voice. "Hmm...... Oh, yes...... It's hard to find a book at Hogwarts that goes into detail about Horcruxes, Tom. That's very evil stuff, very evil. ”

"But you obviously know a lot, sir? I mean, wizards like you — I'm sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously— I only know that if anyone can tell me, it's you — so I wanted to ask—"

"It's really good to grasp people's hearts. Ryan sighed softly that Slughorn was a man who liked to be praised by others, and this casual compliment just tickled Slughorn's itch. From Riddle's apt question, Ryan could sense that he might have been planning this for a long time, and might have spent a few weeks practicing it in front of the mirror. It can also be seen from this aspect that this issue is very important to him.

"Well," said Slughorn, not looking at Riddle, but playing with the ribbon on the box of candied pineapple that Riddle had given him, "of course, it wouldn't hurt to give you a brief introduction, just to give you an understanding of the term." A Horcrux is an object that holds part of a person's soul. ”

But I don't quite understand what that's all about, sir. Riddle said, but now the four people who are looking at this memory feel the excitement beneath Riddle's calm surface.

"That is, you split your soul," Slughorn said, "and hide a part of it in some object outside your body." In this way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you will not be able to die, because there is still a part of your soul left unharmed. But, of course, it is very bad to exist in this form, and few people want to be like that, Tom, less and less. It's better to die. ”

Professor Slughorn's admonition is absolutely heartfelt and perfectly correct. While traveling through so many worlds, Ryan also asked countless great powers about all kinds of knowledge about spiritual practice. Each path of great power practice is different, but without exception they all emphasize the importance of the integrity of the soul.

However, Voldemort at this time may not know this, and may also feel that he is the most special person who will not be affected by the negative effects of Horcruxes. So after hearing Slughorn talk about Horcruxes, he showed a greedy expression, and he couldn't hide his desires.

"Man should be the master of power, not enslaved by it. At the same time, be humble in your quest for strength, and never think of yourself as the chosen one. Ryan whispered to himself that Voldemort's negative case had taught him too many lessons, and he felt that he could learn a lot from it.