"Ouch, before you know it, it's late at night, it's almost curfew time, you better go back quickly. After Slughorn finished speaking, he drank the last sip of wine in the glass, and then glanced at an hourfunnel next to him, "I had a great time with today's dinner. ”

Everyone stood up and prepared to leave.

Slughorn held out his hand to Alan and Hermione, "Professor Harris, Miss Granger, thank you again for coming. Then he turned to the others, "McLagan, Harry, Brace, welcome to come at any time." So do you, miss. He winked at Ginny, "Okay, you guys, let's go, or I can't help it." ”

Draco and Shabini left the room first, and the others gradually left, Alan told Hermione to go back to the Gryffindor dormitory first, and instead of walking out the door, he himself walked towards Slughorn.

"Professor Harris, do you have anything to do?" Slughorn was buttoning up his suit, which made his big belly stand out a little and made him a little worried about what to do if the other party was really interested in joining his club.

"Professor Slughorn, that's right, you know I set up an intensive training class when I was in my third year, in fact, it's not just a cram school, but an organization similar to your slug club, you can help each other after graduation, make it easier for yourself to gain a foothold in the wizarding world, after a few years of development, our members are all successful, and with their network, they have also invited some wizards who have been famous in all walks of life for a long time to join- They didn't join the Harris family itself, they just allowed each other to have a good relationship... Although I have to admit that some of them did choose to join my family. Allen's slightly mischievous eyes flashed, and he smiled mildly at the somewhat confused Potions professor, "I don't know if Professor Slughorn is interested in joining my omniscient club, it's an honor for my club to have a Potions master like you join, and I will definitely put your photo in the most prominent position on my photo shelf." ”

"Huh?" Professor Slughorn's throat moved, a little stunned by the sudden and unexpected reverse invitation, he loosened his bow tie and tried to re-understand Alan's words, confirming that he had indeed been invited by Alan to join his club for decades...

It was only when Horace Slughorn learned that Allen's camp had such a purpose behind his camp that his inner anxiety intensified, and the other party would certainly not be building this kind of organization just to make himself the core, introduce celebrities to each other, plan connections between members, and thus establish some good connections and get something in return such as free Quidditch tickets or a box of his favorite candied pineapples—the young professor in front of him obviously had greater ambitions.

It's just that how to politely refuse such a face-to-face invitation without hurting the other party's decency, this is an art of speaking - Slughorn thinks that he has already rejected the official invitation of the other party's umbrella company after all, which makes him, who is usually very talented in language, very difficult at this time.

After a slight hesitation, Slughorn smiled tentatively at Allen: "Professor Harris, please allow me to think about it for a while, you know that I am old, if it wasn't for Dumbledore's invitation, I would have continued to live my retirement life a long time ago, I don't know if I will have the energy to join these activities after this teaching career is over, so please allow me to think about it for a while..."

"Of course, my invitation is a bit abrupt, but Professor Slughorn, I think before you think about it, we can actually hold some banquets like today's to introduce members to each other, so as to establish a good relationship and expand each other's network, right?" Alan smiled back at Slughorn, too. As for what the members need from each other, just let them contact each other, we just kindly provide a good platform for them, and the rest doesn't matter what we do..."

Slughorn was relieved to realize that Allen's purpose was not actually him, but the celebrities in his slug club, as the other party finally hinted, even if something did happen after that, it was not to blame him for being just the contact person of the platform, he didn't personally participate, and it did expand his own network.

Realizing that the other party's first invitation was just a stepping stone, and realizing that he couldn't refuse the other party again, Slughorn cleared his throat: "That's a good thing... I'll write to you, Professor Harris, how about arranging for the Christmas break, which will give you more time..."

The only thing the Potions professor was a little frustrated with now was that he was afraid that this decision would be the same as the Horcrux knowledge he had told Tom Riddle before, even if he was not responsible for the truth on the table, but what he understood and always felt guilty about was that he believed that he had created the second generation of the Dark Lord with his own hands - the soul that had been split too many times had turned that handsome and rational handsome boy into a disorderly monster.

"Good choice, then I'll wait for the good news, and I'll make an appointment before the holidays, Professor Slughorn, goodbye. Alan nodded with satisfaction, Slughorn personally sent him out, just as he was about to close the door, Alan turned his head and used his chin to make a nuisance in the door, "Professor Slughorn, Harry is still inside, he waited for a long time after our conversation ended, maybe you will have to help him issue a certificate when you let him go back, otherwise he will definitely think that he violated the curfew if he is caught by the skillful lady..."

Slughor turned around in shock when he heard this, and found that Harry had remained in the room, and his mind was so immersed in the conversation with Alan Harris that he didn't notice that there was anyone in the room.

"Sorry Professor, I was just admiring that hourglass. Harry turned around and pointed to a green one on the table on the other side of the table, with four small crystal snakes crawling on top of each other, two on top of each other's teardrop-shaped crystals, their tails connected - Harry was also in a trance, even though he had known Alan before the first year, but he always kept discovering the other side of each other, and their conversation just now made Harry feel the other side of those pure-blood wizards when they ran their families.

"Oh, yes. Slughorn normalized his mood a bit, and walked over, "Funny gadgets, the speed at which sand drops correlates with the quality of the conversation. If the conversation is interesting, the grains of sand fall slowly. If boring......"

"I think it's time for me to go. Harry said as he watched the speed at which the sand fell.

"Nonsense, what do you have to be afraid of. Slughorn patted him on the shoulder, "As for some of your classmates, let's put it this way, they can't get on my shelf either. ”

"What shelf professor?"

Slughorn walked slowly as Harry walked towards one of his displays, "Those aspiring students want to go there." ”

The shelves standing on the wall were lined with all sorts of picture frames, all in all shapes and sizes, and Harry discovered that they were actually the same wizarding celebrities he and Dumbledore had seen when they had invited each other, as did Harry's mother, Lily Evans Potter.

"But then again, you're already a character, aren't you? Slughorn complimented that he was willing to come to Hogwarts to teach again, and one of the main purposes was to put Harry Potter photos on this shelf.

Harry looked at the pictures of these illustrious wizards above, thought about what Dumbledore had told him, gritted his teeth and asked, "Did Voldemort ever go on this shelf, Professor?"

When Slughorn heard the name, his face was horrified, his eyes widened, and he froze for a moment.

"You know him, don't you? Tom Riddle, you taught him. Harry asked without giving up.

"He had a lot of teachers when he was at Hogwarts. Slughorn replied lightly.

"What was he like then?" Harry asked, but Slughorn seemed to be immersed in his memories and did not answer him. "Sorry Professor, with all due respect, he killed my parents. Harry tried to ease Slughorn's wariness.

"Oh of course," Slughorn raised his eyelids as if he had just woken up from a dream, "it's understandable that you want to know more. He swallowed, "But I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you Harry, the first time I met him, he was smart but quiet, and he wanted to be a first-class wizard. As a young man, Tom Riddle was studious and handsome, and as the president of the boys' student council, he was influential in the school. The well-mannered Riddle was very good at likable, and the professors and students liked him, and he was almost perfect. If you had seen Riddle at that time, you would never have associated him with the evil and mysterious man who would have been so terrifying. The feeling of being a good male student council president is completely different from when he became a mystery person in the future, but it is a bit like the current ......"

Slughorn stopped talking abruptly, realizing that he had almost uttered the words that he had just said worried—Tom Riddle, who had never made Horcruxes at that time, was a lot like Alan Harris now. They are all excellent and near-perfect Hogwarts wizarding role models, loved by professors and classmates, and behave impeccably......

Slughorn suddenly turned to look at Harry, "It's not that different from the other students I know, not much different from you, actually. He raised his eyebrows, "If there is anything, he hides it deeply." ”

At this time, on the table, the sand particles in the hourglass wrapped in the four snakes slid down very quickly.