Harry watched in amazement as the bald fat old man staggered up from the couch, and the bloated couch cover on his body turned into a very formal suit in the blink of an eye, looking very temperamental.

However, the action of still rubbing his stomach makes this temperament a little funny no matter how you look at it.

"How do you see that?" He asked, rubbing his stomach.

"Dark mark, my dear Horace." Dumbledore squinted his eyes and smiled, "If it were really the Death Eaters, they would have left the Dark Mark on the rooftops." ”

"Ah, ah, I forgot......" he muttered, "I said how I felt something, but it was too late. ”

He drew his wand, and Dumbledore took out his wand and asked, "Need help?" ”

"Of course, it's the best."

The two stood back to back, their wands waved in the same rhythm, and the messy scene in the room changed instantly. It's like pressing the button to play backwards, and the furniture flies back to its original position one by one. The scattered glass, feathers, clock faces, and pendulums on the floor, as well as the broken books, were restored to their original state, and they remained where they should be.

In just a few moments, the living room became extremely tidy, and even the horrible blood stains on the walls were cleaned up.

"It's a lot better." Dumbledore nodded, "By the way, what kind of blood is that?" ”

"Dragon's blood." Horace replied, "My last bottle, it's hard to get by now, of course ......."

As he spoke, he sighed as his gaze wandered around the room. Only then did he notice Harry and Hermione, especially the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, which surprised him even more.

"Hey!" He pointed at Harry, but looked at Dumbledore next to him, and his tone was a little unkind.

"You think you can convince me with that?"

"Albus, I tell you, it can't be!"

Dumbledore was not annoyed, still with a smile on his face, and said, "I forgot, I haven't introduced you yet. ”

"This is Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger...... Harry, Hermione, this is my old friend, my old colleague, Horace Slughorn. ”

"Impossible! No way! Albus, no way! Horace's eyes widened, and he kept saying it, and turned his back away from Harry and Hermione.

Seeing this, Dumbledore smiled and patted his shoulder and said, "I think, no matter what, we can at least have a black drink together...... For the sake of a bygone time? ”

Hobbes hesitated for a moment, then turned around and nodded.

"Okay, but just one glass!"

Dumbledore laughed, waving his wand as the flask and glasses that had appeared earlier at the Dursleys landed on the freshly restored coffee table in the living room.

"This is Miss Rosmerta's mead, I remember it as your favorite!"

They sat down around the coffee table, and Horace took a sip from his glass, but his head was tilted to the side to look at Dumbledore. When Dumbledore saw Horace drinking mead, he immediately winked mischievously at Harry and Hermione.

He coughed before asking, "Horace, how are you, are your bones okay?" ”

"Not so good." Horace took another sip of mead, "Asthma, rheumatism, and weak legs." It's normal, people are old and useless. ”

"Really? I don't see it. Dumbledore said, "It's very dexterous that you have prepared such a welcoming ceremony for us in such a short time. ”

"I guess...... Three minutes? ”

"It's two and a half minutes!" Horace jerked his head back, his words half smug and half annoyed, "I was taking a shower and I didn't hear the alarm of the invasion charm, otherwise you wouldn't have seen any flaws!" ”

"But...... I'm still old, a useless old man, and a useless old man deserves a peaceful retirement. ”

"You're not as old as me, Horace." Dumbledore persuaded.

"yes, so you should consider retiring, Albus." Horace placed the cup on the coffee table, and the jug quickly filled it, and the glass jumped into his hand obediently.

He didn't look at the glass, but squinted at Dumbledore's blackened hand, and said pointedly, "You can see that you are not as sensitive as before." ”

"That's right." Dumbledore replied calmly, exposing both hands. The right hand was charred black, and the left hand was intact, but there was an extra ring made of gold, which was rough, and inlaid with a black cracked stone.

Horace's attention fell unconsciously on the ring, frowning slightly, but in the blink of an eye, he turned his head away, and only snorted coldly.

Dumbledore chuckled, as if he hadn't seen Horace's reaction, and said to himself, "Horace, are these security measures of yours for the sake of the Death Eaters, or for us?" ”

"What do the Death Eaters want me to do with this old bone?" He asked rhetorically.

"Torture, murder, conspiracy, your ingenuity I think is important to them." Dumbledore said, his eyes suddenly sharpening, "Do you dare to say that they never tried to pull you in?" ”

"Bang!"

Hearing this, Horace fiercely put the cup on the coffee table, staring at Dumbledore fiercely for a long time before whispering back, "I didn't give them a chance!" ”

"For the past year, I've been hiding my whereabouts and never staying in one place for more than a week."

"Yes, they've looked for me more than once, in fact, I almost got caught just the other day!" A trace of horror unconsciously appeared on his face, "A young man, unprecedentedly terrifying, even more terrifying than ......"

"Worse than Tom, right?" Dumbledore whispered back, "Young and strong, hopelessly powerful?" ”

"Yes...... Horace's mind shuddered as he remembered the experience of the previous days.

Seeing this, Dumbledore smiled and said, "For an old man who wants to live a peaceful life, this kind of life is really terrible!" But think about it, if you go back to Hogwarts......"

"Save it, Albus!" Horace interrupted Dumbledore directly, "Yes, I'm hiding from XZ right now, but I've heard rumors that that's how you treat a professor about Umbridge!" ”

"Umbridge took the blame by swaggering into the Forbidden Forest and yelling 'Dirty Wild Seed' at a crowd of angry centaurs."

"Surely you wouldn't do that, Horace......"

"She did that? What a stupid, I won't ......" Horace's expression was a little unnatural, and his voice became quieter.

At this moment, Harry, who had been quiet, burst out laughing, which immediately attracted Horace's attention. Seeing this, Harry quickly put down his glass and explained, "I'm sorry, it's just ...... I don't like her either, we don't like her. ”

"Alright, alright......" Horace still muttered, his gaze casually scanning Hermione. At first, he didn't pay attention to it, but suddenly remembered the news he got from one of his students working in the Ministry of Magic some time ago, and unconsciously looked at Hermione twice.

"Ahem...... he coughed dryly, took a sip of mead, and asked Dumbledore next to him as if inadvertently, "Is this...... What you just said, Hermione Granger? ”

"Twelve o's?"

Dumbledore nodded, the smile on his face widening.