There was a mess in front of them, an old clock shattered at their feet, the clock face cracked, and the pendulum lay a little farther away, like an abandoned sword. A piano topples over on the floor, keys scattered everywhere. Nearby, a fragment of a broken chandelier was glittering. The mats were thrown everywhere in a mess, already deflated, and feathers were burrowing out of the cracks. Broken glass and porcelain shards were sprinkled like powder. Dumbledore raised his wand a little higher, illuminating the wall, which splattered with a lot of dark red gooey stuff.

"It's not pretty, is it?" said Dumbledore heavily, "yes, there's a horrible incident here. ”

Dumbledore cautiously walked to the middle of the room, carefully observing the broken fragments at his feet. Harry followed, looking around, while Lockhart looked directly at the armchair.

"Maybe there was a fight, and then - then they dragged him away, didn't they, Professor?" Harry guessed.

"It doesn't feel like the Death Eaters did it," Lockhart said, "and there's no dark magic mark over the house. ”

"I think so," Dumbledore said calmly, looking behind a bulging armchair that had fallen to the ground.

"You mean he-?"

"Still here? That's right. Dumbledore struck out and plunged the tip of his wand into the cushion of the bulging armchair, which let out a scream, "Ouch!"

"Good evening, Horace. Dumbledore straightened up again.

Harry's mouth opened wide in surprise. It was still an armchair just now, but in the blink of an eye, it turned into a bald fat old man squatting there. He rubbed his stomach and narrowed his pained, tearful eyes at Dumbledore.

"You don't have to pierce your wand so hard. He said angrily, struggling to get up, "It hurts me to death." ”

The light of his wand shone on his blinking bald head, and he looked greedily at the two behind Dumbledore with bulging eyes.

"Gilderoy was always so smart, I saw it from a young age. He said in a gruff voice, staggering to his feet, still rubbing his little belly, "Dark Mark mark." He muttered, "I don't think there's anything missing...... Ah, yes. However, it was too late. As soon as I adjusted the chair cover, you entered the house. ”

"Gidero, I think you'd be happy to tidy up the room for your professor, right? Dumbledore reminded with a smile.

"Willingly," Lockhart said, and began waving his wand.

"Oh, thank you, Gildero, for always being so helpful. Slughorn and Lockhart stood up back to back, waving their wands in unison.

One by one, the furniture jumped back to its original position, the ornaments regained their original shape in mid-air, the feathers burrowed back into the cushions, and the broken books were automatically repaired and neatly arranged on the shelves. The oil lamp flew to the small table by the wall and was lit again. A large mass of shattered silver frames flickered across the room and landed on a desk, shining as bright as new again. Everywhere in the room were broken, torn, and opened. The stains on the walls are also automatically wiped clean.

"What kind of blood is that?" Dumbledore asked, his voice drowning out the pendulum of the freshly repaired grandfather's clock.

"It's dragon blood on the wall. The wizard named Horace shouted in reply, and the chandelier jumped back to the ceiling with a deafening creaking and tintinling sound.

With the final sound of the piano, the room finally fell silent.

"Fire dragon blood, my last bottle, is incredibly expensive at the moment. However, it may still work. Slughorn also saw the rock sugar gourd, "Albus, what are you taking?" ”

"It was Gilderoy who gave me a delicious meal. Dumbledore smiled and raised his hand again, taking a bite of the rock sugar gourd, "Brought back from China." ”

"Ho, Gildelow is on a trip to China," Slughorn's big round eyes immediately looked at Lockhart, then turned to Harry, and his forehead, and the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, "Ho!"

"This," Dumbledore stepped forward to introduce, "it's Harry Potter." Harry, an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn. ”

Slughorn turned to Dumbledore with a quick look on his face. "You actually brought both of them here, Albus, you are too cunning!"

"Actually, it wasn't me who brought them here, it was when we were picking up Harry, and Gildelow offered to drop by to see you~" Dumbledore slyly returned the matter to Lockhart.

"That's right," Lockhart had already prepared, "Hogwarts happens to be short of a professor, and I've been haunted by not being able to join your club back then, I think ......"

Slughorn hesitated, "Ah, I'm sorry I didn't invite you back then, Gildero, it's a huge mistake on my part. ”

"What club?" asked Harry, curious.

"Here, Harry, it's full of my favorite students of the year," Slughorn happily pointed out to Harry, "Your mother is in my club, too, and she's Muggle-born. I couldn't believe it when I found out. I originally thought that she was so good, she must be purebred. ”

"I have a best friend who is also Muggle-born," Harry said, "and Hermione Granger, who was the best student in the grade. ”

"Don't think I'm biased!" Slughorn said quickly, "Your mother is one of my favorite students in my life, and she's in the picture over there, come and see!"

"These are all signed photos of my former students. You'll meet Barnabas Guffey, editor of the Daily Prophet, who is always interested in hearing my views on the situation. And Ambrosius at Duke Bee's candy shop. Froome -- every year on my birthday, he gives me a gift basket because I introduced him to Cicelon Harkis and got him his first job! And then -- you can see it with your neck stretched out -- is Gwenog Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpys...... People often wonder why I have such a good relationship with the Harpy players, and if I want to, I can get tickets for nothing!"

Harry and Lockhart both looked at the picture with interest, while Slughorn looked at the two of them. Collecting famous students is his greatest hobby, and Lockhart and Harry, not talking about skills, but only fame, one is "the man who is best at dealing with dark magic", and the other is "savior", which undoubtedly overshadows most of the students on the cabinet. Harry even recently participated in the battle at the Ministry of Magic, confronting Lord Voldemort.

He tried not to imagine Harry and Lockhart on the cabinet with himself, but failed.