Slughorn's expression grew more and more flustered.

His eyes dodged, wanting to get out of here.

However, when he turned around, he was grabbed by Koyatl's hand.

Slughorn was startled, he didn't expect the pretty little girl in front of him to be so bold.

"Maybe you don't even know what the Pretenders and the Purges are doing in Port Isabella."

Koyatl's words were not finished. Slughorn interrupted her, and the old wizard was terrified, and a forced smile rose at the corners of his mouth, and said, "Child, I know. I know. Because I know, so."

"What are you worried about? Is it Voldemort's revenge? Harry could tell that the old wizard in front of him must be hiding a huge secret. He said bluntly.

"No—" Slughorn shook his head, grimacing.

"Sir, when my mother came to you, she must have betrayed the Saints, the traitors of the two Saints, an android who was hunted down by the Elves and the Cleaners, and a Death Eater.

How did they come together? Owen unfolded Koyatl's words, "What do you know, sir?" What exactly are they asking you? ”

"Find me. Just some potions problem. Slughorn still didn't answer.

He broke free of Koatl's grip and walked out of the room.

The back looked a little flustered.

"There must be something he's hiding from us, something that even Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't know." Hermione said solemnly.

"Obviously, he was frightened, and he didn't know what had happened?" Koyatl said.

"Owen, maybe you could write to Aunt Roy and ask her? She was with your mother. ”

Hermione looked at the teenage girl standing next to Gabriel, Roy Silver.

"I don't think it's very likely that my aunt knows." Owen shook his head, and he said, "Didn't you notice?" The people in this picture are dead. We don't know that McCowwin Hunter, but I don't think it's very likely that he's still alive.

Aunt Roy was young at the time, and if it was another dangerous adventure, how could her mother possibly involve her? ”

Owen wasn't guessing what he said, in fact, the photo showed three people with silver hair.

Almost all wizards who came into contact with ancient magic lived shortly, and that McCowwin Hunt was definitely not alive today.

This power is more of a curse than a mercy.

Even if it is the heir of the past generations, after Merlin, only Dean Bridged has lived past the age of thirty.

Isn't this a curse?

Her mother possessed ancient magic and had developed the Brazilian Divine Grant Tower with her grandmother, and she could not have been unaware of the dangers of this power.

So she would never let Aunt Roy get involved.

Hearing this, Owen said this, and everyone nodded in approval.

It's quite logical.

Hermione thought for a moment if the matter of the outer gods was to be handled by her. She won't pull either. members get involved.

"If you want me to say, why don't we be tougher?" Ron had a bad idea on the sidelines.

He looked around, and Koyatl nodded.

Hermione glared at him.

"We're just sure that Slughorn is hiding a secret, and as for what it is, we don't know, who can guarantee that it has anything to do with the outer gods? How can it be forced? ”

At that moment, Dumbledore walked into the house.

Naturally, all the conversations that happened in it fell into his ears.

"Alright, don't mess with the boys." Dumbledore said, "I didn't expect Slughorn to have other secrets hidden in his heart. ”

"Two things can be combined into one." He muttered.

"Professor." The little wizards stepped forward.

"It doesn't look like it's going to go too well." Dumbledore said, "Well, in that case, we should get out of here too." ”

"Professor, aren't we going to invite him to Hogwarts anymore?" Hermione said in surprise.

"Everyone has their own ambitions, and we can't force them, but even if he doesn't join Hogwarts, I have other candidates."

With that, he led the young wizards out of the room and into the living room.

"You're leaving?" In the living room, Slughorn came back to his senses, and he looked at the crowd and said.

"yes, I can tell the defeat is a foregone conclusion, I didn't convince you to go back to Hogwarts."

"Huh, defeat?" Slughorn looked uneasy, fiddling with his two chubby thumbs, looking anxiously at Dumbledore and the young wizards around him.

"Alas, I'm sorry you won't accept the job, Horace." Dumbledore said, making a farewell gesture with his hand without spells, "Hogwarts will be happy if you can come back." You know, we've greatly strengthened our security precautions since this year, and you're always welcome to come and see if you want. ”

"Okay, no problem, I, alas, you are too polite, I said ......"

"Then goodbye." Dumbledore said.

"Goodbye. "Sir," Hermione said.

"Goodbye." Harry waved his hand.

"Goodbye." The rest of the young wizards also waved at the sweaty Slughorn.

They walked out of the garden path, and the garden door closed automatically behind them.

Take the path that leads to the bottom of the mountain.

Surrounded by a quiet village.

"Do you think he's been in contact with the Outer Gods?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

Owen held his breath and pondered for a moment before replying, "Yes, that's why he reacted so strongly."

And—I think this matter may have something to do with Zhang Xiaolin. ”

"It's possible." Dumbledore nodded, "Because he saw or knew about the miracle on Miss Zhang's mother's body, he was curious about that power.

Later, if someone looked for him, or showed that kind of power, as a potions master, he would definitely not refuse the other person's request, so that he could obtain that power and use it to study. ”

"Yes." "I said at the time that the wizards in the picture were dead, and he must have known about them, so he kept it secretive and wouldn't tell us the details." ”

"It's normal, Horace likes to be a creature person, he likes to make friends with famous, successful, powerful people, but he doesn't like to get into trouble. He's a pretty standard Slytherin. Dumbledore went on to say that he had pretty much put Owen on his mind, "He likes to hide behind the scenes and watch others at his mercy." ”

"Will he join Hogwarts, Professor?" Owen looked up at Dumbledore.

"What do you think?"

"Me? I think he definitely would. The boy smiled vaguely, "I'll spread the word about his relationship with the Outer Gods, and with the help of the Death Eaters, he'll have to fall to us." ”

"It's not a good ploy, and if Tom had come himself, Horace might not have escaped. But—" a smile tugged at Dumbledore's face, "I don't think your plan will be useful." ”

"Hey—" Suddenly, a figure apparition appeared in front of them.

"Okay—okay!" It was Slughorn, who shouted loudly, "You won Albus, I agreed!" ”

"I'm asking for a wage increase!"

Dumbledore chuckled softly, then watched Slughorn's apparition move away.

"Good job." Dumbledore said.

"It seems that the fear of Voldemort is still not enough to gather the stars of tomorrow." Owen said unceremoniously.

"yes, but I think it's mostly your work, Owen."

"Me?" Owen was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, "You mean, he's still interested in ancient magic?" ”

"Maybe he had put it down before, but after seeing you, after remembering the wizard in that picture, he had something else on his mind." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "For a Potions Master, a man who has reached some kind of end on the path of magic, the temptation of ancient magic is still too great. ”

"It's huge. A few months ago, Professor Victor invented the alchemical potion that permanently enhanced the body's functions, and I think Professor Slughorn must have known it, and this elixir might be more alluring to him than a goblin seeing a room full of gold gallons. ”

"He probably thought about going back to Hogwarts from the beginning. Just want to test you and get some more benefits? ”

"It's possible." Dumbledore smiled and said, "But none of that matters, now that we've both achieved our goals and he's not using any ulterior motives, he's still restrained."

But to my surprise, Horace had been exposed to ancient magic decades ago, and Regulus was among them, and I didn't even know it. ”

"You were busy dealing with Voldemort!" Owen said.

Suddenly, the old headmaster fell silent.

His face also changed from mildness to seriousness.

Dumbledore always made the mistake of consciously or unconsciously ignoring even those closest to him when his attention was focused on one person.

At this moment, he was once again silent in his past mistakes.

- If he had been able to detect the anomaly of Regulus or Horace, perhaps many things could have been reversed, and he would have known about the existence of the Outer Gods in advance, and solved the matter during the ten years when Voldemort was silent.

As it dragged on, more and more difficulties followed, and even the greatest wizards felt tired.

"Owen, about Australia"

The old professor suddenly whispered, in a voice that only those around him could hear. "Master and I talked a lot. Miss Zhang also told me in detail what happened in the coffin of consciousness. ”

A ray of sadness slipped from his eyes.

Hearing Dumbledore say this, Owen was very surprised, he didn't expect the old headmaster to communicate with Chang'an Taixue in such a short time.

It can't be that he just returned from the Far East.

However, Owen smiled, the corners of his mouth outlining.

He also said in a very small voice, with a slight hesitation and nothingness, "Sometimes, Professor. ”

"Sometimes, there are characters who have to die in order to show the meaning of our lives as we live."

"And who's going to die?"

One big and one small, the old wizard and the young wizard looked at each other, and they looked at each other.

Dumbledore's half-moon-shaped glasses, like a bright moon, shone cold and gentle.

It covered the boy in front of him with a layer of silver frost.

It was like a dead body covered in snow.

Owen opened his mouth, the sun shining through his silver hair, the cold light reflected with an astonishing transparency and coldness.

Mind to heart.

It is useless to talk too much.

But he still opened his mouth, and it was the rose that proved that he was the only one in the universe and would never wither.

"Voldemort—" Owen said.

"I never doubted his failure." Dumbledore was still staring at him. The correct answer was already clear in my mind.

"You're a wonderful boy, a brave, courageous man." Dumbledore reached out and patted Owen on the shoulder.

"Hold on to my arm."

"Come on." He said.

The boy held out his hand, and Dumbledore looked at the other young wizards, who in turn held hands, and then the professor performed the apparition.

In the blink of an eye, they appeared on a country road.

The crooked but familiar silhouette in front of him is the Burrow.

"How did you get back to the Burrow?" Ginny was surprised and said, "Aren't we going to Blake's ancestral home?" ”

"Rufus's request." Dumbledore explained. "He asks to be on track of Harry's whereabouts at all times, and he seems to want to make a fuss about Harry."

"Rufus Scrimgeur?"

"He wants Harry to be bait?" Ron said dissatisfied.

"The Burrow is protected by the tightest security that the Ministry of Magic has to offer." Dumbledore said, "These measures may cause some inconvenience to Arthur and Molly, for example, all of their correspondence will have to be reviewed. ”

"Harry, I want you to wear your cloak with you at all times, even in Hogwarts. Just in case of outerwear, understand? ”

Harry nodded.

"One more thing." The professor added, "Yours. LS results will be announced soon, and I hope you can all take Potions classes, okay? ”

"No problem, Professor." Harry said, "If only my grades could go up to the top class." ”

"I guess that's fine." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Okay, there is still half of the happy time in the summer vacation, you can't continue to spend it bitterly and hatefully, you don't have to stay in the Burrow all the time, I think Owen will definitely have a way, of course I don't encourage you to run around, remember to be measured."

With that, Dumbledore waved at them.

Even though he disappeared in place.

The crowd looked at each other and walked towards the Burrow.

Mrs. Weasley, dressed in an old green robe, had already noticed them.

She was coming back from the hill paddock behind the Burrow, picking some apples.

It was the Weasley paddock, which contained an orchard large enough for the children to play a game of Quidditch.

"Oh, welcome." Mrs. Weasley placed the basket by the window.

"I thought you wouldn't be able to come in the evening."

"Come on in. Or go to the garden in the backyard. She greeted the little wizards warmly.

Embraced every child.

When confronted by Owen, she muttered, "How beautiful again." ”

It made him a little embarrassed.

The crowd took their seats in the garden in the backyard.

It's a big overgrown garden with a big green pond with lots of frogs.

The garden was inhabited by a large number of goblins, so the Weasleys had to remove them regularly and throw them out of the hedges.

Goblins will always sneak back because Arthur Weasley is too tolerant of them and finds them funny.

No one wanted to enter the room, they had been 'held' for too long.

Sit on a wooden chair in the garden and watch the goblins pop up from the ground from time to time, then snap your fingers and throw them out.

The sun is pouring down, and this time it is also a lot of fun.

After a while, Mrs. Weasley came with a fruit basket containing the apples she had freshly washed.

"So, you convinced Professor Horace Slughorn to accept the job?"

"Well, he has no reason to refuse." Owen said.

"He used to teach Arthur and me." Mrs. Weasley said, "He was at Hogwarts many years ago, and I think he and Dumbledore came to school around the same time, how is it, do you like him?" ”

"I don't like it that much, I feel like he's cold to little wizards who aren't geniuses. Just look at his photo wall. I like Professor McGonagall more because she treats everyone equally. Hermione hesitated for a moment, then said everything she was thinking.

"He looks a little timid." Harry said.

"It's a little greasy. Just like most of the officials of the Ministry of Magic. Ron said.

"I heard the name of this professor when I was in Ilvermorny, and if it was just a simple academic competition, he was indeed very talented, and he had many protégés." Koyatl said.

"So-so." Ginny replied.

"yes, I understand." Mrs. Weasley nodded understandingly, "Neither Arthur nor I like him very much, he treats students too sharply, one is a student who he likes or thinks has a bright future, and one who he thinks has a bleak future or does nothing. He has a private club called Slug. Specially invite those gifted students to join, and give those wizards who he considers ambitious and gifted to open a small stove. But he never spends more time with Arthur, who seems to think that Arthur has no ambitions. ”

However, it is undeniable that Slughorn undoubtedly had a discerning eye, and in the more than 50 years since the club's founding, he has single-handedly selected countless wizards and witches who have made their mark on history, from Quidditch to politics, business and journalism.

But—he at least looked away at Arthur. ”

"Oh, Mom, you're swearing so much, as if you were once a member of the slug club." Ron quickly shoved a red apple to the girl next to him.

Then he brought another one for himself and took a bite.

"Humph!" Mrs. Weasley was a little displeased, she glared at her son, "Do you think your mother was born to be a housewife?" I've taken it. LS eight excellent too! When your grades come down, if there is one less excellent, I won't fix you well. ”

(End of chapter)