The village of Barred Barberton may seem large, but it is not small at all, and it took more than ten minutes for the group to finally stop in front of a dilapidated house.

"Oh! Oh my God, my God! He let out a burst of exclamation.

Kyle and Harry followed his gaze.

The first thing they saw was a well-tended path lined with manicured gardens, but at odds with it was the house that looked like it had been blown up by a blasting spell.

The front door was reduced to a pile of broken wood, and only a small piece the size of a desk hung crookedly from the door frame.

Dumbledore looked around and whispered, "Kyle, Harry, draw your wand and follow me." ”

He cautiously made his way down the garden path, Kyle and Harry following closely behind.

Then Dumbledore pushed open the front door, wand in hand.

"Fluorescent flickering."

The room was worse than the outside, there was a mess in front of me, everything seemed to have been turned out, a piano had fallen to the floor, and the keys were scattered everywhere.

There were also broken vases, shards of glass, and various mats and the like that were everywhere on the ground.

In addition to this, a large patch of blood on the wall was red and glaring.

"Something terrible must have happened here." Dumbledore whispered.

But the nervousness in his tone had disappeared in favor of a bit of ...... Well, contrived.

"yes." Kyle nodded and said, "Harry, can you help move the piano to the armchair?" I feel like there's something down here. ”

"Huh? Oh, okay. ”

Harry didn't understand why he put the piano on the couch, but Kyle had a point in saying it.

So Harry obediently pointed his wand at the piano,

The piano floated slowly, and then, under Harry's direction, landed on top of the upside-down armchair.

In the next second, the armchair immediately let out a miserable scream, "Oops, take it away!" ”

Harry was startled, his hand shook, the spell was broken, and the piano slammed down.

The screams were louder, and they sounded like a freshly pulled mandrake.

Dumbledore waved his hand in time to move the piano to the side.

"Good evening, Horace." Dumbledore laughed and said, "It doesn't matter to you. ”

Harry stared dumbfounded, and in the blink of an eye, the armchair had turned into a balding fat old man crouching there.

He cupped his waist and narrowed one eye, looking at Dumbledore with teary eyes.

"It's a piano, why don't you stop them......," he struggled to get up, "do you know how much it hurts?" ”

"I'm sorry, Horace." Dumbledore said, "But don't blame me, your Transfiguration is flawless, and I haven't noticed it. ”

"Even if you say so......" The fat old man glanced at Dumbledore angrily, but he didn't seem to be so angry.

"Well, there's really nothing I can do, I should have drunk a little elixir in advance."

He sighed heavily, the tips of his beard blowing up on both sides.

"Do you want us to clean it up for you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Please, I really need to rest a little longer."

Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "So how about Kyle, Harry, over to you?" Oh, and I forgot to introduce you, this is my old colleague, Horaceslughorn. ”

"No problem, Professor." Kyle said, waving his wand.

One by one, the furniture jumped back to its original position, the broken vases and glass returned to their original shapes in mid-air, and the keys on the floor returned to the piano......

On the other side, after Slughorn heard Dumbledore's words, the man suddenly stopped rubbing his waist, and his round eyes immediately looked at the two of them.

His eyes immediately fell on Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar.

"Oh, isn't he ......?"

"Yes, Harry Potter." Dumbledore laughed and said, "There's another one you've probably heard of as well, Kyle Chopper, the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, who was previously a second-class ......."

"Wait, what does that mean, I haven't heard of a new first-class medal in the wizarding world lately."

"Oh, here's inside information, Cornelius seems to be intent on boosting the morale of the wizarding world." Dumbledore said in a calm voice, "The youngest recipient of the Order of the First Class is a good topic. ”

As they spoke, the whole room had taken on a new look, and even the blood on the walls had fallen into a small glass bottle.

Kyle looked at the bottle.

Well, the fire dragon's blood, stained with a little dust, is no longer suitable for brewing potions...... What a pity.

Kyle slips the bottle into his pocket.

"Oh, that's my last bottle." A hint of distress flashed in Slughorn's eyes, but he didn't care about it at the moment.

"Don't think that this will convince me, Albus, I've said it many times before, and the answer is no."

As he said this, his eyes glanced at Kyle and Harry from time to time.

"He's really going to get a first-class medal?"

"It's just that Cornelly has this idea." Dumbledore said, "Okay, let's not talk about that, won't you invite me to a drink?" It's time to reminisce about the past. ”

"Then just have a drink." Slughorn said, standing up, taking a few glasses from the shelf, and a little more mead inside.

It was really just a little, probably just past the bottom of the cup, and it was clear that he wanted Dumbledore to finish it quickly and leave.

Kyle and Harry also got a mix, of course, not much, maybe just a sip.

"Thank you." Dumbledore took the cup, and didn't seem to mind at all, but took a sip full of joy, "It tastes so good, it doesn't look like a product from the Leaky Cauldron." ”

"Of course, this is the treasure of the barrel bar, which uses the honey of the three-tailed bee." Slughorn said proudly: "I stopped by when I went to Romania before, and I bought it from the boss at a big price. ”

Barrel bar?

Kyle always thought the name was a little familiar, and then he suddenly remembered it when he heard Romania again.

The bar in the gathering place next to the Fire Dragon Sanctuary seems to be called that...... Strange, didn't Charlie say that their signature was brandy?

Kyle picks up the cup and takes a sip of it, then puts it back in place.

Very well, now it is certain that Slughorn has been pitted as a fat sheep.

He'd drunk the honey of the three-tailed bee from Newt, so to speak, and there was nothing in that particular sweetness.

Not surprisingly, the normal operation of the barrel bar...... At the beginning, Chris was also cheated and bought two bottles of fake brandy, but later Charlie took it and exchanged for two bottles and really came back.

Kyle silently puts the cup down and doesn't break it.

I don't know if it's because of the fact that his spirit has been tense for the past few days, after taking a sip of wine, Kyle suddenly became a little sleepy and sat there in a daze.

After a while, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"Kyle...... Kyle ......"

"Ah, what's wrong?" Kyle snapped to his senses and turned to look at Harry, who was pushing himself.

Dumbledore didn't know where he went, and there was only one person left next to him.

"Nothing." Harry said, "It's Mr. Slughorn who just asked you what house you were in. ”

"Sorry, I didn't hear that." Kyle looked at Slughorn and said, "It's Hufflepuff." ”

"Oh, an academy with your father." Slughorn didn't care, either, "But I prefer your mother, smart, sensible, confident...... She was the pride of all Slytherin. ”

He took a sip of mead, as if caught up in some kind of memory, "Of course, as a teacher, I shouldn't favor students, but I just favor her."

"I still remember that in order to get justice for your father, she beat a fifth-grader into the school hospital for a week, and then blocked him in the common room, so scared that he didn't even dare to leave the dormitory.

"This kind of bad behavior was supposed to be confined, but I didn't do it, I just deducted her ten."

"Ah, don't get me wrong."

Slughorn hurriedly added, "I'm not encouraging you to break the school rules, the main reason is that there was a reason for the incident. The student said a very vicious swear word to her friend in front of her, and that word was absolutely not allowed to appear in the school.

"Your father tried to reason with him, but he also mocked him indiscriminately, and to be honest, I still insist that he is to blame for the subsequent results."

"Of course, I'm still saying the same thing, discouraged you from breaking the school rules."

Harry noticed that Slughorn had been looking at him, consciously or unconsciously, as if the incident had something to do with him.

But just when he was about to ask, the other party directly changed the topic.

Probably not thinking it was appropriate to talk to the students about it, Slughorn stood up and said, "Come on, I'll show you my students." ”

He led the two to a cupboard, pointed to some of the picture frames on it, and said:

"These are, as you will see, Barnabas Gufe, the editor of the Daily Prophet, who is always interested in hearing my opinion on the current situation...... And your father, Kyle, was one of my favorite students at the time, and I always felt he had all the qualities of a Hufflepuff...... Oh, he's here. ”

Slughorn pointed to a picture frame, "Originally, your mother was there, but then for some reason, she disappeared from the picture...... You can surely see why, right? ”

Kyle nodded.

It should be because Diana entered the Department of Mysteries, but for more specific reasons, he doesn't know.

Slughorn introduced a few more names, most of them who were well-known in the wizarding world.

Kyle was looking at the picture, and Harry was talking to Slughorn.

"I think that as long as Dumbledore is the headmaster, the school staff will be safer than most, and it is said that Voldemort will only be afraid of him for one ......"

Harry suddenly shouted loudly, startling Kyle.

Slughorn was a little distracted, as if he was considering his words.

"Speaking of safety...... Kyle walked over and asked in a low voice, "Harry, do you know how Umbridge is?" ”

"I don't care what happens to her...... Harry said with a squeeze around his neck, and then sighs after a moment, "Well, I didn't expect someone like her to stand up against the Death Eaters, but the newspapers only say she was attacked, but what happened next, I don't know."

"But I've heard from Ron that St. Mungo is surrounded by the Aurors right now, especially in the hospital room she's in."

Slughorn fell silent again.

He must admit that this incident also brought him a lot of touch, Umbridge was attacked by the Death Eaters under the noses of St. Mungo, so many wizards, so what about him?

Since he hadn't joined the Death Eaters, he couldn't have been considered a friend by the Death Eaters, so maybe it would have been safer to be next to Dumbledore......

Just as he was thinking about it, Dumbledore walked into the room just then.

"You're back, Albus." Slughorn came back to his senses and said, "Why did you go for so long and have a stomach problem?" ”

"No, I flipped through those Muggle magazines," Dumbledore said, "Alright, Harry, Kyle, we've been bothering Horace for a long time, it's time to leave." ”

"You're leaving?"

"yes." Dumbledore said, "It's getting late, Kyle has to go to the Ministry early tomorrow morning, and any later in the day might affect his rest." ”

"Wait, working at the Ministry of Magic?" Slughorn couldn't help but say, "So that's true, he was hired exceptionally?" ”

"Of course." Dumbledore nodded, "Didn't you read the newspaper?" He has been in the position of senior assistant minister for almost half a year. ”

"Senior Assistant Minister...... who hasn't graduated yet," Slughorn muttered to himself, his eyes flashing.

"Then goodbye." Dumbledore walked to the door, "I'm sorry I can't work with you again, but you can go back to Hogwarts whenever you want." ”

"Goodbye." Harry said with a wave of his hand.

As soon as the three of them walked out of the room, they heard a shout from behind them.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it!"

Slughorn ran out of breath, "I must be crazy, but yes, I'm willing to go back to Hogwarts." ”

"Great." Dumbledore said with a smile. "So, Horace, we'll see you on the first of September."

"Okay, no problem." Slughorn muttered, "I'll ask for a raise......"

"Well, I'm sorry, I don't count this if I say it." Dumbledore glanced at Kyle, "Actually, someone can give me fifty Galleons less a month with a single word. ”

"Really?" Slughorn's eyes brightened.

Although he doesn't know what happened, the headmaster's salary is deducted, which shows that Kyle has real power and not just one position.

"It's okay." He smiled and said, "It doesn't really matter what the salary is, I just ...... I kind of miss my old colleagues, how about Minerva and Filius. ”

"It's all good." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Then we'll see you on September 1st." Slughorn said with a wave of his hand.

The trio re-entered the path outside.

"Professor Dumbledore......" Harry asked in a whisper, "that Slughorn, why did you suddenly agree?" ”

"Now you should call him Professor Slughorn." Dumbledore corrected, "I think he must have seen the benefits of returning to Hogwarts." ”

"Benefits?"

"That's right, like you, and Kyle."

Dumbledore continued, "Slughorn loves creature comforts, and he likes to make friends with famous, successful, powerful people. But he is more special, and the people he has friends with have all walked up step by step since his student days.

"And he has a very unusual ability to always pick people who will get ahead in all walks of life in the future."

"I see." Harry nodded, "No wonder he immediately agreed when he knew Kyle was the Senior Minister's assistant. ”

"There's a reason for that, too." Dumbledore said, "The boy who never dies, or as the newspaper is popular nowadays, the savior......"

Harry shuddered at the sight of the title, he didn't like it, and he didn't feel like he had done anything.

It's nothing more than someone who turned out what he said before, about the comeback of the mysterious man.

They went a little further.

"Alright." Dumbledore stopped, turned his head and said, "I'm probably going to get busy in the future, if you're in a hurry, Newt can find me." ”

Kyle nodded, "I see." ”

"So, do you need me to send you back?"

Kyle could tell that Dumbledore seemed to have something to say to Harry alone, so he shook his head.

"No, Professor, I'll just go back myself."

With that, he waved his hand at the two of them and disappeared in place.

(End of chapter)