Slughorn wanted to hide what happened today, when nothing happened, but it was obviously impossible.

In a way, the effects of the aphrodisiac are no different from the Imperius Curse, which can make a person obey.

Even the risk of aphrodisiac is a little smaller, because it has an antidote, so it is not illegal.

And Slughorn is a professor at Hogwarts, and if he is manipulated to do something, no one dares to imagine what will happen.

Therefore, after receiving the news from Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore rushed back to the school that day.

Meanwhile, Kyle and Connor are called to the school hospital again.

As they reached the courtyard, they ran into Harry and Ron, who had just come down from upstairs.

"What a coincidence." Harry said, "Dumbledore called you too?" ”

"Isn't it obvious?" Kyle said.

"So the headmaster is finally going to punish Romidavani?" Ron danced excitedly, "Today I went to find her, and instead of apologizing, she scolded me for stealing food!" ”

With an angry wave, Ron tore a handful of twigs from the bushes beside the courtyard and threw them back as if they were all Romi Davanni.

Kyle glanced at him,

If you think about it, what the other party said is indeed not wrong, after all, her original target was Harry, and Ron was also a good thing to spoil her?

Kyle always thought it was a little weird......

Several people soon arrived at the school hospital.

The atmosphere was very low, and Dumbledore stood there without saying a word, without any expression on his face.

Professor McGonagall and Snape were there, cooperating with Madam Pomfrey to examine Ms. Rosmerta on the hospital bed.

Just like the two men in the morning, Miss Rosmerta fell into a coma, and Kyle didn't know if it was the effect of the coma spell.

Harry and Ron were startled by the battle in front of them, and when they saw that no one was talking, they shut their mouths and stood quietly beside them.

Soon, a drunken Slughorn arrived.

"Albus......" Before the others arrived, a voice came through the door.

"As I already said, it's the aphrodisiac that Rosmerta gave me, if you have any questions, just ask her...... Finish! ”

Slughorn, who walked in, was suddenly stunned. He also saw Ms. Rosmerta lying on the hospital bed, and he didn't react for a while.

"It's ...... What's going on? He subconsciously said: "She must know that she can't escape, she is pretending to be ......."

"So you mean to say that she used the Imperius Curse on herself to escape punishment?" Snape stood up and said in a long voice, "With all due respect, this is much more punitive than using an aphrodisiac. ”

"What did you say?" Slughorn shuddered, and was half awake from his wine. "Imperius?"

"Yes." "And from what we've observed, she's been controlled three months ago." ”

"Three months...... What's going on? Slughorn asked, confused.

"That's exactly what we want to know."

Dumbledore turned around and said calmly, but instead of looking at Slughorn, he turned his gaze to Ron.

"Oh, Mr. Weasley, I just noticed you were here too."

"Yes, yes." Ron whispered.

"Exactly." Dumbledore looked at him, "Can you tell me what happened this morning?" It's best to be specific and don't leave anything out. ”

"That'......" Ron thought as he thought about what had happened in the morning.

"When I was picking up a present, I accidentally confused a box under Harry's bed.

"There's a chocolate crucible in there, for Romid Davani for Harry, but I thought it was for me...... No, I mean, I thought it was Harry's gift to me and took a bite.

"There is an aphrodisiac in it...... And then I was sent here by Harry, that abominable Romy Davani! ”

"No, Ron, we'll go to Professor Slughorn's office first." Harry added from the side.

"Oh yes, that's right."

……

Ron spoke in fits and starts, and Harry was on the side to help fill in what he had missed.

Dumbledore listened attentively, and it wasn't until the two finished speaking that he nodded lightly and looked at Kyle and Connor on the side.

"Is that so? You met on the eighth floor? ”

"That's right." Kyle said, "We were going to a quiet place to make potions. ”

"Why don't you go to the underground classroom to boil potions?" Snape asked suddenly, his eyes narrowing and staring at Kyle with an unkind expression.

"There's a magical room there, so much better than the gloomy surroundings of an underground classroom." Kyle shrugged, "Dumbledore should know. ”

I don't know if it's Kyle's delusion, he always felt that Snape's face was even more ugly than it was just now.

"That's right." Dumbledore duly said, "It's amazing, I dare say that ninety percent of the students didn't know where it was, but I didn't expect you to find it." ”

Snape seemed to accept the statement and stepped aside to speak.

"Okay, it's pretty clear, isn't it?" Dumbledore said, "Mr. Weasley's affair is just a misunderstanding, and has nothing to do with Miss Rosmerta. If I have to say, it happened to be the same thing as Horace at the same time. ”

"You can go back." Dumbledore smiled and said, "Pepper cutlets are prepared in the kitchen today, you must not miss it." ”

Ron was about to go out, the atmosphere here was so oppressive that he wanted to leave for a long time.

"Kyle, you're going to have to wait a little longer, I still have something to ask you." Dumbledore suddenly spoke out and stopped Kyle as he was about to leave.

Kyle shrugged at Connor and retreated back into the room, but Dumbledore was already looking at Slughorn.

"Horace, can you tell us now?"

"What do you want to know?" Slughorn sat down on the bed closest to him and asked, "First of all, I must say that I didn't know she had fallen under the Imperius Curse, or what she was going to do to me. ”

"I don't think the person who wants to do anything to you is Ms. Rosmerta, but the person behind her." Dumbledore said, "Do you think there's anything about her lately that has changed from what she used to be?" ”

"Not the same as before?" Slughorn thought for a moment, "I haven't noticed, but if anything, it's probably that she's too zealous." ”

"Zealous?"

"Yes." "I think it was the day before Christmas, and I didn't have enough drinks to prepare, so I had to go and buy some on the fly.

"Even though there were a lot of people in the store at the time, Rosmerta kept talking to me...... She had never been so enthusiastic before.

"But I didn't think about it that much, just if she was interested in my ball, after all, there were a lot of people who came that day, and even the Minister of Magic, it was normal for her to be interested, right?"

"Cornelius Fudge?" Dumbledore frowned, "I don't remember him coming to me on Christmas Day." ”

"I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for Kyle, I released the news that Kyle will be attending this ball." "But then something changed, and after learning that Kyle wasn't at the prom, he left very quickly." ”

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Kyle spread his hands, indicating that he didn't know anything.

He was already in Nicol's manor, and he didn't know that Fudge had come to see him at school.

Dumbledore didn't care, though.

"And what did you and Miss Rosmerta talk about?"

"It's nothing." Slughorn thought for a moment, "Those are the ones for the prom...... Oh yes, and before I left, she asked me what I was going to give you, and highly recommended the vintage mead in the store. ”

"But I remember, your gift to me was redcurrant rum." Dumbledore said.

"That's right, it was brought by the minister, and it was also aged." "So I told her that I had prepared a gift, but that I could buy the bottle of mead myself." ”

"Is it the bottle in your office?" Professor McGonagall asked.

She remembered Harry having said that in addition to steak and preserves, there was half a glass of mead in Slughorn's office.

"No, Minerva, the bottle of aged mead that Rosmerta spoke of had already been shattered, just as she was about to bring it to me." "I was sorry for a long time. ”

"That's a shame." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

But none of the people present were stupid, and they all knew what he meant.

It seems that the other party must have wanted Slughorn to give the bottle of wine to Dumbledore as a Christmas present.

And there should have been something else added to that bottle, so after learning that Slughorn had prepared it in advance, in order not to expose it in advance, he had to find a way to destroy it.

Snape sneered beside him.

Slughorn's face turned even redder, but fortunately he had drunk a lot of alcohol in advance, and the others couldn't see it.

"And then." Dumbledore didn't care, and continued to ask, "What's the matter with the aphrodisiac." ”

"It happened yesterday." Slughorn glanced at the hospital bed not far away, "I went to ask her if she had any new aged mead, as usual.

Of course, there must not be, and just as I was about to leave, she suddenly gave me a pineapple compote, saying that it was a new dessert for me.

"Because I said before that my favorite was mead with pineapple compote, I thought she had taken my advice."

After that, there was a long silence.

Dumbledore kept his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

The corners of Snape's mouth twitched, and finally he couldn't help it, and asked, "Didn't you notice that the color of the candied fruit was wrong?" ”

"You don't understand, Severus." "Because everyone makes it differently, the color of the compote will be different, and that's normal." ”

Snape really didn't know what to say, so he sneered again and turned his head away from him.

I don't know when it started, but it gradually became gloomy outside, and it rained, and the rain hit the windows with a crackling sound.

"Albus, do you know who did this?" Professor McGonagall stepped forward and asked.

"I'll find him." Dumbledore whispered, and he looked at Kyle again, "The last time you went to Three Broomsticks, did you notice any difference between Miss Rosmerta and usual?" ”

"It's normal, there aren't any strange moves...... At least that's what I see. "Or you could ask someone else, like Ron, who prefers to stare at Ms. Rosmerta rather than his own glass." ”

Unless they were arranged to do something special, such as giving Slughorn a candied fruit this time, the person who had fallen under the Imperius Curse would not be able to tell from the outside.

That's why so many Death Eaters chose to use the Imperius Curse as an excuse to escape the Ministry of Magic more than a decade ago, because even the Aurors wouldn't have seen it with a little trick.

"Why don't you ask Rosmerta himself?" Slughorn asked, confused, "I guess she should know who told her to do this." ”

"Actually, we've already asked." Dumbledore said, "She didn't know anything, the man had never been seen, and by the time we were about to ask in detail, she had passed out from her weakness." ”

"That's ...... Oh well......"

For a moment, the room fell silent again.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and for fear of being seen by the students and causing unnecessary trouble, Ms. Rosmerta was sent to St. Mungo.

Snape also left, and Dumbledore tried to stop him, but he turned a deaf ear and turned and disappeared into the corridor not far away.

"He didn't hear that?" Kyle asked tentatively as he looked in the direction Snape had disappeared.

Snape confronting the Headmaster...... That's a rarity.

"No, he heard it." Dumbledore said with a complicated expression, "It's just that we had a disagreement on some things, and if it weren't for the fact that this time the stakes are high, he wouldn't even show up where I am......"

"Disagreement?" Kyle muttered quietly, but after noticing Dumbledore's increasingly complicated face, he wisely didn't ask.

The two returned to the principal's office.

Dumbledore waved his hand, and a steaming pork cutlet, a few slices of toast, and a bowl of corn chowder immediately appeared on the table, apparently for Kyle.

Kyle was not polite, and sat down to eat a bite of tonkatsu, then raised his head and asked, "The person who used the Imperius Curse on Miss Rothmerta should be Malfoy." ”

"I think, yes." Dumbledore said, "Only the students of Hogwarts can make the shopkeepers let their guard down." ”

"So, his target this time has changed to you?"

"I'm glad he did." Dumbledore said, seemingly not minding anyone trying to deal with him.

"But Mr. Malfoy seems to have gotten something wrong." He continued: "Horace was reluctant to give someone a bottle of aged mead, and he gave me redcurrant rum because he didn't like it. ”

"That's true." Kyle nodded, continuing to eat the tonkatsu, thinking about everything that had happened before.

From the information available, it is not difficult to know that Malfoy originally wanted to attack Dumbledore, and he used the Imperius Charm to control Miss Rosmerta, asking her to sell a special bottle of mead to Slughorn, who in turn gave it to Dumbledore.

I have to say that his plan is very good, and no one will doubt him, except for one thing, he didn't expect Slughorn to have prepared the gift in advance...... The bottle of redcurrant rum that Fudge had given him was also the perfect gift.

The plan didn't work, and he had to think of something else.

And so this morning happened.

"He probably wanted Horace to assassinate me in the castle." Dumbledore said calmly, "As a professor, and my old colleague, there are still many opportunities for Horace if he really wants to do this. ”

Kyle glanced at Dumbledore, not quite agreeing with the statement.

Dumbledore has been out of school lately, and it's hard to see him, let alone kill him.

It's still possible to say that it's against yourself.

Kyle narrowed his eyes, as if it wasn't out of the question.

"Perhaps in Mr. Malfoy's opinion, I am much better than you." Dumbledore said suddenly, and Kyle came back to his senses.

Dumbledore poured himself a cup of black tea. "But I have to say, he made a mistake."

"Let Slughorn drink an aphrodisiac at school?" Kyle asked.

"Nope." Dumbledore shook his head, "He picked the wrong man."

"Although Horace is not good at fighting, he is also a master of potions, and the aphrodisiac can work for a short time, but it cannot control him all the time, only an hour at most."

Dumbledore gave a relatively conservative time.

Kyle doesn't doubt that.

"What are we going to do next?" He asked, "You can't just let him do this all the time." ”

Dumbledore didn't answer, just glanced up at the portrait on the wall.

"So far, nothing has changed on that map." One of the witches said, "We've been watching." ”

"It doesn't look like he's ready to act immediately." Dumbledore whispered. "Didn't you find another Vanishing Cabinet?"

"No, he's found it." Kyle said, "During this Christmas break, the house-elf who was helping out at the Weasley Joke Store saw Malfoy go to Tumbledown Alley.

"I also stopped by the day I came back from Nicol Manor, and it was in Borgin Bock, and I saw that it was exactly the same as the one in the school, both in size and in the lines on it."

Dumbledore's eyes lit up.

"That's really good news." He stood up and said, "You always surprise me differently, but why did you tell me so late?" ”

"Professor, have you forgotten that I came to you after the holidays?" Kyle said unhurriedly, "And twice!" ”

"There's no way around it, there's always an emergency." Dumbledore looked a little embarrassed, and hurriedly changed the subject: "Okay Kyle, you go back first, I need to think about this matter carefully." ”

(End of chapter)