"Garlic?" Cowmike McLagan's somewhat strange words instantly caught the attention of another slug club student sitting next to Matthew.

"I hate garlic the most!" he muttered, frowning.

Soon, though, he could smell the strong garlic smell in McLagan's mouth and quickly retracted his head.

"Hello!" Matthew said, glancing at the boy sitting next to him.

The boy was thin and slightly nervous, and he smiled unnaturally.

"Matthew, this is Marcos Belby from the second year of Ravenclaw!" Neville hurriedly introduced, "Belby, this is Matthew Wakefield from the first year of Slytherin. ”

"Hello, Wakefield, and Longbottom. Belby whispered.

"Good evening, Belby. Neville nodded at him.

After a brief greeting to each other, Neville leaned into Matthew's ear and explained softly:

"McLargan's father, David McLagan, worked in the Ministry of Magic and had a great relationship with Minister Millicent Barnod, and Belby's uncle, Mr. Damocles Belby, was a well-known expert in potions and inventor of the Wolf Poison Potion, for which he was awarded the Order of Merlin......"

......

Matthew could see that the students around the round table he was in were basically the children of famous and successful people, as well as children from families with good relationships in the wizarding world.

Or rather, everyone here seems to have been invited because they were related to some influential person. Like Neville, McLagan, and Belby. If Draco Malfoy hadn't been in the hospital with an injury, he would have been here.

And students with average family backgrounds and outstanding talents can hardly see ......

Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw, for example, has made her mark at Hogwarts in the past month, and almost all teachers like her very much, considering her to be the best student in Year 1. Of course, this is also related to her more flamboyant personality, while Matthew is more low-key.

and Cedric Diggory, a third-year Hufflepuff. Although Matthew has not been in contact with him, judging from the evaluation of him by some second- and third-year students, he is also the best student in his grade.

However, neither of them received an invitation from Slughorn or appeared in the Slug Club.

Of course, on another long table in the senior class, you can see a few students from ordinary backgrounds but with outstanding talents...... For example, Matthew was able to recognize Percy Weasley from Gryffindor's fifth year (with the Weasleys' family conditions, it was almost impossible for him to get here on that).

Perhaps for the upperclassmen and juniors, whether or not they can join his core group, Professor Horace Slughorn has completely different criteria.

Then I am quite honored to receive this invitation in the first grade!

Matthew smiled a little self-deprecatingly, but his face quickly became solemn.

He frowned, thinking—

Why does Slughorn look the other way at him?

Is it just because of his good performance in Potions class?

"Matthew!" Neville asked with concern, "What's the matter, your face is a little ugly?"

"Nothing. Matthew quickly craned his brow and responded with a smile, "It's just that I'm not used to the style here." ”

Neville suddenly smiled, "Looks like we feel the same!"

......

The members of the Slug Club had already arrived one after another, sat down at two round tables, and the dinner soon began.

There were a lot of shiny golden plates in front of everyone, but there was no food in them, but Matthew noticed a small menu in the nearest place to him.

He picked up his menu, which had all sorts of dishes written on it, and looked around again, but found no waiter.

"You should do it. Neville reminded in a whisper.

Then he picked up his menu, looked at it and looked at his plate, and said very clearly: "Hungarian beef stew!"

A portion of beef immediately appeared on his plate.

Matthew suddenly realized, and quickly followed suit, ordering his favorite food on the plate.

It has to be said that the food at Slughorn's dinner is much more elaborate than the usual school dinner, and it seems that the Slytherin head is quite particular about eating and drinking.

However, during the whole dinner, Slughorn focused most of his energy on the students in the upper class.

At the lower grade table, he just took a glass of mead and came over here on the way to the banquet...... And motioned to them to "toast to Professor Grindelwald's health" together.

Naturally, everyone raised their glasses in response.

To be honest, the mead tastes a little weird, like the smell of rotten apples.

Matthew felt a little overwhelmed by the taste.

And the members of the old slug club around me seem to have become accustomed to this.

......

Matthew ate his share of lamb chops while listening to the people around him chatting about the sky-

Most of them are more trivial content.

For example, Marcos Belby was chatting with another student about an interesting incident that happened in the second-grade history of magic class some time ago.

And the two girls opposite Matthew were chatting about the recent attack-

"Draco Malfoy will be discharged from the hospital soon, Professor Rozier's expert on extreme magic will be coming to Hogwarts next week, and maybe Ronald Weasley will be able to be discharged with him...... These two attacks are not a big deal, and there is nothing to be afraid of at all. ”

On the other side, Cowmike McLagan and Breth Sabini had already put down the dishes and began to shout loudly:

"You ask my grandfather, Thierry, his body is so good that he can still eat two pounds of steak in one meal...... Except for his left shoulder, which was an old wound he left during the First Wizarding War, left behind by a dark wizard. There was no way around it, because of the injuries there, he had to spend two months a year in St. Mungo's recuperation. McLagan shouted.

Matthew couldn't help but prick up his ears and began to distinguish McLagan's voice in the chaos of music and discussion.

"My grandfather, Thierry, was arguably a supporter of the first Grindelwald principals in England...... Until then, the British wizarding world could be said to be a dark environment, ruled by dark wizards...... Whether it's Leonard Munn, Minister for Magic, or Armando Duepet, Headmaster of Hogwarts...... And, of course, Headmaster Grindelwald's nemesis, the Dark Wizard Albus Dumbledore...... My grandfather was the first English wizard to see through them and then swear allegiance to Headmaster Grindelwald!"

Neville Longbottom was in a hurry and left his seat to go to the bathroom.

Matthew took the opportunity to lean towards Cowmike McLagan.

"Then Mike Cow, you must know a lot about the First Wizarding War from your grandfather!" Matthew asked with a kind look on his face as he spoke.

Apparently, Cowmike McLagan doesn't care about having one more listener.

"That's nature!" he replied triumphantly, "I grew up with my grandfather as a child, and he used to tell me stories of his youth before I went to bed...... You can't find any of these things in the history books, after all, Bathilda Basshat's "History of Magic" was only compiled until the end of the 19th century. ”

Matthew immediately put on a very curious and somewhat adoring expression, which made McLagan quite useful.

However, McLagan's voice soon became a little quieter:

It was in 1945, and it was a matter of life and death for Principal Grindelwald...... At that time, the dark wizards of England, including Leonard Munn, Armando Duppert, and of course their real leader, Albus Dumbledore, colluded with the huge Muggle forces......"

“...... And not only in England, but also in the United States, the Soviet Union, and in exile in France, many innocent wizards were bewitched by Dumbledore. They have separately united with the local Muggle government to form an extremely terrifying force!"

"Headmaster Grindelwald was also supporting his Muggle government spokesperson in Germany at the time, but he was no match for Dumbledore, and they were losing ...... one after another."

“...... Finally, on May 10, 1945, Headmaster Grindelwald had to stand up and engage in a legendary duel with Albus Dumbledore at the top of the Reichstag in Berlin!"

"My grandfather was fortunate enough to be there and watch the duel. According to his account, the duel lasted for a day and a night, and the intensity was beyond his comprehension, so that in the end, they could not see what was really happening!"

"In the end, Grindelwald won?" asked Matthew with a serious expression.

"That's nature!" McLagan replied without hesitation, "At the last moment, Headmaster Grindelwald turned the tide and saved our wizarding world...... With the defeat of Albus Dumbledore, the backbone of the entire anti-witch force has been broken by us......"

"Headmaster Grindelwald announced this to the world, and he converted the fortress of Newmondard into a prison, and imprisoned Albus Dumbledore in the tallest tower there, on which he placed the most complex and powerful defensive magic to prevent robbery or escape!"

"It's a pity that although Headmaster Grindelwald won the final victory, with the final defeat of his support forces in the Muggle world, what he had planned before the First Wizarding War - the strategy of instigating a war between Muggles and allowing wizards to completely override Muggles completely collapsed......"

“...... At the same time, Albus Dumbledore's supporters were still all over Europe, especially in England, especially at Hogwarts at the time, and even more so at the then Gryffindor House at Hogwarts...... At that time, the Dark Wizard Dumbledore had a prestige no less than or even slightly stronger than Headmaster Grindelwald!"

"In order to completely eliminate Dumbledore's influence, Headmaster Grindelwald came to England. My grandfather, Thierry McLagan, was one of Master Grindelwald's most loyal supporters, especially in the sixties, when he was Senior Deputy Minister of Magic, and helped Master Grindelwald a lot......"

“...... Of course, the influence of the dark wizard Dumbledore can be said to be deep-rooted, and Headmaster Grindelwald and my grandfather have faced many troubles and dealt with many rebellions...... It took almost thirty years for the British wizarding world to be completely stripped of Dumbledore's influence, and it was only then that the wizarding world was completely on the right track!"

McLagan seemed to be a little dry when he said such a long speech.

He picked up a glass of pumpkin juice on the table and drank it "tons and tons".

"So......" Matthew hesitated for a moment before asking softly, "Is Albus Dumbledore, the Dark Wizard, deceased?"

"Not yet. McLagan shook his head, "Headmaster Grindelwald has always been a very benevolent man, especially when he was younger, and he used to have an extremely close relationship with Dumbledore, so he just imprisoned Dumbledore in the hope that he would one day come back from his disorientation." ”

"And what about the influence of the Dark Wizard Dumbledore?" Matthew continued, "It's completely gone now!"

The face of it was largely gone, and most of his supporters were thrown into Azkaban. McLagan replied, "Secretly, though, there are many Dark Wizards who loyally follow him and try to subvert the new wizarding world system established by Headmaster Grindelwald. ”

"So after the First Wizarding War fifty years ago was not completely won......" Matthew asked again, "has Grindelwald given up on his plans?"

"Of course not. McLagan said mysteriously, "Otherwise, what do you think Master Grindelwald has been busy with all these years?"

Neville Longbottom is back, and Matthew is back in his seat.

McLagan, on the other hand, began to discuss with Shabini about the bookshelf and the family playing golf with Secretary Barnold's family.

......

The dinner ended quickly, but Matthew never found time to be alone with Professor Slughorn.

After everyone had left the Potions teacher's office, he turned back.

Because he put his watch, "forgot" on the dining table.

"Oh, Wakefield, why are you back again?" asked Horace Slughorn, a little surprised.

His little feet rested on a large velvet cushion, while his chubby body was half-reclined in a comfortable winged armchair, holding a small glass of wine in one hand and picking through a box of candied pineapples in the other.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I forgot my watch here. Matthew said softly.

"All right, kid. Slughorn nodded: "Forgetfulness is not a good habit. ”

"And ......" Matthew retrieved his watch, and after a moment's hesitation:

"Sir, I would like to ask you something. ”