Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 685 The Loosening Slughorn

Chapter 685 The Loosening Slughorn

Rosmerta, who was under the influence of the Imperius Curse, actually wanted to kill Harry Potter, but by a twist of fate, he sold him the bottle of mead.

An hour earlier, Slughorn had heard the same thing, but at the time he thought Siron had misheard.

Because Harry Potter was not yet an adult, Rosmerta of the Three Brooms would never sell him mead.

But now, this obvious and clumsy lie has been repeated by Dumbledore once again.

"That's impossible, Albus." Slughorn's smile vanished. "Harry Potter can't buy mead."

"Of course, Horace, you're right." Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged. "But what none of us expected was that the Death Eater who controlled Lady Rosmerta was rather unprofessional; he mixed up mead and butterbeer—"

You know, their colors are actually quite similar.

Slughorn instinctively wanted to retort.

In his view, although both mead and butterbeer are yellow, one is clear and the other is cloudy, so they are completely different.

Before he could say anything, Dumbledore spoke again: "I know this sounds incredible, but it's all the result of Alastor's investigation—excuse me, I have something else to attend to. Would you like to have a drink together tonight?"

Slughorn didn't speak, he just shook his head.

"That's a real shame," Dumbledore said, then strode away, leaving Slughorn standing there lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Siron and Harry arrived at the Potions classroom early.

They didn't have to come so early, but Harry was eager to make a good impression on Slughorn, so he came over twenty minutes before class.

He wanted Slughorn to think he was hardworking and eager to learn, and in addition to his excellent performance in class, being the first to arrive at the classroom was also an option to improve his favorability.

To Harry's surprise, although he was indeed the first to arrive at the classroom, Slughorn did not come.

Slughorn didn't arrive until five minutes after the school bell rang.

"Sorry, kids, I'm late." He pushed open the door to the Potions classroom and, without explanation, began to explain the new material for the lesson.

But many people noticed that Slughorn was distracted all day and even mispronounced the names of the materials several times.

He wrote stingray bone powder on the blackboard when lionfish bone powder was supposed to be added, and he mistakenly said to cut ginger root into chunks instead of slicing it.

Fortunately, Hermione noticed and pointed out these mistakes in time, which prevented all the materials prepared by everyone from going to waste.

But this is very unusual; Slughorn has never made such a basic mistake before.

"I think you can stay after class and ask him again," Siron said to Harry across the cauldron.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Of course, it's homework that Dumbledore assigned to you."

"Forget it. Slughorn definitely won't tell me," Harry sighed. "If he gets furious about it again, I really don't know what to do."

"Don't worry, as long as you are still the savior, he will forgive you countless times."

The speaker was Ron, who was to Harry's right and was peeking over here.

"Move the book a little over here, I want to see what the 'Prince' has to say. Why won't my potion turn red?"

Harry quickly pushed the book "Advanced Potions Making" in front of him toward that side.

"Ron is right," Siron said with a smile. "As long as your name can still appear in the Daily Prophet, no matter how much trouble you get into or how outrageous the things you say, Slughorn will forgive you. He likes that."

"And—" Xiren paused for a moment, looked up and glanced at Slughorn, who was not patrolling the classroom as usual, but just sitting there, staring blankly at the crucible.

"I promise, even if you ask him about the Horcrux this time, he won't be angry."

Harry was still a little hesitant, but since Ron and Cyron had both said so, he decided to give it a try.

He had originally wanted to discuss it with Hermione, but unless he decided to throw away that "unknown" book on advanced potion making, Hermione wouldn't talk to him in Potions class.

So Harry called her twice, and when Hermione didn't respond, he gave up.

Today's potions class seemed unusually long. After what felt like an eternity, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

The sound snapped Slughorn out of his daze.

"Ah—good, get out of class dismissed—" he said, but he didn't leave the classroom first as before.

This also provided Harry with a great opportunity.

He dawdled as he packed his textbooks, deliberately staying at the very back.

Just like last time, Siren and Ron were waiting by the stairs leading to the foyer.

Five minutes later, Harry returned, his face showing neither joy nor disappointment.

"He still hasn't told you?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry shook his head and said, "but he didn't get angry like last time. I felt he was more—more like—afraid, hesitant."

“Well, that’s understandable,” Ron said. “I mean, it’s a mysterious person, after all, and everyone’s afraid of him.”

The good news is, he wasn't angry this time, right? That means you still have a chance.

Harry nodded.

Last time, Slughorn refused his request immediately after he finished speaking, but this time Slughorn hesitated. Harry felt that if he pressed on, he might get an answer.

Unfortunately, at this crucial moment, several Ravenclaw students who had just left returned to ask questions, and Slughorn immediately made an excuse to let them leave early.

But it doesn't matter. Harry felt he had taken a crucial step, and he was sure he would be able to get that real memory when he found another opportunity.

The group returned to the foyer, and as they passed the bulletin board at the entrance of the auditorium, the sharp-eyed Ron noticed a new notice posted on it.

The date of the Apparition exam will be announced. Before the first exam, students can register for special training at Hogsmeade.

Hogsmeade again —

Xiren wasn't particularly concerned about the exams and special training mentioned above, since he was sure he could pass them anyway.

Siren was more concerned about whether any further attacks would occur during his special training trip to Hogsmeade.

Fortunately, the notice emphasized strict supervision at the end, which means that Hogwarts professors or Aurors might be on site to protect the students that day.

In this situation, the Death Eaters probably won't act rashly anymore.