Beside the square table in the center of an empty classroom, Professor Slughorn was curled up on the edge of the table like a fat walrus. Harry was half-kneeling in front of him with his face raised, staring at Slughorn intently.
Horn's tearful eyes made the Potions Professor unable to turn his face.
"What you said makes sense. I really feel very, very sorry for your mother's death." He whispered, "If I can help you... of course it won't be a problem... but that thing is useless..."
"It's useful," Harry said clearly, "Dumbledore needs to know that memory of yours, and I need to know it. I think it is a key, or even the only key, to avenge my mother."
Harry looked directly into Slughorn's eyes, leaning forward slightly to get closer to him. "I am the Savior, and I must kill him. So, I need that memory."
Under Harry's close gaze, the color on Slughorn's face slowly faded away. Now, instead of the redness after drinking, his face looked a little pale. Sweat also seeped from his broad forehead.
Come out. "Are you the savior?"
"Of course I am, everyone here knows it." Harry said and pointed to Ryan and Hermione. They nodded when Slughorn looked over.
"But... dear child... you are asking too much... in fact, you are asking me to help you destroy a powerful dark wizard who has never been destroyed before-"
"No, it's not as scary as you said." Harry softened his tone and comforted him. "Don't you hate the person who took away your friends, your students, and even your normal life, forcing you to hide everywhere?
?”
"Harry, of course I hate him. But -" At this point, Slughorn's expression became very frightened.
"I know what you are afraid of. You are afraid that he will find out that you helped Harry. But the problem now is that with the character of the mysterious man, he may not ask whether you have revealed his secrets. He will kill everyone.
Someone he thinks is bad for him." Hermione said on the side with a voice without any fluctuation.
"But I am his teacher, his dean -" Ryan interrupted Slughorn before he could finish his sentence. "He killed his father and grandparents with his own hands, and indirectly killed himself.
uncle."
After hearing this, Slughorn turned his head back and looked at Harry with a hopeful look in his eyes. "What they said is probably not true, right?"
"What they said is true." Harry did not give Slughorn the answer he expected to hear. "So now the real way for you to ensure your own safety is to be brave like my mother.
For him to face this terrible situation."
Slughorn seemed to have collapsed. In fact, he had been in a state of extreme mental stress since Voldemort's resurrection. So after drinking a lot of wine today, Harry suddenly revealed the bloody reality.
He immediately lost all control of the situation. His whole body was shaking and sobbing continuously. He looked like a huge baby.
"I feel disgraceful..." Slughorn covered his face with his hands, and then murmured quietly from between his fingers, "I'm - ashamed of what that memory showed... I think I might have
It caused a lot of harm..."
"It's okay, if you give your memories to me, everything will be offset," Harry said. "This is a very brave and noble thing to do. It can help you get rid of your inner uneasiness, and at the same time protect your safety to the greatest extent possible.
So please tell me the secret, it will be a very good thing for you and us."
Afterwards, Harry and Slughorn looked at each other for a while under the dim candlelight. Finally, Slughorn very slowly reached into his pocket and took out his wand, and took out his other hand from his cloak.
A small empty bottle.
Still staring into Harry's eyes, he put the tip of the wand against his temple, and then slowly raised the wand. The tip of the wand brought out a long silver thread of memory. It stretched longer and longer, and finally broke,
The silver light was floating on the tip of the stick. Slughorn put it into the bottle. The silver wire first rolled up, and then unfolded, like a wisp of smoke swirling inside the bottle. He stuffed it with trembling hands.
He tightened the bottle cap and handed it to Harry across the table.
"Thank you very much, Professor." Harry thanked him from the bottom of his heart after taking the bottle.
"You're a good boy," Slughorn said to Harry, tears streaming down his fat cheeks into his walrus beard, "you have eyes like hers...
Don't think of me as a villain after this, and I wish you all the best..." After saying that, Slughorn lay on the table and fell asleep deeply.
"Okay, I think I have to go find Professor Dumbledore now, would you like to come with me?" Harry asked Ryan and Hermione after putting the bottle into his pocket.
"Of course I went there with you. After all, this memory has something to do with us. I think we should also know about it." Ryan said, and then he asked worriedly. "We won't make him angry if we press him like this today.
Leave Hogwarts, right? Once he falls into the hands of the mysterious man, we will be in real trouble."
"No." Harry shook his head. "Elixir told me that Professor Slughorn will remember nothing when he wakes up tomorrow morning."
"That's good, but what should Professor Slughorn do now? Should we throw him here?" Hermione asked as she glanced at Slughorn, who was lying on the table and snoring.
"It must not be thrown here, otherwise he will be wrong tomorrow morning. Let me think about it - there it is." Harry clapped his hands in front of his chest and shouted softly to the open space next to him: "Dobby, Dobby
Bi, I need your help now."
Before he finished speaking, Dobby appeared in front of everyone with a soft pop. "Dobby heard Harry's call and was very happy to serve Harry."
"That's right, Dobby." Harry looked at Dobby and said, "We just had a party here with Professor Slughorn, and it turns out that Professor Slughorn drank a little too much. Can you please stop?
Find some helpers to help us take the drunk Professor Slughorn back to his office, he will definitely catch a cold if he sleeps here all night."
"Of course, of course there is no problem." Dobby said in a sharp voice. "It is our duty to serve the professors and students of Hogwarts. Please rest assured that my companions and I will put the professor in good place."
"Thank you then, Dobby." Harry said and looked at Ryan and Hermione. "Okay, now let's go find the principal. I have a hunch that he is waiting for us in the office now.
"
Just after the three of them stepped out of the classroom door, the curfew bell rang. They looked at each other and quickly ran upstairs. Fortunately, the journey went smoothly and they did not encounter the professor or Filch who was watching the night.
A few minutes later, they arrived outside the headmaster's office. After Harry said "Toffee fingers" to the stone monster at the door of Dumbledore's room, the monster jumped aside and allowed the three of them to walk up the spiral staircase.
"Come in." After Harry knocked on the door, Dumbledore's voice came from inside.