Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 451 Promise
The wand rolled slowly to the McGuffin's feet.

McGuffin looked down, bent down and picked it up.

"Professor Horace... this is yours!"

He held out his hand to the fat old wizard.

After being stunned for a long time, Horace finally realized that this slightly neighing voice was not Parseltongue.

He exhaled slowly, calmed down, and took his wand into his hand from the claws that were also covered with black scales.

"you……"

Before the words fell, all the abnormalities on McGuffin... Gradually began to fade away,

The scales disappeared into the skin again, and the protruding letter... the vertical snake pupils also disappeared.

Horace's face was very serious, and he even gritted his teeth and stared at the changes in McGuffin.

"What the hell...what happened to you?"

"This is what the Dark Lord did to me! Professor, you should see what he did to me, right?"

Horace took out his wand hesitantly. He tentatively pointed at the skin of McGuffin's hand, and a red linear imprint suddenly appeared and disappeared.

Then he said with certainty: "It's a curse! It's very old, and it has been improved... I seem to have heard it there..."

"—It's [Blood Curse]!"

McGuffin tidied up the collar, where the skin had been deformed... extremely sensitive.

"Yes, it's [Blood Curse]! I once heard that the Dark Lord wants to create an army of dark wizards, and transform all the little wizards...to make them exceptionally talented in certain aspects...These little wizards will be natural Death Eaters, natural Slytherins."

"The Dark Lord wants to use some kind of dark witchcraft to improve the talent of little wizards, and safely cancel the other three Hogwarts houses... Could this be... But, how is it possible... He should not have such magic power now."

Horace slumped back in the armchair, as if taken aback by his own words.

For a moment, he seemed a little uneasy.

"It's a very long story..." McGuffin sat down opposite Horace Slughorn again and said, "I don't know if you know that something happened when Harry and I were in the first grade, even if I experienced it personally... It has something to do with the legendary Philosopher's Stone."

"[Headless Golden Statue]!" Horace exclaimed.

"...The professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at that time, Quirrell... Are those outrageous rumors true? The Philosopher's Stone... The Dark Lord... And those two little wizards... Are you all? Did you and Harry Potter really do everything in those rumors?" Horace asked all of them in one breath, and he couldn't wait to know the truth of the matter.

"Mr. Horace! . . . "

McGuffin started from the beginning, from when he found that something was wrong with Quirrell... to how he got the solution to the [Blood Curse] and suppressed it... until now, he hasn't let it erode his thinking.

"It's amazing, it's amazing..."

Horace looked at McGuffin like a little monster. He didn't expect this little wizard to have the guts to successfully threaten the most dangerous dark wizard in modern times and... survived.

But he has doubts in other aspects...

"Isn't that reasonable? Why did the Dark Lord choose you? He obviously had a more suitable choice... The boy who lived... Harry Potter is his most hated object no matter what!"

"I think the Dark Lord didn't have much choice when he possessed Quirrell. He was anxious to get the Sorcerer's Stone back to his mana, otherwise...he wouldn't be subject to my threat, and Harry was...or is now receiving the attention and protection of all the professors...he didn't want to take the risk of exposing himself. And that damned sorting hat...it must have attracted the Dark Lord's attention to me..."

When McGuffin thinks about it now, he still hates that thing.

Although he had now realized that it must have been the Thestral tail feather wand...the anchor point of the other world dimension that caused the Sorting Hat to go crazy, but in the end it made Voldemort notice himself...it was because of this incident.

"By the way, I remembered that there was a rumor three years ago... a crazy little wizard almost broke the Sorting Hat, so it was you!" Horace suddenly remembered the anecdote back then.

Horace became more and more interested in the little wizard in front of him.

Some time ago, the incident of the attack at Hogwarts was still kept secret until now, and Cornelius Fudge's behavior after that incident became more and more strange...

The mutation and disappearance of so many dementors?The sudden escape of the Death Eaters and... child's play arrest afterwards?And Ambrose Froome... What happened to the couple...

As a student who gave Horace a gift basket every year on his birthday, the misfortune of the student who respected him the most... sounded the alarm for Horace.

——This world is becoming more and more undercurrent and less safe.

When Horace realized that something was wrong, and summed up all the newspaper reports in recent years, he suddenly discovered an 'interesting fact'.

If the bad things, large or small, that have happened in recent years, if they are connected... can find a point of intersection - they are always related to Hogwarts, this school... or a few students in it.

Harry Potter...the Boy Who Lived...the man that has been rumored to be linked to...

What the little wizard said in front of him proved this point even more.

And behind those news, there is always another figure hidden...

—McGuffin Albert.

The little wizard in front of me!

The Dark Lord II... the black nightmare... the new werewolf suppressor... and the new broom that will be unveiled at the Quidditch World Cup... those auras that seem to be getting more and more outrageous... actually continue to appear on a Gryffindor Muggle.

Some time ago, Horace felt as if he had missed some little wizards worthy of 'teaching'.

Unexpectedly, Dumbledore gave him this opportunity tonight.

Thinking of this, Horace's mood lifted.

However, he had to figure out what had happened at Hogwarts over the years?
That man, the Dark Lord... and the Death Eaters... that's what happened to a good old man like Froome... He had to beware of the risks...

Slughorn shuddered at the thought of Voldemort.

McGuffin stared at Slughorn. After listening to the story, he was in a daze for a while, as if he was thinking about something carefully.

Even if he didn't use [Instinct], McGuffin knew that the old spider was very interested in him, and Harry's unique connection with Voldemort aroused his curiosity even more.

Horace thought, rubbing his broad chin, and looked at the MacGuffin.

"If one-tenth of this story you tell is true, without exaggeration...then you are one of the most gifted and qualified students I have ever met..."

Illuminated by the blazing fire, Horace's generous face looked very sure of MacGuffin's achievement, he praised.

"That's useless, you should also know the connection between me and that person... that is, the Dark Lord... Like Harry, there can only be one life between me and him, and that person must be me."

Hearing McGuffin's categorical words, Horace was a little speechless.

Although it is true that the Dark Lord is going to make a comeback, no matter what, he will not let go of his black magic experiment results and even the little wizards who insulted him... But it is too much to compare himself with the Dark Lord...

"So is there anything else you want to know?" asked McGuffin.

"Did you meet that person...that is, the Dark Lord? I know that many things happened in your second year, that is, last year...and this year." Horace asked muttering.

To his surprise, the little wizard in front of him didn't hide anything... On the contrary, the little wizard told himself too many things,
So much so that he would rather not know about some things.

For example, the young version of Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets, as well as the [Basilisk]... and the recent dementor mutation, dragon taming magic, and the Death Eater under the control of the Dark Lord... wanting to take Harry and himself away...

Although some things are unclear... like the identity of the fat wizard, the Dark Lord's purpose for wanting Harry, and the little wizard's own mutation... But even for such an extremely abnormal student, the little wizard McGuffin knows too much.

There were some things he didn't know that made Horace slightly relieved, so that he wouldn't be frightened.

And that [Chamber of Secrets]... [Phantom of a Young Tom Riddle]... and [Horcruxes]...

Did Dumbledore know?Is it because of this that he invited himself?

Does he want to know who told Tom about Horcruxes?
Thinking of the party decades ago, Tom Riddle's excited expression after getting his answer about [Horcrux]... Horace Slughorn's heart was as if being eaten by thousands of ants.

He regretted it terribly.

Although Horace knew that for a person like the Dark Lord, even if he didn't tell him... that monster would still have a way to find out about [Horcrux].

But seven...seven innocent people were able to shard the Dark Lord's soul into seven pieces... No wonder, that monster hasn't died yet.

Horace hammered his chest, making the breath that was constricted in his chest a little easier.

Do you want to tell Dumbledore about this, and then stay away.

Recalling the time when the Death Eaters were rampant, he hid in the XZ...living like a rat in the gutter... Horace felt even more uncomfortable.

"By the way, there is one more thing... related to the topic you just mentioned, Professor Horace."

McGuffin stretched out his hand and flicked it, and the flame in the fireplace was a little bigger, warming the study room.

Stop talking... Horace actually doesn't want to listen anymore.

And has this little wizard's mana level actually reached this level?That scene of casting spells silently and without a stick... made the corners of his eyes twitch.

He said dryly, "What else?"

"Magic recovery!" McGill said calmly.

"?"

"This matter—it's going to go much faster than you think! That's all I can say... I promise Minister Fudge and Dumbledore not to say much."

"What exactly do you know?"

"The world will be turned upside down!"

A mysterious smile appeared on McGuffin's face, and then he stared at the Muggles' Chinese books without saying a word.

hateful!

This guy is not like the Dark Lord at all, he is not a Slytherin at all, and he is not a straightforward wizard like Gryffindor... until he is exactly the same as Dumbledore's old bee, if he reveals half of his words to you... then he cuts off.

——Too bamboo shoots!

Horace Slughorn had a toothache.

His brain was spinning wildly, he wanted to know what Fudge, Dumbledore and the others knew... It must be related to the attack that night, did the Dark Lord know something too?That's why he was so crazy, and directly sent dementors to attack the school... And why does this little wizard know this?

"Can you read those?"

After seeing McGuffin flipping through a Chinese translation of a thick-skinned hardcover Muggle book, Horace said angrily, "That is a very famous story from the oriental magic world... It is a wonderful story about a wizard who is proficient in transfiguration and transforms himself into a monkey, and goes to the Indian magic world with his professor and four classmates to have magical exchanges... It is a metaphor for the unique relationship between professors and students in the Chinese magic world at that time..."

"Respect teachers! (Chinese) This kind of teacher-student relationship full of oriental philosophy...can you understand? Take a good look...learn..."

said Horace angrily.

--Fully understand!
Listening to Horace expressing his views in Chinese with his big tongue, McGuffin looked at the [Journey to the West] in his hand a little bit dumbfounded.

It was the first time he heard that 'Sun Dasheng' was a 'good student' who was polite and respected 'professor'.

While Slughorn still had something to say,
Snape walked in again, startling him, the guy seemed to have forgotten that there were two other people in the room.

"Oh, you're back, Severus...where's Dumbledore? Has he had a stomachache? He..."

"No, I just wandered around the house and looked at other magical decorations. I don't know what he's doing?" Snape said sullenly.

Snape could see that there was something odd about the atmosphere between Slughorn and McGuffin...

He had some doubts... During the time he was away, what happened between these two people?
At this time, Dumbledore also came back.

His beard was smooth and silvery by the fire and lamp, as though washed and anointed.

Slughorn stared at the big and small foxes in front of him, and he admitted...the words of these two guys made him very uneasy, and he even felt that Hogwarts was the only safer place now.

At least if the conjecture of [Magic Power Recovery] is correct...Dumbledore's side is indeed relatively safer than other places.

"Horace, this toilet...the lion-shaped 'beard magic maintenance device' there is really good...look at my beard...I seem to be 20 years younger..." Dumbledore was very happy.

--This guy?

How long are you going to pretend to be crazy?

Horace fiddled with his two fat thumbs, looking very disturbed, and his eyes darted back and forth on the three of them.

"do not talk!"

He stood up abruptly, "I know what your plan is? Well...you got your wish...I'll do it!"

"What, are you willing to come back to work?" said Dumbledore.

"Don't pretend, I know you are very proud... You just need to tell me about the recovery of magic power... In the first place, don't hide any information about this matter and tell me, I will do it."

"Merlin, I must be crazy... Albus, you'd better tell me something useful and something I don't know."

said Slughorn impatiently and slightly threateningly.

"Better not to make me go back on my word!"

"Great," Dumbledore was overjoyed,
"This thing is like this..."

(End of this chapter)