The Mightiest Badger at Hogwarts

"call--"

Link took a deep breath while staring closely at Phoenix Fawkes, who was preening his feathers in front of him.

"I really envy you, Professor Dumbledore, for having such a magical creature as Phoenix Fawkes." Link smiled, "I have to sigh every time I am teleported by Fawkes. This is definitely the smoothest teleportation I have ever received. .”

Phoenix Fox seemed to understand Link's compliment and spread its wings happily.

But Dumbledore spread his hands and said:

"I remember that you seem to have learned the Apparition spell, and your level is not low."

"Yes, I did learn it." Link spread his hands and said, "But learning the Apparition Curse does not mean that it can alleviate the pain during its transmission. In fact, I am just used to it."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement upon hearing this, and then quickly put Phoenix Fawkes away.

This move left Link speechless.

He didn't expect Dumbledore to be so stingy.

As soon as he heard that he was interested in Phoenix Fox, he immediately put the Phoenix away and wouldn't even let him look at it any longer.

Shaking his head helplessly, Link looked at his surroundings.

The place where he and Dumbledore were standing now looked like the courtyard of an abandoned village, with an ancient war monument and several benches erected in the middle.

Some distance away, there is an empty tavern and a few houses.

Because too much time was wasted waiting for Dumbledore to go to work at Hogwarts, it was completely dark now.

Judging from the clock of a nearby church, the time was almost 22 o'clock.

Link and Dumbledore asked as they walked out:

"where is this place?"

"The charming village of Barberton, Link, and home to Professor Slughorn."

Dumbledore said calmly, taking advantage of the situation and turning a corner with Link.

Link looked at the dark village in front of him and sighed:

"He really knows how to choose a place."

He had already scanned this place with his mental power.

As a result, the total population of the entire town does not exceed 300.

Not only that, more than half of the population of less than 300 are elderly.

This kind of small town with such a serious population outflow may be easy to find in later generations, but it is really rare in this day and age.

"But I still have a question," Link added. "Since you already know the specific location of his home, why don't you let Phoenix Fox send us directly to his home?"

"Because that would be as rude as kicking open the door to someone else's house," Dumbledore said lightly, "and his mansion has been enchanted with an anti-Apparition spell."

"Stop talking nonsense. I don't think ordinary anti-Apparition spells will be effective on Phoenix, and no one will specially arrange an anti-Apparition spell to resist Phoenix. As for what you said is rude, I think Just by our..."

Link suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

In fact, his memories of Professor Slughorn's content in his previous life were somewhat blurry.

This allowed him to only know the general information about Professor Slughorn. As for things like his residence and attitude, it was basically a blur.

And after Dumbledore's obviously incorrect answer, he also realized a possibility.

"You mean, this Horace Slughorn, he doesn't want us?"

Link said expressionlessly.

"To be precise, I'm not welcome." Dumbledore said with a wry smile. "He thinks that there must be no good in me appearing in front of him."

Link said nothing, but a glint of approval flashed in his eyes.

Dumbledore was indeed very ruthless in tricking people.

The most important thing is that he has the ability to make you speechless even if you are cheated.

Because he is often not doing it for his own benefit, but for the magical world.

Being able to realize this is enough to show that Horace Slughorn is quite intelligent.

If Dumbledore noticed Link's current emotional change, he would probably faint from anger.

But at this moment, all his attention was focused on a lonely small villa not far away.

He took Link and walked forward for a while, then stood in front of the small villa and said:

"Okay, here we are."

"Fluorescent flashes."

Link lit his wand.

Under the milky white halo, the entire small villa is extremely clear.

It's a neat little stone house set in a garden.

The overall feeling is one of warmth and tranquility, and at the same time, ordinary.

It was so ordinary that it was almost no different from the house of an ordinary Muggle family.

This kind of ordinaryness is the most special thing in wizard society.

Because most wizards always like to build some special things to show their wizard status when building their residences.

It's a bit like a code word, a code word that only wizards can decipher.

But there is nothing special about the villa in front of me.

If there was anything strange, it was that at this late hour, the hinges of the front door of the villa were open and the door was hanging crookedly.

Dumbledore looked at the deserted streets around him, pulled out his wand, opened the front door, walked quietly and quickly up the garden path, and then entered the villa.

A narrow doorway was illuminated by fluorescent light.

There is another open door on the left.

Link held up his wand expressionlessly and walked in first.

Then I saw a mess.

In this huge living room, a grandfather clock was broken at their feet, the clock face was cracked, and the pendulum lay a little further away, like an abandoned sword.

On the other side, a piano was overturned on the ground, its keys scattered everywhere.Nearby, fragments of a shattered chandelier shone.The cushions were scattered everywhere and were shriveled, with feathers poking out of the cracks.Broken glass and shards of porcelain were scattered all over the floor like powder.Dumbledore raised his wand higher, illuminating the wall, which was splattered with dark red goo.

Link stepped on various debris on the ground and crunched to the center of the living room.

The entire living room was now so badly damaged, as if it had just encountered a fierce wizard battle, and then someone had kidnapped Horace Slughorn.

But the problem is, this is a bit too outrageous!

"Professor Dumbledore, it seems that what you said earlier was a bit too light." Link said cheerfully, "This Professor Slughorn doesn't just dislike you. He simply avoids you like a snake."

Faced with Link's teasing, Dumbledore pursed his lips and said nothing. Instead, he suddenly thrust the tip of his wand into the cushion of the bulging armchair.

"what--"

The chair suddenly let out a scream.

Dumbledore stood up straight again and said:

"Good evening, Horace."

While Dumbledore was speaking, the previous chair was rapidly transforming, turning into a fat, bald old man in the blink of an eye.

He squatted there, rubbing his belly, and narrowed one painful, tearful eye at Dumbledore.

"You don't need to be so cruel," he said angrily, struggling to get up, "It hurts me so much!"

The image of the old man is not good.

The light of the fluorescent scintillating spell shone on him, making his bald head dazzling.

The poor light and shadow effects even caused thick bags under his bulging eyes, and also made his silver-white beard look extremely sloppy.

The only thing worth mentioning about him was the maroon velvet pajamas.

The horn buckle on the thing was shining like a gem.

"How did I reveal my secret?"

he asked gruffly, not at all embarrassed by his previous behavior.

"My dear Horace," Dumbledore said, seeming to find it ridiculous, "I would like to say that I saw through all this with my strong mental power and magic, but in fact..."

Link took over the conversation naturally and continued:

"But in fact, that's not the case. When we first came in, we already knew that the scenes here were all faked."

Slughorn's brows knitted together, obviously not believing it.

Upon seeing this, Link chuckled and pointed at the sticky dark red blood on the wall and said:

"Take this for example. To be honest, unless a person has suffered an injury such as instant decapitation, there is no way he can spray blood so high. In addition, basically all the furniture here can be broken Broken, as you can imagine, there must have been a bloody and extremely difficult battle here!

But the problem is, Professor Slughorn, you are unlikely to be that strong.

If someone does break in, the most likely possibility is that you will be taken away by them without any effort.

Instead of starting a bloody fight in this house, you even beheaded one of the opponents in the middle.Hehehe——"

Link couldn't help laughing, "Professor Slughorn, I can understand your idea of ​​wanting to show that you are strong and resisting before being kidnapped. But this... is too outrageous. Alright?"

As Link spoke, Slughorn's expression kept changing, and eventually turned completely dark.

He glared at Link and roared:

"Shut up! You rude guy! You should still be a student at Hogwarts, right? It's unimaginable that the teaching level of Hogwarts has dropped to this level, and it even makes you rude? Dumbledore, you should really think about it!"

As soon as he said this, Link smiled even more happily.

He thought it was funny how Slughorn was dancing around when he was so angry.

On the other side, Dumbledore was waving his wand, restoring the living room that Slughorn had disguised as a ruin.

He straightened the piano and set up the clock. After rearranging everything, he turned on the light and said to the angry Slughorn:

"Yes, actually I have been reflecting on it, and you are the result of my reflection. Horace, go back to Hogwarts and continue to be the Potions Professor. We need you very much now."

Hearing this, Slughorn's expression suddenly changed, like a burning candle whose flame was suddenly extinguished.

He looked at Dumbledore intently, and after a while he smiled awkwardly:

"Ha! Dumbledore, you must be kidding, right? How can I still teach at Hogwarts with this old bone? I..."

"No, I'm not joking." Dumbledore interrupted solemnly, "I'm serious about inviting you."

These words caused the awkward smile on Slughorn's face to stop abruptly.

He sat back on the sofa restored by Dumbledore with a gloomy expression and said:

"This is impossible. The Death Eaters are making a lot of noise now, and the entire Ministry of Magic of the Republic of China has entered a state of war. No, it's not just the magic world of the Republic of China, but other places are not at peace either. You haven't seen anything about Booth in the news. Patton was attacked and suffered heavy losses? At this juncture, I don't want to get involved. I'm just a retired old guy. Please let me spend my remaining years in peace. Besides, I've been entangled a lot. annoyed!"

"Pestering? Who is pestering you?" Link narrowed his eyes and asked, "Death Eaters? Those guys should welcome you, right? After all, your knowledge of potions can be of great help to their career. For example, Configure some poison that can kill countless people."

Slughorn glared at Link viciously for a moment, then whispered:

"I didn't give them a chance. For the past two years, I have been elusive. I never stayed in one place for more than a week, moving from one Muggle residence to another. You are also lucky. The Ministry of Magic recently Bian used a rare force, beating the shit out of the mysterious man and extinguishing most of the Death Eater forces. I felt a little more at ease and stayed here a little longer. Otherwise, you guys, You can never find me!"

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Dumbledore's face:

"What a clever strategy, but isn't this kind of hiding life too tiring for a useless old guy who wants to live a quiet life? Think about it, if you go back to Huo Gwartz..."

"If you want to tell me that I will live a more peaceful life in that annoying school, Dumbledore, I advise you to save your energy and stop talking." Slughorn said decisively, "I have I have a premonition that the world will undergo great changes next! And this great change will probably be even more terrifying than when Grindelwald was alive before! I would rather suffer some pain than be involved in this great change!

in addition……"

Slughorn pointed to Link next to him, "Who is this guy? If he is really a Hogwarts student, I suggest you deduct his credits. After all, I was once a Hogwarts student." Professor Titz, plus the Head of Slytherin House. He is so disrespectful to me!"

Dumbledore and Link looked at each other, with strange smiles on their faces.

"Cough-cough-"

Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "Then let me introduce you. This is our school director of Hogwarts, Link..."

"Link? Or the school director? Why does this name sound familiar?"

Slughorn murmured, his pupils suddenly dilated, "Merlin's beard, you couldn't be Link Foley, right?"

Link didn't speak, just stood there quietly.

When Slughorn saw this, he jumped up from the sofa, grabbed Link's arm and asked:

"Are you really the Link Foley who successively restructured Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, and led the Auror troops to defeat the mysterious man?"

Link raised his eyebrows and smiled:

"I didn't expect that Professor Slughorn is so well-informed. These things are not something that ordinary people can know."

"Of course! I have been the vice-president of the Potions Association and a professor at Hogwarts for so many years, so I still have some connections! No, don't talk about that!" Slughorn's original proud expression was instantly replaced by anticipation. Instead, "If you say that, you are admitting it! Merlin, it's an honor for me to see you here!"

"Well, I think you've gone too far, Horace..."

"No, no, no! Not at all!" Slughorn waved his hands at Dumbledore and retorted, "You don't even understand how amazing Mr. Link Foley's achievements are! Let's not mention that he has never That Umbridge took back Hogwarts from his hands, let's just say that he restructured the Ministry of Magic of the United States and broke up the Wizengamot Council of the United States. How many people have been able to accomplish this kind of achievement over the past thousands of years? ? Maybe this is just the way it seems to you, but please don’t forget his age. Mr. Link Foley is not yet 20 years old this year. I dare say that even you at his age have no Such strength and talent, right?”

Dumbledore was speechless, but the smile in his eyes became more and more intense.

Also smiling was Link next to him.

Slughorn's attitude of being both forward and backward is really interesting.

After finally waiting for Slughorn to finish speaking, Dumbledore continued with a smile:

"Then according to what I said, you should return to Hogwarts. After all, Link has not graduated this year. If you return to Hogwarts, you can serve as his professor."

As he spoke, Dumbledore also winked at Link.

As soon as he said this, Slughorn's eyes instantly lit up.

He pointed at Link for a while, then for himself, and stammered:

"Really...really? If I go back to Hogwarts, are you really willing...willing to admit that I am your professor?"

Link rolled his eyes at Dumbledore.

Now that things have developed, he naturally understands Dumbledore's thoughts.

Dumbledore wanted to attract Slughorn back to Hogwarts by relying on a famous student like him.

This kind of behavior is actually not uncommon in the education world.

When a person is outstanding to a certain extent, it is not the teacher who chooses him, but he who chooses the teacher.

It was obvious that Link was such an outstanding student.

Being able to serve as his professor and be recognized by him is really an attractive thing for a professor like Slughorn.

Facing Slughorn's expectant gaze, Link finally nodded and said:

"That's natural, Professor Slughorn. I respect every professor at Hogwarts."

"Okay, you convinced me!"

Slughorn suddenly became serious, "I promise you, I will get involved in this big trouble! Return to Hogwarts and continue to shine at your job!"

"Great," said Dumbledore, beaming with joy. "Then, Horace, we'll see you on September [-]st."

Slughorn rubbed his hands and agreed repeatedly. It could be seen that he was still very excited.

This excitement is expected to last for a long time.

Because until Link and Dumbledore left the villa and walked along the garden path, they could still hear Slughorn shouting behind them:

"I'll demand a raise, Dumbledore!"