Harriet Potter

"What are you three doing here?" Slughorn asked in surprise.

"Professor, we—"

"—practicing the Patronus Charm." I picked up Hermione. "In Defense Against the Dark Arts we had a lesson on dementors. We wanted to do some... extra homework."

"Oh," Slughorn put away his wand, straightening the leaves in his hand so they wouldn't slip off, "we don't usually recommend this spell for schoolchildren, it's too difficult. Of course, I believe Hermione There must be no problem in that—"

"Actually all three of us can conjure a physical Patronus," Ron interrupted, "so maybe this spell isn't as difficult as you think."

"And Ron and I both had the Patronus Charm taught by Harry," Hermione went on.

Slughorn's sudden focus on me made me uncomfortable, and he was definitely going to say—"Can I see your Patronus, Harry?"

When the silver stag ran across the room, Slughorn had the same shocked expression on Hermione's face just now, but this was just an ordinary Patronus, and Slughorn was not a third-year student.His eyes watered when he looked at me again, the way I've only seen him when he was particularly emotionally caught up in certain memories.

"Professor...?" I said uncertainly.

"Great Patronus, Harry. So pretty." Slughorn wiped his eyes, some leaves slipped off, and a few of us picked them up and handed them back to him, "Thanks—you're free tonight huh, Harry? Maybe you'd like to come and sit?"

Slughorn never offered the invitation, and Hermione and I exchanged quick surprised glances, "Yes, I'd love to, Professor."

Then I said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, and followed Slughorn back to his office.Slughorn had always stocked refreshments and fruit after my visits had become a regular occurrence, but today he was particularly absent-minded in setting things up, and had more wine than usual at the table.As soon as he sat down, he drank the whole glass in one gulp, and he didn't intend to make a toast at all. I hesitated and took a sip from my glass, and Slughorn suddenly started talking.

"I taught Lily's Patronus Charm. She pestered me for a long time before I agreed. Hey, I can't do anything about her." Slughorn said, taking another swig, "I still I remember the first time she turned into a Patronus, she was so happy, bouncing around, exactly like that little doe—she was also in the sixth grade at that time, what a coincidence.”

"My mother's Patronus is a doe?" I asked in wonder.

"Yeah, it's exactly the same as your Patronus. It's just smaller and has no horns."

"My Patronus is the same as my father's, a stag," I said.

"Oh sure, sure. That's what happens when people fall in love, Patronuses become the same animal, become a pair, or become related animals." Slughorn sniffed loudly, He was already pouring his fourth glass, "What a cute couple they are..."

My parents' patron saints are a pair, they have similar souls, they love each other.This fact injected something warm and poignant in my chest.They were so happy.

"I think—you don't remember, Harry?" Slughorn asked awkwardly, finishing his babble, and opened the bottle of wine again.

"I don't remember them, I was too young," I said, feeling uncomfortably that Slughorn seemed determined to pour himself out, "the only thing I remember is when they died. I didn't know I remembered until the first time I met a dementor... I heard my mother screaming, which is why I learned the Patronus Charm."

"That's--terrible. Terrible...terrible..." Slughorn's voice muffled, the liquor running down his chin and down his front.

It began to dawn on me that this was an opportunity, and Slughorn was creating it for me.

"Yes," I whispered, "and then I heard more... I heard that he killed my father first, and my father stood in front of him and told my mother to take me and run. Voldemort killed him, Then stepped over his body and walked towards my mother."

Slughorn shuddered violently, but couldn't seem to take the look of terror from my face.

"He told my mother to go away," I said grimly. "Voldemort told me she couldn't have died. He just wanted to kill me. She could have escaped."

"Oh my God," said Slughorn softly, "she could have...she didn't have to...too horrible..."

"Yeah," my voice was close to a whisper, "but she didn't move. Dad was dead, and she didn't want me dead. She tried to plead with Voldemort...but he just laughed..."

"Enough!" cried Slughorn suddenly, holding up trembling hands. "Really, my dear boy, enough is enough... I'm an old man... I don't need to hear... I don't want to hear..."

"You think, that's why you called me today." I drank my own glass too, it was something stronger, and it made me teary, "You want to know how she died, you Wanted enough to hate the wizard who killed Lily Evans. You like her, don't you?"

"Like her?" said Slughorn, with tears filling his eyes again. "I can't imagine anyone who has met her not liking her...very brave...very vivacious...ah, most terrible thing……"

"She gave me her life, she was determined to put it between me and death...that's the only reason I survived. There is no 'savior', just a mother who desperately wants her child to live, Only Lily Potter. Voldemort killed her, she died so I survived."

"Aren't you... the savior of the world?"

"Now that I am, I am a savior because of her death," I said calmly. "I will get rid of the wizard who killed Lily Evans, and I need that memory for that."

Slughorn grew paler, his brow glistening with sweat.

"But... dear boy... you're asking too much... actually, you're asking me to help you destroy—"

"You don't want to get rid of the wizard who killed Lily Evans?"

"Harry, Harry, of course I would, but—"

"Are you afraid that he will find out that you helped me?"

"I'm afraid, Harry..." Slughorn looked terrified, and pressed his trembling hand to his mouth, "He was my student too... I always get along with good students, you know ...but I seldom like a student...Tom the way I like him or Lily."

He drew in a sharp breath, as if the names of former students had scalded his throat.

"He was... I knew the kind of guy he was after that... Knew he used me... But I was partial to him... I always wanted... the things I showed for—for that memory And ashamed... I think I may have done a lot of harm that day..."

"That's all right, Professor," I said. "He's your student, and he's Dumbledore's student, and you're not responsible for the future of every student. He's gone down the wrong path, and now you have to stop him. We have to stop him."

Slughorn looked at me across the messy desktop, and the silence lingered in the air for a long time, so long that I felt like I was about to cry.Finally, very slowly, he reached into his pocket and drew out his wand, and with the other hand took out a small glass bottle, "You're a good boy...you have eyes like hers, Harry..."

"No, I haven't." I replied.

Still staring into my eyes, he put the tip of his wand to his temple and moved away.A long silver thread of memory emerged from the tip of the staff.It stretched longer and longer, and finally broke, with silver light floating on the tip of the staff.Slughorn put it in the bottle, and the silver coiled and unrolled, swirling like gas.He corked the cap tightly with trembling hands and handed it to me.

"You've been having a hard time, I can see that... I'm sorry..." Slughorn said, tears streaming down his fat cheeks and into his walrus whiskers, "don't put me off after seeing this. Thinking too badly..."

"Thank you very much, Professor," I said softly, taking the bottle.

Slughorn sighed, put his head in his arms and fell asleep.I tried moving him back to the bedroom, but he was too heavy, and the alcohol was affecting me too, so it might not be a good idea to cast a levitation spell at this point.In the end, I had no choice but to leave him in the study, and simply cleaned up the wine stains around him and on his body.

When I got to the door, I hesitated, then turned back to the office: "Good night, Professor. Thank you very much."

I put on the invisibility cloak and quietly returned to the Gryffindor tower, but was stopped by the fat lady outside the portrait cave. She sleepily and angrily declared that the password to enter had been changed in the middle of the night.Not wanting to argue with her, I headed straight for the Room of Requirement, using the Marauder's Map to make sure no one was around.Immediately afterwards, I found Dumbledore's dot in the headmaster's office.

A few minutes later, I was panting "toffeefingers" to Dumbledore's stone monster.The monster jumped aside, out of the way of the spiral staircase.

"Oh, Harriet," said Dumbledore in surprise as the office door opened, and I noticed he looked tired. "What's the matter with you being so late?"

"Sir—I've got it, I've got Slughorn's memory."

I took out the small glass bottle, and the principal seemed to be stunned for a moment, with a smile on his face.

"Exciting news, Harriet! This is fantastic! I know you can do it!"

Apparently completely oblivious to the fact that it was late at night, he hurried out from behind the desk, took Slughorn's memory with his good hand, and strode to the cabinet with the Pensieve.

"Now," Dumbledore put the stone basin on the table and poured the contents of the bottle into it, "now, we're finally going to see. Harriet, hurry up..."

Resignedly I leaned over the Pensieve, felt my feet lift off the ground, and fell again in the dark, into Slughorn's office many years ago.