A Certain Hogwarts Magician Professor

The get out of class bell rang, and the students filed out with longing expressions on their faces.

"I've decided!" Ron loudly announced as he walked in the direction of the Potions classroom, "I'm going to make a whole set of wizard chess pieces." The faces of the people around were full of astonishment.

But Harry and Hermione had little interest in the words. "Have you finished your Transfiguration paper? Lend it to me," said Harry.

Ron's momentum immediately shrank back.

"Not yet," the expression on his face fell, "just wrote the beginning—I don't understand half of it now."

"Professor McGonagall will explain this knowledge over and over again. In fact, there are many things I don't understand." Hermione said some encouraging words: "Once you have mastered Animagus, and combined with the textbook to understand the situation will be much better, yes No, Harry?"

Harry grumbled vaguely. Since he learned the Animagus Transfiguration, he did feel some differences, but this 'different' did not include those advanced transfiguration theories taught by Professor McGonagall, and he was still as confused in class as before.

He knew what Hermione was up to, but he shied away at the thought of the tome she kept rotating around these days.

Ron, on the other hand, looked frustrated. He hadn't been able to feel the throbbing of Animagos these days, and he'd been trying to find out about that feeling with Harry and Neville lately.

"Did your heart rate suddenly increase and your head was sweating?"

"Are you sure it's not psychological?" Harry asked, and Ron stopped talking.

...

Slughorn stared blankly at Harry's cauldron in Potions class.

In the crucible is a mass of gray-green soft and sticky things, which looks like boiled and solidified slugs and vegetable jelly. When you get close, you can feel a little bit of chill. This is Harry's work today. Simply appalling.

Hermione's eyes widened happily, as if she was about to let go of her throat and sing in the next second.

"Oh...well, boy, that's not going to work," said Slughorn absentmindedly fiddling with the buttons on his vest.

He didn't say anything more, but walked in front of Ron, stayed for only two seconds, and was forced back by the pungent smoke.

"There's no hint in that book, is there?" Hermione said with bright eyes, as Slughorn walked away to examine the other students, "Even Snape and Professor Happ combined wouldn't help. A few lines teach you the solution to a complex compound toxin."

"I can carry a bezoar with me," Harry whispered through gritted teeth.

Hermione was stunned for a moment, but Ron said excitedly: "It's okay? Why not do it, we have all the time-"

"No! Professor Slughorn knew about Harry's precious book, not only did he know it, but he also read it." Hermione said hastily. "I think the first person to do it would be considered a genius, and the second would be a poor imitator," she said solemnly.

"Good summary, thank you, Hermione," said Harry annoyed.

When Slughorn returned to the podium, the students below were dejected, and none of them were able to prepare the antidote within the allotted time, which was a big blow to them.

But Slughorn didn't show any disappointment at all. He stretched out his tight stomach and said with a smile: "Have you found some tricks that don't work?"

Some of the students looked at Slughorn and then all at Harry.

Because of the special experience of the O.W.Ls exam last year, many people know that several Gryffindor students got the textbooks he used in school from Professor Hepp. Later, some of the O.W.Ls difficult potions simplified steps were sorted out. All four college students benefit.

At the beginning of this year's Potions class, they wanted to do the same, and although they got their notes (Harry cut out some of the dangerous curses and Professor Hepp's spooky speech), they were surprised to find that it didn't work.

Slughorn smiled, and the walrus beard said with a quiver:

"Yeah, Miss Granger is the closest to success in today's test. If I give her another half an hour, I believe she can complete the preparation of the antidote independently. But she is still a long way from being a real potions expert. small distance."

Hermione wasn't convinced, she pouted.

"I could name some exceptional potions, like Damocles Belby, Severus Snape, and, of course, Lily Evans—" Slughorn smiled. Glancing at Harry, "You may think that I am judged by grades, but this is not the case... What a potionist needs is the spirit of independent thinking, courage, love, rigor, innovation, and a passion for potions. Extraordinary insight."

"For the truly gifted, these qualities are revealed early on, and their minds are like sapgrass at a full moon, so different."

"It's hard for outsiders to understand that even among the students who got good grades in the O.W.Ls Potions exam, I prefer one of them... This is because I see the talent of that student. This is often the case, they were in sixth grade. It's going to open a huge gap. I seldom see it wrong."

"Upgrading the class is not like the previous grade, you will be exposed to more magical potions, more esoteric theories, if you don't have the love for potions, it's actually hard to go far enough... Of course, you can mix some barely passable magic. Medicine is still available."

"It's very similar to what Professor Hepp said," Harry muttered softly.

"Harry, do you have any questions?" Slughorn asked with concern, not listening to his muttering.

Harry was stunned and stood up dawdlingly. The others looked at him.

"Um...I wonder, is Professor Hepp considered gifted? I mean, his notes are useful to me—" Harry asked falteringly.

This time Slughorn did not give the answer immediately as usual, he frowned and thought for a long time.

"I didn't teach him, but... from the notes, it's clear that he has his own independent ideas about potions." Slughorn was obviously reluctant to say more, but the students all stared at him, very interested in the topic. Interested, Slughorn waved his hands in the air for a while, as if he had nowhere to put them. "Okay." He cleared his throat and muttered softly.

"I don't think he's going to be a potion master - Professor Heppe is capable of concocting some advanced magic potions, yes, I have no doubts...his notes are very logical, and with his magical attainments , without screwing up those delicate operations."

"But I don't see many groundbreaking insights, probably because the heart is not on it, his achievements in the ancient rune field speak for themselves. It's normal, talented wizards always have more personality, they will Intrigued by the different aspects of magic..."

Harry suddenly thought of something else, and Professor Slughorn probably saw Voldemort the same way back then.

Voldemort also excelled in school, and Dumbledore said he excelled in all his subjects, but he was probably more of an imitator than a trailblazer in the field of potions, like Professor Heppe.

As Slughorn said, "talented wizards are attracted to different aspects of magic." Apparently, Professor Hepp chose Ancient Rune in the end, while Voldemort did not hesitate to plunge into the abyss of black magic.

He also thought of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, his former best friends, who had also taken diametrically opposite paths.

Harry suddenly understood the "choice" that Dumbledore had been emphasizing. He had seen too many excellent wizards in the Pensieve in the past few months. At first, they appeared different, sometimes even weird and clumsy. Like Mr. Newt Scamander...

In the evening, Felix suddenly appeared in the office.

He just came back from the outside, to be precise, it is tens of thousands of meters in the sky, except that the temperature is a little low, there is no other impact. He originally wanted to walk through the thick clouds to a higher place, but after thinking about it, he still felt that there was no need to rush for a while.

It was like going out for a walk after dinner.

When he came back, Warren, sitting on the sofa making juice, pointed to the window, where a silver phoenix patron stayed silently.

"Felix, I want you to come over," said Dumbledore's voice.

So Felix turned around and walked out of the house, "Take you out for a walk another day." Warren waved at him.

In the principal's office, the spacious room is brightly lit, and it is dark outside the window. Dumbledore sat behind the long-legged table, put down the newspaper in his hand as soon as he saw Felix, and walked around the table to stand in front of him.

"I'm going to show you something," he said bluntly.

"Want to use the Pensieve?" Felix asked, and Dumbledore looked at him in a bit of astonishment. "What? Oh—" Dumbledore noticed that Felix's gaze fell on a clear glass bottle on the table. Above, the bottle is filled with strands of silver filaments.

"No, not that," he said briefly.

Plumes of smoke emerged from the tip of Dumbledore's wand, and quickly condensed into a picture in mid-air. Felix glanced at it, his eyes became cautious, he strode forward and stared down at the parade in the picture. Crowds and buildings.

"Capitol?" Felix tilted his head.

Dumbledore nodded, then motioned him with a finger to look in one direction.

Felix turned his attention to the screen again. He turned a blind eye to the colorful pole numbers held by the demonstrators, and his eyes kept searching. Dumbledore let him see more than that, then...

In the vacant lot in front of the building, Rita Skeeter, obviously well-dressed, held a prominent position with a microphone in her hand.

"Rita Skeeter?" Felix laughed dumbly: "This surprises me. And her status doesn't seem to be low."

"That's the crux of the matter," Dumbledore said. "This picture was shown by Grindelwald when he was applying for a job. I know he has the ability to predict. Of course, he can only see some fragments of the future."

"I guess he doesn't know Rita Skeeter," Felix said with a smile.

"Skeet's sharp words are far more recognizable than her looks," Dumbledore agreed, "and they're probably staggered, and Skeeter's almost disappeared from the wizarding world this school year, and it took me a while to It took time to find her at the Muggle newspaper."

Felix blinked, recommending the woman to Amelia Burns himself.

"I've been following her closely since then. I don't think that paper is a good place to go, the work environment is far more complicated than the Daily Prophet, but she's certainly adapted well, with a series of gun ban movements. She has become famous and is expected to win a news award that is said to be very important..."

"This is definitely a surprise for her." Felix was quite emotional.

"My question now is," Dumbledore looked at him with interest, "is she going to keep living as a double-faced journalist? I know of some wizards who have a separate identity in Muggle society - not just a name. , but more specific occupations - but these people are basically inclined to one side, and it is rare to be active on both sides like her."

Felix hesitated for a moment.

"Amelia has given her a mission for only one year, but from what I know about Rita Skeeter, she can't let go of the reputation she has worked so hard to build on the other side, so she may take the initiative to maintain this life after the mission is over, As for how long...no one can predict."

"Yeah, no one could have predicted that."

Dumbledore said softly, lost in thought. After a while, he came back to his senses and said, "Felix, there is another more important thing."

Now it was Felix's turn to be curious.

"About Grindelwald?" he asked tentatively.

Grindelwald had just delivered a speech that was close to surrender during the day. Did Dumbledore change his mind so soon? Felix pondered in his mind the impact of this move, not just the issue of one more Dark Lord colleague, but a series of changes brought about by it.

The attitude of the Ministry of Magic, the promise of the International Confederation of Wizards...

Of course, none of this matters to Felix. It is worth noting that if Grindelwald were allowed to stay at Hogwarts for a long time, the risk of his identity being exposed would be greatly increased.

DeWitt, who had previously portrayed himself as a devoted and fanatical saint, but was actually a careerist, said:

"In the end, leaking news is almost inevitable. At that time, the eyes of the whole world will focus on Hogwarts. Even with Dumbledore's current status, it is difficult to resist..."

"I have communicated with my successor, Mr. Babajid Agimbad, the new president of the International Confederation of Wizards," Dumbledore said solemnly. "When the exams this year are over, they will send people to take Gellert. Return to Nurmengard Castle."

Felix looked at him in surprise.

"When did this happen?"

"Just last night."

Felix looked strangely at the old man in front of him, this approach was much more decisive than he imagined. Did Dumbledore decide to throw Old Grindelwald back in jail? Fortunately, after he learned of the existence of the blood alliance from Harry, he thought that Dumbledore had softened his heart.

"So...what do you need me to do?"

"I'm worried that Gellert will have an accident when he finds out. I want you to keep an eye on him during this time, and..." Dumbledore paused, his silver beard trembled slightly, "You know the spell that imprisoned his magic power. ?"