Chapter 1,185

To be honest, this made Harry a little discouraged. In fact, he relied on the experience the Half-Blood Prince brought him, while Malfoy really relied on his knowledge of potions to win Slughorn's approval.

Harry had to admit, Malfoy was still funny?

Taking different paths is probably the biggest contradiction between the two.

The bell rang, and both Ernie and Malfoy quickly left the classroom. In fact, Malfoy would feel uncomfortable if he stayed here for more than a minute. Potions class was technically Harry's home game.

Since Voldemort's return, Harry and Dumbledore have naturally become another strong pair, otherwise Dumbledore would not be able to convince Slughorn to return to Hogwarts to continue teaching.

No one can be alone, unless they are so desperate that they can no longer be salty, and then hide in the United States or other places.

It was better to be gone though, Harry felt great now.

"Professor!" Harry called.

Slughorn glanced over his shoulder immediately. When he was sure that it was just him and Harry in the whole classroom, he left as quickly as possible.

"Professor, professor, don't you want to try my potion...?" Harry shouted with some disappointment. But he's gone.

Stumped about what went wrong? However, the feeling of confidence that you are obsessed with has not completely disappeared, which actually gave Harry some small comfort in his heart.

Disappointed, Harry emptied his cauldron, packed his bag, and left the dungeons, walking slowly toward the common room upstairs.

Fan Lin, Hermione and Ron returned later in the afternoon.

"Harry," Hermione shouted as soon as she got out of the hole in the portrait, "Harry, I passed!"

"Well done, where's Ron?" Harry asked. "Ron - he seems to have failed," Hermione said a little embarrassed.

At that time Ronggang got into the house, looking very depressed.

"It's just unlucky. It's a trivial matter, and the examiner there said he lost half of his eyebrows..."

"No matter what, this can be considered a form of separation." Fan Lin said, "But it's nothing. Just pay attention next time."

"Compared to this, Harry, what's going on with Slughorn? He and you..."

"Failure!" Harry briefly answered Fanlin's question. Then, Harry began to comfort Ron again.

"No luck, buddy, but you'll pass next time and we can take the exam together."

"Yes, I hope so," said Ron gruffly, "Only half an eyebrow! That's all!"

"I know, that's too harsh," Hermione comforted.

Ron complained to the examiner throughout the dinner. To be precise, Ron's apparation was not proficient enough, but it was just a matter of practicing for a period of time.

After returning to the common room, Ron seemed to cheer up a bit.

They were still discussing the next issue of Slughorn's memory.

"So, Harry - are you going to use your luck for water or something?" Ron asked. "Yeah, I hope that will be better. I don't think I need to drink them all. I don't need 4 hours of good luck, but I can't drink them all... just a small sip. It will work for an hour."

"I tried a few drops today. The dose may be a little small, but I have a general understanding of this feeling." Harry said.

"Mistaken confidence?" Fan Lin asked curiously.

"Almost, I have some left, enough to solve Slughorn's problem. Although I don't know what to do, that kind of... inspiration will definitely appear at that time..."

"Uh..." Fan Lin was speechless. He didn't like this unknown feeling, although he often relied on inspiration, such as alchemy...

"It felt good to take him," Ron said retrospectively. "It's like you can do nothing wrong."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione laughed. "You've never taken it!"

"Yes, but I thought I had, didn't I?" said Ron hopefully. "More or less the same."

"Probably." Fan Lin shrugged, "Maybe I can do some research. Nico Flamel must know how to make it."

"Nicholas Flamel? He hasn't yet..."

"Oh, yes." Fan Lin said, "I found some... interesting things, so Nicolème chose to stay for a while. This is not difficult for him. I doubt if Nicoléme If May is willing, Nicolas Flamel is fully capable of making a magic stone. I heard that the core of Beauxbatons is a magic stone made by Nicolas Flamel.

"Incredible..." Ron sighed.

The next step is to surround Slughorn. Now that they are focusing on Slughorn's memory, there is only so much they can do in Hogwarts.

They only saw Slughorn enter the hall, where he seemed to be going to dine. They just hung out in the common room for a while, making plans for Harry to go to his office once Slughorn returned to the teachers' common room.

When the sun reached the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, they decided to take action. Knowing that Neville, Dean and Seamus were all in the lounge, the four of them sneaked into the boys' dormitory. Harry took out the curled sock at the bottom of the box and pulled out a small, flashing bottle.

"Okay, this is it," Harry said, lifting the vial and taking a precise sip.

"How does it feel?" Hermione asked quietly.

Harry didn't answer at first. Then, slowly but clearly, various lucky feelings spread throughout his body, and he felt that he had accomplished everything - not only obtained, but also obtained Slughorn's memory easily... He stood up, smiling, full of joy. confidence.

"That's great," he said, "That's great... I'm going to where Hagrid is."

"What?" Ron He and Min asked in disbelief.

"No, Harry, you're going to see Slughorn, remember?" Hermione said.

"No!" Harry said confidently, "I'm going to Hagrid's place. I feel lucky if I go to Hagrid's place!"

"Slughorn is not in Hogwarts Castle." Fan Lin asked.

"I don't know, but..." Harry paused, "I think this time it will go smoothly."

Harry walked to the door confidently, "Luck works."

Harry put on his cloak completely and started to go downstairs, followed by Fanlin and others. At the end of the stairs, Harry passed through the door.

"What are you doing?" Lavender Brown said in surprise. She passed Harry and watched Fan Lin and others walking out of the boys' dormitory.

As Harry quickly walked across the hall to get away from the crowd, he heard Ron stammering.

Fan Lin and Hermione left Ron behind, and they had to deal with this matter by themselves, but in a blink of an eye, Harry disappeared.

Harry walked forward blindly and confidently, not worrying at all that someone would bump into him. Passing through the portrait was simple: when he approached, Ginny and Dean happened to come in, and Harry had to get out of the way. But he accidentally bumped into Ginny.

"Don't squeeze me, Dean," Ginny said tiredly. "You keep trying to do that, and I'm not ready yet."

The portrait closed behind Harry, but not before he heard an angry retort... His confidence dwindled, and Harry walked senseless through the castle. He didn't need to keep his head down because there was almost no one in his path, but that didn't surprise him at all.

Tonight he is the luckiest person in school. Why he thought going to Hagrid was the right choice, he didn't know. It was as if the potion had given him a hint.

Harry couldn't see the end goal, couldn't see when Slughorn would intervene. But he knew that was the right way to get the memory. When he reached the front door of the hall, he discovered that Filch had forgotten to lock it.

Full of joy, Harry smelled the fresh air and grass as he opened the door and stepped into the dusk. What a pleasure it was to go past the greenhouse to Hagrid's hut! It wasn't on the way to the hut, but Harry had a sudden impulse to find out, so without hesitation he headed towards the greenhouse, the place that made him happy.

Without much surprise, he found Professor Slughorn talking to the Professor of Herbology. Harry hid behind a low stone wall and listened to the conversation calmly.

"Thank you very much for taking the time to help me, Professor Sputrow," Slughorn said kindly. "Most authorities agree that picking them at dusk is most effective."

"I also agree with this view." Professor Sputraw said enthusiastically, "Are those enough?"

"Too many, too many," Slughorn replied. Harry saw her holding an armful of leafy plants.

"That's enough for me for three years, and maybe a little extra if one of my students takes too much... Well, it's nice to meet you, and thank you very much again."

The Herbology Professor turned back and walked towards his greenhouse, while Professor Slughorn walked towards where Harry was hiding. Hoping to be seen, Harry took off his cloak and waved it.

"Good evening, Professor."

"Merlin's beard! Harry, you scared me." Slughorn said, stopped and looked at him warily, "How did you get out of the castle?"

"I think Mr. Filch forgot to lock the door," Harry said happily. He was also pleased to see Slughorn frown. "I'll report him to the Headmaster. I'd say he's more concerned about rubbish than safety... but why are you out here, Harry?"

"Well, sir, it's because of Hagrid." Harry realized the only right thing to do was to tell the truth. "He's sad...but you're not going to tell anyone, are you, Professor? I don't want to get him into trouble."

Slughorn's curiosity was obviously aroused. "Okay, but I can't guarantee that," he said gruffly. "But I know Dumbledore trusts Hagrid very much, so I'm sure he wouldn't agree to anything terrible,"

"It's just a giant spider that he's had for several years... He lives in the Forbidden Forest... It can talk and do other things..."

"I heard rumors that there are giant spiders there, is this true?" Slughorn exclaimed, which made Slughorn look surprised.

With the blessing of being a potion master, it is obvious that there is no way to refuse this very precious biological material.

"Yes," Harry replied, "but this...giant spider...this was the first one Hagrid had. He died yesterday. Hagrid was very sad. He wanted to have a companion when he buried it. So I said I was going."

"Wait," Slughorn said blankly, his listless eyes staring at Hagrid's hut in the distance, "but its venom is very valuable... If he had just died he should not have been buried... Of course if Hagrid is disappointed, I shouldn't say nothing... but if it's possible to get some... I mean, but it's alive, there's almost no chance of getting venom..." Slughorn was more like Talking to himself rather than talking to Harry "...it would be more like a huge waste not to collect some...a small vial might be worth a hundred galleons...to be honest, my salary is not that high." ah……"

Now Harry knew exactly what to do.

"Well," Harry said after a most convincing hesitation, "well, if you do want to come, Professor, Hagrid will be delighted. Give Aragora a decent send-off, and you knew……

"Yes, of course," said Slughorn, his eyes flickering as if hiding something. "I'll tell you, Harry, I'll use a bottle, or two, to subdue Yours, we'll drink the poor beast down - not very healthily - but we'll give him a farewell, anyway, it was buried I'll change my mind, it's enough for a chance. Big."

Obviously, Slughorn is very excited. This is a material that is even more difficult to obtain than dragon skin and the like.

Giant spiders are extremely aggressive. A qualified wizard can barely fight against an adult giant spider. However, no one has ever been able to tame this creature that incorporates violence into its bones. Moreover, giant spiders always gather in the same area. The forest, so to speak, counts as a gregarious community?

They came out in full force, just like what Harry and the others had experienced before.

No blind wizard would trouble such a creature, not even a madman who had given himself over to the Dark Wizard.

"Dong dong dong!"

"...Come in, Fanlin," Hagrid called, as he opened the door to see Harry emerging from the invisibility cloak and standing in front of him.

"Sorry, Hagrid, Fanlin and Hermione can't come. Ron's Apparition has a problem, and Fanlin needs to solve some tasks assigned by Nicolás Flamel, and Hermione, Hermione is assisting him... "They're really sorry," Harry said hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, I already feel you are here, although, Harry..." Hagrid suddenly let out a loud cry, and there was a black armband wrapped around his arm, but it looked like a horse. The boots were tattered, and Hagrid's eyes were red and swollen.

Harry sighed a little and tapped his wrist with his hand. (Harry couldn't reach Hagrid's shoulder) that was the highest point he could reach.

"Where did we bury him?" Hagrid asked with red and swollen eyes. "In the forest?" Hagrid said sadly, wiping his wet eyes with his clothes. "Aragog is gone, and the other spiders won't let me get close to their webs." It turned out that he ordered them and I was not eaten. I can't believe it, Harry. "

"Honestly, that's true." Harry replied painfully, thinking of the last time they had direct contact with a swarm of spiders. They knew full well that it was because of Aragog that Hagrid survived.

It must be admitted that as an animal trainer, Hagrid is extremely successful in every sense.

Harry had heard from Fanlin that Hufflepuff's senior, the master who could tame all kinds of magical animals, but Hagrid was not much worse than Newt.

It can be said that this is Hagrid's talent, the ability to communicate with magical animals. At least until now, except for Buckbeak and Hedwig, it is true that Harry does not understand other animals at all. .

"I can never go to the places I was once familiar with," Hagrid said, waving his hands. "That won't be easy. Bringing its body back. If you ask me, they come in to eat the remains of their companions... But I I want them to give me a complete body and a formal funeral..."

Hagrid started crying again, and Harry stroked his elbow again, saying that it had indeed done a good thing (because under the guidance of the Lucky Potion, it was the only right thing to do).

"Hey Hagrid, Professor Slughorn is here with me, Hagrid."

"You didn't get into trouble, did you?" Hagrid suddenly raised his head nervously and said, "You shouldn't have left the castle at this time. I know it was my fault at that time."

"No, when he heard the reason for my coming, he was happy to come with me and say goodbye to Aragog." Harry said firmly. "It had a better idea. I think he said he'd better bring some wine in honor of Aragog..."

"Will he?" Hagrid said, his expression was both surprised and touched.

"That's true, oh, he is indeed very good. I haven't done anything with Slughorn before. Come in and see old Aragog. Okay, he will be willing, Aragog will be willing. "

However, when Harry saw the dead spider with its legs intertwined, Harry secretly thought that for Aragog, Slughorn meant nothing more than providing many fresh delicacies.

As for Aragog, apart from the potion aids, Aragog is probably worth a few hundred gold galleons to Slughorn.

"So...are we going to bury it here, in your yard?" Harry was a little surprised and looked at Hagrid.

"Just walk a little past the pumpkin patch," Hagrid shouted in a strangled voice, "I've dug a... uh, grave, you know, just imagine where we're going to say something nice, You know……"

His voice trembled, then he stopped, blowing his nose with his burial handkerchief, and then someone knocked on the door. It was Slughorn, wearing a dark black scarf and holding several coins in his hand. bottle.

"Hagrid, I'm so sad to hear you've lost your friend."

"Thank you for your concern, and thank you for not leaving Harry in solitary confinement," Hagrid sobbed.

"You haven't dreamed about it, have you? This is such a sad night, poor life, where is it?" Slughorn paused for a brief moment of silence, and then the conversation changed to Aragog.

The three of them walked to the ground behind. The moon's light reflected through the woods and onto Hagrid's window. It dimly shone on Aragog's body, which was being placed beside a large pit that had just been dug. It's about 10 feet deep.

Slughorn took two steps forward, and the eight eyes on Aragog's head looked dimly at the sky. Under the moonlight, its large claws were motionless.

Slughorn said: "Noble life."

"Not everyone knows that these lives are beautiful," Hagrid said, big tears streaming down from the corners of his wrinkled eyes, "I never knew you were interested in such lives, Horace. ”

"Interests? My dear Hagrid, I respect them," Slughorn said, walking over from Aragog's body. Harry saw the bottle's light flicker beneath his cloak. But Hagrid just wiped the tears from his eyes and didn't notice.

Well, now is really not the time to pay attention to such things. In any case, Slughorn's words did ease Hagrid's mood.

Harry wasn't even going to believe a single punctuation mark in the nonsense that Slughorn would respect a giant spider.

"Then, now, it's time for our friend to rest in peace." Slughorn said. Hagrid nodded and walked forward. He raised Aragog's huge body and spoke vaguely. He said something clearly, and then threw the body into the pit. The body hit the bottom of the pit and made a loud, dull sound. Hagrid looked at it, and then cried again.

"Of course, I know that's difficult for you. You're his best friend," Slughorn said. "Why don't you let me say a little about it?"

Harry thought he must have gotten a good poison from Aragog. When Slughorn walked back from the pit, he had a satisfied smirk on his face, which made Harry a little uncomfortable. However, Nor did he intend to destroy Slughorn's character.

Slughorn said in a slow, impressive tone, "Farewell, Aragog, King of Spiders. Although your body will rot, your soul will be with you as you weave your web." Wandering in the forest, may your descendants prosper and may your human friends be comforted.”

"It...it is indeed beautiful." Hagrid shouted, falling into the mound next to him, crying harder than ever.

"Here, here," said Slughorn, waving his wand to conjure up the earth to bury Aragog's body, "that ends this, and now, let us go in and have a drink."

Harry held his other side.

"Harry, yes, come on Hagrid..."

"Well done, let's go." They helped Hagrid to the chair next to the table. Fang, who had hid under the basket at the funeral, was now rubbing up against their legs and lying on Hagrid's lap as before.

Slughorn uncorked a bottle of wine he had brought with him.

"I have tested whether it is poisonous." Slughorn told Harry firmly. The previous poisonous wine had a great impact on Slughorn.

"Of course, Professor, I believe you." Harry said sincerely, and Slughorn seemed very impressed. He poured half the bottle of wine into Hagrid's bucket-like wine glass and handed it to Hagrid.

"I had a house elf try every bottle, after what a shame happened to poor Rupert."

Harry was immediately shocked. If Hermione were here, Harry could almost imagine Hermione's expression. If he heard such a rough treatment of the elf, there is no doubt that Hermione would explode.

The life of the elf is not life anymore?

Harry suddenly thought of Dobby and Kreacher.

Although the elf had many problems, at least, as far as Harry knew, just Kreacher, after Fan Lin's talk, Harry was also very moved.

Maybe it's true that Hermione's House Elf Promotion Association is still very reliable. So far, at least Harry has had this idea more than once.

Even as Harry was thinking about it, Slughorn's movements did not stop.

"This is for you...Harry." Slughorn shared the second bottle of wine.

"This is mine. Okay." Harry said, not averse to such a drink.

Slughorn paused, then raised his glass and said, "For Aragog!"

"Aragog!" Hagrid and Harry repeated. Hagrid and Slughorn both drank.

Harry, however, guided by the Lucky Potion, knew he must not drink it, so he simply pretended to take a sip before placing the cup back on the table in front of him.

"I hatched it from an egg...you know..." Hagrid said sadly, "He was very small when he first came out, about the size of a puppy."

Harry secretly clicked his tongue, a spider the size of a puppy?

Ron would definitely go crazy if he faced him.

"Happiness!" said Slughorn. I hid it in a school closet until...well..." Hagrid's face darkened, and Harry knew why: Tom Riddle once had Hagrid expelled from Hogwarts and slandered him. He was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets, using things like this to cover up the real Chamber of Secrets, and Harry could reach anywhere, and now, obviously, there was also a Malfoy.

However, Slughorn didn't seem to want to listen. He looked up and stared at the ceiling. There were some brass optical instruments and a man with long and smooth white hair.

"Is that unicorn hair? Hagrid?"

"Oh, yes," Hagrid said flatly. "Picked off their tails, they were hanging on the branches of the Forbidden Forest, you know..."

"Oh, dear, do you know how much money they know?" Slughorn said sadly, but Hagrid obviously didn't care much.

"If an animal is injured, I use it to put a bandage on it," Hagrid shrugged. "They are very strong, very strong."

Slughorn took another sip, and his eyes began to scan the room very carefully. Harry knew that he was forging more valuable things in order to gain benefits from his injured friend. .

Indeed, Fan Lin sometimes does this. Once he needs to find some biological materials, there is always nothing wrong with finding Hagrid.

From everything about dragons to all kinds of weird and weird things, Fan Lin seemed to have gotten a small piece of the rhino's horn from Hagrid.

Mead, pineapple, velvet jacket. He filled up the wine for Hagrid and himself, and asked about the animals living in the Forbidden Forest these past few years and how Hagrid had taken care of them.

Hagrid became talkative under the influence of alcohol. Slughorn also flattered Hagrid's explanation and discussed it in a monograph.

The Lucky Potion drew Harry's attention to this, and he found that the alcohol had opened up Slughorn's mind somewhat.

Harry hadn't yet tried to get the confusion potion without saying the spell out loud.

But it was laughable to him to think that it couldn't be done tonight: indeed, he smiled to himself without attracting the attention of Slughorn and Hagrid (the story had now turned to the illegal dragon egg trade in the building) ).

He pointed his wand from under the table to the empty wine glass, which was immediately refilled.

Almost an hour passed, and Slughorn and Hagrid began to toast everyone: to Hogwarts, to Dumbledore, to the wine made by the elves, to...

"Harry Potter!" Hagrid yelled. Wine spilled from his chin.

"Yes, indeed," Slughorn croaked. "The Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One—okay—that sort of thing," he muttered, and drank. drank his wine.

This left Harry speechless, but what else could he do?

Although he was smiling on the surface, he had to admit that Harry regretted not drinking anymore, because in a sober state, it was difficult for Harry to integrate into the atmosphere of Slughorn and Hagrid. Now he could only sit aside and giggle.

It was very clear that the lucky potion gave Harry a hint that this was not the time.

Not long after, Hagrid started crying again. During this period, Slughorn also successfully bewitched Hagrid. Hagrid gave the entire unicorn tail hair to Professor Slughorn.

Slughorn cried as he pocketed it, "To friendship! To tolerance! To ten galleons a hair!"

After a while, Hagrid and Slughorn were sitting together, holding each other in their arms while singing a sad song in a slow tone about a dead wizard named Odo.

It still felt like the same thing, and gradually, Hagrid stopped crying.

Then, under the anesthesia of alcohol, Hagrid gradually became unable to control his facial expressions.

"Ah, the advantage of dying young," sighed Hagrid. While Slughorn was still singing the repeated verses, Hagrid's eyes fell to the table and he squinted at Harry. "My dad didn't have enough. Time to...not be like your parents, Harry."

As he spoke, big tears oozed from the corners of Hagrid's wrinkled eyes. He grabbed Harry's arm and shook it vigorously.

"I never knew the best wizard of my time... It's a terrible thing. Odo was a hero, and boring people brought him home to the place he knew since childhood." Slughorn lamented singing. "They tricked Odo into going in and resting with his hat on. Sadly his wand was broken in two."

Hmm... This song is probably about the tragic life of this unknown wizard.

hero?

That hero has no sad past or is currently experiencing sadness.

Be remembered for your successes and become great for your deaths.

Most of them are like this, and there are many guys who have become extremely dazzling because of their failures. It must be admitted that sometimes, this kind of thing can become very nonsense and very complicated.

"Terrible..." Hagrid muttered, his furry head rolled to the side, and he fell asleep on Harry's arm, snoring loudly.

"I'm sorry," Slughorn burped, "I can't sing anymore to keep me alive."

"Hagrid wasn't talking about your poor singing, he was talking about my dead parents." Harry said understandingly.

"Oh," Slughorn burped again, "Oh, dear, yes that is actually... oh... that is actually very scary... very scary..."

Slughorn thought for a long time, but it seemed that the alcohol numbness made him forget what he wanted to say, so Slughorn stood up and filled the glass.

"I don't...oh...I don't think you remember this, do you Harry?" Slughorn asked awkwardly.

"No...oh well, I'm their only son." Harry stared at the light of the candle as Hagrid snored, "But I know what happened after that. My father died first, you know this What's the matter?"

"I...oh...I don't know," Slughorn said in a quiet tone.

The scene suddenly became a little solemn, to be precise, very solemn.

As for Harry's parents, in Slughorn's eyes, the only value they had was giving birth to Harry.

No one knew whether it was true that Slughorn loved Lily. At least, he was pretty good to Harry.

A somewhat snobbish old man?

A wizard full of eccentricities.

Or, a wise man, at least in terms of potions, Slughorn's achievements cannot be matched by any master. As the former dean of Slytherin, a guy who can stand out in Hogwarts and even the wizarding world, it is necessary The respect must still be maintained. (To be continued)