Chapter 519 Invitation

Harry and the others could finally get out of the car, honestly, they had had enough! The car was shaking like a roller coaster, and it was the kind without fixed bars and seat belts.

It was only after they unloaded a large pile of luggage that they said goodbye to Mr. Weasley and others who sent them off, and dragged their large and small suitcases to Hogwarts Castle.

The driveway from Hogsmeade to the school had mostly been cleared and was free of snow. But from time to time, there will be icy ground on the road, and they have to walk over it carefully, so as not to fall on their backs if they are not paying attention.

After a while, they came to the main gate of the school unsteadily.

"Oh, Harry—" Hagrid waved his hand happily when he saw the group of children. "Good morning! Come, children, come here!"

"Hagrid!" Harry hurriedly dragged the big suitcase, and trotted to the door, "Hagrid, why are you standing here? Who are you waiting for?"

"Hey, that's what everyone asks when they pass by," Hagrid shrugged. "Leave that aside, I have something I need to pass on to you—someone just asked me to."

As he spoke, he took out several rolls of parchment from his coat pocket. They were all neatly rolled, and there was a bunch of purple ribbons tied in the middle.

Harry took it over and saw that one of the volumes had his name written on it, and the others also had the names of other people he knew.

He kept the roll of parchment for himself, and passed the remaining rolls back to Hermione, Ron, and Neville behind him.

"Invitation?"

When Hermione and the three of them had just received it, Harry had already opened his own first. The content above was nothing more than a sentence, saying that he hoped to invite him to have breakfast or something, and the signature was that seemingly unreliable old man of Slughorn.

"I also have a share?" Ron looked at the parchment given to himself, and asked suspiciously, "I don't remember that our family has any friendship with him... Hmm... maybe a little bit?"

"In my opinion, he didn't invite us because of our parents' friendship..." Hermione said disapprovingly, "Otherwise, what should I say? Could it be that my parents have filled his teeth or something?"

"Who is this Mr. Slughorn...?" Neville asked puzzled.

"Horace Slughorn, who was a professor of potions at Hogwarts a long time ago, was the head of Slytherin House at the time, and it is said that he is very good at potions." Hermione said. He explained casually, but then continued, "But what did he come back for? And he even handed us invitations?"

Seeing her looking towards him, Hagrid shook his head hurriedly.

"Maca and I just stood here and chatted for a few words, and he came over." Hagrid said, "He invited Maca first, and Maca quickly agreed, and then he rolled these parchments Hand it over to me, and let me hand it over to you when I see you."

"Maca has come?" Hermione asked in surprise, "I thought he would be late! He just got out of the hospital today..."

"He seems to be in good spirits, he should be fine." Hagrid said, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "I really didn't expect that the person who couldn't even mention his name died like this..."

"Now you can mention it!" Ron said happily, "Isn't it...well, Voldemort...why do you feel so nervous when you say it?"

"I think you're just not getting used to it," Hermione said. "Let's go first! Didn't that gentleman invite us to have breakfast together? Maca is there too..."

"Honestly, I don't really want to go," said Harry awkwardly. "I don't like him very much."

"Mr. Slughorn is actually a nice guy, and he is willing to make friends." Hagrid seemed to have a different opinion. "There are very few Slytherins who can make friends like him without knowing their background. Of course, sometimes He is indeed a little too enthusiastic!"

Hagrid is a typical old man,

He has always relied on intuition to see people and things. Although this usually makes him ignore a lot of details, and people are often superficial, but in fact he is not much worse than those smart people.

After all, it is difficult to guess everyone's mind. Instead of worrying about the ambiguous so-called true face, it is better to judge a person's character directly by the surface.

Realize that what people show is usually the part of their character that they want others to know. In most cases, that is the principle of their life, which will not be easily changed. If you don't plan to have in-depth contact with someone, just knowing the surface is more than enough.

For the old man Slughorn, it was with this mentality that Maca made friends with him. As long as you don't be too credulous, Slughorn is enough to be a good "ordinary friend", especially since he has been obsessed with interpersonal communication all his life, and his useful friends can be said to be all over the world's magic world.

Being a friend with him usually does more good than harm.

It's just that Maca would think so, but Harry wouldn't. Most of the lion cubs like to act on their own intuition and preferences. In this regard, sometimes even Hermione, who has always been smart, is no exception.

After saying goodbye to Hagrid temporarily, everyone dragged their luggage and went to Gryffindor Tower first. Even if they are willing to go to the meeting, they have to put down their luggage first, right?

"Are you really not going?"

In the dormitory, while making his own bed, Ron asked Harry behind him.

"Well... I don't know if I should go..." Harry didn't stop his hands, but said hesitatingly, "It's just that Maca seems to have gone... Since Slughorn is in front of him Invitations sent out in person, I thought maybe we should go and see."

"I think so too," Ron nodded regardless of the two of them packing their things back to back. "Breakfast together... Hey, that sounds cool!"

Ron, who had lived a somewhat shabby life since he was a child, was always curious about activities that sounded classy and romantic. Perhaps in the past, he had always imagined the scene where he was invited to attend some high-level private banquets. Now that he really had a similar opportunity, he really didn't want to just miss it.

...

I don't know how Slughorn managed to do it, at least he did find a decent place for this "breakfast together" plan. Hogwarts had a lot of spare rooms, and Slughorn chose a side room on the first floor that was hardly used.

The house elves living in the kitchen have always been diligent, even where no one goes, they will diligently clean every corner, so that they are always ready for use at any time.

But at this moment, when Harry pushed open the door to the side hall, some slightly disorganized human voices came out from inside and entered their ears.

Slughorn was the loudest among them. He seemed to be having a happy conversation with a Slytherin student at the moment, and the seemingly straightforward laughter sounded softly in the small side hall. reverberate.

But when Harry and the others followed the voice and looked towards Slughorn, they saw a figure they didn't want to see at all.

"Malfoy?" Harry frowned, "Once I see him, I don't even want to join in there."

However, they have all come here, and it is obviously impossible to turn back. In fact, Slughorn had turned his gaze that way since the door opened.

"Oh! Isn't this our Mr. Potter? And Mr. Weasley..."

He stood up while saying hello. Perhaps it was because the contact with Harry had not been smooth a few times, so he also specially adjusted the address for Harry, trying to control the sense of distance so as not to be too abrupt.

"Of course, this must be Miss Granger—you are very famous at Hogwarts, everyone knows you, and your academic performance is always the first!"

"Hello, Mr. Slughorn!" Hermione nodded politely, "I'm glad you know me, but academic performance doesn't mean much, and I still need to work harder."

"You are so humble, charming young lady." Slughorn's polite words seemed a bit boring, at least for a girl who was underage, it was easy to get goosebumps, "This must be Longbottom sir?"

When Neville heard Slughorn greeting him again, he nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. Introverted, he seemed a bit intimidated by this overly enthusiastic, bald old man.

Slughorn glanced at Neville's face a few times, a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and then he raised his high interest again as if to cover up.

"Come on, come on! All young ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats!" He said loudly, "You can sit anywhere, just be careful not to sit on other people's laps - my meetings have always been very relaxed and free , you don’t have to be too cautious.”

Having said that, both Harry and Neville seemed a little hesitant. One of them was not very interested in this unexpected dinner from the beginning, while the other didn't know where to put their hands.

Even Hermione, who was relatively normal at the beginning, had some worries in her heart after seeing the girl next to Maca.

As for Ron, he should have enjoyed it on this occasion, but Malfoy's presence made him suddenly feel a certain sense of awkwardness. Because he found that Malfoy looked very different today. If he had to say it, he was too "honest" - he didn't do any provocative behavior when he saw them.

Even if Maca was there, he wouldn't dare to stare at him. In Ron's impression, Draco Malfoy was the kind of guy who had to bite the bullet and show disdain.