Ravenclaw's Blue Gem

"Go to an old colleague of mine. He just retired a few years ago. Because of the reason we all understand, now there is another vacancy at Hogwarts as a teacher. I intend to convince him to return to us. Work," Dumbledore said.

"But how can we help, professor?" Harry asked puzzled.

"Of course you can help. It's certainly not convincing for him to be the only one."

"You mean he's avoiding you?" Zoe raised his eyebrows. "Is he not willing to help you?"

"I just have a little guess about his thoughts. He always praises his retirement life in every way. But I think he is still willing to do me a small favor, as long as I can give enough sincerity." Dumbledore Vaguely said, "Don't waste time here, we can get to the destination first."

He stretched out his left arm. If his right arm was not injured, the two would be able to hold one on each side, but now they have to squeeze together.

Zoe wasn't as nervous as Harry. It wasn't the first time that her entourage appeared, she had long been used to the weird distortion.But seeing that Harry didn't like this way of movement, he swallowed nervously.

"Are you ready?" Dumbledore asked. "Then let's go."

Chapter XV Horace Slughorn (Part 1)

At midnight, the air in the village of Badley Barberton was very cold, with thin mist floating around, the moon was covered by clouds, the lights on both sides of the street were off, and the atmosphere seemed very gloomy.The three of them appeared right in front of the war memorial in the center of the village. As soon as they appeared, Harry pressed his forehead and shook his head uncomfortably.

"I'm still not used to this feeling, West...Zoe, are my ears still where they should be?" Harry asked depressedly.

"Don't worry, you didn't lose them. Your body is intact." Zoe rubbed his arms and wrapped his coat tighter, but still felt a bit cold. "Don't worry about your extra heart, Dumbledore can't be here. Something went wrong on a small problem."

"I'm glad you can believe me, Zoe," Dumbledore said, "but let's let Harry rest for a while. This feeling requires adaptation."

But Harry shook his head and took a few deep breaths: "I'm fine, Professor Dumbledore, the second time feels much better than the first time, is this the destination?" He looked around.

"No, I need to walk a short distance." Dumbledore took the two of them straight down the street. They passed an empty tavern with closed doors and windows, and passed a few more houses. It is the time when local residents should fall into a deep sleep, and no one seems to have the habit of walking at night on the street.

"This place feels very laid back." When they turned the corner, Zoe noticed that there was an artistic word sprayed out of spray paint on the wall, and an unlocked bicycle was parked under the mural.

"He has always enjoyed it, and he knows where to get greater happiness." They passed the local police station again, "but I think he has changed his residence frequently recently not just to avoid my entanglement."

"Is anyone else looking for him?" Zoe asked.

"His own value will not diminish just because he retired for a few years. Voldemort must have some need for him. All we have to do is to find him before the Death Eaters."

"Wait, Dumbledore." After they walked for almost ten minutes, Zoe suddenly called to the old man who was walking in the front, and when he turned around, she said not quite surely, "If I feel wrong If so, a warning spell was cast by a wizard nearby."

"You're not wrong, this time the arrangement is pretty clever." Dumbledore said lightly, just a few breaths, and if the magic disappeared, it must be Dumbledore who lifted the alarm.

Judging by the signs of magic, Zoe looked at a small stone house with a garden in front, and the owner of the house carefully arranged it.Dumbledore also noticed her gaze: "Yes, that's right there." Harry also hurriedly followed the direction of his finger.

But when they walked to the door, Dumbledore's eyes became more solemn, the door was hidden, there were many scars on it, and the hinge behind the door broke in half."Take out your wands and follow behind me." Dumbledore drew out the wand first and said softly.

The three of them entered the room with the light source on Dumbledore's wand, alerting the surrounding dangers at any time.As soon as the dark road was illuminated, Harry gave a thump in his heart. He clearly saw the picture frame hanging on the wall hanging dangerously, and it would smash down at any time. The surface of the picture frame also cracked, revealing the inside. Empty portrait.

Passing through the porch, they followed the closed door on the left into the living room. Harry could hear Zoe's breathing become rapid, and he himself was holding his wand nervously.The tragic situation in the living room is really unbelievable. I can’t find a good object in the whole house. The master clock fell on the ground and the parts were scattered all over the place. The owner’s collection was also scattered all over the place. On the ground, a decorative sword was still stuck on the floor, across the chandelier and piano (the two were naturally smashed to pieces).Just two steps forward, a soft object was stepped on under his feet, Zoe hurriedly lit up the fluorescence of his wand, which turned out to be a crumpled cushion, and there are many similar things nearby. As the light source expands, the view can be seen It suddenly expanded in a circle, illuminating the wall in front of it, and it was stained with large patches of dark red liquid, like blood.

Everything around seemed to prove that there had been a chaos here, and it was likely that the Death Eaters had rushed to capture Dumbledore's colleagues before them, and the scene would become a mess.

But looking at all of this, there was a slight sense of disobedience in my heart, everything was perfect, and the evidence of the attack was clear.

"But... this is just chaos." Zoe whispered, that sense of violation seemed to be able to tear his disguise at any time. The house seemed to be invaded by a single person (or a group of people). The battle is chaotic, but it's too clean.Zoe couldn't even find any more personal emotions in the things she saw.

There is no anger, no excitement, no madness, no revenge, or even fear. As the scene of the attack, it is too clean. These damaged objects seem to reflect the posture they should be at the "attack scene". It is so natural to appear in front of the three of course, everything is just right where it should be, which seems unnatural.

"Dumbledore, I think there is something unnatural..." She was about to talk to Dumbledore about her guess, when she was surprised to see Dumbledore thrust the wand in her hand quickly. The armchair that fell to the ground was tucked into a bulging chair cushion above, and Harry watched his movements dumbfounded.

What is even more surprising is that the armchair actually yelled "Ouch!" and suddenly jumped from the ground.

"Good evening, Horace." Dumbledore lowered his wand and said affectionately into the armchair.

The armchair trembled and suddenly turned into a bald, fat old man, tearfully rubbing his protruding belly. The chair cushion Dumbledore had gotten was obviously his belly.

"Can't you treat me more kindly, Albus?" he exclaimed angrily. "Don't you know that I am already a weak old man?"

"Able to prepare these realistic arrangements in less than three minutes, Horace, is agile enough, eh?"

"That is. If it weren't because I was taking a bath, I would have arranged more time." The fat old man named Horace said triumphantly. He finally relieved the pain of his body, and then drew out his wand and put it on the ground. The broken objects were repaired, and he noticed that Dumbledore was going to help him, but he did not refuse.

The chandelier was hung back to the ceiling again, and the broken glass was repaired as before, but Horace did not choose to turn on the light, but lit the oil lamp and the stove. Although not as bright as the chandelier, it was enough. See everything around.

"I don't want to expose my whereabouts yet. The family in the house I live in is currently on vacation in the Canary Islands, but I think you uninvited guests won't mind so much." Horace The anger had not disappeared, and while satirizing the three of them, he sat down on the restored soft sofa. Zoe noticed that he seemed to be stuck in the single sofa, filling all the gaps.

"How do you realize that these are fake?" He pointed to Zoe, "I just heard her warn you... Merlin! Max, why are you here!" The surrounding environment naturally allowed Horace to see Zoe's face clearly. His face was both pleasantly surprised and missed, and with a lot of embarrassment and hesitation. Several emotions were mixed together, staining the fat face. It's very exciting.

He wanted to get up from the sofa immediately, but he sat too deep before, and when he stood up, he took a lot of effort and brought the sofa down and made a loud noise.

"I am not Max Siegel, sir." Zoe sighed helplessly. "She is dead. I am Zoe Siegel."

"Dead?" Horace was in shock. He was stunned when he heard this word. After a long time, he sat down again, "Yes, I remember, she has passed away... Sorry, I'm just a little sad. She She is a very talented student and very polite. I have always liked her. You know, I used to be the dean of Slytherin College. She has always been one of my favorite students, I Knowing that she would definitely become a big man, I have never wanted to believe that she actually chose that path later. She was still so young..." Horace waved his wand and a cup appeared on the table with liquor in it. , He drank the cup dry in one breath, and his eye circles were slightly red when he put the cup down.

"We can have a good chat later, kid, if you want." His tone became more cordial, when he noticed Harry again, "Another little guy who will bring people into long memories...I I think you are definitely not here to hurt the fragile heart of an old man, Albus. You brought these two little guys to my house and thought I would let go? Then you might be disappointed, my The answer has not changed: no."

Chapter Sixteen Horace Slughorn (middle)

Dumbledore did not speak quietly, apparently not intending to explain this, and then he looked at Zoe and them: "You already know that she is Zoe Segal; he is Harry Potter." Pauses Then, he introduced Horace, "Zoe, Harry, he is Horace Slughorn, he is an old friend of mine, we used to teach together at Hogwarts."

"It's all over. Although I miss it very much, people have to move forward and welcome their new life." Although Slughorn had only shown his concern for Zoe before, this time he only glanced at them. , He hurriedly retracted his sight.

"Listen, Albus, I think I've made it clear--"

"A cup of mead? I promise you will fall in love with it." Two cups appeared out of thin air, filled with honey-yellow liquid. One of the cups floated in front of Slughorn, and he grabbed the cup and sniffed."Wine is good wine. Don't drink it for nothing." He looked at Zoe and Harry, "Should you two have a drink?" He didn't care about their refusal, and seemed to just ask habitually.

"You two find a place to sit down." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"For the past." Dumbledore raised his cup immediately, and Slughorn hesitated for a moment before clinking it with him.

"Albus, it's not that I want to refuse you. You should understand that no one is willing to bear such a serious price...just to go back to school to teach." After drinking, Slughorn sighed contentedly. Dumbledore swiftly waved his stick, and the glass in the fat old man's hand was filled with wine again.

"Thank you, after tonight's'surprise', I really hope to ease my fierce beating heart." The second glass of wine soon reached the bottom, "I am already an old man, I just want to spend the rest of my life leisurely. In my little paradise until death summons me, I want to stay away from this noisy world."

"But your experience during this period is far from the ideal standard in your heart." Dumbledore looked at him, "In less than half a year, you have moved three times, and this time you have taken refuge away from the city. The small village looks like a plague chasing you behind."

"...I don't understand what you're talking about." Slughorn drank the third cup of mead, his face a little ruddy, "No more, Albus. I must stay awake, and you just drink it. Will get me drunk, and when I am not awake, let me agree to requests that I don’t want to agree to." He held the cup with his palm and said firmly, "Or you can give me a whole bottle? I don’t have anything good here. "As soon as the conversation turned, his tone became relaxed again.

"Since you don’t understand, I’m going to be more direct: You don’t change your residence frequently to avoid my visit. You are hiding from the Death Eaters, aren’t you? They must have come to you, like They approached Garrick Ollivander." At this moment, an exclamation from the side interrupted the conversation temporarily, and Harry looked at Dumbledore in shock with his mouth open.

"Mr. Ollivander? What happened to him, he too?" He has had several dealings with Ollivander, including the Triwizard Tournament, where he checked the wands for the Warriors.In the United Kingdom, when many wizards first met their partners, the location was in Ollivander’s shop, not to mention that this family inherited shop has existed in the UK for many centuries. It is already something in the hearts of some people. Kind of symbol.

"On a quiet afternoon, he suddenly disappeared without a trace, and then the shop closed." Dumbledore sighed. "No one knows the reason for Ollivander's disappearance. Maybe he left by himself because he was safe recently. This kind of thing is becoming more and more precious, not many people are interested in doing business; or who took him away, where, whether he is still alive. But as far as I know, he cannot disappear for no reason, not even a word of wind. , So I think Voldemort came to him, just as he came to you."

Slughorn's face became ugly, and he could see that the news dealt a blow to him.He unconsciously raised his empty glass and put it on his lips, as if to drink invisible wine: "Yes, that's why I moved around like this. No place will live for more than a week, from one county to another. County, from the city to the village. I have a lot of experience. Generally speaking, as long as you choose a good empty Muggle house, not be witnessed by Muggles, and remember to remove the traces when you leave, you will not be exposed."

"This is the leisure life you want? Horace, don't you think it's too reluctant for an old man?" Dumbledore continued to persuade, "You have more options, such as returning to Hogwarts."

"Then how do you explain the teachers who come to teach at Hogwarts every year? None of them have a good end. I also found out from my own channel that someone died in the post! Just like the Dolores Umm from last year Rich, the Deputy Minister of Magic, she has not been discharged from Saint Mungo yet, and I don't want to lose my life less than a year after returning."