From Azkaban To Hogwarts

It shouldn't be.

William was startled by Dumbledore's news and began to force himself to accept the fact, and then quickly analyzed it - Dumbledore was deceived again, right?

He tried hard not to look suspicious, but the thought couldn't go away no matter what.

It stands to reason that Dumbledore is the first white wizard and the principal of Hogwarts. His strength and reputation are extremely high. William should not have such disrespectful thoughts, but last time Dumbledore was deceived by a Horcrux. The incident of almost being tricked has not passed yet...

He didn't have any contempt for the principal, but he was just wondering if there was a possibility that Professor Slughorn actually discovered his plan and used his plan to deceive Dumbledore?

Trying not to let Dumbledore see his guess, William quickly considered whether there was anything inappropriate in his fraud.

He had to admit that it was indeed a bit rough - but such a big posture and such a high investment could completely make up for those problems! Three genuine founder props, one destroyed fake prop endorsed by Dumbledore, the first Auror personally did it, the first white wizard fled to a foreign country, not to mention Azkaban, even the entire British wizarding world has no more Gauguin's cruel deception.

After thinking over and over again and unable to find any flaws, William finally decided to talk frankly to Dumbledore about this issue.

"Do you think he saw something and then used magic skills to modify his memory?"

After hearing William's statement, Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, and then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, but it didn't take long for him to answer firmly in the affirmative.

"Slight modifications may be possible, but I can't see all the changes - Professor Slughorn can't complete such a complicated memory magic, because I can't even complete it."

…

William suddenly found that he could not think of anything else to say other than agreement.

‘He could have been more frightened, but after a simple scare, Professor Slughorn handed over his memory – was that because I made a mistake in my previous judgment of him? ’

William had some self-doubt - Dumbledore had spent more than a semester failing to deal with Professor Slughorn, and even admitted that he had obtained a false memory from him, and then said that Harry might have to come.

Wait!

He finally discovered the problem.

It was Dumbledore who said that he talked to Professor Slughorn many times and failed to get Slughorn's memory. This made William think that the professor was a hidden person with some tendency to protect Death Eaters. People who don't support Death Eaters' actions.

Theoretically, it looks like this - despite being persuaded many times by the First White Wizard, he still refuses to give up his evil ways and change his ways. What is this but a stubborn potential Death Eater?

But, is Dumbledore really good at persuasion?

William turned his head slightly to prevent his distrustful eyes from falling on Dumbledore - thinking about it carefully, Dumbledore seemed to be just good at persuasion, rather than having any special experience.

This is the same as the title of the first place in the community essay selection is My xx Father. It cannot be said that the content of the article can prove that the article is worthy of the first place - of course, the title is definitely enough.

Having said that, it is indeed the case - there is a hierarchy of learning, and there is a specialization in the arts. Just because Dumbledore is the first white wizard, it cannot be said that he is the best in everything. To put it simply, among the few side businesses that William was familiar with or understood, was Dumbledore good at smuggling? Was Dumbledore good at deception? Is Dumbledore good at exploiting Gringotts?

'I have wronged you, Professor Slughorn...'

William silently thought to himself - Judging from the fact that he handed over his memories so quickly, it was obvious that this professor did not support the Death Eaters' actions. His lack of cooperation was entirely based on the premise that Dumbledore was not good at deception and abduction... That's what he said. It makes William feel that he can easily offend two people...

"It would be great to get the memory. Principal, can I see that memory?"

"Of course, that's what I meant."

Dumbledore was obviously unaware of the complex drama playing out in William's heart. He waved his wand, and after a flash of red light, Fawkes appeared in William's office holding the pensieve in his paws.

‘Like this? ’

William glanced at Fox and recalled it again - very good, you can understand it, but you can't learn it.

"Then let's take a look at this memory we urgently need - I think you will be surprised, Professor William."

'No, I'm surprised enough...'

William thought silently in his heart, and then followed Dumbledore into Slughorn's memory.

——

‘Is this an office? ’

William looked around for a moment and immediately recognized this place - the style of Professor Slughorn's office had not changed over the years.

But this should be Snape's office now. William looked at the location of the darkroom without any trace. If nothing unexpected happened, the private accounts of Slytherin College were kept there.

He soon spotted Slughorn, who had thick glossy straw-colored hair and a ginger mustache, sitting in a comfortable winged armchair, with his feet resting on a large velvet cushion.

It was obvious that the professor was in a good mood - holding a small glass of wine in one hand and picking at a box of pineapple preserves with the other. Around him were seven teenage students.

'That one should be Voldemort. ’

After a little identification, William identified the seventeen or eighteen-year-old Tom. He noticed that the ring that almost confused Dumbledore was quietly wearing on the Dark Lord's finger.

'Very handsome, very clean-looking... he looks like a leader...'

"Sir, is Professor Mellors retiring?"

As William looked at him, Voldemort respectfully asked Slughorn.

"Tom, Tom, I know and can't tell you," Slughorn said reprovingly, wagging a frosted finger at him but winking. "I have to say, I wonder where you got your information, kid. You know more than half the faculty."

‘Punishment…’

William almost couldn't help but give Slughorn his thumb - the professor was really well-informed back then.

But obviously, his complaints had no impact on Slughorn's performance.

"You are such a ghost, you know things you shouldn't know, and you are careful to please important people - thank you for the pineapple by the way, you guessed it, it is my favorite -"

Slughorn said with full confidence, "——I believe you will be promoted to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Maybe only fifteen years, if you often send me pineapple preserves. I have a very strong personality in the Ministry. Relationship."

This was a big statement, but William believed it, and he glanced at Dumbledore from the corner of his eye, confirming his previous guess...

But this was not noticed by Dumbledore - obviously, Dumbledore's attention was entirely focused on the boy named Tom over there.

"I don't know if politics is suitable for me, sir," Tom Riddle, who was being watched by William and Dumbledore at the same time, said amid the good-natured laughter of a group of students who looked like followers around him. "First of all, I have no background."

‘It’s okay to pull it down…’

William couldn't help but want to roll his eyes - according to his investigation, Voldemort during his student days spared no effort to promote his bloodline from Slytherin himself, and the first generation of Death Eaters were all his followers.

"What the hell," Slughorn said brightly, "it's clear that with a talent like yours, you must come from a respectable wizarding family. You have a bright future, Tom. I've never missed a student before. "

Slughorn said something nonsense again - something that everyone in Slytherin believed, but not so much in other houses.

This is very anxious, but neither William nor Dumbledore has the intention to fast forward - especially William, there are too few ways to find out what the Dark Lord looked like when he was a student. If it weren't for Professor Slughorn, he would definitely not If he was willing, he even read through all the memories of the Dark Lord in Professor Slughorn's mind without interruption.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the main event to come.

When the time reached eleven o'clock, the group of Slytherins surrounding the Dean's office finally left one by one, with only the Dark Lord himself lagging slightly behind.

"Sir, I want to ask you something."

As soon as these words came out, William and Dumbledore's eyes widened at the same time.

Voldemort was even a little humble at this moment, "Sir, I would like to ask you if you know... Horcruxes."

This topic obviously frightened Slughorn. He even stared at the Dark Lord and his fingers began to move subconsciously.

‘Are you…thinking? ’

William stared very carefully - Slughorn obviously knew about the Horcrux, otherwise he wouldn't be thinking, but he also knew how terrifying this thing was, so he was also thinking.

Professors are unwilling to show their ignorance in front of their students. When facing their own students, they always have an inexplicable idol baggage - obviously, Slughorn's is even more serious.

"A Defense Against the Dark Arts subject, right?"

"No, sir, I didn't quite understand what I saw in the book."

The Dark Lord's eyes exuded a strange light - as far as William knew, books that mentioned things like Horcruxes were in the restricted book area.

"Well...yeah...it's hard to find a detailed introduction to Horcruxes in a book at Hogwarts, Tom. They are very evil things, very evil." Slughorn sighed - this tone was the first thing he said. , William knew that he was ready to show off his knowledge reserves.

"But you obviously know, sir? I mean, a wizard like you - I'm sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously - I just know that if anyone can tell me, it's you - So I just wanted to ask—"

…

The Dark Lord's answer stunned William - he had never heard such a pure deceitful tone since he left Azkaban!

If Dumbledore was four points as good as the Dark Lord, William believed that he could easily get the information he needed from Slughorn, instead of going through so much trouble now.

"Well," Slughorn said. He didn't look at Riddle. He obviously knew that he shouldn't say so much, but he couldn't keep up the conversation. "Of course, it won't hurt to give you a brief introduction, just to let you understand. Let’s look at this term. A Horcrux is an object that contains part of a person’s soul.”

"But I don't quite understand what that means, sir."

The Dark Lord asked using the typical words that would allow him to sneak into Azkaban.

"That is, you split your soul," Slughorn said more and more outrageously - this is definitely not something a professor should teach his students, "hiding part of it in an object outside the body In this way, even if your body is attacked or destroyed, you will not die, because there is still a part of the soul left in the world, undamaged. But, of course, existing in this form..."

He obviously realized his mistake and said remedially, "...Few people think that way, Tom, very few." Death would be more pleasant. "

But such remedies are of no avail - the snake has already set its sights on its prey.

The Dark Lord has obviously worked hard on it. He just needs a professor to point out the key points that he doesn't understand. Slughorn obviously has this ability and the relationship has reached this level.

He couldn't wait to ask - it could be seen that Slughorn already regretted it a little.

But it's too late, too late.

"It's normal to be a little curious about these things... Talented wizards will always be attracted to the magical side..."

He quietly tried to defend the Dark Lord, like someone who realizes that he has done something wrong but cannot undo it.

"Yes, sir," Riddle said, "But what I don't understand is - just out of curiosity, what I want to ask is, is a Horcrux useful? Can the soul only be divided once? How many more pieces is it? Isn’t it better and makes you stronger? For example, isn’t seven the most magical number? Seven—?”

When this sentence appeared, William and Dumbledore widened their eyes at the same time and looked at each other.

Seven slices!

And it is exact knowledge, seven souls!

If the conversation hadn't continued, William would have wanted to cheer.

"My God, Tom!" cried Slughorn, "seven! Isn't it evil enough to want to kill one man? Anyway... splitting a soul into seven pieces is evil enough..."

Of course," he whispered, "this is all hypothetical, isn't it? Just academic..."

Professor Slughorn began to remedy the situation, but to no avail.

But his memory was of great help now - seven!

William patiently read the last point, and his tone became much more relaxed, "Only the last one is left, principal."

"If he splits his soul into seven pieces, then he will create six Horcruxes. At present, we have identified five Horcruxes except Harry, and we are just missing the last one."

"You still insist that Harry was an accident?"

"Yes, there is no reason to suddenly use people to create Horcruxes, and I don't believe that the Dark Lord who is not in a completely healthy state can create Horcruxes."

"And where do you think it is?"

"Where do you think is the safest place to hide something in all of Hogwarts?"

William looked at Dumbledore and took the initiative to reveal the answer, "Let me take this thing with you."

"So I guess that the last Horcrux must be very close to him, very close...maybe even close to his body. Of course, we need to investigate again where the Death Eater may have hidden things and the locations he liked before, to make the final decision. Assure."