Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 477 Meeting with Slughorn

In the corner of the bathroom, Mike's dirty clothes were gone, replaced by neatly folded clean clothes and a fluffy bath towel.

Mike knew without thinking that this was definitely the work of the house-elves. Ever since Mike solved the food crisis for them yesterday at noon, they began to treat Mike like a dad, and giving him some spare clothes was no big deal.

Mike picked up the towel and began to wipe his body. At this time, he also noticed that a human figure had appeared in the reef painting hanging on the wall.

Mike looked closely and realized it was a blonde mermaid.

The mermaid looked like she had just emerged from the sea, with water droplets still hanging on her body. Her wet golden hair stuck to her fair skin, with water constantly dripping from it.

She just sat there on the rock, with a meaningful smile on her face, looking at Mike with her eyes sharp, with no intention of looking away.

As if noticing that Mike was looking at her, the mermaid slowly twisted her body, her hands kept moving around her body, and she even stuck out her tongue to lick the water droplets at the corners of her mouth.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Mike smacked his lips. Compared to Myrtle just now, this mermaid was much more powerful.

He had a feeling that this mermaid had something wonderful to show him.

But just as Mike was about to get closer to take a better look, Myrtle screamed and threw herself on the portrait, cursing the mermaid while scratching the portrait with her little hands.

Unfortunately, ghosts cannot touch real objects, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not harm the portrait at all.

However, Myrtle's crazy behavior scared the mermaid in the painting. She screamed and jumped into the sea, disappearing without a trace.

"You bitch! You only know how to seduce men! I curse you to be locked up here for another thousand years!"

Myrtle was still cursing at the portrait, while Mike got dressed and left. Since there was no more show to watch, he had no interest in staying in the bathroom any longer.

It was already noon when Mike left the bathroom. He went straight to the auditorium, where he planned to have lunch before visiting a key person.

Due to Dumbledore's revenge, the place was deserted at this moment, with only a few students who had not made any mistakes still gathering here to eat lunch.

At the same time, Mike also noticed that the four gem hourglasses in the auditorium lobby, representing the four major colleges, had also changed.

Except for Ravenclaw's hourglass, the gems in the hourglasses of the other three colleges have completely disappeared, which means that their college points have been deducted by the professors.

Mike found a seat and sat down with a smile. Then, a large amount of food appeared from the empty plate in front of him, piling the entire plate high.

This scene made the two Gryffindor students nearby drop their jaws in shock. There were only a few green beans and a piece of dry steak on their plates.

It was obvious that the house-elves had begun their open revenge. When the hall was destroyed, it was the Gryffindors who were the most enthusiastic.

Mike shook his head and began to enjoy the overly sumptuous lunch.

At this moment, a hand gently patted his shoulder.

"Hey! Mike! You're finally out of the hospital!"

Mike turned his head and saw Ron looking at him excitedly.

His eyes fell on Mike's plate again, and then his eyes became a little strange.

"Um, your lunch is a little different from ours. It seems... a little too rich."

"No, it's your illusion."

"Is... is that so?" Ron scratched his head, turned around and waved behind him, "Let's not talk about this for now. I brought Harry and the others here. Harry, Hermione, don't be shy, come over here."

Mike looked in the direction Ron was waving, and saw Harry and Hermione watching from a little further away.

Seeing that Mike had discovered them, the two of them no longer hid and slowly came to Mike's side.

But Mike found that both of them looked a little embarrassed and their limbs were very stiff.

"Mike, I'm so sorry that we weren't able to visit you when you were in the hospital, and we didn't come to pick you up when you were discharged."

Harry spoke awkwardly, rubbing his hands, while Hermione beside him nodded hurriedly.

"It's not our fault, Mike," Ron explained. "Madam Pomfrey won't let us visit you, and your discharge date hasn't been announced, so...ah!"

Ron had only said half of his words when Hermione stepped hard on his foot, and immediately, his unfinished words turned into a scream.

Mike smiled and shook his head, saying softly:
"Ron is actually right. This can't be blamed on you, so don't take it to heart anymore."

Hearing this, Ron immediately raised his head, glaring at Hermione and Harry with his face twisted in pain, muttering something like 'see, I was right, Mike won't care'.

Harry and Hermione still kept their heads down, and it was obvious that they had not let it go yet.

Mike sighed and began to enjoy his lunch.

He really didn't take it to heart, but Hermione and Harry didn't think so. They felt very sorry for Mike.

Ron, who was rubbing his feet, saw the scene suddenly become quiet and asked quickly:
"Mike, do you have any clues about the assassin?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the two Gryffindors around them immediately stopped what they were doing, pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

The riots in recent days were caused by Mike's attempt to catch the assassin, which is undoubtedly a big news.

Mike's mouth curled up when he heard this. He cleared his throat and deliberately raised his voice to answer:
"Unfortunately, I haven't caught the assassin yet. But I have a new idea. After lunch, I will go to visit Professor Slughorn. I believe he will be able to give me some important help."

Mike's voice echoed in the auditorium, and many students who were eating lunch looked up in confusion. But when they saw that the person who spoke was Mike, the expressions on their faces immediately became interesting.

Mike was also secretly observing their reactions. When he saw several Slytherin students sneakily leaving the hall after hearing what he said, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his face.

……

After lunch, Mike went to Professor Slughorn's office alone.

Just now, Hermione and Harry both expressed their concerns about Mike's decision to tell everyone about his next plan in public, but Mike was fearless because this was exactly the effect he wanted to achieve.

At the same time, he also rejected Harry and others' request to accompany him to visit Professor Slughorn, on the grounds that too many people present would be detrimental to his negotiations with Slughorn, which made Harry and others very depressed.

Mike soon arrived at the door of Professor Slughorn's office. Mike did not go forward and knock on the door. There was no need to do so. At this time, there was a lot of magic power wrapped around the door of the Potions Professor's office, which was obviously a sign of multiple restrictions, so Slughorn in the office was likely to have discovered him.

Sure enough, not long after Mike waited, the door of the office opened and Professor Slughorn, wearing a plaid suit, appeared in front of Mike.

Slughorn's fat face was filled with a smile as bright as the sun. He opened his hands slightly and said with a smile:

"Merlin, look who this is, Mike, it's so nice of you to come see me! Come in!"

As he spoke, Slughorn moved aside the body that was completely blocking the doorway.

Mike nodded and entered the office with a blank expression.

As soon as he came in, Mike smelled a fragrance. The smell was like the smell of some burning plant, but it was not pungent. Instead, it made people feel refreshed.

Mike looked around the office and finally determined the source of the smell - a half-smoked cigar standing upright on Slughorn's desk.

This cigar was obviously no ordinary item. The half-burned snow-white ash on it did not fall off like an ordinary cigarette, but was firmly attached to the cigarette butt that was still emitting a faint smoke.

"Aha! This is a Nepalese cigar. The tobacco leaves inside are grown by the Nepalese goblins on the snow-capped mountains." Slughorn noticed Mike's gaze and explained with a smile, "These tobacco leaves have the effect of refreshing and relieving stress. I have to say that although those goblins are a little ugly, the tobacco leaves they grow are really good. However, due to the small production, the cigars and cigarettes made from this tobacco leaf are very expensive."

After saying this, Slughorn came to the desk with a big belly, picked up the cigar and took a big puff.

As the cigarette butt hidden in the thick ash lit up, Slughorn's face showed an expression of enjoyment. He slowly closed his eyes, held his breath for a while, and then exhaled the smoke in his mouth that was so light that it was almost invisible.

"What a treat!"

Mike didn't look at Slughorn's intoxicated expression. At this moment, he was observing the office.

It was obvious that Slughorn was a true old-fashioned aristocrat. His office was filled with a large number of artworks from various countries, such as ancient porcelain from China, fancy headdresses from the Incas, and bizarre silver ornaments from ancient Persia. Mike even found a half-open coffin in the corner, which contained a mummy wrapped in yellow bandages.

But these are actually nothing. What really shocked Mike was the huge row of bookshelves behind Slughorn's desk. In Mike's magical perception, the books on them were emitting a rich white magical aura. They were all magic books!

Knowledge is wealth, this sentence is absolutely true in the wizarding world, and this whole row of magic books also made Mike truly realize how rich Slughorn in front of him is!
"Mike, you must try this cigar. This is a rare opportunity. I couldn't get the Nepalese Leprechaun tobacco this year. This is my last chance to survive."

Mike looked over and saw Slughorn taking a cigar out of a wooden box and handing it to him.

Slughorn obviously didn't say anything, because his expression was extremely painful at the moment.

Mike naturally wouldn't do anything to take away someone else's good intentions. He shook his head slightly to reject the other party's kindness.

Seeing this, Slughorn seemed to be relieved, but he was muttering something hypocritical like "What a pity".

After Slughorn carefully put away his cigar, he looked at Mike again and said:

"So, Mike, what is it that brings you to me this time?"

"Yes, in fact I need your help with something, Professor."

Mike paced around the office and said to Slughorn with a smile.

Mike was very polite because in his opinion Slughorn was not as stupid as he appeared.

In fact, in Mike's eyes, Slughorn is simply a model of great wisdom and foolishness.

Although he looks fat, his mind is actually filled with wisdom and worldly wisdom.

During this turmoil, Slughorn immediately stopped the Potions class and locked himself in an office with many powerful restrictions, which made him not affected at all compared to other professors.

Moreover, although he appears to be as timid as a mouse, he is actually extremely bold!

You have to know that this is the time when Voldemort is rampant outside, but even so, he still accepted Dumbledore's invitation and came to Hogwarts to teach.

This is the most authentic act of treason. If Voldemort succeeds, his end will be very tragic!
If nothing unexpected happens to Mike, the old man Slughorn must have some trump card that will make him not afraid of Voldemort's trump card!
This trump card might be a powerful magic item, the knowledge in his brain, or his extraordinary network of connections.

But there is no doubt that Slughorn is definitely a capable person, and Mike will never underestimate such a person.

On the other hand, looking at Mike's smiling face, Slughorn seemed a little flattered. He trembled and said quickly without even noticing that the ash of the cigar in his hand fell on the carpet:

"Oh! This is my duty as a professor! Tell me now. As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you."

Slughorn spoke with certainty, but he was nervous inside.

He was a little afraid that Mike would really make some unreasonable demands.

"Really?" The kindness on Mike's face became even stronger. He slowly walked towards Slughorn and finally whispered in his ear, "Don't be nervous, Professor. I just want to know, is there really no way to remove the side effect of the truth serum that has the probability of turning people into idiots?"

(End of this chapter)