The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 571 Drunk
"I've been waiting for this bracelet for over a month." Slughorn complained slightly, but he quickly changed the subject. "Of course! It's a lucky thing to be able to buy this kind of top-notch magic item that can be used as a family heirloom with gold, especially this work of a future alchemist when he was young. Not to mention that the situation outside is very dangerous now, and countless people need this kind of self-defense item."

"Thank you for your compliment." Ryan nodded slightly. "But I can't help but make you wait so long, because this kind of thing is too complicated to make, and I still have to go to school, so I can't spend all my energy on this. So every month I can only make a little bit and provide it to the store."

"Yes, that's true. You are still a student, so I can certainly understand that." Slughorn said. "But I think I can help you. I think it's a complete waste of time for you to do the homework I assign with your current level of potion making. I think I can allow you to be exempted from the homework I assign after class, so that you can provide more people with magical props to defend against dark magic attacks."

"Thank you very much." Ryan smiled. For him, time is never enough. It is a good thing to have more free time to do his own things. So after listening to Slughorn's words, he opened the bottle of elven fruit wine on the table and filled a golden cup and handed it over. "Professor, please try this wine. I got it last time I went to China."

"It tastes really good." Slughorn said after taking a sip, and then he brought the golden cup in front of him and looked at it carefully. "Hey, this doesn't seem to be an ordinary cup."

"Of course not." Ryan smiled. "All the tableware here was made when I was practicing. Not only can it change the temperature of the liquid in the cup, but it can also detect whether the contents of the cup are poisonous."

"I've seen a similar set of tableware in the Malfoy family. It's not as exquisite as yours, nor does it have better magical effects. But they put that thing in a glass cabinet like a treasure, and just let the house elves polish the cups and plates every day, but never use them."

"That's boring," Ryan said. "All alchemical tools are made to make life more convenient. Putting these things away completely violates their original purpose."

"It may be because you are an alchemist. Ordinary wizards are not like you..." Slughorn's tone revealed a trace of envy. In this world, alchemy masters are much more valuable than potion masters, especially now that Nick Flamel has passed away. In Slughorn's eyes, as long as Ryan grows up step by step, he will definitely become an alchemy master in the future. So he is naturally envious.

In the following time, Ryan and Slughorn talked about the procurement of raw materials in Diagon Alley. The two began to curse some profiteers in Diagon Alley. Soon, under Ryan's deliberate flattery, Slughorn began to talk about his youth. At the same time, he patted his chest and promised to help Ryan introduce a few of his former students, so that Ryan could buy more quality and cheap things in the future when purchasing raw materials.

At this time, the wine that Slughorn brought and the bottle of wine that Ryan had placed on the table were almost finished. Felix Felicis gently pushed Harry. Ryan noticed that Harry suddenly came close to Hermione and said something. Then Hermione took out several square wine bottles from another space bag, and then stood up to fill the glasses for Ryan and Slughorn.

After receiving the notification from Hermione using the Phoenix Mark, Ryan immediately pulled Professor Slughorn to start chatting about purchasing various raw materials in Knockturn Alley. Obviously, this attracted Professor Slughorn's attention, so that he did not notice that Hermione had changed the wine.

"Dwarven mead." Ryan took a sip and confirmed what Hermione had taken out. This was something the dwarves made after returning to the Lonely Mountain. They tried to use this thing to take over the elven mead market, so this wine tasted very similar to elven mead. The only difference was that even though this wine tasted very soft, the alcohol content was not low. Just two bottles were enough to knock down a dwarf.

So at this time Ryan could only use alchemy to decompose the wine he drank to avoid getting drunk, but Slughorn, who was sitting opposite him, didn't know this. He thought this wine was not as intoxicating as the sweet wine just now.

As a result, only half an hour later, Slughorn sat with Ryan, arm in arm, regardless of their age, and started toasting each other: for Hogwarts, for Dumbledore, and for Harry Potter. Hermione was drinking sweet tea beside him and looking at Ryan and Slughorn with a playful look. Harry held a wine glass and pretended to drink, but he always cooperated with Ryan to persuade Slughorn to drink more wine.

Not long after, Ryan successfully sold the experimental bracelet on Harry's hand to Slughorn. Slughorn took out a bag containing 2800 Galleons with a space extension spell cast on it and handed it to Ryan.

Lion originally asked him for 2500 Galleons, but Slughorn looked down on him if he didn't take my 3000 Galleons. Finally, after much persuasion, the two reached a consensus on the number of 2800 Galleons. Then Slughorn shouted "Cheers to a future alchemist!" and put the bracelet in his pocket, while raising the glass filled with amber wine and pouring it into his mouth.

After drinking the wine in the glass, Slughorn began to sing a soothing and sad song. Ryan had never heard this song anywhere else. He thought it should be a folk song of wizards. Sure enough, after listening carefully to the lyrics, he found that the song was about a wizard named Odo who was dying. "Death is always scary." Hermione said after listening to the song, "So countless people try to avoid death, pursue life and hate death. This may be an instinct of living things. Only some great people can overcome the instinct of life and face death with their heads held high for some great reasons when necessary."

"Yes, that's how my parents are." Harry also said, and then looked at Slughorn: "Did you know about this?"

"Oh," Slughorn said, suppressing a burp, "Oh, yes, they are really heroes, and I admire them very much. But that thing is also really - very terrible. Terrible... terrible..." At this point he didn't know what to say next, so he could only reach out and pick up another full glass of wine from the table. At the same time, he asked Harry, "I think - you don't remember, Harry?" He asked awkwardly.

"I don't remember - I was only one year old when they died." Harry said, and at this time he saw Ryan take out a small ball made of herbs from his arms and light it. Soon, the smoke spread into the whole room, and Harry sniffed the grass-like smell in the air. He felt his nerves relax a lot.

"Soothing agent." Ryan mouthed the words to Harry, then clenched his right fist and made a cheering gesture.

Harry nodded to Ryan, then turned his head and looked Slughorn in the eyes and said, "Although I didn't remember those things because I was too young, I learned a lot when I grew up. My father died first, did you know?"

"I'm sorry, boy, I - I really don't know that," said Slughorn weakly.

"Yes... Voldemort killed him, then walked over his body towards my mother." Harry seemed very calm, even a little cold at this time. He ignored Slughorn who was looking at him with fear and continued, "He told my mother to go away. Voldemort told me that she could have survived. He only wanted to kill me, and she could have escaped."

"Oh, dear," whispered Slughorn, "she could have . . . she didn't have to . . . it's horrible . . . "

"Yes." Ryan saw Harry approach Slughorn, and then said in a near whisper. "But she didn't, she begged Voldemort, begging me to live. But he just laughed..."

"That's enough!" Slughorn cried suddenly, raising his shaking hands. "Indeed, dear boy, that's enough... I'm an old man... I don't need to hear... I don't want to hear..."

"You seemed to have told me that my mother was once one of your most proud students, right?" Guided by a sip of Felicis Felicis, Harry changed the subject and asked this question.

"Of course, of course it is like that." With the help of alcohol and soothing drugs, Slughorn fell into memories. "Who would hate Lily after meeting her? She was so brave... so lively... but in the end, ah, the most terrible thing happened..."

"So I hope you can help, help the son of your former favorite student." Harry finally stated his goal for tonight.

(End of this chapter)