Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

As expected, Slughorn disappeared from Harry's sight as soon as Potions class ended.

"It looks like I'll have to use FLORS."

At dinner, Harry rubbed his hair in frustration and said to Hermione and Ron.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Ron urged Harry to take a sip and see what the effect was.

Harry agreed wholeheartedly, cautiously looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him, and quickly opened the bottle cap and took a small sip.

"What does 'fast' feel like?"

Harry smacked his lips, feeling nothing. But gradually, he felt his brain fully activated, as if he could do anything.

"Great! Great! I'm going out right now to Hagrid's!"

"Now?"

"Yes, but sorry, I can go alone!" Harry jumped up, a confident smile on his face. "Of course, before that, I need to go back to my dorm and get my invisibility cloak!"

He had barely finished speaking when he rushed out.

"So, Felix Felicis is really that effective?" Ron looked completely bewildered, thinking Harry was just being nonsensical.

"That's true, but maybe it's because it's his first time, so the effect is more pronounced." Hermione nodded. "But I think it's less about becoming luckier and more about making the brain more active, enabling people to do things they couldn't do before."

"But... there's also an element of luck involved, isn't there?"

"Perhaps..."

The two sat at the Gryffindor table for a while longer before heading to the common room together.

After giving the password to the fat lady and passing through the passage, Ron was greeted by Lavender and the Montgomery sisters. Ron naturally sat down next to Lavender and kissed her without a care in the world, while Hermione casually greeted them and sat down in an empty chair nearby.

With a wave of her hand, a thick book suddenly appeared in her hand.

Everyone was used to it; she had been like this all school year, completely immersed in her own world, as if nothing could break that immersion.

Of course, this was only true for Hermione herself; others, especially those whose family members had just been harmed by Death Eaters, were somewhat disgusted with her. After Hermione sat down, the Montgomery sisters spoke in hushed tones and quickly made up an excuse to leave.

"Okay, once again, if I ever need some peace and quiet, I'll definitely sit next to you." Lavender rolled her eyes at Hermione as soon as she saw the Montgomery sisters off.

"They're the ones who feel uncomfortable; I don't feel anything," Hermione replied, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Lavender.

"Yes, yes, I know, we've lived in the same dorm for six years," Lavender replied irritably, then turned her attention to Ron.

"Oh, Lolo..."

Hermione frowned involuntarily as she watched the two of them cuddling together. Even though she'd seen them so often that she'd long since gotten used to it, a strange feeling still welled up inside her.

I felt a little disgusted and a little angry, and I wished I could pull out my wand and hang them all on the top of the tower to be blown around by the wind all night.

Almost simultaneously, Slughorn, Hagrid, and Harry stood together before Aragog's enormous corpse, next to a large, deep pit.

Hagrid was already sobbing uncontrollably, but he still tried his best to hold back, forcefully dragging Aragog's body into the deep pit. The body hit the ground with a loud thud, and Hagrid could no longer hold back his tears. It was Slughorn who waved his wand to seal Aragog's grave with earth.

"Alright, Hagrid, alright... let's go in and get a drink, you need this..."

They entered Hagrid's hut, and Slughorn opened a bottle of wine he had brought and poured a glass for both Hagrid and Harry.

"For Aragog!"

"For...Aragok..."

The two drank one glass after another, while Harry listened quietly. He listened to Hagrid talk about Aragog's life and his childhood, and he listened to Slughorn reminisce about the past and tell stories from his childhood.

They drank more and more, and gradually, both of them got drunk. Somehow, the conversation turned to decades ago, specifically Harry's parents.

"...It was horrible...I think you don't remember, Harry..." Even though he had drunk quite a bit, Slughorn still felt uncomfortable talking about this topic and wanted to avoid it.

"I don't remember, I was only a year old when they died. But I learned quite a bit later...you know, Professor?" Harry followed his instincts and answered softly, going with the flow of the conversation.

"I...I don't know..."

"Voldemort killed him, and then stepped over my father's body to kill my mother." Harry's eyes were fixed on Slughorn, but he spoke words that made his body tremble uncontrollably.

"Enough, enough... Harry, stop talking..."

Harry ignored her and continued telling Slughorn the story he had heard from Sirius, Lupin, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and others, recounting that cruel night in a cold and ruthless tone.

"...You like her, right? She's one of your favorite students?"

"Like it? Yes, who wouldn't..."

"But you won't help his son! You won't even give me a single memory!"

"No... But that memory is useless..."

"It'll work! I need it, and Dumbledore needs it too!" Harry pressed on. "I have to kill him; I need that memory!"

Slughorn fell silent, watching Hagrid, who was already fast asleep and snoring, without uttering a word. Harry didn't speak either, just stared at him quietly; that's the feeling Felix Felicis gave him—to prolong the silence.

After a long while, Slughorn suddenly sighed, slowly drew his wand, and took a small empty bottle from his pocket. Looking into Harry's calm eyes, he gently pressed the tip of his wand against his temple, pulled out a long strand of silver thread, and carefully placed it into the bottle.

Then, it was handed to Harry.

"You're a good boy, Harry...you have eyes just like hers..."

"Thank you, Professor."

Harry took the bottle and carefully put it in his pocket. Slughorn looked into his eyes quietly for a while, then finally succumbed to his heavy drunkenness, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

She fell asleep soon after.