From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

If you go to the hospital for a cold, and a hundred or so doctors come in to see you—and they're not even student interns—and then they tell you it's just a minor cold and nothing serious, would you believe them?

Especially since he really had something to hide—he knew more about the Dark Lord's Horcruxes than anyone else.

Regardless of how many Horcruxes the Dark Lord possessed, based on the number William and his group found, there were more than four—the Death Eaters intended to use them to resurrect, and there were even signs of it, but all the Horcruxes had been taken away, and there wasn't a single one left outside.

This is something I can't think about too much—the more I think about it, the scarier I get…

Do you think he'll fall for it?

"If you're not going to fall for it, then go for Harry. You said he's capable."

William spread his hands. If Harry still couldn't do it, he would have to resort to drugging or a surprise attack. He knew a little about all sorts of things—he was a professor who lived and ate at Hogwarts, and he didn't believe he could keep failing!

Chapter 560 The Results of the Fraud

"get out of class dismissed, Harry, come to my office."

As the new class ended, amidst the students' sleepy yet determined gazes, William spoke to Harry, then packed up his textbooks and left the classroom.

It was OWLS year, and even though everyone had reduced their workload a bit, the fifth-grade students were still feeling a bit overwhelmed.

'What happened? Did the professor discover Hagrid's unusual behavior? Or was my infiltrating the library to find books discovered?'

Although Dumbledore warned him, Harry still wanted to figure out what Horcruxes were and why they made Dumbledore so nervous, so he began to try to make use of the library's resources.

Although his invisibility cloak is currently being held by Dumbledore, his excellent training has enabled him to skillfully use the Illusion Charm and some tricks to infiltrate the library.

But these skills trained by the professor naturally couldn't escape his notice—were we going to get points deducted again?

Harry felt a little ashamed. Of the three champions, he was the only one who had points deducted for excessive misconduct. Last time it was because he seriously talked back to Snape, and this time it was because he didn't follow Dumbledore's instructions.

With some doubt, he followed William to William's office and sat down on the other side of the desk.

"Here's the thing, Professor Lupin, Dumbledore, and I discussed it and decided to add a course for you."

'It's good that they didn't find out I was traveling at night...'

Harry forced himself not to show any relief before he understood what William had said, and he froze in shock.

The grueling fifth-year curriculum, Professor Moody's private tutoring, Dumbledore's special assignments, Professor Slughorn's potions lessons, Quidditch training, and a mountain of homework from every subject... He already needs to squeeze in time for dates, and now he has to take extra classes?

Professor, is your heart made of stone?

Harry was a little flustered, but he couldn't refuse—he couldn't exactly say he was skipping class because of a date, could he? If word got out, he'd look like a fool…

Fortunately, he soon heard a voice that could be considered his salvation.

"Considering the time constraints and your grades, I've already spoken with Professor Slughorn. Your Potions tutoring is suspended. If you plan to study on your own, you can go to Neville to look at his notes."

"I have a general understanding of your Potions class grades. Theoretically speaking, you have the ability to get an O, and you will become even better as you continue to study. However, we are really too busy."

William said with a hint of apology—but Harry would definitely be able to attend the Potions advanced class, and he was more concerned about Harry's safety than that.

“Next, you will use that time to learn Occlumency from Professor Lupin,” William nodded. “Dumbledore originally preferred Professor Snape, but I declined. After all, the fact that you even had points deducted recently is truly unforgettable…”

'It's so great that it wasn't Snape, and it would be so great to learn Occlumency from Lupin.'

Harry felt a surge of double the joy – he had never imagined that going to class could be such a happy thing.

"Okay, that's settled. You can go back to the lounge now; you still need to prepare for the next class."

"Yes, Professor!"

Harry stood up with a chuckle and left the office, leaving William shaking his head slightly behind.

"I felt it wasn't a good idea to keep it from him, but there was nothing I could do. Professor Slughorn is indeed very perceptive, and he really does need to learn Occlumency."

Even though Harry's strange symptoms last year have been confirmed as a full recovery, they are still a cause for concern—information on Horcruxes is scarce, and the use of living people as Horcruxes is unheard of; no one can be sure whether there are any other long-term effects.

To this day, Dumbledore and William still cannot confirm whether Harry is a planned or unplanned Horcrux, nor is he among the five confirmed Horcruxes. After several discussions, teaching Harry Occlumency was put on the agenda, as it is the safest way to protect the soul.

However, this instruction was not just instruction, but also a scam—the excuse given to Professor Slughorn was not that Harry needed to learn Occlumency, but rather that he needed to strengthen Harry's protection while learning more self-defense magic.

After all, it's common knowledge that Harry was the one who killed the Dark Lord. Since the Death Eaters dared to raid Azkaban, it was perfectly normal for them to attack Harry as well—ostensibly it was for class, but Lupin was protecting Harry so he wouldn't be ambushed.

-

“That’s basically it. The two of you together are too vulnerable to a sneak attack,” Moody said, surveying the security measures in Slughorn’s office. “But we can’t make that too obvious, given the diverse student body of Slytherin…”

"We will do our best to protect your safety. The school will protect you until the Death Eaters are cornered and resort to desperate measures."

Moody's face was contorted with a grotesque smile.

"In addition, we will also send two strikers to your residence, after all, this is something Albus instructed us to do. Especially during the Easter holidays—by the way, what happened that made Albus so nervous?"

Moody asked with feigned confusion—he didn't really understand what Dumbledore was up to, but there must be a reason why he suddenly asked him to take care of Slughorn.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing."

Slughorn laughed rather nervously, but still tried to put on an expression that said he wasn't worried about anything.

"By the way," he asked tentatively in a casual tone, "can't I stay at school?"

"Stay at school? That's fine..."

Moody said nonchalantly, "But if we stay at school, the hitters won't be able to come over."

"It's alright, Dumbledore is still here."

"Albus?" Moody widened his normal eyes. "Didn't Albus leave the school on a business trip after talking to you? He's been acting all mysterious, and I don't know what he's been up to—you don't know?"

"Dumbledore isn't at the school?"

"Of course, otherwise why would he have asked me to protect you?"

"That's fine, that's fine..."

Slughorn tried to force a smile onto his face, but the smile looked stiff and forced.

He couldn't help but recall what had happened the day before yesterday.

"You're so secretive, my old friend. I've discovered the secret you've been hiding all this time."

Dumbledore, who had forced him to hand over a memory, suddenly visited his office, his face beaming with a smile that Dumbledore had never seen before in all these years.

"I've told you everything, Albus!"

He responded with feigned seriousness, but was met with a mocking look from Dumbledore. "Alright, alright, let's go to my office."

Theoretically, he should have refused—after giving Dumbledore a false memory, he carried the antidote for Truth Potion with him and routinely used Occlumency to seal his own memories, but in the end, he couldn't resist being tricked.

Then, he was really startled.

"It's just four Horcruxes, and they were even made using items from the founders. How could you keep this from me until now?"

"I didn't, I really don't know," I reprimanded him sternly!

"Alright, alright, let's just say it's settled then. Come to my office."

Slughorn desperately wanted to strangle his past self—why couldn't he have resisted going to Dumbledore's office?

"This is a Slytherin locket—your house's. It's been destroyed. You should recognize it, right?"

Dumbledore dropped a bombshell on him first: the Slytherin locket.

As the former Head of Slytherin and a well-informed person, Slughorn naturally knew about this supposedly lost item, which originally belonged to the Gaunt family but was lost when members of the Gaunt family were imprisoned.

"It's genuine, and the protective magic of the Soul Weapon still remains on it..."

After a quick examination, he recognized the object and inadvertently revealed his understanding of Horcruxes.

However, Dumbledore just smiled and showed him the second item.

"Tom also stole Hufflepuff's golden cup. It took me some time to get my hands on it, and now I'm figuring out how to destroy it. It won't be long."

"He also found the Ravenclaw tiara, the legendary lost item, but I'm not far behind."

The crown elicited a gasp from Slughorn—everyone had fantasized about such a crown when they were in school, but he never expected to encounter this being made into a Horcrux at this moment.

"The power here has been worn down to almost nothing. I haven't found a suitable method, so I can only slowly wear down the fragments of the soul inside—after all, it now has its own master."

"Who is it? This thing should belong to Hogwarts."

"Professor William."

Dumbledore smiled and then displayed the last item in his collection—a heavily damaged fake Horcrux that was disguised to be eight parts over.

"Gryffindor's belongings, unfortunately, were destroyed along with the items due to the emergency."

As Slughorn watched Dumbledore smilingly introduce the items from the founders of each house, he almost doubted whether his memory of what happened back then was wrong.

The valuable items of the founders of the four houses are no easier to find than Horcruxes, especially that tiara, which has been coveted for many years—Dumbledore actually managed to find them all!

'Could my memory be false, Tom? Or did Mystic really only create four Horcruxes, each corresponding to a precious artifact?'

"So relax, old friend. Just like you discovered Na'Vi, train more outstanding students. I should go and cause some trouble for those escaped Death Eaters."

This is all he remembers from his meeting with Dumbledore the day before yesterday.

But now—what a joke, when did Dumbledore become such an action-oriented guy?

I just said I was going to cause trouble for the Death Eaters, and now I'm off?

Are you really not planning to ask me again?

There are clearly more than four Horcruxes. The mysterious man mentioned seven, and seven is a mysterious number!

He remembered it very clearly, which meant that Dumbledore had obtained false information from the Death Eaters. If he had been any bolder, he would have fallen into their trap!

'It's all over, it's all over. If Dumbledore fell for it, if Dumbledore dies... then...'

He dared not think about it—Dumbledore had destroyed four Horcruxes. Even if the Mysterio really had six Horcruxes, it would still be a huge loss. This professor, nominally a professor, actually knew far too much!

Once he learns that his secret to immortality has been destroyed, he will surely kill in a fit of rage. All those who know about it, all those who know about Horcruxes, do you think this professor can escape?

'But saying it would be like directly confronting Voldemort…'

'Don't you think you'll be targeted if you don't speak up? If he discovers there's something wrong with the Horcrux, I'll be in trouble…'

'Besides, Dumbledore can definitely find them... He's already killed four, why would he care about two more?'

'Now that things have come to this, if Mystic wins, I'll definitely die, but if Dumbledore wins, I can continue to enjoy life and even teach Neville a lesson…'

This is too easy to calculate; at this point, he has no other choice.

He shouldn't have come to Hogwarts. Once the Horcruxes are destroyed, he, as someone in the know, can't escape responsibility!