Krum, as Durmstrang's student representative, along with officials from the Norwegian International Division, came to thank Dumbledore in person.

Because Karkaroff swept away most of the school's liquidity when he ran away, Durmstrang is now in a very embarrassing situation, and even a fool can imagine that after the incident at the school, he will choose Durm in the next few years. Strong doesn't have many students.

On the other hand, at Hogwarts, they not only gained a lot of income because of the competition, but also increased their popularity again. Many wizards from the member states of the Commonwealth have expressed their willingness to study at Hogwarts.

In addition to funding from the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts now has donations from alumni, competition income and income from school-run industries, which is not bad at all.

Not surprisingly, because the venue was in Slytherin's secret room, many snake sect wizards who donated to the school got invitations to watch the game, and Lockhart was going to have a good "talk" with them there.

It's a coincidence that it has to be said, because these purebloods also want to talk to Lockhart, and some of them are already talking to him.

Since the fifth day after Voldemort's return, Gemma Farley has been taking advantage of the opportunity to work in the Screaming Shack to try to persuade Lockhart to withdraw from the incident, and the two have no idea what to do. How many times have we quarreled about this?

Today, after Gemma's persuasion again to no avail, she finally couldn't hold back her anger.

"I don't understand!" she yelled at Lockhart. "You've done so much in the past just to be in a detached position when something like this happens. Why do you want to? Involved in such a dangerous thing?"

And Lockhart became more and more impatient: "Stay out of the way? How many times have I said, do you really think anyone can stay out of it?"

\"Why not?" Gemma asked back, "Now you are very famous and famous, you have all the resources to trade with Muggles, you have countless money on hand, and at the same time you are in a high position in Hogwarts The influence is not small... No matter which side wins, don't they all need to rely on your strength in the end?"

Convicted nonsense. Lockhart interrupted her wishful thinking. "On the side of You-Know-Who, every condition you just said is a reason for him to kill me." "

Gemma paused, realizing that things might really be what Lockhart said they were.

How could that man with a strong desire for power let another dazzling guy steal his limelight? Not to mention that he's also a "Master of the Dark Arts"

"But... we can still go to the country, aren't we from the International Division?" Gemma still didn't give up, \"\"Dumbledore can entangle with the Dark Lord for a long time in China, and we can be very safe, waiting for others to ask Since then, you can also say that you are "getting foreign aid\'"

Lockhart was tempted to say "that's a run away" and told her that she would be excluded from inner-political circles.

But in the end he didn't say anything.

Because he suddenly discovered that he didn't even have the mood to continue to deal with it at this time.

Seeing that he stopped talking, Gemma thought she had convinced him.

\"If you can figure it out, if possible, we will go to Australia after the competition, where I also have a friend at home..."

"Gemma," Lockhart interrupted suddenly.

Gemma was going to continue to talk about her imagination about life, but Luo

After Hart interrupted, she was a little confused: "What?"

"Peace to you," said Lockhart.

How could the eldest Miss of the Farleys not hear what he meant.

She was furious: "Why are you so stubborn? Just for the power to stand in front of the stage? What is that?! Tell you, even the Minister of Magic listens to us!"

Lockhart was surprisingly calm: "Yeah, I think you're right, the one who wins the war is not the one who beats the opponent, but the one who survives to the end."

Gemma laughed angrily: "So you know it all, but you still want to stay in England? Work for Dumbledore?"

"I only work for myself, just like you." Lockhart smiled softly.

The atmosphere in the air froze for a while, until the unpleasant silence was broken when a chubby stranger came to visit.

"Gidro, I heard that you left a ticket for me..."

As soon as the visitor entered the yard, he shouted with a deliberately modified tone of pinch, as if he was informing the owner of the house to greet him.

At the same time, his pace was also unhurried, for fear that if he walked too fast and walked directly to the door, the effect of letting Lockhart come out to "greet" would not be normal.

Ignoring Gemma Farley, who was sulking beside him, Lockhart walked over quickly and opened the door.

"Professor Slughorn! Welcome, please take a seat!"

Chapter three hundred and ninety seventh hidden bss old slug

The man who came to visit Lockhart was, of course, the "old slug," Professor Slughorn.

He is very well-dressed, his neat and straight one-piece robe with visible marks was obviously ironed before he came, and his walking sticks and leather shoes have been taken care of spotlessly, even if it is just a few small accessories on his body, there is a hint of delicacy and not deliberately. the taste of.

Based on this outfit alone, someone with a little knowledge can tell that this person is definitely a nobleman among the nobles.

But compared to the complexion on his face, the clothes on his body are nothing.

Obviously he was Voldemort's teacher and a contemporary of Dumbledore, but Professor Slughorn looked younger than a middle-aged man in his fifties.

On his face, you not only can't see the slightest age spots, even his skin is still pink, and even obvious wrinkles are hard to find, which even Dumbledore can't do.

If the "Magic Awakening" of the pig farm is an officially recognized part of the official history, then Professor Slughorn will still be a professor of potions at the school until 2022, and his age has definitely exceeded the human biological limit of 120 years old.

Not only that, but he's not as famous as Dumbledore and Voldemort, but that doesn't mean Slughorn is less talented than them. Even when Voldemort couldn't find the method and spell to make Horcrux, Slughorn blurted out the principle of Horcrux, and even hinted that he actually knew the spell. And judging by the fact that Voldemort deliberately took the opportunity to ask him for advice, it wasn't the first time this had happened.

I-wen is so terrible - Tianji and Jinhua Gehuojiao teach the calendar defense technique

, but, like Snape, the bishop of the Potions class, even Dumbledore had to go to the library to temporarily turn over the book in order to find the Horcrux information, but Slughorn was able to blurt out while slightly drunk.

This is Slughorn - the knowledge of the dark magic is enough to guide Voldemort, the potions can guide Snape and Lily, set up a crime scene in the moment Dumbledore comes to the door, and use the human deformation that Professor McGonagall has repeatedly warned about Transforming himself into a dead chair that almost fooled Dumbledore, Transfiguration is undoubtedly the top level.

Plus in the final battle of Hogwarts, Slughorn, after drinking Flux, faced Voldemort with McGonagall and Kingsley... Qualified to say Slughorn is a "weak" wizard , there should be no more than 5 in the UK.

Therefore, Lockhart has every reason to believe that this Professor Slughorn is definitely a hidden BSS in the "Harry Potter" series, just because people like to make a fortune in silence. When it comes to taking responsibility, it is always necessary to "be the queen", so the reputation is weaker than Dumbledore.

Such a person is powerful in magic and has a very wide network of contacts. If possible, it is best to pull him into his own camp. Even if he cannot pull in, he should be kept in goodwill and neutrality.

Just as Lockhart looked at Slughorn, Slughorn was naturally thinking about how to deal with Lockhart.

Gilderoy Lockhart is about 5 years younger than James and Sirius, which means that when Lily Evans was in advanced potions class, Lockhart should have just started school, so Slughorn The professor should have also been Lockhart's potions teacher.

But here was the embarrassment, because Slughorn found that he didn't remember the student at all.

Clearly Lockhart is not Professor Slughorn's "Slug Club"

That is to say, Lockhart's school grades were not conspicuous at the time, and it was even less likely that he was "the first in the grade" as some fans said.

And Professor Slughorn has always been very characteristic in dealing with students. To put it nicely, it is called "handling people on merit", and if it is not good, it is called "snobby". In the face of Lockhart, who is a little smart and like Slughorn doesn't usually pay much attention to classmates who show off but have average grades.

But the problem is that he has gone wrong!

Who would have thought that a student who behaved so well in school would become a "master against the dark magic" within a few years of graduation?

Of course, if he is just an adventurer who can write a book, Slughorn misses it, not to mention that when he reads Lockhart's book, like Moody, he also finds that his methods of dealing with black magic creatures are all That's right, but the theory is all wrong. I think he won't go far, so he didn't make any effort to remedy it.

But then Lockhart's performance made his heart bleed too much - Lockhart not only cooperated with pure blood to create a profitable oil company, but also made money by befriending Muggle executives and the royal family. In this way, he sold the worthless garbage of the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association for a good price.

Slughorn was heartbroken when he learned of these events.

What he most wanted to do now was to find an opportunity to visit the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic, use the most powerful time-turner collected there to go back 15 years ago, and tell himself at that time to include Lockhart in the Slug Club. Otherwise, how many benefits have I missed over the years?

In a word, regret, very regret.

But at this time it was too late for Slughorn to regret it, and the best remedy he could think of was to pay for a stake in the oil company that Lockhart led to form, and to speak good words for him in the Pharmacists Association, Seek the opportunity to reconnect in the future

He wanted to be a little more reserved and wait for the young man to find him, but he suddenly heard that the **** Voldemort had been resurrected recently.

Slughorn knew without a second thought that in order to keep the secret of his Horcruxes, Voldemort might one day recall that he had asked himself about Horcruxes, and he would instruct the Death Eaters to attack him. , Voldemort can definitely do this.

Although Slughorn's own magical strength is also quite good, it is not a problem to deal with seven or eight Death Eaters, but Slytherin's cautiousness still makes him reject the idea of ​​rigid Death Eaters.

There are only two safe places for Slughorn these days: one is Hogwarts, and the other is far overseas, and both of them happen to be around Hogsmeade. solve.

So he stopped being reserved, and took the initiative to put down his face and come to Lockhart.

"Hey, Gilderoy!" Slughorn said in a particularly cordial voice, "Look at what I've recently invented—a potion that, when mixed in with water, can put hundreds of bushels of All the oil in the oil sand is soaked, and the remaining asphalt and mud water can be solidified together, and a pint only needs 10 sico..."

Lockhart's mind was agitated - it turned out that Slughorn was here to show his favor!

Thank you very much with E! "He hurriedly made a happy look, "This is a big help!" The drilling aids sold by Muggles are too expensive, but you can't buy them..."

"Hahaha, there's nothing to be thankful for, kid, it's really nothing, I have shares anyway..." Slughorn's face turned into a flower with a smile, "Since I retired, I've been relying on this extra income. Live your life, you know..."

Believe in your ghost, you bad old man is very bad. Lockhart said heartily.

The reason Slughorn was able to live so well was not just the income from making potions.

His disciples are all over the British wizarding world. It can be said that the younger generation of British wizards Tpi00 have more or less friendship with him, and the return of these people alone is enough for him to live well and live well. Very moisturizing.

As for the reason why he came to find him this time, it is estimated that he finally heard that Voldemort was back, so he couldn't wait to come to Hogwarts, presumably to get Dumbledore's protection.

After entering the screaming shack, Slughorn looked around and found that there were props to defend against black magic everywhere, and he felt a lot of peace of mind.

"Why is there so much Auror gear in here?" He pretended to be unaware of it. "And...Miss Farley? Are you traveling?"

He saw the family crest on Gemma Farley's robe.

Gemma Farley didn't know Slughorn because of her youth, but she had known Slughorn for a long time, mostly from her own father.

The Slytherins have nothing good to say about the old slug. Although the old slug is a smooth person, no one can offend him, but his reputation is only slightly better than the "pure blood traitor" of the Weasley family.

There is no other reason, because Slughorn is too tactful in his attitude towards students.

He has never been partial to Slytherin, but has always adhered to a "meritistic" attitude, only picking students who will be useful to him to join his club, and disapproving of bloodline theory.

Sure, it's an honor to be valued by the old slug and join the club, but purebloods who aren't chosen won't appreciate him, even if they think they rely on blood? The same goes for being elitist by nature.

He chose not by blood but by his ability in school. For pure blood, this was Slughorn's "sin"

And Gemma Farley, who was educated in this way, only showed due courtesy to Slughorn.

Hello Newel, Mr. Slughorn... For some reason, my father and I are going abroad to inspect the family's properties outside. ' she replied.

"Oh..." Slughorn immediately understood what she meant - it seemed that the Farleys had also heard about Voldemort's resurrection, and had no intention of getting involved.

To be honest, he was very moved.

If possible, he would also like to find a chance to sneak out of the country with the Farley family, but it's not easy for him to say this because everyone doesn't know each other very well.

"So, Gilderoy, aren't you going to go abroad? I don't think you're ready." Slughorn noticed this keenly.

If Lockhart also plans to flee the country, then there is no need for him to prepare these Defense Against the Dark Arts equipment, and now there is a lot of equipment here, which means that he plans to stay and deal with Voldemort?

Lockhart glanced aside, then nodded firmly in Gemma's disappointed eyes.

Chapter 398 Resources are in place

Because it was in front of outsiders, Gemma was not easy to have a seizure, so after learning that Lockhart was paying attention, she walked out of the door angrily, as if she was going to cry to her father about Lockhart's "I don't know what is good or bad" "

After the outsiders were gone, Slughorn finally stopped covering up, but bluntly expressed his "appreciation" for Lockhart, and strongly implied that he was willing to use the influence of the "Slug Club" to help Lockhart. a handful.

"The current situation is not very good..." Slughorn carefully considered his choice of words and sentences, "I discussed carefully with several students from that year, and finally agreed that in the current situation, we need a strong leader. We point the way forward... what do you think?"

Lockhart felt compelled to understand the other party's purpose before deciding what to do with the extremely smart old man.

"You mean Dumbledore? I agree." Lockhart pretended to be stupid.

"Yeah, of course Dumbledore can always be trusted."

Slughorn did not deny Dumbledore's authority head-on, but Lockhart's answer was clearly not the one he had hoped for.

And Lockhart also waited patiently, and let Slughorn say first that at such a time, it is impossible for the party who is asking for others to be calm.

Sure enough, seeing Lockhart unmoved, Slughorn had to express his true intentions: "...but I also know that Dumbledore is very busy, and he has to concentrate on solving big problems. Might not take care of us little people."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean, why don't we figure out how to help ourselves first? That way we can help Dumbleley a little bit too." Slughorn cautiously

say.

Lockhart laughed: "So, how many people have decided to join this mutual

What about the help organization? Or, how many people, like you, think we need to cuddle together to keep warm? "

Slughorn was instantly overjoyed: "A lot! And many people are poor unarmed, dying people, they just want to have a safe place to live..."

Lockhart decided not to comment on this "unarmed" sentence, but thinking about it carefully, this is indeed a good opportunity to buy people's hearts.

In the coming war, Voldemort is destined to use violence against those who are unwilling to obey him, and this will not only make those who are already opposed to him even more opposed to him, but also make a group of "silent majority" turned against him.

Whether it's public opinion or the political arena, the loudest voices are always the very few, and although the majority are silent, their power is not small. Ordinary politicians can only detect their attitudes when they vote, and only politicians with better observation and judgment can keenly detect the direction of the wind in advance.

Because Voldemort's personal strength is too strong, most people dare not directly resist. If they can win the support of these people, even if they only secretly support the Order of the Phoenix, this will be of great help to the improvement of the Order of the Phoenix. Not to mention that in order to stay in power, Voldemort must allow his minions to mutilate Muggles.

After thinking about it clearly, Lockhart made a promise: "No problem, the African Wizarding Union will support us. This time about the Sphinx, that person slapped them in the face, and they are on fire trying to get revenge."

"You mean, Africa?"

"Yes, there are hundreds of thousands of wizards living in Africa. Even the mysterious man can't capture Africa right away. We can arrange their families there and let Dumbledore be the secret keeper." Lockhart promised .

Slughorn felt that this plan was acceptable to him: if Voldemort wanted to send a large number of troops to Africa to trouble the families of these insignificant civilians, then he must first solve the problems of the domestic Order of the Phoenix. If the Order of the Phoenix were all dealt with, it would be useless for these people to flee to.

Seeing Slughorn nodding, Lockhart struck while the iron was hot.