Chapter 379

"Alchemy is really good, and transfiguration is also very suitable for you... But do you really want to give up my Potions class?"

Professor Slughorn's face was full of reluctance, with a tangled expression, and he was hesitant to write Nelson's course application form, "Nelson, you have always been my favorite student, I often say to Albus and the others , your wonderful ideas in potions can help you make extraordinary achievements in this field!"

This may be the cleanest time of the year in the Potions classroom. The desk and the stove that matched the cauldron have been removed, and only the desk where Professor Slughorn discusses with the students about choosing courses remains empty. But even so, the Potions classroom cannot be as bright and clean as other classrooms—not only because the floors are lower, but also because the perennial smog has covered the surface of the windows with a layer of house elves. The pyrotechnic gas that can't be wiped clean.

Even at the peak of the sun every year, the sunlight will be refracted by the windows to form a psychedelic light and shadow like the steam rising from the brewing of potion, mixed with the smell of herbs in the classroom, for those who can only do snoring Students of simple potions such as potions and hair straightening potions adorn their dreams of "brewing glory and defying death".

Professor Slughorn has been sitting here all morning. After receiving Tom's class selection list, his nervous mood relaxed. No one would be willing to leave such an excellent student. Fortunately, he still chose I, Professor Slughorn at the moment, just want to go back to the office, nestle in his walrus-soft sofa, unplug the oak barrels that have been sealed for a summer, and taste the sweet wine that smells like honey from his collection.

But before that, he had to sign an autograph for the student who had tortured him for a whole year and whom he both loved and hated.

"Merlin's beard... I've waited too long for this day," in Professor Slughorn's mind, a chubby little figure was waving a mead bottle taller than a person, cheering drunkenly , "Great! I finally don't have to think about how to add points to pot after pot of dark residue!"

Nelson was sitting upright opposite him, his face was also full of reluctance. He could always reach an even weirder tacit understanding with Professor Slughorn in strange places, such as the current teacher-student separation The touching scene of the show--it is indeed touching, when Professor Slughorn lowered his head to wipe his tears, the whole performance reached an emotional climax, and the portrait of the headmistress Dai Lisi DeVante who watched the scene behind him couldn't help it moved to tears.

"professor!"

"Nelson!"

The scene of the two reluctantly sympathizing with each other made Dai Lisi want to go to Dumbledore to apply for an additional class place for Nelson, and the sixth grade Slytherin students who were still queuing up behind were also infected by this emotion, feeling that Slug Professor Horne is the best teacher in the history of Hogwarts.

"Professor, I can actually choose Potions class."

Nelson suddenly jumped out of the tacit script.

"But Nelson, you know, as an educator," Professor Slughorn immediately reacted, as if he had made some difficult decision, and raised his heavy quill, "I can't Stop my students from following their dreams, everyone has choices that are more important to them, I'm just passing by in your life, but I hope potions aren't, I look forward to seeing you pondering in the classroom in your spare time The figure of the potion."

After all, without waiting for Nelson to express his opinion, he quickly signed his name on the course selection form.

"I will!" Nelson took the course selection form with both hands, and bowed solemnly to Professor Slughorn, "Professor, I will definitely remember your teachings, even if I don't choose the advanced class of Potions, I will become A potion master like you is working hard for the goal!"

Hearing the phrase "become a master of potions", Professor Slughorn couldn't hold back at all. He stretched out a hand weakly and said, "Let's pursue your dreams, I don't want to be the one on the road to your dreams." burden."

Nelson looked at Professor Slughorn's chubby face, which was squeezed into small but still bright eyes, and held his hand tightly, showing sincerity in Professor Slughorn's eyes. Expectations and blessings.

The classmates were so moved that they cried, but Tom, who was waiting at the door, almost vomited.

When Nelson walked out, his first question was "When did you become so disgusting?"

"You don't understand." Nelson lifted the corner of his robe to reveal a row of crystal bottles hidden in his arms. "Professor Slughorn had a long talk with me this morning."

"Did he bribe you with potions to make you say those disgusting things?" Tom pouted, and glanced at the row of potion bottles from the corner of his eye. Most of them were antidotes, and it was extremely difficult from obtaining raw materials to making them. That kind, even if he is confident in his level of potions, Tom was also surprised by those potions, "The professor seems to have been tortured by you so much that he even took out his family's money to send you away."

"Professor Slughorn just doesn't want me to be a teaching accident, he cares about his reputation," Nelson sighed, and patted Tom on the shoulder, "but he also doesn't want to give up on every one of his students, even When I was studying in Ilvermorny, he often wrote letters urging me to learn potions, but, you know, people always have flaws, and my flaw may be that I am invulnerable in potions..."

"Are you telling me in another disgusting way that I'm otherwise perfect?"

Tom looks like he has a toothache.

"Oh yes, and herbalism."

"..."

"Well, he knows that I may be equivalent to a Muggle in terms of potions, but he also knows that I may encounter some dangers that ordinary people would hardly encounter." Nelson shook his head, with genuine emotion in his eyes, "Even if I can't teach For me, Professor Slughorn didn't want the potion to be the killer of his students, so he concocted some highly versatile antidotes for me."

"Is this the benefit of poor grades?" Tom held his chin thoughtfully.

"I can ask Professor Binns to give you a set of "General History of Magic." Nelson shook his fist and threatened.

"All right."

Tom shrank his neck and listened honestly to Nelson telling the story of his encounter with Professor Slughorn this morning.

...

"Nelson, I heard that you are going to give up Potions... Actually, I thought I could teach you well. You are a smart kid, and Potions is not a difficult subject for smart people at all," said Breakfast At that time, Professor Slughorn stopped Nelson, who was holding an owl, at the entrance of the auditorium, rubbed his hands, and said, half depressed and half annoyed, "Maybe my teaching time is still too short, so I haven't found a suitable teaching method." , but the teacher should be responsible for every student...sorry, Nelson..."

In this day and age, it is so rare for a teacher to apologize to a student. Nelson, who was holding an owl, was also at a loss, and his strength was a little stronger, causing the owl to start pecking him crazily. He thought of Professor Slughorn When he was busy and tired when he was applying for sponsorship from the school board and the Ministry of Magic for poor students, he remembered the funny appearance of him praising his former student Nobby Rich all day long. He understood that for a person who valued reputation, He said how painful it was, but he still did it.

Perhaps in the eyes of most people, Professor Slughorn always favors students with good backgrounds or high talents, which is a snobbish eye, but in terms of teaching, he is also snobbish to those poor students with mediocre talents or even Muggle-born students. Regardless of discrimination, the lockers in the Potions classroom have always been full of medicinal materials, and the habit of Hogwarts students to prepare their own potion materials has also changed since he was a Potions professor.

But Nelson would probably never set foot in that classroom again during school hours, he could feel Professor Slughorn's appreciation for him, and for the first time he was annoyed by his playful potions skills.

"What kind of expression do you have, young man." Professor Slughorn patted him on the shoulder vigorously, and smiled, "You're just not taking my class, and you're not attending my funeral!"

After finishing speaking, he forcefully stuffed a roll of cloth tape into Nelson's arms, turned and left the auditorium.

Nelson opened the cloth belt. It was an old potion bag, like a painter's canvas bag for collecting brushes. Inside were bottles of exquisite potions. They were carefully tied with small cloth strips and clearly marked After learning the name and purpose of each potion, as Nelson opened it, it flew up with a whoosh, burrowed into the hem of his robes, and sewed itself there tightly.

Nelson yelled at the door: "Professor, I can actually continue to take advanced classes in Potions!"

Professor Slughorn, who had gone away, heard Nelson's call, staggered and almost lay on the ground. He waved his back to Nelson, and left as if fleeing, but no matter how he looked at the back, he felt like he was running away. It's a bit of a secret.

...

"How should I put it? This is also a good thing," Tom licked his lips, his eyes kept looking at the potion bag at the hem of Nelson's robe, "you guys let each other go, I I really don't want to see you and the professor torture each other in Potions class again."

"Okay," Nelson shrugged, and walked towards the gate of the castle with Tom. The sixth graders didn't have any classes today, so Dumbledore showed mercy and opened the school gate to the senior students who were about to face the pressure of the NEWTs exam. They went to Hogsmeade for a while, "I want to order some goods first. Alchemy class is no better than potion class. You have to prepare the materials needed for the class."

"Tsk, it's indeed the most expensive class," Tom first confirmed the first stop of the trip, "but we have to go to the Pig's Head Pub first."

"What's wrong? Do you miss Aberforth?"

"How is it possible?" Tom gave Nelson a blank look, and said, "I bet him that you would come back last year, but he always refused to cash in the bet money on the grounds that students can't gamble, and he even ran out of the store once."

"Are the British so fond of gambling?"

"Yeah, like Fa...hey! Don't cast magic in the corridors, what house are you two from?"

Just halfway through the conversation, Tom began to show his majesty as a prefect. After a lecture, the two junior students lowered their heads and quickly slipped away.

"Oh, Prefect Riddle is really impressive. I thought I saw the respectable Professor McGonagall," Nelson teased. "By the way, did you give Minerva that broom?"

"Of course not, I will definitely call you," Tom switched his voice back from McGonagall, and said, "School has just started these few days, and Gryffindor's sixth grade is also choosing courses. She should be very busy, wait We went to find her together in two days."

There were not many pedestrians on the road, and the two soon arrived at Hogsmeade.

"Damn! Aberforth must have installed a spyglass at the door, right? He must have closed the door and pretended not to be there when he saw me coming, and we'll sneak around and attack when we go back later," Tom looked at the crowd at the Pig's Head Bar. The dusty door, his brows were locked tightly like a door latch, "I heard that Dumbledore always entrusted him with some very dangerous things to do, could something have happened? No, it shouldn't be, a person like him It must not be too desperate."

In fact, the door of the Pig's Head pub hadn't been opened much since the last time Nelson and Tom came to Hogsmeade together. Only the hired bartender would come to clean up occasionally, but Tom and Nelson would always come to take a look when they passed by—just Like going to a grave, although it is a bit unlucky to say so.

"Shall we go around and look at the back?" Nelson suggested. "I remember the bar has a back door for delivery."

"That's right, what if he runs through the back door?"

Tom nodded, but Nelson was already sprinting out just as he had been in Diagon Alley.

"Have you seen Aberforth?"

Tom hurried to catch up, but Nelson's figure had disappeared. Turning around the alley next to the main entrance, Tom found that Nelson was standing in front of an empty shop.

The narrow street facing the back door of the bar is where Daguerre's alchemy shop is located, and the lock on the back door of the Pig's Head Bar also shows signs of being picked.

Daguerre's figure flashed in Nelson's eyes. The moment the two eyes met, he rushed into the store, picked up something, and rushed towards the back door.

There are too many secrets about this guy, not only can he appear everywhere, but he is also a sure second Salem cadre. Even as a magic businessman, he is inextricably linked with Borgin Bock, who is closely related to "medicine", which can not only be judged from the similar magic - at least from the subsequent declassified information of the Magic Congress of the United States, he was once a An important part of the illegal trade of wizards, if you diverge your thinking, wouldn't this kind of person have something to do with the secret past of the Salem family?

Why did he turn back at the last minute of the Second Salem incident, why did he give Nelson the camera half-sold, why did he show up again when Jokunda returned to England?

He is like a meaningless but indispensable clue in a treasure-hunting novel, like a key to unlock the last bondage in a lock. Like Nelson, he has strange connections with too many things.

Especially today when Daguerre appeared in front of Nelson again, his composition became even more weird.

Tom ran across the alley, and Nelson was standing quietly at the entrance of Daguerre's alchemy shop. The purpose of his shop is to sell cameras to Nelson. The front door and the back door run through the unobstructed room. Nelson stands at the door, holding a magic wand. The beeping of the gears comes from his hand, and a lightning gun flashing violent lightning light is slowly forming on the wand.

Facing Jokunda, he still has the leisure to ask the facts and play tricks, but facing an unclear wanted criminal, although Daguerre has sold himself a lot of good things at a low price, this will not become his choice. The reason for showing mercy.

Tom squinted his eyes. Outside the back door, Daguerre had already run a long way. Tom rubbed his eyes. He thought he was delusional. Daguerre, who was running away, split into three like afterimages and ran towards the very different directions.

"No wonder he can show up everywhere..." Tom gasped, "No, why are you always chasing people?"

"Only twice, how can you say 'total'?" Nelson on the side posed in the posture of throwing a gun, and the lens formed by the water curtain flashed in front of his eyes. "I hope he is a smart man who chooses to catch him without a fight."

Nelson murmured, his body opened like a bow, and he threw out the thunder gun wrapped in the wand with all his strength. In a trance, Tom saw the huge figure of Alexander making the same movement behind Nelson, but it only appeared It disappeared in an instant, and the intact ground made him think that everything just now was an illusion, but the air current brushing his cheeks and the dust that filled the gap behind Nelson told him that there used to be a giant there, but it suddenly disappeared up.

"boom!"

The thunder gun passed through the building, and the air wave caused overturned the roof of the empty shop. The bricks and rubble crashed down, blocking the sight of the two, but Tom knew that Daguerre could not escape.

"Why do smart people get caught?" asked Tom suddenly.

"For this gun, the greater the distance, the more powerful the magic power gained from the acceleration."