Volume 1 Chapter 24 The Master of the Ring
"I'm not in the way. Those bastards used a large-scale explosion spell together. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had a chance to hurt me."
Even though Flitwick was supported by Slughorn, he still looked somewhat unconvinced. He did not seem to think highly of his opponent today.
But Slughorn certainly wouldn't take his words seriously. Since Hogwarts had no school doctor, he and Lily, who were masters of potions, were the best doctors.
Slughorn helped Flitwick leave first, while Lily and McGonagall followed Dumbledore along the corridor. They seemed to be confused about some issues in today's attack.
"So many years have passed. This is the first time the Ministry of Magic has found us in the past five years. But why are there only Aurors?" McGonagall was puzzled.
Lily also said coldly.
"The Ministry of Magic's Auror Command had already become a department without any real power when the Dark Lord became Minister for Life. The only ones who truly controlled the Ministry's most powerful force were the Death Eaters. They were the backbone of the Dark Lord's hands. These Aurors, who were basically made up of half-bloods and unrelated pure-bloods, were no match for one of their hands in any way."
Dumbledore said calmly.
"Don't have such thoughts, Lily. Although he has taken away most of the authority of the Auror Command and thrown it to Lucius, those who can enter it and become Aurors are all elite half-bloods. He is now very good at winning people's hearts, and half-bloods are the majority of those he has recruited. Even if some of his subordinates still maintain those extreme ideas, at least half-blood wizards have the right to own wands and learn magic."
Lily couldn't deny what he said, but she still said it.
"But at least the people we are dealing with today are all incompetent. The biggest trouble they can cause us is the explosive curse that was sent to Filius at the beginning. If that's all, then the Dark Lord must know that with you in the car, these people can't possibly pose any threat to us. Then why did he let these people come? He hasn't been able to catch us for nearly five years, and now he finds us but just sends a bunch of flies?"
Professor McGonagall also frowned and asked.
"Besides, how did they find us? The spell on the carriage didn't work?"
Dumbledore shook his head slightly.
"No, the spell has not worn off."
"Then this is..."
"Perhaps they have been looking for us for so long, and this team of Aurors discovered us by accident. This is not impossible." Dumbledore said comfortingly, "Don't think too much about it for now. You are all tired after a night. You should all go to rest. Let's stop today's class and let the students relax."
Lily and McGonagall obviously had more to say, but Dumbledore was clearly no longer in the mood to continue chatting.
They were indeed mentally tired tonight. Although the Aurors did not cause them much trouble, the sudden attack made them feel tense.
After the three of them returned to their offices to rest, Hogwarts did not relax its guard.
After treating Flitwick's wound, Slughorn stayed on the roof of the carriage. Hagrid became more vigilant than before, constantly observing and looking around while driving the carriage.
The students woke up from the cafeteria, ate some bread and milk that they had prepared in advance for emergencies, and then returned to their dormitories.
Neville didn't stay in the dormitory for long before he went to the common room with Ron and the others to play chess. All classes were suspended for the day, and considering what happened last night, they needed to use other things to divert their attention.
They also invited Jon, but Jon just sat with Neville in the lounge for a while and then left.
After wandering on the corridor for more than ten minutes, Jon looked at the time and saw that it was only a little after 10 o'clock.
But he was in no mood to wait any longer, so he took a deep breath and walked straight to the door of Slughorn's office.
There was no response to the knock on the door. Fortunately, a fifth-year student passing by reminded him that Slughorn should be in the astronomy classroom. If he wanted to find him, he'd better go to the roof of the car.
After thanking the senior student, Jon walked straight towards the astronomy classroom next to the lobby without stopping.
Going up the spiral staircase to the roof, the desks, chairs, blackboards and astronomical telescopes had all been put away. Only a high-backed chair was placed in the middle. Slughorn sat on it, holding his wand in his hand , and stared at the blue sky above his head.
"professor."
Jon's voice brought Slughorn back from his thoughts, and the fat old man looked at him with a walrus-like smile.
"I was just bored here and you came, Jon. But why not bring some candied pineapple? My former students always bring me little surprises like this when they want to curry favor with me."
Faced with this old guy's straightforward "bribery request", Jon couldn't help but roll his eyes in his heart.
"I'm sorry, Professor. Even if I had the money to prepare a dessert like this for you, I wouldn't know where to buy it."
Slughorn extended his wand and pointed it beside , and a bench appeared where the empty space had been.
"I was just joking. Don't be so humorless. Sit down. I knew you might be impatient and come to see me before noon."
Jon sat next to him, took out the sapphire ring from the pocket of his robe, and asked seriously.
"So, Professor, now can you tell me what this is? And can you take it back?"
"It's impossible for me to take it back, Jon." Slughorn looked at him, and Jon's heart sank when he heard this. "Because it never belonged to me in the first place. It was just given to me by an old friend who asked me to keep it for him. Now, it has found its owner."
Jon frowned.
"Then why did it choose me?"
"Because when it was created, it was waiting for someone who could realize its value. This person is not the one who created it, nor is it me who is temporarily keeping it, but you."
Slughorn's voice was calm, but Jon didn't quite understand what he was saying.
"Professor, could you please explain your words more clearly?"
Slughorn laughed and shrugged.
"I've always envied Dumbledore's ability to talk to people in a confusing way, but it seems that I'm not suitable for this. So let me put it more bluntly, Jon. This ring can allow you to learn a way of casting spells that no one else can learn."
