At this moment, Harry was on his way back to the Gryffindor common room. He walked lightly and seemed in a good mood.
Just a few minutes ago, Harry had just come out of Professor Slughorn's office. Ever since he took the Felix Felicis potion and ran to Professor Slughorn's office last time, Harry's relationship with the Potions Professor had become much closer.
Of course, this is also related to Professor Slughorn's desire to "collect" the Star of Savior.
Although both sides had their own thoughts, the exchange was still pleasant.
In order to prevent Professor Slughorn from suspecting him of impure motives, Harry took the initiative to reveal the purpose of his visit: he hoped to obtain some enhancement-type potions, headed by Felix Felicis, and by the way, learn about his parents from Slughorn.
This approach undoubtedly made Professor Slughorn relax his vigilance and willing to provide Harry with all the help he could.
After all, if he sold the Felicis, Professor Slughorn could also earn a lot of Galleons. In fact, he did so, and the two sides had reached a preliminary cooperation on the Felicis trade. The Order of the Phoenix did not need to worry about the shortage of Felicis for the time being, and with Felicis, life safety could be further guaranteed.
To be honest, Harry has never taken something as seriously as he does now. Even when he participated in the Triwizard Tournament last time, he had never prepared as seriously as he does now.
All this is for the sake of destroying Voldemort, and all the efforts are worth it.
"Well, Harry?"
As soon as they returned to the Gryffindor common room, Hermione put down her quill and came over to ask about Harry's latest progress.
“It’s going pretty well.”
Harry looked around the busy common room and was a little surprised not to see Ron.
"Roro is over there with Lavender." Hermione pointed to the sofa by the fireplace and said to Harry, "Let's go over there and talk!"
Harry followed Hermione to a corner of the common room and talked about what he had learned from Professor Slughorn today.
"Professor Slughorn has agreed to sell some of the Felicis, but Dumbledore took a batch from him last time. He needs to brew it again, and we need to pay a deposit to buy the herbs. Of course, there is also the Polyjuice Potion. I think it's better to stock up a little more to be prepared."
"That will cost a large sum of Galleons, and it will take at least half a year to brew the Felicis!" Hermione reminded with a frown.
"I know that Sirius and the others still have some reserves of Felicis Felix, but that stuff can't withstand consumption at all." Harry was very clear about the usefulness of Felicis Felix. It was a good thing that could save lives if used at a critical moment.
Although the amount of Felixir used needs to be strictly limited, after learning how to use it from Albert, there is no need to worry about the amount at all, and the amount of Felixir stored by the Phoenix Society is obviously insufficient.
Harry actually didn't mind using part of the inheritance from Gringotts left to him by his parents to buy the Felicia Ralph Lobel, but Sirius once told Harry that Dumbledore was not short of money.
"I've heard a lot about my mother from Professor Slughorn, and I can see that he really likes my mother. I think the chances of success should be greater if we start from this aspect." Harry knew very well what he should do to gain Professor Slughorn's trust. Although he didn't like to go out of his way to please someone, he knew he had no choice in order to achieve certain goals.
After all, figuring out the exact number of Horcruxes is more important than anything else, and that is the task assigned to him by Dumbledore. Harry must complete it no matter what, and he doesn't want to disappoint Dumbledore.
"By the way, I plan to give Slughorn a box of candied pineapple fruit for Christmas this year. You know, he likes other people to give him gifts." After Harry finished speaking, he looked at Hermione, and seeing that the other party was listening to him carefully, he lowered his voice and continued.
"Next, I plan to continue to get some information about my parents from him, and then wait for his birthday to visit him with a bottle of wine. I think with the help of the elixir, the probability of success should not be too low."
"Any suggestions from Albert?"
Hermione also thought that Harry's plan was fine, but many times plans could not keep up with changes. Harry obviously did not have much time to try, so it would be best if he could succeed in one go.
"Albert also agrees with my plan. As for his suggestion, he thinks that if the plan fails completely, Professor Slughorn should be dragged into the water by force." Harry looked around and made sure that no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice and said, "Let me tell Slughorn that Voldemort is not far from death. They need that part of his memory. He thinks that as long as they make good use of the Felicis Potion, they will definitely succeed."
Harry felt somewhat helpless when he mentioned Albert's suggestion.
"How simplistic and crude." Hermione was also a little surprised, and couldn't help but doubt the feasibility of Albert's suggestion. After all, if a direct showdown worked, Dumbledore would have persuaded Professor Slughorn to hand over that part of his memory long ago, instead of sending Harry to contact him and try to get it.
But sometimes, Hermione actually trusted Albert's judgment more than her own, because the man almost never made mistakes, which was why many people were willing to trust him.
"By the way, Harry, have you found a dance partner?" Hermione suddenly changed the subject.
"No, you know, I'm not really that interested in the Yule Ball."
Harry noticed that Hermione had changed the subject, so he took the initiative to continue her conversation. When he looked up, he saw several girls walking towards him. They were the girls who were trying to get Harry to invite them to the ball.
Harry stood up and tried to leave, but Hermione kept him back.
"What about you?" Harry looked at Hermione accusingly. He knew he couldn't escape.
"Neither have I." Hermione shrugged and said, "You know, I originally wanted to bring Ron, but he's dating Lavender now. If I invite him, Lavender might misunderstand and make them very unhappy."
"I think we can go together." Harry deliberately raised his voice to Hermione, "so that we can save the trouble of finding a partner."
However, this obviously still couldn't drive away those enthusiastic girls.
"It seems that you have been annoyed by those girls recently." Hermione smiled as she watched Harry politely reject those girls. "I told you to find a dance partner in advance."
"Well, Hermione, maybe we could pretend to go together since you're not looking for a partner anyway."
"It depends on the situation. If we really can't find anyone." Hermione hesitated, still thinking that it would be a waste of partners for them to go together, and...
"What are you worried about?" Harry asked puzzledly after making sure the girls had left.
"Nothing." Hermione shook her head.
"Okay Hermione, don't make me guess anymore. Just tell me directly. It's annoying enough to have Albert, the Riddler." Harry urged.
"We have to consider that idiot Ron," Hermione reminded helplessly. She didn't mind going with Harry, since she didn't find a partner anyway, but Hermione had to take care of other things.
Harry fell into a brief silence. He could actually see that Ron liked Hermione, but Hermione obviously only regarded Ron as a good friend, just like her relationship with herself.
"You're right, Ron is such an idiot!" Harry sighed softly, "So are you going to invite him to the Christmas ball?"
"Forget it. I don't want to be bothered by Lavender." Hermione shrugged. "If I have no choice, I would rather invite Luna."
"You take good care of Luna. I thought you hated her." Harry looked at Hermione in surprise. He knew that Hermione and Luna had nothing in common.
"I don't hate her." Hermione denied directly, "It's just that it's hard for us to have common topics, but recently we have common topics again."
"I know you Hermione."
Harry knew that Hermione didn't really like Luna, and they were not compatible. He even thought that Hermione would be willing to take the initiative to help Luna get back together with Albert.
"You can take Ron with you, and I'll help you take Luna." Harry suggested
"Oh well."
Hermione hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement with Harry's suggestion, "I'll talk to Luna about this, and you can deal with Ron yourself."
"That's easy!" Harry was confident. "I'll go find Ron right away."
"You're going to invite me to Professor Slughorn's Yule Ball?"
Ron seemed to suspect that he had heard it wrong. He frowned and reminded, "But Harry, no boy would ask another boy to be his dance partner. If this matter spreads in Hogwarts..."
"I know." Harry interrupted Ron impatiently, "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go to Professor Slughorn's Yule Ball."
"Of course I do." Ron shrugged. "Everyone doesn't want to go to the Christmas party, but I don't think it's appropriate to be your dance partner. It will make us the laughing stock of the whole school."
"Hermione didn't invite her own partner either." Harry explained to Ron how he would invite him to the dance without becoming the laughing stock of the whole school. "She originally wanted to invite Luna. Hermione will invite you, and I will invite Luna for her."
"It's incredible that Hermione wants to invite Luna. I thought Hermione didn't like Luna?" Ron was very surprised when he heard what Harry said.
"Maybe because of Albert, Hermione seems to be particularly caring towards Luna." Harry actually felt that Hermione liked Albert, but she just didn't want to admit it.
Of course, it was useless even if he admitted it. After all, Albert was already married, which was even more despairing than when he liked Qiu Zhang in the first place.
"She's planning on inviting the crazy girl," muttered Ron.
"Crazy girl? I think she's pretty nice and funny."
"You don't like her, do you?" Ron stared at Harry with wide eyes.
"Put away those silly thoughts of yours." Harry interrupted, "Anyway, remember to keep this matter secret."
After Harry told Ron, he went back to the dormitory to get his homework. Although he hated these things now, Harry knew that he had to take some time to finish these homework.
However, the news that Harry invited the crazy girl Luna to attend Professor Slughorn's Christmas ball was leaked, and somehow the whole school knew about it.
Many girls who tried to attend the Christmas ball through Harry were almost broken into tears by the news. They really couldn't understand why the famous Harry Potter would choose a crazy girl as his dance partner, which made them doubt their own charm.
However, there were some new twists and turns in the news that Ron was invited by Hermione. No one knew who leaked the news. It was said that Lavender had a fight with Ron after she knew about it. As for whether they broke up, it is unknown.
"So, you broke up?"
Harry suspected that Ron had deliberately leaked the news to Lavender. If he wanted to get rid of her, this would undoubtedly be a good opportunity.
"Not yet. I hope to separate from Lavender." Ron was a little depressed and seemed unwilling to talk to Harry about this matter.
"I thought you liked Lavender." Harry raised his eyebrows slightly and took Ron to the place where he had agreed to meet Hermione.
"And you?"
Ron was silent for a moment, trying to change the subject.
"Me? You mean your girlfriend?" Harry asked back.
"I remember you used to like Cho Chang from Ravenclaw," Ron said tentatively.
"Yeah, but I don't like her now, and Qiu also has someone she likes, so I just gave up. After all, I have my own things to do." Harry did not shy away from talking about the fact that he once liked Qiu Zhang. To him, it was just a trivial matter and it didn't matter anymore.
"And now?"
"I don't have time for romance right now. Killing Voldemort is my top priority right now." Harry shrugged. "Although it's difficult, I have no way out. After all, Voldemort has already determined that I am his archenemy. He will definitely find a chance to kill me himself."
When Ron heard the name Voldemort, he reacted strangely and looked a little worried.
"Hermione..."
"Hermione is going to help me, and our top priority now is to eliminate You-Know-Who," Harry said calmly.
"Harry, this way..."
As they headed for the marble steps, they found Hermione and Luna waiting nearby.
"Thank you for inviting me to the Christmas ball, Harry." Luna, wearing a robe trimmed with silver sequins, greeted Harry happily.
"No, I should thank you and Mr. Lovegood for your support. I wonder if Hermione has mentioned another thing to you." Harry turned his head to look at Hermione.
"Hermione told me, and I have already written a letter home." Luna nodded to show that she understood.
"Albert believes that the turbulent times are coming, and it is unwise to support me openly now." Harry said to Luna: "The Death Eaters will cause trouble for Mr. Lovegood sooner or later, so I think it is necessary for him to protect himself and you."
"You've changed a lot, Harry!" Luna looked Harry up and down.
"I know, but some things need to change. Being too naive will cause you pain in the future. This is what I learned from Albert." Harry shrugged to show that he had indeed changed.