"Don't worry Harry, you're going to make it."
Ron put down the Daily Prophet he had just received from the owl postman and tried to comfort the taciturn Harry beside him.
"Any news?"
Except for the time he had been Seeker in his first year, Harry hadn't been this nervous in a long time.
"Let me see..."
Ron withdrew his gaze from Harry, reached out to open the newspaper, looked at the front page of the latest issue, and couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Yes, there are rumors that the You-Know-Who is planning to break into the prison and release the prisoners imprisoned in Azkaban in the near future."
Ron handed the newspaper to Harry and said, "However, the newspaper says that the Ministry of Magic is ready. If Voldemort dares to run to Azkaban to break out, he will pay a heavy price for it."
"This news feels like a smokescreen someone deliberately released to attract attention." Harry threw a candy into his mouth and carefully read the headlines of the newspaper about Voldemort's plan to break into the prison.
"Smoke bomb?"
Ron took the bottle Harry pushed towards him and poured himself a drink.
"But... do you think this news is true... someone wants to use this news to attract the attention of the Ministry of Magic?" Ron reorganized his words, "What is their purpose in doing this?"
"I don't know." Harry took a bite of bread and said, "I wonder what Voldemort wants to do with this?"
"But... this is just a rumor. Similar rumors are actually very common." Ron reminded uneasily.
"Of course I know it could be a lie." Harry tapped the newspaper on the table with his fingers, "But I prefer to believe it's true."
"Maybe, there is a possibility." Harry looked at Ron and said, "This news is actually for Albert. After all, that guy can predict the future. If Voldemort plans to break into the prison, he will definitely not be able to hide it from him."
"But... why couldn't the Ministry of Magic have leaked it on purpose? Maybe they wanted to use it to discourage Voldemort from breaking into the prison?"
The nootropics had apparently helped Ron think more clearly.
"That's possible, but I still think it's to attract the attention of the Ministry of Magic if Voldemort really intends to do something."
Harry didn't think that doing so would force You-Know-Who to give up his attempt to break out of the prison.
"That's all your guess, isn't it?" Hermione sat down next to Harry with a tray of food.
"certainly."
Harry didn't argue with Hermione about it, because there was no point in doing so.
"I don't see Professor Slughorn. I guess he should be having dinner in his office now." Hermione lowered her voice and said her observation just now. "When do you plan to start the action?"
"After breakfast, I plan to use the Felicia Felix to try my luck with Professor Slughorn. If I don't have a chance in the morning, I'll go again at noon. If I can't get lucky at noon, I'll try my luck again at night. Anyway, I still have enough Felicia Felix to squander." Harry finished the bread in his hand and consoled himself, "I've been preparing for so long, even using the Felicia Felix. I can't find any reason to fail."
He ignored Ron and Hermione's relieved looks and focused again on the news in the newspaper in his hand.
The feeling that something was about to happen intensified.
After breakfast, the three of them returned to the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't that Harry forgot to bring the Felicia Rinpoche, but he needed to go back to the dormitory to get the mead that he was going to give to Professor Slughorn as a birthday present.
Of course, it is not necessary to get Professor Slughorn drunk. Instead, the success rate will be higher if you follow the intuition of the Felicis.
"We are waiting for your good news."
After Ron and Hermione escorted Harry out of the common room, they watched him disappear at the end of the corridor.
"Do you think Harry will succeed?" Ron turned his head and asked Hermione.
"I don't know, but I hope Harry can succeed." Hermione lowered her voice and said, "To be honest, I don't think Albert will be involved in this."
"Why?" Ron asked puzzled.
"If Albert really wanted to do that, he would have done it long ago," Hermione curled her lips and said, "You don't believe that this is a 'test left by Dumbledore for Harry'!"
"Isn't it? Didn't Harry say last time..."
After Ron heard Harry's complaints last time, he really thought so. Otherwise, why would Dumbledore make things difficult for Harry when Albert could do it easily
"That's just Harry's complaint." Hermione looked like she had really lost to you, "Let's go back and wait for Harry. If things go well, it shouldn't take long."
After taking the Felicis potion, Harry's original anxiety was instantly swept away, and he was confident that he could convince Slughorn to hand over that memory.
After all, preparations for this had been made in the previous months.
Now thinking about it, the bottle of mead that I asked Sirius to help buy seemed a bit redundant. After all, getting someone drunk really depends on luck. Fortunately, it can still come in handy as a birthday gift.
Driven by the Felicis Felix, Harry took out the Marauder's Map from his pocket, intending to reconfirm whether Slughorn was still in his office to avoid making a wasted trip. The amount of Felicis Felix could only last for about half an hour.
When Harry found Slughorn on the Marauder's Map, he discovered that there was another black dot in his office. The name marked next to the black dot surprised Harry even more.
Narcissa Malfoy.
Why was she at Hogwarts
Harry couldn't help but narrow his eyes, smelling the scent of conspiracy.
What was there to justify Narcissa Malfoy's risk of running to Hogwarts
Harry quickly guessed the reason: Felicis.
Narcissa Malfoy wanted to get the Felicis Felicis from Professor Slughorn, but why did she come in person instead of letting her son Malfoy steal it
Did Narcissa Malfoy want to buy Felicis Felix from Professor Slughorn
Harry quickly rejected this possibility. He was willing to bet all his Felicis Felicis that Narcissa had definitely not come to Hogwarts through normal means.
Secret passage
But there shouldn't be many people who know about these secret passages.
Harry slowed down his pace unconsciously, and he thought of someone. Snape knew a secret passage from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.
"Next, just use the Disillusionment Charm or take the Compound Potion..."
Maybe, this is an opportunity.
As for the Felicis Felix, Harry was not worried about Narcissa being able to get it, because Slughorn's supply of Felicis Felix had been bought up by Dumbledore.
Harry was no longer in a hurry to find Slughorn. Instead, he deliberately slowed down his pace. He had a hunch that he would be able to get Slughorn to hand over that part of his memory this time.
Harry walked slowly to Slughorn's office, put away the Marauder's Map and pulled out his wand before knocking on the wooden door.
After waiting for a few seconds and seeing no sound from inside, Harry became even more certain that Narcissa Malfoy had come with bad intentions, otherwise when he heard someone knocking on the door, Slughorn would definitely speak up or come over to help open the door, instead of being so quiet like he was now.
Maybe the other party wants to wait for me to leave, or is preparing to ambush me
Harry didn't hesitate and took the initiative.
With a light touch of his wand on the wooden door, Harry used the Shattering Charm with the help of the Felicity Potion to create a hole in the door, and then used a Stunning Charm through the hole on the person inside.
This sudden and insidious move is enough to knock down many people.
However, when Harry heard the noise in the office, he couldn't help but frown because the other party had avoided the sneak attack of his stunning spell.
Difficult!
Harry opened the door without hesitation and threw the bottle of wine intended for Slughorn in as bait to distract the enemy.
After the sound of the wine bottle breaking, Harry suddenly appeared outside the door, shaking his wand and quickly chanting several spells at Narcissa.
Harry used some practical spells to avoid accidentally hurting Slughorn. He did not forget the purpose of coming here, and catching Narcissa was only a secondary matter.
However, to Harry's surprise, the person in front of him was not Narcissa, but Pansy Parkinson, a classmate of Slytherin.
Compound medicine.
There is indeed something wrong with this guy.
What surprised Harry the most was not Narcissa's disguise, but her strength. Even when Harry attacked her by surprise, she was able to calmly use the Shield Charm to block Harry's spell.
You have to know that Harry has specially trained his fighting skills. He doesn't dare to say how powerful he is, but with the help of the Felicia Rinpoche, ordinary wizards are definitely not his opponents. Even Lupin and Sirius would be knocked down by him directly if they were attacked by surprise.
But Pansy Parkinson... no, it should be Narcissa, she actually blocked it calmly and fought back very quickly, which was simply unimaginable.
Even Aurors may not be as good as you.
What the hell.
Harry waved his wand, used the Shield Charm to deflect the opponent's spell, and then nimbly moved to the side of the wall.
The brief fight made Harry realize how difficult the opponent was. Once a large-scale conflict broke out, Slughorn would definitely be in big trouble. That was not the result Harry wanted, because Slughorn's safety was more important. At least, he couldn't be in any trouble before he got that memory.
So, Harry did not rush to attack, but gave the opponent a chance to escape by jumping out the window.
If Narcissa Malfoy wanted to escape, jumping out of the window would undoubtedly be the best option.
However, Harry did not wait for the sound of Narcissa jumping out of the window, but instead waited for a large amount of smoke. His intuition told him that Narcissa intended to escape under the cover of the smoke.
So, instead of fighting back, Harry stepped back and let the other person go.
After counting silently for a few seconds, Harry waved his wand and a strong wind swept away the smoke in the corridor. Narcissa had disappeared into thin air.
Harry quickly glanced at the Marauder's Map and, after making sure Narcissa had left, he immediately went to check on Slughorn.
“Rejuvenate.”
Harry pointed his wand at Slughorn's chest, trying to wake him up.
Perhaps it was because of the Felicis Felix, but the Resuscitation Charm was more effective than Harry had expected, and Slughorn, who had been unconscious, actually began to move.
"Professor, are you okay?" Harry reached out and helped the old man up.
"I'm fine," Slughorn said without any emotion.
Harry raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at Slughorn suspiciously, and helped him sit on the only intact sofa. At this moment, footsteps were suddenly heard outside.
"What's going on?"
The two girls appeared outside the door and stared at the messy Potions office in amazement.
"An outsider broke into Hogwarts and attacked Slughorn. Go find Dumbledore, quickly." Harry tried to send the girl away.
After the troublemaker left, Harry immediately took the opportunity to ask, "Why did Narcissa attack you?"
"Narcissa, I don't know. That man wanted to buy Felix Felicis. After I said that all the Felix Felicis had been bought by Dumbledore, he suddenly used a full body binding spell on me and fed me Veritaserum..."
When Harry heard about Veritaserum, he knew his chance had come.
"Professor, I need that memory of yours. I hope you can give it to me." Harry waved his wand and summoned an empty glass bottle, then handed his wand to Slughorn. "I need that memory. I need to use it to understand Voldemort. I must kill Voldemort and avenge my mother. This is my destiny because I am the savior."
Slughorn turned even paler, and sweat even began to appear on his forehead. It was obvious that he was reluctant to do this.
"Professor, you don't need to be afraid that Voldemort will find out that you helped me." Harry comforted, "We have found Voldemort's fatal weakness, and he will be finished soon."
"Really?" Slughorn shuddered slightly.
"Yes, Professor, Albert has predicted the death of Voldemort."
Slughorn took Harry's wand tremblingly, put the tip of it to his temple, drew out a long silver strand of memory, and placed it into the glass bottle Harry handed him.
"Thank you very much, Professor," Harry whispered. "You did a very brave and noble thing."
After Harry put the glass bottle back into his pocket, he retrieved his wand and flicked it gently, causing Slughorn to fall back into a deep sleep.
"What are you doing, Potter?" Professor McGonagall rushed in angrily, followed by several students.
"Someone broke into Hogwarts and attacked Professor Slughorn." Harry looked at Professor McGonagall calmly and said in a tone that could not be refuted: "It's best for us to talk alone. I need to see Professor Dumbledore. I have something very important to tell him."
"Dumbledore is not in school. You can tell me and I can help tell him." Professor McGonagall waved her wand, repaired the door of the Potions Office, and blocked other students outside.
"No, no. If Professor Dumbledore didn't tell you, he obviously thought you didn't need to know. Some things can easily go wrong if too many people know them." Harry shook his head. "By the way, Slughorn was poisoned by Veritaserum. It's best not to let anyone ask him questions before the Veritaserum is removed. And the person who attacked Slughorn was Narcissa Malfoy. She used a polyjuice potion to disguise herself as Pansy Parkinson. I don't think she should have escaped from Hogwarts through a secret passage. Also, do you have a way to contact Dumbledore? Let him return to Hogwarts as soon as possible. There is something very important."
Professor McGonagall looked at Harry, pursed her lips and said, "I'll pass the message to him right away."
As she spoke, she walked to the window and waved the wand in her hand. A silver-white patronus flew out from the tip of the wand and quickly disappeared.