Hogwarts Kryptonian - Chapter 305

c305 Circle of friends

“You’ve been waiting for a long time. There are a lot of people at Ollivander’s.”

“fine.”

Lu Yunkai smiled and nodded to Slughorn.

The Leaky Cauldron is still very busy, but it is actually not easy to find a place in the store where three people can sit down and have a good chat.

But it is not difficult for Lu Yunkai.

Tom easily cleared a place for him to sit quietly.

“I heard Severus say some time ago, have you ever been back to Hogwarts?” Slughorn sat opposite Lu Yunkai and waved to Tom at the bar.

Tom nodded naturally.

He knows exactly what the regular patrons want to drink.

“Well, I was a little busy at the time, so I didn’t go to see you specifically.” Only then did Lu Yunkai realize this.

In Hogwarts, the familiarity between his adoptive father and him was probably ranked sixth or seventh, and he really couldn’t think of going to see him.

“It’s okay. Even if you go to see me, it seems we don’t have much to talk about.” Slughorn waved his hand and said with a smile, “I don’t want to disturb your life.”

After finishing speaking, he glanced at Daphne.

“……Um.”

“I’m looking for you because I have arranged a dinner party, the day after tomorrow.” Slughorn saw that Lu Yunkai and Daphne both looked embarrassed, and brought the topic back to business with a smile: “Invited some magic potions Friends from the association come to Liverpool too!”

“Dinner? Okay.” Lu Yunkai agreed simply, “Do I want to help make something?”

It’s not like he has never attended the Potions Master’s Association dinner. Snape took him to a similar occasion before.

“Yeah.” Slughorn nodded, “You can prepare a little and give a speech.”

“…Speech??” Lu Yunkai was stunned.

The help he mentioned should be something like preparing the venue and food, or receiving some visiting guests on site.

Why are you still giving a speech?

“This is said to be a dinner party, but it is actually an exchange meeting.” Slughorn said with a smile: “Why don’t you want to gather so many respectable potion masters just for a meal? No one will come at all!!”

“That’s right.” Lu Yunkai thought about it. The dinner party he attended before was actually very boring.

“And whether the mysterious man is really dead or not, we will always return to normal life.” Slughorn continued, “Be it banquets or academic exchanges, they are all part of normal life.”

“But is it appropriate for me, a wizard apprentice who has not yet graduated, to give a speech in front of a group of potion masters?”

“There is nothing inappropriate. You have to have confidence in yourself. Regarding your current potion knowledge, I heard Severus tell me that you have improved wolfsbane potion before?” Slughorn put away his smile and said: “Just prepare this topic, and then make a report! From how you discovered the problem with Wolfsbane Potion, to how you thought about improvements, and then what attempts you made… Be a little more detailed, but don’t be exhaustive than what you wrote It would be nice if the potions thesis was more concise.”

“Okay.” Lu Yunkai thought for a while and nodded.

“Very good.” Slughorn was very pleased to see Lu Yunkai agreed directly without asking why or mentioning any difficulties. “Of course, if you have other interesting ideas, you can also mention them. carry.”

“Interesting…does the improved explosive corrosion potion count?” Lu Yun joked with a smile.

“You haven’t graduated yet, so don’t be in a hurry to touch these things restricted by the Ministry of Magic. Wait until you have been a teacher at Hogwarts for a few years before you talk about these taboo things!” Slughorn waved his hand, “This time The reason why I came to you alone about the speech is that I hope you will take it seriously and treat it as an important matter. For you, if you do well in this report, it will be no problem if you don’t take the NEWTS exam. Do you understand?”

“I don’t quite understand.” Lu Yunkai shook his head, “NEWTS…”

“It’s just a certificate.” Slughorn said seriously: “You have also met Grindelwald. He is a wizard apprentice who was fired by Durmstrang, let alone NEWTS. Who dares not to Does he take it seriously?”

“…”

“Whether the mysterious man is dead or not, this matter has come to an end.” “”

“After what happened some time ago, you will definitely no longer think about working in the Ministry of Magic. The NEWTS certificate is of no use to you. If you want to learn more, just take a look. If you don’t want to learn… this You can leave all these things behind for one year.” Slughorn looked at Lu Yunkai’s speechless expression and continued to say seriously: “If possible, I would also like to suggest that you get a lot of NEWTS. Certificates, it’s best to give up a few.”

“Ah? Why?” Lu Yunkai couldn’t understand more and more.

Even if you can take the exam, you don’t need it? ?

“For your own good.” Slughorn looked like he didn’t want to say more and shook his head, “No matter what! These are all things for later. You should prepare your speech carefully for me first! Try to give it to me! It can be a blockbuster, do you understand?”

“Oh.” Although Lu Yunkai was still confused, he nodded vaguely.

Although he was not very familiar with this adoptive father, Lu Yunkai believed that he would not harm him.

“Can you prepare the paper for your speech by tomorrow morning?” Slughorn glanced at the clock on the wall, and then asked Lu Yunkai, “I’ll take a look at your speech at noon tomorrow.”

“I wrote the paper on the wolfsbane potion before, but Professor Snape said that it was not convenient for me to publish such a paper that might make some people uncomfortable, so he withheld it from me.” Lu Yunkai thought for a while, “The paper should still be in my bag.”

“Then go and get it for me to see.” Slughorn nodded.

“…Or why don’t you come to my house with me? It’s better than being here.” Lu Yunkai glanced at the crowded Leaky Cauldron.

“No, I’ll wait for you here!” Slughorn smiled, “I’d better not disturb your life.”

“What’s the bother!” Daphne interrupted quickly, “Professor, you and Lu Yunkai are too polite, right?”

“I’ll wait for you here!” Slughorn insisted and shook his head with a smile.

Lu Yunkai glanced at Daphne, and could only go back home through the fireplace alone. He took out the paper that he had written a few years ago from the space bag and took it back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Daphne stayed and chatted with Slughorn. When Lu Yunkai hurried back, she was smiling and discussing with Slughorn what happened in Hogwarts last year.

After getting Lu Yunkai’s paper, Slughorn stopped chatting with Daphne and began to read it seriously.

That afternoon was spent in the noise and silence of the Leaky Cauldron.

Like Snape, Slughorn gave a very high evaluation of Lu Yunkai’s paper and even agreed that Lu Yunkai would give a speech at the dinner party according to this paper without any modification.

And Lu Yunkai did not disappoint him.

At the subsequent dinner party, Lu Yunkai gave a wonderful speech in front of nearly twenty potion masters with an age span of more than 100 years, winning applause from the whole room.

This included Slughorn and his real potion master Snape.

Even the original inventor of the wolfsbane potion who was invited to come.

The guest generously applauded to show that he would not have any opinion on Lu Yunkai because his discovery was improved by him.

Or maybe, because Slughorn was there, he had to hold back his dissatisfaction.

After finishing his speech, Lu Yunkai also listened to the speeches of two other guests who were invited to give academic reports at the dinner.

They were all discussions about the mechanism of action of potions, which were much more profound than what Lu Yunkai said.

This was also the first time Lu Yunkai participated in such a real “academic exchange meeting”. In the intervals between speeches, Lu Yunkai was also led by Slughorn to talk to all the guests who came.

Slughorn did not show the attitude of “I don’t want to interfere too much in your life” in the Leaky Cauldron before, and he praised his adopted son to every guest who came to the dinner without hesitation.

This made Lu Yunkai, who was used to keeping a low profile, a little uncomfortable, but he still tried to respond appropriately.

And he also noticed that the things Slughorn praised him seemed to be a little different from the things he was proud of.

The Triwizard Cup champion and a lot of OWLS excellence are the two things that Lu Yunkai is most proud of besides the communication mirror, but Slughorn didn’t say a word to those who came to the banquet.

On the contrary, Slughorn kept mentioning things that Lu Yunkai thought there was nothing to say.

For example, his research on magic circles was a must-have topic for Slughorn to show off to every guest.

Even in Slughorn’s mouth, the communication mirror was just a by-product of his research on magic circles and was not worth mentioning.

So much so that when Lu Yunkai returned home after the dinner, when he talked about this in the communication mirror with Blaise, the two laughed for a long time.

Talking and laughing, this “report dinner” that Lu Yunkai prepared carefully was really not over.

At the dinner, he exchanged communication mirror numbers with some guests, and these potion masters who he thought might be very cold were unexpectedly talkative.

The two wizards who made reports at the dinner like him were even more so. One of them even invited Lu Yunkai to his home to discuss with him the improved explosive corrosion potion that he accidentally let slip…

And Lu Yunkai also invited him to his home as a guest.

After seeing the large area of ​​herbs in Lu Yunkai’s backyard that were carefully taken care of by Irene and blooming, the envious potion master even wanted to become a brother of the opposite sex with Lu Yunkai (he was a little older than Snape)…

It was also with the reminder of Irene, who had watched a good show, that Lu Yunkai realized why these potion masters were so interested in Lu Yunkai, and why Slughorn always talked about his magic circle and communication mirror at the dinner: Irene didn’t learn potion well at the beginning, in addition to hating Snape, there was another very important reason, that potions were too expensive.

As the developer of the communication mirror, Lu Yunkai is already well-known as the richest wizard in Britain. Even if those wizards don’t consider Slughorn, the former president, they will definitely get along well with Lu Yunkai for the sake of gold galleons.

After understanding this, Lu Yunkai not only did not look down on these potion masters because of their reality, but instead felt that these people who usually only dealt with crucibles and potion bottles were straightforward and cute…

He was not short of money at all and showed his “generosity” at the right time. He generously gave away a lot of expensive or even unsalable potion materials to some of his new friends.

This made his reputation in the potion master circle reach a height that even Slughorn envied (this is what he said in the communication mirror), and Snape, as the headmaster of Hogwarts, also told Lu Yunkai very clearly that as long as he was willing, he would be the professor of potions at Hogwarts at this time next year…

In this way, Lu Yunkai’s last summer vacation started in peace and quiet, and ended in excitement.

Finally, after half a year away from Hogwarts, Lu Yunkai took a special express train and came to Hogwarts as a student for the seventh and last time.

…