Chapter 184: His struggle

"I really thought about many, many possibilities, Horace..."
Gellert Grindelwald lightly waved the old magic wand in his hand, and then transformed into a soft armchair, and then sat down unscrupulously in front of Horace Slughorn.
Slughorn remained motionless the whole time, continuing to taste his delicious pineapple compote.
The two are not like enemies at all, but like old friends for many years recounting the past.
Grindelwald continued: "I have doubted many people at Hogwarts... Whether it is Frios, Pomona or even Aurora, they all have reasons and possibilities to betray me... Only You, I never thought about the possibility of you betraying me..."
"Betrayal?" Horace Slughorn sneered, and then he stood up, opened a new bottle of mead, and poured himself a glass.
He calmly said: "The last Hogwarts principal I have worked for so far was Professor Armando Dipet... He passed away fifty years ago, almost all the evidence It all shows that you did the murder, Grindelwald... I should have continued my allegiance to the next principal chosen by Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore, and he was killed by you in Newmontgard Prison Detained for a full fifty years... If I choose to swear allegiance to you, that would be betrayal!"
"So, from the first day I came to Hogwarts, you started to be the secret spy of the Order of the Phoenix?" Grindelwald asked curiously.
"Of course!" Slughorn nodded naturally. "From the time I knew about the death of Principal Armando Diepert, when I saw Professor Yusuf Shaker die in front of your people. When I saw that any traces left by Albus Dumbledore had been washed away... Horace Slughorn had already made up his mind!"
"It seems that your status in the Order of the Phoenix is ​​not low?" Grindelwald asked with some interest.
"The status within the Order of the Phoenix is ​​not high or low," Slughorn spread his hands. "There is only one online I can contact. Don't worry, you can't find that person... At the same time, Minerva is the only person on the line, and you don’t have to bother to interrogate her, you can’t ask anything..."
"Of course I know..." Grindelwald nodded.
"Thank you!" Slughorn murmured, then drank the mead in the glass.
...
"Speaking of which, Horace, you have really caused me a lot of trouble over the years..."
Grindelwald conjured up another goblet. Just as he was about to pour himself a glass of Slughorn's mead, he was stopped by the potions teacher...
"You drink this bottle!" Horace Slughorn threw the previously unfinished bottle of mead to Grindelwald, and then poured himself the bottle of mead that was just opened later. Served a big cup.
"Okay!" Grindelwald's expression changed slightly, but he seemed to have no opinion on it.
While pouring himself a glass of mead, he continued, "Looking back now, there are indeed a lot of troubles, the black hand behind you, Horace..."
"It's like the whistleblower fifteen years ago, now that I think about it, you should have done it, Horace... Remus Lupin ran to tell me the plans of the children. When I ordered everyone When the teachers blocked any exits at Hogwarts (mainly secret passages) and prevented anyone from leaving, I'm afraid you realized something was wrong for the first time, and then reminded the children!"
"Of course!" Slughorn said proudly:
"To be honest, I had almost no hope of whether they could escape from Hogwarts at that time... But I didn't want them but gave me a surprise. The invisibility cloak passed down by the James Potter family, really It's a good thing...but I really can't figure out how they crowded so many people under a small invisibility cloak..."
"It is indeed a special invisibility cloak!" Grindelwald squinted his eyes and commented.
"I'm afraid that cloak of invisibility has already fallen into your hands, Grindelwald... Since the last time you arrested James Potter..." Slughorn teased.
Grindelwald did not speak, but acquiesced.
"Those young, newly developed members of the Order of the Phoenix, I am afraid they are all from your club, Horace... Honestly, when Lily Evans spoke out against me, I should have thought of it; young His soul is a piece of white paper. If they become dirty, someone must have deliberately splashed stains on it..."
"Of course so!" Slughorn still did not deny:
"As you said, Grindelwald... young souls are a blank piece of paper. They only need a little guidance and they will move towards the righteous direction; they are always full of vitality and never lack faith... Just need to have a right goal..."
His voice was full of pride again: "It's not just that you didn't find it, but they didn't even know it... If Lily Evans knew that she and I were both from the Order of the Phoenix, I'm afraid she would also Very surprised! I'm afraid in their eyes, they have always thought that Horace Slughorn is a greedy, fearful, sleek, bad old man!"
"It's commendable!" Gellert Grindelwald couldn't help but gave a thumbs up.
"If you don't do this, how can you fool your eyes?" Slughorn also praised politely, "Especially the pair of eyes in your heart..."
"I can indeed see the future..." Grindelwald shook his head, "but I have never believed in it... the future is just a warning. If you take it as a guide, it is undoubtedly the act of a fool!"
The headmaster of Hogwarts paused, then continued to ask:
"Dirk Creswell, who is also from your Order of the Phoenix?"
Slughorn was stunned, and he was silent for a moment.
"No need to blame yourself, Horace... don't think you exposed him!" Grindelwald comforted, "A few hours ago, before I guessed your identity, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic had already He arrested...As the director of the Fairy Liaison Office of the Department of Fantastic Beasts Management and Control, a subordinate department of the Alien Office, he guarded and stolen, but secretly led the fairies' rebellion... When the fairies of Gringotts calmed down, he The identity of is not unexpectedly exposed..."
Slughorn asked in a low voice, "Dirk... what about him... what will happen to him?"
"Azkaban...life imprisonment...no parole!" Gellert Grindelwald said without hesitation:
"It's not just him, all the participants in this rebellion have this ending... Whether it's Dirk Cresway, Porter, or Elaine Shafik..."
...
The two were silent for a moment, drinking mead sullenly over there.
"The number of wizards is very small!" Grindelwald suddenly said, "Every wizard is precious...I never want to deprive any wizard of the life, no matter what they do...In my eyes, They are undoubtedly like relatives and children who have done something wrong..."
"Then you send your relatives and children to Azkaban to be with the Dementors?" Slughorn couldn't help but sarcastically.
"But you can stop this, Horace!" Grindelwald's expression suddenly became serious.
He bluntly stated the real purpose of his trip.
"Tell me... Tell me what you have done in the past year, what are you hiding?" Grindelwald asked softly.
"You know, it's impossible, Grindelwald..." Slughorn's voice was categorical.
"Of course I know...Any memories related to the event have probably been modified by you a long time ago; your Occlumency is also very good... As for Veritaserum, for you, a potions expert , It doesn't make any sense..."
Slughorn said nothing.
"Only you can say it, I can forgive you everything..." Grindelwald continued, "Whether it is Dirk Creswell, Elaine Shafik... or you, Minerva and Bo Especially for the three of them, all can be free...I can forgive what you did...I assure you, I think my words still have a little credibility..."
"...Horace...I beg you..."
Horace Slughorn shook his head expressionlessly:
"That's impossible!"
...
So he was categorically rejected.
Grindelwald was not angry, but calmly poured himself another glass of mead.
"To be honest, I've gotten used to it all these years..." He said calmly, "You people in the Order of the Phoenix, at least those people I contact, are as stubborn as Albus Dumbled... ...Obviously what I did was for the benefit of the wizard..."
"... Wizard, we are the most powerful creatures in this world... The fullness of magic can only exist in a very few souls like us... So we should control the world, and deserve a higher equality. More noble..."
"Stop your rhetoric, Grindelwald!" Horace Slughorn sneered, "Don't think you can fool everyone..."
"...The interests of wizards do not need you to represent... Before you were born, before you came to England, wizards had always lived freely and freely..." Slughorn said loudly, his The voice was a little excited:
"...The blooming of magic has brought us a lot...We don’t need to run for life like Muggles, we just need to use magic to enjoy our life...It’s like drinking mead while Eating pineapple compote, what a wonderful and happy life..."
"...We don't need to enslave Muggles, they won't have any impact on our wonderful and happy life... The same goes for horses and house elves..."
"...It's actually you, Grindelwald that really ruined everything in this calm!" Slughorn continued to roar:
"...You brought the war to us, and you destroyed everything we calm and cherish..."
"Those are just sacrifices," Gellert Grindelwald responded calmly, "In order to achieve greater benefits, we need some small sacrifices... this is a matter of course!"
"Greater interests..." Slughorn sneered. "This is just your excuse... The so-called greater interests only exist in your fantasy..."
"Maybe so!" Grindelwald did not deny this:
"Greater interests are indeed my ideals; I have been fighting for this throughout my life..."
"For the greater good... I sacrificed a lot... Since 1897, nearly a hundred years ago, I have been fighting for it... Because of it, I have lost everything... I and my best friend Turning my eyes back into hatred, I have witnessed the loyal subordinates die in front of me...Of course, there are my years and my life..."
"So, Horace..." Gellert Grindelwald shrugged.
"Actually, I can't go back anymore... For the greater good, I sacrificed everything I have; if once I turn around, it means denying my life... Don't feel like this, UU read www.uukanshu. com can dispel my belief..."
"I think Albus Dumbledore is right about you, Grindelwald!" Slughorn said suddenly.
"Oh?" Gellert Grindelwald relaxed his brows with interest.
"He said, you are a lunatic!"
"That's true..." Someone in Grindelwald nodded unexpectedly, and said with a smile:
"It's not just me, but he too...sometimes, we are both crazy!"
...
Both bottles of mead are almost bottoming out.
The dialogue between Gellert Grindelwald and Horace Slughorn also came to an end.
After a moment of silence... Slughorn suddenly lay down on the chair, his eyes slowly closed, as if he was asleep.
Looking at this colleague who has been with his colleague for nearly fifty years, he glanced at the mead bottle in his hand...
Grindelwald sighed and shook his head with regret.
"Farewell, Horace!"
He poured the last bit of mead from his bottle on the floor in front of him.
Afterwards, he turned and left and walked out of the potions teacher's office.
Professor Vita Rozier, the vice president, was waiting for him in front of Slughorn's office.
"How's it going, Lord Grindelwald?" She quickly asked as she watched Grindelwald walk out.
Grindelwald sighed again.
Then, he shook his head again, and said in a low voice:
"The dean of Slytherin College, the potions teacher at Hogwarts, and Professor Horace Eugene Frakus Slughorn... just now, he accidentally took poison and passed away. !"