Chapter 48: Slug Club

　　 Since it is an odd number of weeks, there is no "after-school practice" course on Saturday this week.
　　 Maybe this is a good thing, because the "after-school practice" that Matthew participated in the first two times had more or less accidents.
　　 He spent most of the weekend in the "House of Request".
Of course, he did not inquire about the incident related to the attack... For a first-year freshman like him, who knows more, it’s useless; if there is really another attack. All he can do is to protect himself as much as possible.
　　Matthew Wickfield never forgets that he is a student.
　　The most important duty of students is to study. Especially in such a magical world, although the magical world is not so dark forest from the outside, living the weak and the strong; but Matthew knows very well that in any case, he must truly become a powerful wizard.
　　The realm of magic is actually far more profound than imagined; the more you touch, the more profound and vast you can feel.
　　 is much more than just waving a wand stupidly or shouting a few spells.
　　It is not easy to learn and use any spell proficiently. No wonder most adult wizards in the original book, even wizards working in the Ministry of Magic, cannot recite a decent iron armor curse.
　　 Matthew didn't go far too far, trying to get in touch with those advanced magic. Instead, learn from the most basic transformations, hovering spells, and unlocking spells, and lay a solid foundation.
　　 In a sense, almost no one at Hogwarts is more diligent than Matthew Wickfield. Not even Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw.
　　……
　　 On Sunday afternoon, just after six o'clock, Matthew put down the book and wand in his hand.
　　 It's time to leave the House of Request. Later, he is going to go to the dinner of Professor Slughorn.
　　 Matthew walked outside the responsive house. When passing the empty bookshelf on the way, he waved his hand and made a "goodbye" expression.
　　 stepped out of the responsive house, the door behind him quickly turned into a white wall; on the opposite tapestry, the moth-eaten monsters were still struggling to beat their ballet teacher with a wooden stick, without realizing that Matthew had left.
　　 When passing the first corner ahead, Matthew suddenly heard someone calling his name at the fork on the left.
　　 "Matthew!"
　　 is the voice of Neville Longbottom.
　　 "Hello, Neville." Matthew also greeted Neville.
　　 "Why are you here?" Neville asked curiously.
　　 The Slytherin common room is in the basement. Generally speaking, unless there are classes, few Slytherin students come to the eighth floor.
　　 "I'm here to ask Professor Flitwick about something." Matthew replied calmly, concealing something about the "House of All Requests".
　　 And Professor Flitwick’s office happened to be on the eighth floor of the castle, near the thirteenth window on the right side of the West Tower.
　　 "Okay!" Neville nodded, "I'm about to go to Professor Slughorn's office for tonight's party. By the way, he should have invited you too?"
　　 "Yes." Matthew replied, "Shall we go there together?"
　　 "Of course, we can go!"
　　……
　　 Side by side, the two walked down the marble steps until they reached the office of Professor Horace Slughorn in the basement.
　　 I don’t know if it was the case, or because of magic, Slughorn’s office was much larger than the average teacher’s room.
　　 The decoration should also be much more gorgeous, at least in sharp contrast with the snow cave-like room in Professor Rozier’s office.
Emerald green, crimson, and gold curtains hung everywhere on the walls; at the same time, the whole room was illuminated red by a golden lantern hung in the center of the ceiling; in a corner in the distance, from time to time there was a loud sound that sounded like a man The singing accompanied by the torme...
　　 "Neville, Matthew!" As soon as they squeezed in the door, Slughorn yelled like a bell, "Welcome, very welcome!"
　　Horace Slughorn wears a tasseled mink hat, which matches his velvet coat quite well, and at the same time is more prosperous.
　　Matthew noticed that his address for himself has changed from a surname to a first name.
　　 After receiving the two into the room, Slughorn went on to talk to a senior girl.
　　 There are only less than 20 students in the huge office; it seems that among the hundreds of students at Hogwarts, not many can be in the eyes of Slughorn.
　　 There are two round tables in total. On one table, there are all senior students sitting on it, and the other is almost all younger.
　　Nawei took Matthew, found two empty seats on the table of the junior students and sat down.
　　 Most of you here are almost strange faces; the only one Matthew can recognize is a dark-skinned Hufflepuff student of the same grade as him.
　　 "To be honest, I don't like the style of this party~EbookFREE.me~ but I have to come." After sitting down, Neville whispered in Matthew's ear.
Then he pointed to the dark-skinned Hufflepuff student: "Bresse Shabini, you should know... His family is very rich, and his mother, um, is a very famous witch. So far I have been a widow six times, and every husband who dies has left her with a large inheritance."
　　 "Of course, me too!" Neville said somewhat self-deprecatingly, "Because his parents are both senior Aurors with a little reputation in the Ministry of Magic, Slughorn would invite me."
　　 "Good evening, Longbottom!" At this moment, a carefree voice suddenly came from behind them.
　　 is a big boy with stubborn hair, who looks slightly older than them.
　　 "Hello, Komic." Neville said hello to him, while introducing Matthew: "This is Gryffindor second grade Komic McLagen."
　　Matthew also had some impressions of this name. His father seemed to be a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic.
"Hello there!"
　　 "Cormac, this is a new club member, Slytherin's first-year Matthew Wickfield."
　　 Matthew stood up and shook hands with Cormac McLagen.
　　 "It's not easy for freshmen to join the club!" McLagen praised.
　　 But as he spoke at a close distance, Matthew and the others suddenly smelled a heavy smell of garlic.
　　Naville couldn't help covering his nose, and Matthew frowned.
　　 Looking at their expressions, McLagen pretended to say deeply, "I suggest that you should eat more garlic recently, or else..."
　　 He hummed a few times, and then sat down on the other side of Neville.