Chapter 49: Dinner

　　 "Garlic?" Cormac McLagen's strange words instantly caught the attention of another student from the Slug Club sitting beside Matthew.
　　 "I hate garlic the most!" He frowned, muttering over there.
　　 But soon, he also smelled the strong garlic smell in McLagen's mouth, and quickly retracted his head.
　　 "Hello!" Matthew glanced at the boy sitting next to him and spoke actively.
　　 The boy was thin and slightly nervous. He smiled unnaturally.
　　 "Matthew, this is Marcos Bellby in the second grade of Ravenclaw!" Neville quickly introduced: "Belby, this is Matthew Wickfield in the first grade of Slytherin."
　　 "Hello, Wakefield, and Longbottom." Bellby whispered.
　　 "Good evening, Belby." Neville also nodded at him.
　　 After greeted each other briefly, Neville got to Matthew's ear and explained softly:
"McLagan’s father David McLagan works in the Ministry of Magic and has a great relationship with Minister Millison Barnold; and Mr. Bellby’s uncle Damocles Bellby is a well-known potion expert , The inventor of the wolf poison potion, and received the Merlin Medal for it..."
　　……
　　 Matthew can see that the students around the round table he is at are basically the children of famous and successful people, as well as the children of families with good interpersonal relationships in the magical world.
　　 In other words, everyone here seems to have been invited because of a close relationship with an influential figure. Just like Neville, McLagen and Bellby. If Draco Malfoy hadn't been in the school hospital because of his injury, he would be here too.
　　 And students with average family background and outstanding talents can hardly see...
　　 For example, Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw. She has made her mark at Hogwarts in the past month. Almost all teachers like her very much and think she is the best student in the first grade. Of course, this is also related to her relatively public personality, while Matthew is relatively low-key.
　　 There is also Cedric Diggory in Hufflepuff's third grade. Although Matthew has not been in contact with him, judging from the evaluation of him by some students in the second and third grades, he is also the best student in his grade.
　　 However, neither of them received Slughorn’s invitation, nor did they appear in the Slug Club.
Of course, on another long table in the upper grades, you can see a few students with average family background but outstanding talents... For example, Matthew can recognize Percy Weasley in the fifth grade of Gryffindor ( Given the family conditions of the Weasleys, it is almost impossible for him to come here by that).
　　Perhaps Professor Horace Slughorn has completely different evaluation criteria for whether the upper and lower students can join his core small group.
　　 Then I am very honored to receive this invitation in the first grade!
　　 Matthew smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, but his face quickly became serious.
　　 He frowned, thinking--
　　 Why does Slughorn look at himself differently?
　　 Is it just because of the excellent performance in the potions class?
　　 "Matthew!" Neville asked with concern: "What's the matter, your face is a little ugly?"
　　 "Nothing." Matthew quickly stretched his eyebrows and responded with a smile: "It's just that I'm not used to the style here."
　　 Nawei's face suddenly smiled: "It seems we feel the same!"
　　……
The members of 　　 slug club arrived one after another. They sat down at two round tables, and the dinner soon began.
　　 Many golden shiny plates appeared in front of everyone, but there was no food inside, but Matthew noticed that there was a small menu at the nearest location.
　　 He picked up his own menu, which was written with all kinds of dishes; he looked around again, but didn't find the waiter.
　　 "You should do this." Neville reminded him in a low voice.
　　 Then he picked up his menu, looked at his plate, and said very clearly: "Hungarian goulash!"
　　 A piece of beef immediately appeared on his plate.
　　 Matthew suddenly realized that he quickly followed suit and ordered his favorite food on the plate.
　　 I have to say that the food at Slughorn’s dinner is much more refined than usual school dinners; it seems that the Slytherin Dean is quite particular about eating and drinking.
　　 But throughout the dinner, most of Slughorn's energy was devoted to the students in the upper grades.
　　 At the table in the lower grades, he just took a glass of mead during the banquet and came over here... and motioned to them to "toast to Professor Grindelwald's health."
　　 Everyone naturally raised their glasses in response.
　　 To be honest, the taste of mead is a bit weird, like a rotten apple.
　　 This taste, Matthew felt a little overwhelmed.
　　 And these old slug club members around, seem to have become accustomed to this.
　　……
　　 Matthew ate his lamb chops while listening to the people around him chatting
　　 is mostly trivial content.
　　 For example, Marcos Bellby was chatting with another student next to him about an interesting event that happened in the second-grade magic history class some time ago.
　　 And the two girls across from Matthew are talking about the recent attack
"Draco Malfoy will be discharged from the hospital soon, and the extreme magic expert invited by Professor Rozier will come to Hogwarts next week; maybe Ronald Weasley will be able to leave the hospital together... These two attacks are no big deal, and there is nothing to fear at all."
　　 On the other hand, Cormic McLagen and Blaise Shabini have put down their cutlery, and began to yell loudly:
"You ask my grandfather Thierry, his body can be said to be great, now he can eat two catties of steak for a meal... Except for his left shoulder, that was his old wound during the First Wizarding War. , Was left by a dark wizard. There is no way, because of the injuries there, he has to spend two months to recuperate at St Mungo every year." McLagen shouted.
　　 Matthew could not help but up his ears, and began to distinguish McLagen’s voice amidst the chaotic music and discussion.
"My grandfather Thierry, he can be said to be the first supporter of Grindelwald in England... Before then, the British magical world can be said to be a dark environment, ruled by dark wizards... It was Leonard Muen, Minister of Magic, or Armando Dippet, the principal of Hogwarts...Of course, and the fate of Principal Grindelwald, the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore... My grandfather was the first British wizard who saw their true colors first and then swore allegiance to Principal Grindelwald!"
　　Navi Longbottom just happened to be anxious and left his seat to go to the bathroom.
　　 Matthew took the opportunity to lean against Cormac McLagen.
　　 "Then Komike, you must know a lot about the first Wizarding War from your grandfather!" Taking advantage of the time between words, Matthew asked kindly.
　　 Obviously, Cormic McLagen didn't care about having an additional audience.
"That's natural!" He replied triumphantly: "I grew up next to my grandfather when I was young. Before I went to bed, he often told me stories about his youth... These things are in the history books. What I can't find out is that Bathilda Bagshot's "History of Magic" was only compiled until the end of the 19th century."
　　 Matthew immediately made a very curious and somewhat admiring expression, which made McLagen quite useful.
　　 But McLagen’s voice quickly became a little lower:
"That was in 1945. For the principal of Grindelwald, the situation at that time can be said to have reached the point of life and death... The dark wizards of Britain at that time, including Leonard Muen, Armando Dupete, and of course also They want their true leader Albus Dumbledore to collude with a huge Muggle power..."
"...And not only in Britain, but in the United States, the Soviet Union, and exile in France, many innocent wizards were bewitched by Dumbledore. They united with the local Muggle government to form an extremely terrifying group. power!"
　　 "Although Principal Grindelwald was supporting his Muggle government spokesperson in Germany at the time, he was not Dumbledore's opponent at all. They were losing ground..."
　　 "...Finally, on May 10, 1945, President Grindelwald had to stand up. On the top of the Reichstag in Berlin, he fought Albus Dumbledore in a legendary duel!"
"My grandfather was fortunate to be present at the time and watched the duel. According to his description, the duel lasted for a day and a night, and the intensity of the duel exceeded his knowledge; in the end, they could not see what happened. What!"
　　 "Finally, Grindelwald won?" Matthew asked solemnly.
"That is natural!" McLagen replied without hesitation: "At the last moment, President Grindelwald turned the tide and saved our magical world... With the defeat of Albus Dumbledore, the entire anti-witch forces Our backbone was interrupted by us..."
"Principal Grindelwald announced this to the world, and at the same time he converted the fortress of Newmontgard into a prison and imprisoned Albus Dumbledore on the tallest tower there; to prevent prison robbery Or escape from prison, he deployed the most complex and powerful defensive magic on that tower!"
"It's a pity that although President Grindelwald won the final victory, but with the final defeat of his support in the Muggle world, what he planned before the first Wizarding War-about inciting the Muggle war, The strategy of allowing wizards to completely override Muggles is completely bankrupt..."
"...At the same time, Albus Dumbledore’s supporters are still all over Europe, especially in the UK, especially at Hogwarts at the time, and especially at Hogwarts Gryffin at the time. Many colleges...At that time, Dumbledore, the dark wizard, had the prestige as much as, or even slightly stronger than, Principal Grindelwald!
"In order to completely eliminate Dumbledore’s influence, President Grindelwald came to England. My grandfather Thierry McLagen was the most loyal supporter of Lord Grindelwald, especially in the 1960s. During the Senior Deputy Minister of Magic, I helped Master Grindelwald a lot..."
"...Of course the influence of the Dark Wizard Dumbledore can be said to be deeply ingrained. Principal Grindelwald and my grandfather have faced many troubles and dealt with many rebellions... After almost thirty years, Only then did the British magic world be completely deprived of Dumbledore’s influence, and the magic world was completely on track!"
　　 McLagen seemed to be a little dry after such a long talk.
　　 He picked up a glass of pumpkin juice on the table, and drank it "tons, tons".
　　 "So..." After hesitating for a moment, Matthew asked softly, "The dark wizard Albus Dumbledore, is he dead?"
"Not yet." McLagen shook his head. "Principal Grindelwald has always been a very kind person, especially when he was young and had a very close relationship with Dumbledore; so he just took Dumbledore Lido is imprisoned, hoping that one day he will be able to get lost."
　　 "So what about the influence of Dumbledore the Dark Wizard?" Matthew continued to ask, "It's gone now!"
"The bright side has basically disappeared. Most of UU reading www.uukanshu.com and his supporters have been thrown into Azkaban." McLagen replied: "But in the dark, there are many dark wizards who follow loyally. While trying to subvert the new magic world system established by Grindelwald."
　　 "So after the first Wizarding War fifty years ago was not completely won..." Matthew asked again: "Has Grindelwald abandoned his plan?"
　　 "Of course not." McLagen said mysteriously: "Otherwise, what do you think Master Grindelwald has been up to all these years?"
　　Navi Longbottom is back, and Matthew also returned to his seat.
　　And McLagen, again started discussing with Shabini about the bookshelf and Minister Barnold’s family playing golf together.
　　……
　　 The dinner was over soon, but Matthew never found time to be alone with Professor Slughorn.
　　 After everyone left the potions teacher’s office, he turned back again.
　　 Because he "forgot" his watch on the dining table.
　　 "Oh, Wickfield, why are you back again?" Horace Slughorn asked in surprise.
He has a pair of small feet resting on a large velvet cushion, and his chubby body is lying halfway on a comfortable winged armchair, holding a small glass of wine in his hand, and his other hand Picking in boxes of pineapple preserves.
　　 "Sorry, professor, I forgot my watch here." Matthew said softly.
　　 "Well, boy." Slughorn nodded, "It's not a good habit to forget."
　　 "And..." Matthew got his watch, and after hesitating for a moment:
　　 "Sir, I want to ask you something."