Harry Potter Promise NR.11
Date: 9/18/2017,
Categories:
Fiction
Fan fiction,
Author: zimbi
... said he started around the same time as Dumbledore." "Blimey," Ron muttered. Harry shrugged. "Yeah, so he was around for a while. But think about it, guys. Slughorn started in the 1920's. Riddle attended in the late '30's. That would mean that Slughorn taught him." Hermione gasped. "How many people are still around who remember Voldemort from before?" Harry grimaced. "Not many. I think that's why Dumbledore got Slughorn to come teach. At Hogwarts, he's much safer than he would be anywhere else." Hermione's eyes glinted with knowledge. "You think he might have some information on Voldemort," she observed. Harry nodded readily. "Yes," he replied simply. "He might know something and not even be aware of it, but McGonagall says I've probably got a pretty good chance of getting it out of him, because my mum was one of his favorite students. If I learn anything, I'll let you all know." They nodded, and spent the rest of the afternoon doing homework. XXX The rest of the month passed in a haze of work, late nights and early mornings. Final exams and OWLs were coming, much too fast for the students of Hogwarts. Harry made sure to attend every party and get together Slughorn held, and even though he knew he was really in negative digits when it came to free time, he also spent several more mornings and afternoons helping the professor out on weekends. It wasn't really that tedious, most of the time they spent brewing potions and talking about Harry's parents. He much preferred this ...
... to the Slug Club meetings, because he felt more like a real person having a conversation with someone who knew his parents, than a prop piece, used for someone else's gain. Towards the end of the month, Harry finally felt like he had spent enough time working his way into Slughorn's good graces – and he tried not to feel too manipulative at what he was doing – so when they were bottling their brews that afternoon (an antidote to a poison that Slughorn had hinted might come up on the NEWT, and then praised Harry, telling him he would have given it an O had he been grading it), he carefully broached the subject he had been working towards for so many weeks. "Professor?" Slughorn looked up and nodded for Harry to continue. He took a deep breath and did so. "I was wondering… do you remember a student of yours, called Tom Riddle?" He had thought to get a reaction from the older man, but not that big of one. Slughorn let out a sound almost like a yelp, and spilled half the cauldron of potion on the floor. Shaking in fear, he peered at Harry. "Where did you hear that name?" he whispered. Harry grimaced, using his wand to clean up the potion mess, before he replied. "Your reaction indicates that you understand the significance. You know who Riddle became, don't you." Slughorn didn't appear to be capable of coherent thought. Harry sighed. "I know you don't want to talk about it, Professor. But what you know could help us win." Slughorn let out a weak chuckle. "It sounds so simple when ...