Chapter 58: Chapter 58. Horace Slughorn Slug Club

Monday and Tuesday were declared free days for the school to recover from the Acromantula attack.

Hogwarts was quite the dangerous school to attend because even after all that had happened, the school semester wasn't brought to an abrupt end.

There was little damage done to the castle buildings though, much less than the damage sustained during the Troll attack.

Same with the casualties, most of the students were fully recovered by Monday and the castle recovered some of its liveliness then.

Monday morning brought nothing in the morning papers, as expected, the matter with the attacks was fully resolved.

On Tuesday, Professor Esme asked to see me. She had returned to the school with immediate effect and had been tendered a public apology by the school.

I wondered why she wanted to see me though, our interactions were formal at best.

"Headmistress McGonagall said you suspected me of being behind the attacks." She said bluntly as soon as I showed up to her office.

I stumbled slightly at her words, caught off guard.

"Now that I think about it, the circumstances were exactly on my side but I could say the same about you."

Realization hit then, the reason why Professor Esme seemed to be out for my neck.

"Do you want to know what my Boggart is?" Professor Esme immediately became sober. "My deepest fear?"

I gulped, I was curious but not that curious.

"The fear of reliving the death of my daughter." She forged right on without waiting for a response from me.

I thought back to when I had found her in the dungeons with that unconscious student and how she had made a run for it after.

A tea set was out on her desk, the delicate ceramic kettle pouring steaming tea by itself into a cup.

I watched as two cubes of sugar jumped into the cup of tea, a spoon stirring it in.

"I can also see Thestrals and so you can imagine my surprise when I found one wandering on the Quidditch pitch." She took a sip of her self-made tea. "I had no idea it was Imperiused so I was torn between doing something about it and getting Hagrid, that was when you bumped into me." She leveled a gaze on me. "I knew this was on purpose and wondered why you would try to stop me unless you had a hand in it."

"I…"

"Headmistress McGonagall did not take my claims seriously because you see, you were always at the forefront of the danger, trying to help."

I scratched my head, I must have seemed like the ultimate evil student to Professor Esme. Causing the attacks and also rushing forward to help so that I would be the last person to be suspected.

"I guess we were both mistaken." She concluded, gingerly dropping the cup of tea in her hand on the saucer with a clink. "See you in class, Albeline, you better have my papers ready for your Friday class."

I left her office with a smile, Professor Esme wasn't half bad after all.

On Wednesday, the castle was back to its usual liveliness, my popularity also shot through the roof.

Somehow, the entire school had found out that I had been the one to find out about Fodel and also defeat him, coupled with the match I had won a couple days ago, I could hardly get from class to class without being accosted.

At lunch on Wednesday, in my haste to avoid the students who always seemed to have something to say to me, I sat beside someone familiar.

Leaving Tanner and Blair to deal with the people hoping to have a word with me. I would get an earful later but I just wanted a peaceful time to eat.

"How's the most famous Hogwarts student doing?" A familiar gleeful voice said beside me.

"Avery." I muttered darkly. "So this is all your doing?"

Someone had to be behind the news of what I did spreading like wildfire, and the only person capable of such accurate information getting around in such little time would be Avery.

A flash went off in my face. "Do you think I could get an exclusive interview, Mr Albeline?"

I rolled my eyes at the familiar sentence. "No, Avery, let me enjoy my meal in peace."

I had achieved my goal though, my reputation points were through the roof. If I kept this up, my standing in society would only continue to elevate and by the time I became a powerful Auror, the Albeline House would become a household name.

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The match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff was fast approaching and after that was the trip to Hogsmeade.

Classes also resumed in earnest because the curriculum of the semester had to be fully covered before the Holidays.

The match was won by Hufflepuff and spirits ran high towards the end of the semester.

The match had been held on the 20th of November and there was only a day left until the Hogsmeade weekend.

I was in the common room, reading a copy of 'The Book of Charms and Spells' while Blair panicked a little distance from me.

"I can't believe that Professor Slughorn would stop me from going to Hogsmeade if I don't get the potion right." She mumbled ruefully.

"He probably wants to get back at you for winning your deal with him." Tanner bluntly said, earning himself a smack on the head.

"You're not saying anything, Audric." She complained to me, a pleading expression on her face.

I didn't look away from the book I was reading. "I can't help you make the potion, Blair." I was also blunt. "I already broke down the steps to the potion for you."

"I know," She grumbled, dropping her head on the table. "But something always goes wrong, I feel like something would go wrong."

"You could get some Felix Felicis from Slughorn's Apothecarium, although it would probably mean that something else would stop you from going to Hogsmeade, or something bad would happen if you did go." Tanner suggested casually.

Blair shot him a glare, standing up with a huff. "You're both no help, I'll figure this out myself." She stomped away.

"Want to bet that she'll botch the potion?" Tanner perked up after Blair left the common room.

"Don't you have an overdue paper for Professor Esme?" I cocked a brow at him.

Tanner deflated just as fast. "I don't how you effortlessly keep up with N.E.W.T level school work and be good at it too." He bemoaned, staring forlornly at the books in front of him and back to me.

"Wait, are you reading a professor-level book on Charms?" He blinked.

"You're too noisy." I muttered, getting up to head to the dorms.

"Hey! Are you taking Rox tomorrow to Madam Puddifoot's… mmph…"

I continued my journey casually to the dorms, calmly going up the stairs as Tanner struggled with the silencing charm behind me.

I hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to Roxana ever since the Acromantula attack.

I did want to go on a date with her during Hogsmeade weekend and I found the time to ask her.

Roxana wasn't the type to go around telling everyone that but we were both pretty popular in our own rights, and it was evident that we were close friends.

There was no end to the rumors about us amongst the school students.

Just as Tanner had asked that, everyone in the common room had already perked up to hear my response.

Blair came back from her extra Potions lessons in high spirits and with a piece of information for me.

Professor Slughorn wanted me to attend his Slug Club party.

I knew all about Professor Slughorn's Slug Club.

It was his own networking club, where he invited promising students with potential. 

It could be anything, from being talented in a particular subject to being charming or a rather skilled Quidditch player.

I was honestly not surprised to be invited, Harry, Hermione and even Voldemort had all been members of Slughorn's Slug Club.

Anyone during Professor Slughorn's time as a Professor who had graduated from Hogwarts and went on to become an impressive person in the Wizarding World was most likely a part of his Slug Club.

It was worth a look at, I could get some useful networking there as well.

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