Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

In any case, Harry’s performance in Potions class would help them get the memory from Slughorn.

They thought so, but in reality it was almost useless. As soon as Harry brought up Horcruxes according to their plan, Slughorn reacted like a perpetually startled rabbit — no, more like a startled seal. And that emotion quickly escalated into seal rage…

Everyone should be able to imagine what seal rage looks like, right? Well, go ahead and picture it.

Harry was a little surprised; he hadn’t expected this topic to make Slughorn so seal-ous; he was practically on the verge of sealing his fate with anger.

Once he confirmed that Dumbledore had already shown the memory to both Evan and Harry, fear took over him completely. Leaving behind only a panicked “I know nothing,” he grabbed his dragon-skin briefcase and sealed his escape.

From the beginning to the end of the topic, Slughorn’s reaction could be made into a classic seal emoticon.

Except for Harry who was a little worried about it, everyone else who knew about it didn’t take it seriously.

Since discovering Slytherin’s locket, they had discussed countless topics related to Horcruxes over and over again.

Therefore, unless it was truly groundbreaking news, no one was particularly interested in the topic anymore.

Evan never expected Slughorn to hand over the memory easily. Elaine never cared about these matters to begin with. Hermione was still seething at the way Harry had triumphed without doing the work properly. Even Ron was in a bad mood; he was resentful that Harry hadn’t slipped him a bezoar too.

Then, without hesitation, Harry got angry and said that it would have just looked stupid if they had both held a bezoar.

Of course, he was more annoyed by everyone’s attitude, but he didn’t need to be so angry!

Even Evan had to admit that as he grew older, Harry’s emotions became more and more unstable, and the difference between him and the thin and timid boy he had first met in the Dursleys’ upstairs room five years ago was getting bigger and bigger.

Especially last year, the year when he frequently connected with Voldemort’s soul, his temper became even worse.

Evan wasn’t sure how much of a role the fragment of Voldemort’s soul played here; after all, Harry was a genuine Horcrux.

He also couldn’t be sure how much impact Harry’s Horcrux would have on the people around him.

If it were any other Horcrux, being in such close proximity to it for so long would have driven people insane by now.

Speaking of Horcruxes — Dumbledore’s ring was one too, wasn’t it?

Evan had learned a lot about Horcruxes, the darkest of Dark Magic, but he was far from an expert. There were still many crucial details he couldn’t answer. Perhaps only by making a Horcrux himself or becoming a Horcrux could he experience that feeling.

All in all, life had returned to normal. Both Hogwarts and the Wizarding World had been very quiet recently.

Ever since that after-class conversation, Slughorn began to avoid Evan and Harry, not intending to give them any chance.

He would leave immediately after every Potions class, and unusually, he no longer organized parties.

Dumbledore was once again missing for an extended period of time, not appearing at Hogwarts for several weeks.

Evan began to seriously study how to break into Gringotts. He wrote several letters to Bill, inquiring about Gringotts’ security measures.

Bill provided a lot of information about Gringotts, but he didn’t know the underground defense situation of Gringotts headquarters in Britain.

This was top secret and only the goblins in Gringotts knew about it.

From what Evan could tell, the goblins had undoubtedly set up countless magical protections and security mechanisms underground.

Gringotts had the most stringent magical defense measures in the world. Without an insider goblin’s cooperation, Evan would almost certainly be detected if he attempted to break in. Especially the area he was targeting, which had never been stolen in centuries.

Considering that they would definitely encounter a dragon, it would be almost impossible to enter Gringotts quietly and take the Golden Cup.

So, Evan had no choice but to prepare for a full-on heist…

In the rare calm, time entered February and the snow melted around the school to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness.

Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy.

The upshot of this was that the sixth years’ first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead of in the grounds.

In order to provide help and advice to Hermione as agreed, Evan also attended her first lesson with her.

When they arrived in the Hall, they found that the tables had disappeared.

Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them.

Professor McGonagall, who was maintaining order, saw Evan sneaking in and seemed to want to drive him away, just like she had done to other underage students who sneaked in, but in the end she let him stay. Perhaps she knew from Dumbledore that Evan had mastered Apparition.

Finally, all the students assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout and a small wizard.

He was the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away. Evan couldn’t help but wonder if this wizard had some peculiar bloodline.

“Good morning,” said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had quieted down. “My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time —”

“Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!” barked Professor McGonagall.

Everybody looked around. Malfoy had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument, and Crabbe seemed to have a big disagreement with Malfoy on something.

Evan had some understanding of Crabbe’s character.

He was referring to the hidden character of this Malfoy henchman. Not the dull-witted, obedient persona he usually displayed, but the ambition he kept hidden. Unlike Goyle, Crabbe wasn’t entirely content following Malfoy’s lead. Especially in the past year, Malfoy had not had an easy time. If he could not keep Crabbe under control…

Above them, Snape was also visibly irritated. He seemed frustrated by his own inability to keep Malfoy in check.

From the conversation Evan had overheard last time, it was clear that the distrust and differences between Malfoy and Snape were growing.

Slytherin truly was full of contradictions. After all, ambition was one of the defining traits of this House.

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