Became good friends with the Boy Who Lived

After putting down three rolls of parchment tied with purple ribbons, the girl stumbled out of the compartment where Aeris and the others were.

Aeris opened the parchment scroll and found a man inviting him to have lunch in carriage C. The signature was: Professor Horace EF Slughorn.

"Who is Professor Slughorn?" Neville asked puzzledly, "Why was I invited too?" Looking at Neville's expression of rejection, those who didn't know would have thought that he was going to be put in detention.

"A new professor," said Harry. "It seems polite that we should go there, right?"

On the way to Carriage C, many people saluted Aeris, Harry, and Neville. Some students ran around just to see Aeris and Harry, but mainly to see Harry.

When Aries and his two companions arrived at carriage C, they discovered that Professor Slughorn had invited more than just them. However, Aries saw the expectant look in the fat old man's eyes, and it was obvious that Harry was what he most wanted to see.

This old man, who looked a bit like a fat seal, sat in the main seat and asked everyone to sit around him. He introduced them one by one, but Aeris felt that this old spider was weaving a web, a huge web of relationships.

"This charming lady says she knows you, Harry!" said Professor Slughorn, and then Aris noticed that Ginny was also in the carriage.

Professor Slughorn distributed the lunch he brought to everyone. Aeris had to admit that the old man had a very picky taste. The dishes and snacks were all very, very exquisite...

Aries had never experienced such a boring lunch. Professor Slughorn chatted about family matters, but Aries had a feeling that this old guy was evaluating the value of each person to see how much convenience they could bring to him in the future. This could be seen from the contrast in his attitude towards an invited student named Belby. After knowing that Belby's father had a not harmonious relationship with Belby's uncle, Professor Slughorn's attitude towards Belby took a sharp turn for the worse, because Belby's uncle was a master of potions, and it was Belby's uncle who invented... the wolfsbane potion.

When Professor Slughorn had asked Harry about some of the secrets of the Department of Mysteries that night (of course, Aris, Harry, Neville and Ginny kept their mouths shut as if they had agreed), and wanted to share some anecdotes about the students he had taught in his previous teaching career, Aris stood up.

"I'm so sorry, Horace!" This sentence shocked the others. He actually called a professor by his name. Even Professor Slughorn's expression froze for a moment. However, Aeris ignored the others' surprise and took out a warrant from his pocket, showing it to Professor Slughorn, and then continued:

"It's not that I want to disturb your interest, but I don't have the honor to be your disciple. After Hogwarts starts, we may be more like colleagues. Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom and I have some other academic topics to discuss. Please forgive us for leaving early!" Aris put away the appointment order and looked at Ginny again.

"Would you like to come along, Miss Weasley?" Aris asked. Ginny immediately jumped up, as if she couldn't wait to leave.

Harry and Neville also stood up quickly, and with Professor Slughorn's disappointed nod, the four of them left the carriage where they were weaving a network of relationships. After walking for a distance, Neville whispered:

"Thank God! It's you again, Aeris! If I had stayed there any longer, I would have collapsed. You are such a strange professor!"

"Ginny, why are you there?" Harry took Ginny's hand and asked curiously.

"Remember Zacharias Smith?" Ginny said mischievously, "That Hufflepuff idiot, he kept pestering me with questions about what happened in the Ministry of Magic, which annoyed me so much that I cast a curse on Zacharias Smith, but Professor Slughorn saw it. I thought I was going to be put in detention, but he invited me to lunch. It was really strange..."