HP: For a better world

"Your tone really distresses me, Mr. Slughorn."

Malfoy's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes narrowed. However, he soon relaxed and turned to signal the waiter to bring a few glasses of wine: "My father has always respected you, and so do Xiaolong and I..."

Draco's face flushed slightly with embarrassment and anger, and he quickly followed his father's instructions and put on a flattering expression.

But this change in facial expression could not be hidden from others.

Snape watched coldly, while Slughorn snorted, obviously not quite believing it.

Lucius smiled apologetically, calmly pushed Draco back, and took two glasses of red wine from the tray in the hands of the waiter next to him.

He handed one of the cups to Slughorn before withdrawing his hand and holding the other cup to his chest.

He gave the waiter a look to signal him to change direction.

Snape took his own glass and handed the other glass of juice to Winston.

The plate is empty.

Winster took a sip of juice, looked at Draco with sympathy, and waved to the waiter for another glass of juice.

All three glasses were mead.

Lucius glanced in their direction and raised his glass with a smile. Slughorn replied with a straight face: "After all... not all wizards are born with superior family backgrounds and talents like you."

"He also has a great vision. Most of the wizards in the club he founded have become elites in various industries. Or become the youngest potion master--"

Snape held the mead with a blank expression.

"Or enter politics and become Minister of Magic... Minister Fudge met with me not long ago and missed your days as a professor. Of course..." He turned his gaze to Snape and raised his glass to him. "I'm not saying you're doing a bad job, Severus." The smile on Lucius's face became more genuine. "It's just that some lowly idiots can't understand your insights." He dragged out his words, revealing a hint of sarcasm at the end of the sentence.

After all, some people lack the teachings from orthodox wizards, and they always lack something, unable to understand the far-sighted views of real wizards... Lucius raised his chin slightly, with a hint of arrogance in his eyes.

Winster keenly sensed that there was something unspoken in Lucius' words.

Snape's mouth curled up into a sarcastic arc, and he seemed to be responding.

He raised his glass to Lucius.

"...Lucius." Slughorn seemed unaware of their undercurrents. "Geniuses are different from ordinary people..." he said earnestly.

Lucius nodded repeatedly, still smiling and agreeing with Slughorn, making him smile. Slughorn couldn't help asking, "Does Fudge really still miss me with you?"

Slughorn sighed, "I thought Cornelius had completely forgotten about me... The letters I sent were always replied by his secretary." He made excuses for himself, "It seems that the Ministry of Magic is busy and has no time to deal with it - is that so, Lucius? The Malfoy family is so powerful that it must be easy for them to meet the Minister, right?"

Lucius' eyes flickered, and the smile on his face turned into a sigh: "That's hard to say, Professor..."

He said half-truthfully: "Minister Fudge is very busy. Even if I want to invite the Minister to a dinner, I want to add a little strength to the great achievements of the Ministry of Magic and make a little contribution, the Minister has to think twice. For the smooth operation of the wizarding world, he is working hard-"

Lucius was talking about the time in his second year when his mortal enemy Weasley led a search for dark magic items and he had nowhere to turn to for help.

Of course now, he can see Fudge whenever he wants. As long as our Minister of Magic still clings to his power, he will be restrained by the handle seized by the witch who claims to have Selwyn blood.

He had let Black's hope of escaping the crime slip, and now he had offended Dumbledore. Only by joining a pure-blood family could he continue to be his minister after the truth was revealed.

No one wanted a new heir to emerge from the Black family... Sirius had been an adult for a long time, and was very hostile to other families, so he was not easy to deceive.

Lucius glanced at Winster nearby... but unfortunately Narcissa had already denied this possibility.

"I knew from the beginning... that this child would have a bright future." He said to Winston and Snape repeatedly, "Sure enough, he is now the Minister of Magic!"

Winster recalled the Minister of Magic who was not concerned when he found someone injured, but was happy that he had something to criticize Dumbledore. A hint of mockery appeared in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up by drinking juice.

"...It's a pity that...Cornelly couldn't join my club...It's understandable that the phoenix doesn't want to swim with chickens." Slughorn sighed.

Except for Slughorn, the smiles on the faces of those who knew the truth were tinged with sarcasm.

Winston looked at the expression of emotion on Slughorn's face inquiringly, and saw that he sighed sincerely, as if he was intoxicated by Malfoy's sweet words.

"...I remember your club was called the Slug Club," Lucius seemed to be speaking casually, he said softly: "I wonder if your club is still running...Draco has always admired your reputation..."

Lucius's eyes fell on Draco, and this time Draco finally showed a perfect look of longing.

Slughorn, who seemed to have been flattered, became visibly cold. "Forget it. My club hasn't had any new members for many years. I'm afraid Draco won't be able to get along with them." He rejected mercilessly.

Then Slughorn shouted at the two background figures to leave: "Winster, let's go. There is not much time left today, and there is a Potions Master I haven't introduced to you yet." A smile appeared on his face again.

……

After leaving Malfoy, Snape soon got tired of Slughorn's frequent "socializing" with him. In addition to Malfoy, many less famous pharmacists came to him shamelessly to ask for advice. Slughorn was willing to give advice, but Snape didn't want to give advice to these idiots outside of school.

Some of the young pharmacists who came to him had received instruction in Snape's advanced potions class, but they still respected and feared him, fearing that Snape would mock them if they were dissatisfied.

Slughorn was just beginning to feel somewhat dissatisfied with Snape's intimidating effect.

The two of them parted ways naturally, leaving Winster to Slughorn. There were not many potion masters, and Slughorn had already taken Winster to meet most of the potion masters he needed to meet. According to Slughorn, the potion masters who came later had slightly different ideas from Winster's potions. They preferred to study the medicinal properties of herbs rather than legends.

So after they parted, Slughorn walked with Winston while whispering to him some basic knowledge organized by the Apothecary Association. He pointed out some wizards who were chatting everywhere and said, "Look at these wizards. They are small families with weak strength but some wealth. If you have a shortage of funds for potion experiments in the future, these families know how to cater to your needs." His short and fat fingers moved.

"These wizards who dress so well as to show off their wealth have suddenly become rich and hope to gain the favor of a senior pharmacist to add some family heritage. They are the first choice for long-term experiments. After all, many precious materials are needed, and it is impossible for the pharmacist to pay for all of them. But for some restricted medicinal materials, these families are of no use at all."

Winston followed Slughorn's finger and looked thoughtfully.

"…But what if I need a lot of these herbs?" He spoke softly, the vague idea he had originally had becoming more and more clear. "Professor Slughorn."

Slughorn wasn't Winster's professor, but he was once Slytherin's professor, wasn't he?

After hearing Lucius' compliments to Slughorn and Slughorn's pleased expression, and after hearing about this shrewd old man from the original novel, Winster quickly learned how to please Slughorn.

In other words, without Snape, Winston could give his all without worrying about his thoughts.

Slughorn smiled amiably, "Then those wealthy and powerful families should be your first choice... But I don't recommend you do this, Winster."

"Because they might end up abandoning me and swallowing me themselves?" Winster asked worriedly.

Slughorn had no resistance to clever students who could understand what he heard and could be guided, especially those who were good at speaking.

He laughed cheerfully and said, "That's right. A weak wizard can be easily devoured by them without leaving any bones. The most famous among them is Malfoy. But he is indeed the family with the greatest wealth and closest to power."

After thinking for a while, Slughorn gave an example, "For example, the classic controlled ingredient in your formula - African tree snake skin. Because of the control of compound potions, this medicinal material has always been only allowed to enter the market in small quantities. Even the quality is very poor. The Malfoy family has its own tree snake breeding farm and herb cultivation base in Africa, and can also transport medicinal materials in with the permission of the Ministry of Magic."

Slughorn said, "Such is the Minister's right... a large part of the Malfoy fortune comes from these rare materials."

"When I was teaching, some of the herbs in Hogwarts were transported through his family. The potions were from Prince and Nott, and the various teaching aids for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes came from Black and Lestrange... After many years, the once prosperous families have all declined, and only Malfoy is still cunningly clamoring in the world of fame and fortune, but he is not as good as before." Slughorn sighed.