In This Hogwarts Without a Savior

The day after the attack, news of Slughorn's death had spread throughout the carriage.

Most of the students couldn't believe the news. Except for those students who entered the carriage at the beginning of the exile, the other little wizards had never experienced life or death with any professor.

But the body of the defense professor who always smiled on the podium had been recovered from the carriage. The painful reality was placed in front of them, and they could not tolerate others not believing it.

During lunch in the restaurant, Dumbledore also announced Slughorn's death in front of everyone, and many students cried on the spot.

Fat Walrus may not treat all students equally in Carriage, but he is a dedicated teacher. Whether it is Defense Against the Dark Arts or History of Magic, he will never be limited by his preference for a certain student. The knowledge imparted by oneself.

In addition, most of the people on this carriage are young Muggle wizards who have no relatives or families. For them, everyone in Hogwarts is their family, and several professors are even more so. The same existence as parents.

But now, one of these people has left them forever.

During lunch, Dumbledore not only announced Slughorn's death, but also announced that a funeral would be held for him tonight.

The students finished their lunch in a dull manner, and all classes for today were suspended. Some people returned to their dormitories, while others gathered in the common room.

Jon and Neville did not go back to the dormitory. Together with Ron, Justin and Lavender, they walked into the lounge in silence.

There were more than a dozen students sitting here, but no one made a sound. Only the crackling sound caused by the fire burning the wood in the fireplace echoed in this quiet space.

Even the two twins, George and Fred, who had been the most lively and active in the past, were lying on the table with gloomy faces, without any mood or thought to liven up the atmosphere.

Jon was also silent, but of course he was not sad about Slughorn's "death". He was just thinking about the last conversation Dumbledore had with him last night.

There was a lot of content in the conversation, and in the end Jon was given the right to choose. However, Jon had no way of finalizing it for a while. He could only express the time he needed to think about it.

Of course Dumbledore would agree to such a request. He did not seem to have the slightest intention to force Jon to do it, but he truly respected his choice, regardless of whether he was willing to do it or not in the end. There will be no change in attitude.

But Neville and the others don't know about this now. In their eyes, Jon and Slughorn have the best relationship among the freshmen. But now that something has happened, he must be the saddest person.

"I can understand your feelings, Jon. When my mother left me, I thought I would never be happy again, but in fact, no matter what, people who are alive always have to look forward. After all, this is Not just for ourselves, but for those who died for us.”

Neville whispered seriously, and Ron and the others also looked at Jon with concern. Jon had a smile on his face and comforted them in turn.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I won't be so depressed just because of this."

Seeing that his expression was not forcing a smile, Neville and the others relaxed a little.

The whole afternoon passed like this.

Near dusk, Hagrid stopped the driving carriage and they came to a cliff.

Dumbledore has promised all the students that there will be no next attack. No one will doubt the old man's words, and no one will dare to step off the carriage for fear of danger.

Under the cliff is the rough sea, and the icy cold wind blows on the face of every student who steps off the carriage.

No one was afraid of the cold, because most of them were stunned by the group of tombstones in front of them.

There are nearly a hundred tombstones standing on the steep cliffs, and the names carved on them are familiar to almost everyone.

One student silently raised the wand in his hand. He walked to a tombstone holding the old short wooden stick and bowed deeply to the name on the tombstone.

The wand he now uses to learn magic was inherited from the person buried under this tombstone.

More and more students are discovering the tombstones of the former owners of their wands. They are their ancestors and the ones who led them to magic.

The students held the wands in their hands, and just like the first student, they bent down deeply and bowed, expressing their respect for every senior whose bones were buried here.

No one shed tears, even the most delicate girl pursed her lips to prevent herself from sobbing.

Buried under their feet are the bones of the martyrs, and they cannot show any weakness here.

The professors carried the coffin containing Slughorn's "corpse" and stepped out of the carriage. Most of their faces were not sad, and the faces of McGonagall and Flitwick were even a little gloomy.

The Ministry of Magic will not hide the news that Slughorn rebelled against Dumbledore and took the Sorcerer's Stone back. The Daily Prophet this morning must have reported this matter.

For Slughorn's safety, Dumbledore did not tell anyone that he was actually working as an undercover agent. Apart from himself, there were only two people who knew about it, Jon and Lily.

Needless to say, Jon, the reason why Lily could be the insider was because both Dumbledore and Slughorn were worried that she, who had endured enough suffering, would not be able to accept that her most respected teacher would betray her. thing.

Her mental state was already a little unstable, and they didn't want her to be greatly stimulated anymore, so they originally planned for her to be the only insider besides Dumbledore.

As for the unaware MacGufflitwick and other people in the Order of the Phoenix, as long as they read today's newspaper, almost everyone would understand what happened.

Horace Slughorn did not die, but betrayed Dumbledore, betrayed them all.

Dumbledore forbade them from telling the students about this. The purpose of holding this funeral was to leave the last good thoughts of Slughorn in the hearts of the children.

Jon could imagine how the members of the Order of the Phoenix and McGuffriey who did not know the truth would abuse and curse Slughorn, but there was no way to blame anyone.

The professors buried the coffin in the ground, and Dumbledore erected a stone tablet with Slughorn's name in front of the tomb.

The students lowered their heads in silence. The raging waves under the cliff lapped against the rocks on the shore, and the wet, salty and cold sea breeze blew up the hems of their robes.

Seagulls screamed in the sky, and before night fell, Dumbledore read out the last eulogy and carved a sentence on each tombstone on Slughorn's tombstone.

——[To those stars who dare to shine in the dark night]