Chapter 7: Professor Slughorn

The next day, Tom secretly ventured to Hogsmeade via the hidden corridors spread through out Hogwarts. He immediately went to Honeydukes and purchased a box of crystallised pineapple - Professor Slughorn▓s favorite treat.

Later, he lingered behind Potions class. Avery and Lestrange were with him, along with four or five other boys. First, he passed the box over to Slughorn.

⌠Merry Christmas, Professor. I hope you enjoy it. I▒ve been told it▒s your favorite.■ Tom said with a sly grin. ⌠Professor, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?■

⌠Of course, dear boy!■ Professor Slughorn replied jovially.

⌠Is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?■

⌠Tom, Tom., if I knew I couldn▓t tell you.■ Slughorn said, wagging his finger reprovingly, and winking simultaneously. ⌠I must say, I▓d like to know where you get your information, boy; more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are.■

Tom gave a smile and his followers laughed. Avery and Lestrange stared at Tom admiringly.

⌠What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn▓t and your careful flattery of the people that matter - thank you for the pineapple, by the way. You▓re quite right, it is my favorite -■ Several of the boys tittered again.

⌠- I confidently expect you to rise to Minister for Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple! I have excellent contacts within the Ministry, you know.■ Slughorn gushed.

Tom smiled. The others laughed again. Tom was by no means the eldest of the group - Crabbe and Goyle must have been twenty, if a day, for they were so dumb they must have failed several times. But Tom was definitely their leader.

⌠I don▓t know that politics would suit me, sir.■ he said after the laughter faded. ⌠I don▓t have the right kind of background, for one thing.■

Some of the boys smirked as though they were enjoying a private joke.

⌠Nonsense!■ Slughorn exclaimed rather briskly. ⌠It couldn▓t be plainer that you come from decent wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you▓ll go far, Tom. I▓ve never been wrong about a student yet.■

The clock, small and golden, chimed behind Slughorn▓s desk. He glanced at it and turned back to the group of boys.

⌠Good gracious! Eleven o▓clock already. You boys had better get off to your beds before we all get into trouble! Avery, Lestrange - I want your essays tomorrow or it▓ll be detention.■ The boys filed out of the office. He had gotten up to refill his glass, when a sudden movement made him turn. Tom hadn▓t left.

⌠Look sharp, Tom, you don▓t want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect┘■ Slughorn warned.

⌠Sir, I wanted to ask you something.■

⌠Ask away, then, m▓boy, ask away┘■

⌠Sir, I wondered what you know about┘..about Horcruxes?■

Slughorn stared at him, his thick fingers absent-mindedly caressing the stem of his wine glass.

⌠Project for Defence Against The Dark Arts, is it?■ Slughorn said, although he knew perfectly well it was not.

⌠Not exactly, sir.■ Tom said. ⌠I came across the term while reading and I didn▓t fully understand it.■

⌠No┘.well┘.you▓d be hard pressed to find a book at Hogwarts that▓ll give you the details on Horcruxes, Tom. That▓s very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed.■

⌠But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you - sorry, I mean if you can▓t tell me, obviously - I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could - so I just thought I▓d ask.■ Tom had succeeded in making the round Professor blush. He was a sucker for flattery.

⌠Well,■ Slughorn said, fiddling with the ribbon on his box of pineapple. ⌠I suppose an overview won▓t hurt any. Just so you understand the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul.■

⌠I don▓t quite understand how that works, though, sir.■

⌠Well, you split your soul, you see,■ Slughorn explained. ⌠and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one▓s body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of course, existence in such a form┘.few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable.■

⌠How do you split your soul?■ Tom was getting more and more excited. He was finding the information he needed to obtain immortality! Slughorn was starting to look rather worried and uncomfortable.

⌠Well,■ he said ⌠you must understand that the soul is meant to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, against nature.■

⌠But how do you do it?■ Tom asked again.

⌠By an act of evil - the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion -■

⌠Encase? But how -?■ Tom interrupted.

⌠There is a spell, do not ask me, I don▓t know!■ Slughorn was shaking his head like an elephant bothered by mosquitoes. ⌠Do I look as though I have tried it? Do I look like a killer?■

⌠No, sir, of course not.■ Tom said apologetically ⌠I▓m sorry┘.I didn▓t mean to offend┘■

⌠Not at all, not at all, not offended.■ said Slughorn gruffly. ⌠It▓s natural to feel some curiosity about these things┘wizards of a certain calibre have always been drawn to that aspect of magic┘■

⌠Yes, sir,■ Tom agreed. He really knew how to get information when he wanted it. ⌠What I don▓t understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one horcrux be much use? Can you split your soul once? Wouldn▓t it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces? I mean, for instance, isn▓t seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn▓t seven -?■

⌠Merlin▓s beard, Tom!■ Slughorn yelped. ⌠Seven! Isn▓t if bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case┘bad enough to divide the soul┘.but to rip it into seven pieces┘■

The Professor looked deeply troubled. Tom sensed that Slughorn knew what he was up to, but Tom kept pushing for more information.

⌠Of course,■ he muttered, more to himself than Tom. ⌠this is all hypothetical, what we▓re discussing, isn▓t it? All academic┘■

⌠Yes, sir, of course,■ Tom quickly agreed.

⌠But all the same, Tom┘.keep it quiet, what I▓ve told - that▓s to say, what we▓ve discussed. People wouldn▓t like to think we▓ve been chatting about horcruxes. It▓s a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know┘.Dumbledore▓s particularly fierce about it┘■

⌠I won▓t say a word, sir■ Tom said. He bid the potions master farewell and ventured back to the Slytherin dormitories, thinking over everything that he had just learned. Now all that remained was the spell┘.