Hogwarts from another world

"Garlic?" Cormac McLaggen's somewhat strange words instantly attracted the attention of another student from the Slug Club sitting next to Matthew.

"I hate garlic the most!" He frowned and muttered.

But soon, he also smelled the strong smell of garlic in McLaggen's mouth, and quickly turned his head back.

"Hello!" Matthew glanced at the boy sitting next to him and said proactively.

The boy was thin and looked slightly nervous. He smiled unnaturally.

"Matthew, this is Marcus Belby, a second-year Ravenclaw student!" Neville quickly introduced: "Belby, this is Matthew Wakefield, a first-year Slytherin student."

"Hello, Wakefield, and Longbottom," Belby said in a low voice.

"Good evening, Belby." Neville nodded at him.

After briefly greeting each other, Neville leaned into Matthew's ear and explained softly:

"McLaggen's father, David McLaggen, works in the Ministry of Magic and has a great relationship with Minister Millicent Barnold; and Belby's uncle, Mr. Damocles Belby, is a well-known potions expert. , the inventor of Wolfsbane potion, and was awarded the Order of Merlin for this..."

……

Matthew could finally tell that the students around the round table where he was sitting were basically the children of famous and successful people, as well as children from families with good interpersonal relationships in the magic world.

In other words, everyone here seemed to be invited because they were related to some influential person. Just like Neville, McLaggen and Belby. If Draco Malfoy hadn't been injured and admitted to the school hospital, he would be here.

And students with average family backgrounds and outstanding talents are almost invisible...

For example, Ravenclaw's Hermione Granger has made a name for herself at Hogwarts in the past month. Almost all the teachers like her very much and think she is the best student in the first year. Of course, this is also related to her more public personality, while Matthew is more low-key.

and Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff third year. Although Matthew has never been in contact with him, judging from the evaluation of him by some second- and third-year students, he is also well-deserved to be the best student in his grade.

However, none of them received an invitation from Slughorn, nor did they appear in the Slug Club.

Of course, on the other long table of the senior class, you can see a few students with ordinary family backgrounds but outstanding talents... For example, Matthew can recognize Percy Weasley, a fifth-year Gryffindor ( With the Weasley family's family conditions, it is almost impossible for him to get here by that).

Perhaps Professor Horace Slughorn had completely different evaluation criteria for whether senior and junior students could join his small core group.

Then I am quite honored to receive this invitation in my first grade!

Matthew smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, but his expression quickly became serious.

He frowned, thinking——

Why does Slughorn look at him differently?

Is it just because of his excellent performance in Potions class?

"Matthew!" Neville asked with concern: "What's going on? You look a little ugly?"

"It's nothing." Matthew quickly relaxed his brows and responded with a smile: "I'm just not used to the style here."

A smile suddenly appeared on Neville's face: "It seems we feel the same!"

……

The members of the Slug Club arrived one after another and sat down at two round tables. The dinner soon began.

Many shiny golden plates appeared in front of everyone, but there was no food in them, but Matthew noticed that there was a small menu placed nearest to him.

He picked up his menu, which had various dishes written on it; he looked around again, but he didn't find the waiter.

"You should do this." Neville reminded in a low voice.

Then he also picked up his menu, read it over, and said very clearly to his plate: "Hungarian goulash!"

A portion of beef appeared immediately on his plate.

Matthew suddenly understood and quickly followed suit and ordered his favorite food on the plate.

It has to be said that the food at Slughorn's dinner was much more sophisticated than the usual school dinners; it seemed that the Head of Slytherin was quite particular about food and drink.

But throughout the dinner, most of Slughorn's energy was focused on the students in the upper class.

For the lower class table, he just took a glass of mead and came over during the banquet... and motioned for them to "drink a toast to Professor Grindelwald's health" together.

Naturally, everyone raised their glasses in response.

To be honest, mead tastes a little weird, like rotten apples.

Matthew felt that he couldn't bear the taste.

And the old Slug Club members around me seem to have become accustomed to this.

……

Matthew was eating his portion of mutton chops while listening to the people around him chatting——

Most of them are relatively trivial content.

For example, Marcus Belby was chatting with another student next to him about an interesting incident that happened in the second-grade History of Magic class some time ago.

The two girls opposite Matthew were chatting about the recent attacks——

"Draco Malfoy will be discharged from the hospital soon, and the extreme magic expert invited by Professor Rosier will come to Hogwarts next week; maybe Ronald Weasley will also be discharged from the hospital... These two attacks were no big deal and there was nothing to be afraid of."

On the other side, Cormac McLagan and Blaise Chabini had put down their tableware and started shouting loudly:

"If you ask my grandfather Thierry, he is in great shape. He can still eat two kilograms of steak at a meal... except for his left shoulder, which was an old injury he sustained during the First Wizarding War. , left behind by a dark wizard. There's no way around it, because of the injuries there, he has to spend two months every year going to St. Mungo's to recuperate." McLaggen shouted.

Matthew couldn't help but prick up his ears and began to distinguish McLaggen's voice among the chaotic music and discussions.

"My grandfather Thierry can be said to be the first supporter of Principal Grindelwald in England... Before that, the British wizarding world could be said to be a dark environment, ruled by dark wizards... Regardless of Is it Leonard Moon, the Minister of Magic, or Armando Dippet, the Principal of Hogwarts... Of course, there is also Principal Grindelwald's fateful enemy, the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore... My grandfather was the first British wizard to see through their true colors and swear allegiance to Principal Grindelwald!"

Neville Longbottom happened to feel a little anxious and left his seat to go to the bathroom.

Matthew took the opportunity to move closer to Cormac McLaggen.

"So Cormac, you must know a lot about the First Wizarding War from your grandfather!" Taking advantage of the gap between words, Matthew asked kindly.

Apparently, Cormac McLagan didn't mind the extra audience.

"That's natural!" He replied triumphantly: "I grew up next to my grandfather when I was a child. Before I went to bed, he often told me stories about his youth... These things are in your history books. What can’t be found at all is that Bathilda Bagshot’s History of Magic was only compiled until the end of the 19th century.”

Matthew immediately made a very curious and somewhat admiring expression, which greatly benefited McLagan.

However, McLaggen's voice soon became slightly quieter:

"That was in 1945. The situation at that time could be said to be a matter of life and death for Principal Grindelwald... The dark wizards in Britain at that time, including Leonard Moon, Armando Dippet, and of course Their real leader, Albus Dumbledore, colluded with the huge Muggle forces..."

"...And not only in the United Kingdom, but also in the United States, the Soviet Union, and exiled France, many innocent wizards were bewitched by Dumbledore. They united with the local Muggle governments to form an extremely terrifying force. strength!"

"Although Principal Grindelwald also supported his Muggle government spokesperson in Germany at the time, he was no match for Dumbledore. They were losing ground..."

"... Finally, on May 1945, 5, Principal Grindelwald had to stand up. He had a legendary duel with Albus Dumbledore on top of the Reichstag in Berlin!"

"My grandfather was fortunate enough to be present and observe the duel. According to his description, the duel lasted for a day and a night, and was so intense that it was beyond his knowledge; so much so that in the end, they could not see clearly what was going on. What!"

"In the end, Grindelwald won?" Matthew asked seriously.

"That's natural!" McLagan replied without thinking: "At the last moment, Principal Grindelwald turned the tide and saved our magical world... With the defeat of Albus Dumbledore, the entire anti-witching force The backbone of his life was broken by us..."

"Headmaster Grindelwald announced this to the world. At the same time, he also converted the fortress of Nurmengard into a prison and imprisoned Albus Dumbledore in the tallest tower there; in order to prevent the prison from being robbed. Or escape from prison, he deployed the most complex and powerful defensive magic on that tower!"

"It's a pity that although Principal Grindelwald won the final victory, with the final defeat of his supporting forces in the Muggle world, what he planned before the first wizarding war - about provoking a war between Muggles, The strategy of making wizards completely superior to Muggles has completely failed..."

"...At the same time, Albus Dumbledore's supporters are still all over Europe, especially in the United Kingdom, especially in Hogwarts at that time, and especially in Hogwarts Gryffindor at that time. Many colleges... At that time, the dark wizard Dumbledore had as much prestige as, or even slightly greater than, Principal Grindelwald!"

"In order to completely eliminate Dumbledore's influence, Principal Grindelwald came to the UK. My grandfather Thierry McLaggen was Lord Grindelwald's most loyal supporter at the time, especially in the 1960s when he served as During his tenure as Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic, he helped Lord Grindelwald a lot..."

"... Of course, the influence of the dark wizard Dumbledore can be said to be deep-rooted. Principal Grindelwald and my grandfather faced many troubles and dealt with many rebellions... After almost thirty years, Only then can the British magical world be completely stripped of Dumbledore’s influence, and only then can the magical world be completely on the right track!”

McLaggen seemed to be a little thirsty after speaking at such a long length.

He picked up a glass of pumpkin juice on the table and drank it.

"So..." Matthew hesitated for a moment and then asked softly: "Is the dark wizard Albus Dumbledore dead?"

"Not yet." McLaggen shook his head: "Principal Grindelwald has always been a very kind person, especially when he was young and had an extremely close relationship with Dumbledore; so he just referred Dumbledore to Lido was imprisoned, hoping that one day he would be able to return from his lost ways."

"So what about the influence of the dark wizard Dumbledore?" Matthew continued to ask: "It has completely disappeared now!"

"On the surface, he has basically disappeared, and most of his supporters have been thrown into Azkaban." McLagan replied: "But secretly, there are still many dark wizards who follow him loyally and try to subvert Green. The new magical world system established by Principal DeVoe."

"So after the First Wizarding War failed to achieve a complete victory fifty years ago..." Matthew asked again: "Has Grindelwald given up on his previous plan?"

"Of course not." McLaggen said mysteriously: "Otherwise, what do you think Lord Grindelwald has been busy with these years?"

Neville Longbottom returned, and Matthew returned to his seat.

McLagan, on the other hand, began to discuss with Shabini the bookshelf and his family playing golf with Minister Barnold and his family.

……

The dinner ended quickly, but Matthew never found any time alone with Professor Slughorn.

After everyone left the Potions teacher's office one after another, he turned back.

Because he "forgot" his watch on the dining table.

"Oh, Wakefield, why are you back again?" Horace Slughorn asked in surprise.

His little feet were resting on a large velvet cushion, while his plump body was half lying on a comfortable winged armchair, holding a small glass of wine in his hand and a cup of wine in his other hand. Picking through a box of pineapple preserves.

"Sorry, Professor, I forgot my watch here." Matthew said softly.

"Okay, kid." Slughorn nodded: "Forgetfulness is not a good habit."

"And..." Matthew took his watch and after hesitating for a moment:

"Sir, I want to ask you something."