Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 660 Self-reliance
There was only one person in the entire classroom who seemed angrier than Hermione, and that was Malfoy.

Harry was pleased to see him pour out something that looked like cat vomit.

However, before any of them could show any anger at Harry for being the top student in the class without doing anything, the bell rang.

"It's time to pack up!" Horace Slughorn said cheerfully. "Also, ten points for Gryffindor, for our Potions Prince Mr. Potter passing my impromptu test. Well done, Harry, very clever, keep it up!"

Horace Slughorn was never stingy with praise when he was with Harry. Even though Harry desperately needed Horace Slughorn's praise and affirmation, hearing Horace Slughorn's long string of words still made Harry blush slightly.

The laughter in the classroom continued. Harry returned to his workbench at the back of the classroom and was slowly packing his bag. Ron and Hermione both looked a little troubled. They wished Harry good luck when they left. In the end, only Harry and Slug remained in the classroom.

“Oh, Harry, why aren’t you leaving yet? You’re going to be late for your next class,” Horace Slughorn said, the gold clasp of his dragonskin briefcase clicking as it closed.

“Um, sir,” Harry said, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how to begin. “There’s something I don’t know how to say. It’s something you can see as my curiosity, or you can see it as something that concerns my life or death.”

After some deliberation, Harry finally decided to follow Hermione's advice and say what they had been discussing over the past few days.

"Oh, Potter, what is it?" Horace Slughorn indeed became quite enthusiastic, looking intently at Harry.

“Yes, sir, you know me. There seems to be some kind of strange connection between me and Voldemort. I often connect with him in my dreams or when I’m emotional.” Harry carefully chose his words. “I can only sever this connection through Occlumency. I hope you can teach me Occlumency.”

“Me?” Horace Slughorn asked, flattered. “If I remember correctly, Professor Snape wasn’t teaching you Occlumency—”

“I… I can’t quite accept his teaching methods,” Harry quickly said, trying to find an excuse. “His teaching methods are too harsh and too focused on quick results.”

“Hmm, Snape certainly wasn’t…cough cough…” Horace Slughorn seemed to accept Harry’s reasoning. “Alright then, I’ve been doing that lately too.”

Just as Horace Lugghorn was about to grant Harry's request, he suddenly saw Tyrell's smiling figure appear in the glass window of his classroom.

Reflected in the glass, Tiera smiled, raised a finger to her lips, and then shook her head.

“Uh... Harry is... very happy... very happy that you trust me.” Horace Slughorn almost agreed, but changed his mind at the last minute when he saw Tyella appear. “But... but Harry, you know, I... I... I've been busy with something big lately... something that's... rather urgent.”

"Don't you have any time at all?" Harry asked anxiously and disappointedly.

"Huh? Me?" Horace Slughorn's gaze drifted back to the classroom window. The image of Tiera on the window still smiled and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, Harry, I…” Horace Slughorn racked his brains for an excuse. “Harry, you know I’m very old. Even with potions, I can’t concentrate for long periods of time anymore.”

“If you could wait a little while… um,” Horace Slughorn said, “how about this summer? I’ll be completely free this summer, and I’d like to invite you to stay at my home in Scotland for a while, where I can give you intensive training in potion-making and Occlumency.”

“Oh, well,” Harry said helplessly. “Sorry to bother you, Professor Slughorn.”

“Don’t worry, child,” Horace Slughorn reassured him. “I believe Tyella will protect you until you learn Occlumency.”

"Um, sorry to bother you, Professor Slughorn." Harry left the classroom somewhat disappointed.

After confirming that Harry had indeed left, Horace Slughorn sat down in the teachers' table with a hint of resignation.

“Even though I’ve only been back teaching for less than six months, I can tell that Harry and Snape don’t get along,” Horace Slughorn said. “Why do you insist on having Snape teach Harry Occlumency? You, me, or Dumbledore would all be better choices than Snape.”

"Especially now that the refining of the Philosopher's Stone has entered the final stage, we have already set the rules for the operation of magic, and we only need to observe the overlap of the three dimensions periodically."

“Don’t you think that I, Dumbledore, and the other teachers at Hogwarts have helped Harry too much?” Tyrell retorted.

“Harry was a poor child, he died before he was even a year old,” Horace Slughorn recalled.

“I know he has a difficult past, I know he has gone through many hardships,” Tierra interrupted gently, “but that is not the reason why he is overly dependent on others and unwilling to work hard himself.”

“Like you, Dumbledore, Sirius Black, the godfather of thievery, and all the teachers at Hogwarts, I want Harry to be happy and joyful, but at the same time, I want him to be independent,” Tyella said. “Harry is not an ordinary child. Although I hate to say it, Harry was born extraordinary. There are some things that he can’t solve or avoid by running away or hiding.”

“Voldemort is a minor matter, insignificant to me and Dumbledore,” Tierra said with a smile. “Dumbledore and I still allow Voldemort to act so recklessly because we want to use Voldemort’s activities and the turmoil he has caused to understand the problems in the wizarding world.”

"In the future, Harry and we will face not Voldemort."

“What we’re going to face in the future is far more terrifying than Voldemort,” Tierra said. “What we’re going to face are billions of Muggles, who may be hostile to us.”

(End of this chapter)