Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 664 "Breakup"

“Oh, alright, come in, come in. He’s really badly affected,” Horace Slughorn said, stepping aside. “I have the necessities in my chest. Love potions aren’t that hard to cure…”

In the instant Horace Slughorn turned to the side, Ron burst into Horace Slughorn's overcrowded study, tripping over a tasseled footstool, and only regaining his balance by grabbing Harry's neck.

Ron muttered, "She's not here. Where is she?"

“She’s not here anymore,” Harry said, noticing Horace opening his potions box and adding something to a small crystal bottle.

“She’s gone now. Let’s have some tonic first,” Harry added.

“Great!” Ron said eagerly. “How do I look now?”

“Very cool!” Horace Slughorn said calmly, handing Ron the small bottle of clear liquid. “Drink it now. It’s a courage tonic that will keep you calm and collected when she arrives, you know that.”

"That's great!" Ron said eagerly, swallowing the antidote in one gulp.

Harry and Slug looked at Ron, and after a while, very slowly, Ron smiled and relaxed, his expression no longer one of extreme panic.

"Back to normal?" Harry asked with a smile, and Horace Slughorn chuckled as well. "Thank you so much, Professor."

“You’re welcome, my child, don’t be so polite,” Horace Slughorn said, then Ron collapsed onto the sofa next to him, sinking deep into it and looking utterly miserable.

“Oh, come on, let me see.” Horace Slughorn stood up from the dispensing station and walked to his desk, where he picked up a can of beverage from his cluttered desk. “Aha, I knew it, I have a completely unopened bottle of Butterbeer here, hmm, okay!”

Horace Slughorn shrugged and continued, “Weasley can’t miss this! Why don’t we open it now to celebrate Mr. Weasley’s birthday? Nothing takes more courage than getting over a broken heart… and a warm butterbeer is just the right amount of courage for Mr. Weasley!”

As he spoke, Horace Slughorn drew his wand and tapped the butterbeer bottle.

The beer bottle quickly warmed up.

“Here you go!” Horace Slughorn handed Harry and Ron each a glass of mead, raising his own glass high as he said, “Well done, happy birthday, Ralph—”

“—Um—yes, it’s Ron,” Harry whispered, but Ron didn’t seem to hear him; he had already poured the wine into his mouth and swallowed it.

"Phew!" After drinking a glass of butterbeer, Ron's complexion seemed to have become much rosier.

"Tons, tons, tons——"

Ron then picked up a Butterbeer, poured himself a glass, and chugged it down.

"Phew—" Ron let out a long sigh of relief.

“I felt terrible just now,” Ron said.

“You’ve just been drugged with a love potion,” Harry said. “A really, really strong one.”

Harry added.

“Oh, okay, I… I have absolutely no recollection of it,” Ron said.

"You don't remember anything about it?" Harry asked.

“That’s all,” Ron said, pouring himself another butterbeer. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing,” Harry said. Harry thought for a moment, but ultimately decided not to say Ron yelled “ugly girl” at Lavender Brown. After all, Ron and Lavender Brown were just too lovey-dovey. If it could make them give each other the cold shoulder for a few days, Harry felt that it would be a liberation and a blessing for his eyes and ears.

"Alright, alright, if your problems are solved, I think you should probably go to your Apparition class this morning." Horace Slughorn watched Ron chug down the rest of the Butterbeer in his hand, then yawned and began to dismiss him.

"This old man is going back to sleep for a bit. After all, I'm not like you young people anymore; I need to get enough sleep. Haha."

As he spoke, Horace Slughorn yawned.

“Okay, all right, goodbye, Professor,” Harry said from inside. “Thank you for your help.”

"You're welcome, Harry. Goodbye." Horace Slughorn yawned again. "Alright, you guys go to class, I'm going back to catch up on some sleep."

"What?" George exclaimed in surprise, "You've been given a love potion?"

"Hmm," Ron replied, both distressed and relieved, "This was supposed to be Romirda's love potion for Harry, but I ate it as a birthday present."

Ron's voice trailed off as he spoke.

"Hahahahahaha!" Before Ron could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Fred's loud laughter.

"Hahahaha. I, I, I just said it!" George laughed along, "No one would ever give our Ronnie baby a love potion!"

"You! You're talking nonsense!" Ron retorted, his face flushed. "I, I, I also have a girlfriend!"

"Hehehe," Ginny chuckled softly, "but it won't be available for long!"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Have you forgotten what you said to Lavender Brown while you were drinking the love potion?" Ginny retorted.

“What?” Ron asked back.

Ron had just broken free from the effects of the Love Potion and then drank most of a bottle of Butterbeer in the morning. Tierra and the Ministry of Magic officials who taught Apparition class both agreed that he was not fit to continue learning Apparition, so he was forced to rest in his dormitory for the morning.

"Oh, my Merlin, you really don't remember?" Ginny slapped her forehead dramatically.

"What?" Ron finally started to get impatient. "What is it?"

“You yelled at Lavender Brown,” Ginny said.

“You still call her a stinky old woman,” Ginny said again.

"What?" Ron's face turned deathly pale.

“Lavender kept muttering during Apparition class. She looked furious. She said you called her a bitch and told her to get lost as soon as you came out of the dorm. She said she was livid.” Ginny picked at her ear with her little finger. “I think my ears are about to get calluses.”

"She said she wants to break up with me?" Ron said, overjoyed. "Oh, thank you, Merlin, that's wonderful! I've had enough of her, I just didn't know how to say it."

“That’s how she was at first,” Ginny said, “but after one lunch she somehow found out that you were under the spell of love, and she started talking about ‘Little Ronnie’ again.”

I'm really sorry everyone. My supervisor was at home for a month due to the pandemic, and now he's making me do experiments until 10:30 every night, so I really don't have much time to write. I'm really sorry for the break.

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(End of this chapter)