Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Chapter 926: Chapter 744: True Aged Honey Wine (Part 3)

The others saw this and followed suit.

It wasn’t until returning to the castle that Kael discovered it really was as Professor McGonagall said, a complete mess.

The students were almost all gathered in the auditorium, discussing what had happened, with undisguisable fear on everyone’s faces.

But this is also convenient... no need to run around the castle.

Slughorn walked into the auditorium, and someone immediately spotted him.

"Slughorn?"

"Are you alright now?"

"Have you come back to life?"

...

The chatter instantly grew louder, buzzing incessantly.

"Quiet, quiet please!" Slughorn walked to the center of the auditorium and said loudly, "I’m glad so many of you care about me, but please rest assured, it was just a small mishap while brewing a magic potion."

"Then why did you lose consciousness?" someone asked.

"Good question," said Slughorn. "Remember how I always advise you to stay fully focused and not get distracted when brewing potions? That’s the reason.

"A mistake in the brewing process of some potions can be very dangerous."

Although many were skeptical, seeing his vibrant appearance, they had to believe it.

After realizing it was a misunderstanding, everyone’s emotions gradually stabilized, and they began to leave the auditorium one by one.

"I should have completed my task, right?"

When there were only five of them left in the auditorium, Slughorn sat on a bench and said, "I have an unreasonable request, can I trouble you to forget about today’s incident, or at least not mention it to outsiders."

"Of course, that’s no problem," said Kael. "But Professor, how could you not notice a love potion?"

Slughorn turned his head aside, seemingly reluctant to recall the embarrassing incident.

"Just let it go, okay?" he said softly. "Let’s not mention it again, as if nothing happened. You didn’t see me this morning either."

"Yes, yes..." Ron nodded repeatedly beside him, "And please don’t tell anyone else, especially Lavender, I don’t want her to misunderstand."

"Sorry, Ron..." Harry’s gaze wandered a bit, "Actually, when I brought you out of the common room, you’ve already seen Lavender.

"She came to bring you a birthday gift, but you told her to go away and not delay you in calling for Romilda... don’t you remember?"

Ron’s face turned pale instantly, his mouth agape, letting out a trembling whimper from his throat.

"Damn it..." He clasped his head with his hands, angrily saying, "Why did Romilda Vane give me a love potion, I don’t even know her!"

"I suppose she meant it for me," Harry said quietly. "That Chocolate Cauldron was her Christmas gift to me, but since Hermione warned me she had bought a love potion, I threw it under my bed."

"Then why did you give it to me!" Ron didn’t understand.

"I didn’t give it to you." Harry quickly explained. "Remember? This morning when you got out of bed, you accidentally kicked some of the gifts under my bed."

With Harry’s reminder, Ron remembered.

The Chocolate Cauldron was indeed what he found when collecting gifts, with its intact wrapping, so he didn’t think much of it and mixed it with his gifts.

Plus, after the school banned trips to Hogsmeade, he hadn’t had chocolate in a long time, so he couldn’t resist trying a piece.

"Sorry." Ron bowed his head again, "But you really should have thrown it out, I mean with a Scouring Charm, not just under the bed."

"I... I forgot..." Harry said quietly.

"Ron, is today your birthday?" Conna suddenly asked.

"Ah, yes." Ron sighed softly.

"Sorry, I didn’t know, and didn’t prepare a gift." Conna searched in her small bag and took out a bottle.

"This is an antidote for the love potion I just prepared at the Hospital Wing, I’m giving it to you as my gift." Conna said, "This way, you won’t have to worry about today’s incident happening again."

"Great, thank you." Ron happily accepted the bottle, he was truly scared.

"This is mine." Next to him, Slughorn also took out a bottle, also a potion.

Not sure if it’s due to a similar experience or as a hush fee, he actually gave a small bottle of Felix Felicius, the golden potion gleaming in the bottle, and Ron couldn’t take his eyes off it.

"Lucky Potion?!" He couldn’t help but raise his voice, "Is this really for me?"

"Of course." Slughorn felt a bit pained, but still nodded, "As long as you don’t..."

"I won’t tell anyone about today’s incident!" Ron said firmly.

"Alright, this is mine." Kael also took out what he prepared.

Compared to Conna and Slughorn, his gift looked a bit shabby; it was a large box full of treats and chocolates from Honeydukes.

But his gift was in a box with a golden-red ribbon, evidently prepared in advance.

"Thank you, I haven’t had these for two months... Mom won’t let me go to Diagon Alley, Fred and George won’t bring them to me either," Ron said,

Receiving three gifts in a row, including a precious Lucky Potion, Ron’s mood improved significantly.

He immediately popped a creamy fudge into his mouth and shared the chocolates from the box with Harry, as he didn’t want to see such things for a while.

...