Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard

Chapter 928: Chapter 745: Imperio_2

Ron immediately wanted to leave; the atmosphere here was too oppressive, and he had long wanted to go.

"Kai, you need to wait a moment, I have some things I want to ask you." Dumbledore suddenly spoke, stopping Kai who was about to leave.

There was no way around it, Kai shrugged at Conna and retreated back into the room, but by then Dumbledore had already looked at Slughorn.

"Horace, can you tell us now?"

"What do you want to know?" Slughorn sat on the nearest bed and asked, "First, I must say, I didn’t know she was under the Imperius Curse, nor do I know what she intended to do to me."

"I believe the person who wants to harm you is not Ms. Rosmerta, but the person behind her," Dumbledore said. "Have you noticed anything different about her recently?"

"Different from before?" Slughorn thought for a moment, "I haven’t noticed, but if I must say, it’s that she was too enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic?"

"Yes," Slughorn said, "I remember it was the day before Christmas. I was running out of drinks, so I had to buy some urgently.

"Even though the shop was crowded, Rosmerta kept talking to me... she had never been this enthusiastic before.

"But I didn’t think much of it, just thought she was interested in my party, after all, quite a few people came that day, even the Minister of Magic. It’s normal for her to be interested, right?"

"Cornelius Fudge?" Dumbledore frowned, "I don’t remember him looking for me at Christmas."

"Not looking for you, but for Kai. I had previously spread the word that Kai would be attending this party," Slughorn said, "but then some changes occurred. After learning that Kai didn’t attend the party, he quickly left."

With everyone’s gaze focused on him, Kai shrugged, indicating he didn’t know anything.

At that time, he was already at Nicolas’ manor; he had no idea that Fudge came to the school to look for him.

However, Dumbledore did not mind.

"Then what did you and Ms. Rosmerta talk about?"

"Not much," Slughorn thought for a moment, "mainly about the guests... oh, before I left, she asked what gift I was going to give you and strongly recommended the shop’s aged Honey Wine."

"But I remember you gave me Redcurrant Rum," Dumbledore said.

"That’s right, it was brought by the Minister, also aged," Slughorn said, "so I told her I had already prepared the gift, but I could personally buy that bottle of Honey Wine."

"Is it the bottle in your office?" Professor McGonagall asked.

She remembered Harry had mentioned before that Slughorn’s office contained steak, and candied fruits, along with a half glass of Honey Wine.

"No, Minerva, the bottle of aged Honey Wine Rosmerta mentioned was broken when she was about to give it to me," Slughorn said, "I was regretful for quite a long time."

"That is indeed quite a pity," Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and said.

But no one present was foolish; they all knew what he meant.

It seemed the other party intended for Slughorn to give that bottle of wine as a Christmas gift to Dumbledore.

And something was likely added to that bottle. So, upon learning of Slughorn’s early preparations, to avoid exposing themselves prematurely, they had to find a way to destroy it.

Snape sneered beside him.

Slughorn’s face turned even redder, but fortunately, he had drunk quite a bit beforehand, so the others couldn’t tell.

"What happened afterward?" Dumbledore asked again, "What about the Love Potion?"

"It was something that happened yesterday." Slughorn glanced at a nearby hospital bed, "I routinely went to inquire if she had any new aged Honey Wine.

Of course, there was none. Just as I was about to leave, she suddenly gave me a portion of candied pineapples, claiming it was a new dessert.

"Because I had previously mentioned my favorite pairing was Honey Wine with candied pineapples, I thought she had taken my suggestion."

Then followed a lengthy silence.

Dumbledore lowered his head, lost in thought.

Snape’s lips twitched; he finally couldn’t hold back and asked, "Didn’t you notice there was something off about the color of those candied fruits?"

"You don’t understand, Severus," Slughorn stammered, "because everyone has different preparation methods, the color of candied fruits can vary, which is normal."

Snape didn’t know what to say, so he sneered again and looked away.

At some point, it became gloomy outside; it started raining, with the raindrops hitting the windows, making a tapping sound.

"Albus, do you know who did this?" Professor McGonagall stepped forward and asked.

"I will find out," Dumbledore said softly, once again looking at Kai, "The last time you went to Three Broomsticks, did you notice any differences in Ms. Rosmerta?"

"Everything was normal, no strange behavior... at least from what I observed," Kai said, "Or perhaps you could ask others, like Ron, who tended to watch Ms. Rosmerta more than his own glass."

Unless someone is specifically tasked with things like giving Slughorn candied fruit, someone under the Imperius Curse wouldn’t show visible signs.