Chapter 168 – Meetings
"I can't believe the goblins agreed to it!" Professor Slughorn mumbled, holding a mug filled to the brim with hot chocolate and whipped cream. He stood before the fireplace, sipping on his midnight snack, working hard to regain his original weight, getting very close to it already.
"Me neither." Lockhart agreed, sitting on the couch, writing the new issue of the True Prophet they would spread around Britain. "But leave it to Young Conrad; he can do it if he puts his mind to it."
"You noticed it first while the others did not."
"I... Yes, yes, I did." He smiled, quickly tilting his head left and right, smiling, and even though both of them knew he was being a bit untruthful about it, it was still correct in a certain way. Even if he wasn't close to him at the start, he ended up being the one who did help him, even if out of necessity. "Maybe he helped me grow up, too."
"You did change a lot." Slughorn nodded, "I wouldn't have trusted you with anything previously."
"I know..." He shrugged, well aware of his own shortcomings, and with everything that happened, it was no longer making him nervous or desperate. He accepted it as part of his past, ready to be better. Or at least trying to be better.
"I wonder how their meeting will go."
"With the Headmaster? Me too. I never guessed he was a double agent."
"He is the only one who could pull it off. I remember teaching him; he had a great affinity towards potions and was a master before any of his friends or peers. He may have been a perfect replacement for my position if we lived in a different time. I was looking to retire anyway..."
"He had friends?"
"You know how I meant it... schoolmates. What matters is that I knew he would be somebody with his talent; I just did not expect it to turn out like this."