Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 222 Rehiring a Potions Professor! Clone Magic!

"You mean... you want Severus to take care of Ecclesia?"

Dumbledore rubbed his wrinkled head and asked Dudley with some difficulty to confirm.

"Of course! It's him, of course."

Dudley responded immediately, without the slightest hesitation, "He's the only one who's suitable. Otherwise, why would I have asked you to guess what reason Eckeris would make up?"

"But... Severus would probably have a hard time agreeing to this, wouldn't he?"

Dumbledore knew that once this was settled, it would be his turn to persuade Snape.

But Snape only had Lily in his heart, and he knew that very well.

Isn't this asking him to do something unreasonable?

He will agree.

Go tell him that there are indeed many signs that Professor Ecclesia is related to Voldemort, and that Voldemort's remnant soul is even lurking in Ecclesia's body.

You need a trusted and powerful person to closely monitor Ecclesia, for the safety of all the teachers and students of Hogwarts, and also for the safety of Harry Potter, the son of a friend he has wronged.

Dudley spoke with a slightly gloomy expression and voice.

“Well, that might convince Severus.”

Dumbledore sighed. He finally understood that Dudley knew just as much about Snape as he did.

But Dudley always wanted to make things difficult for Snape.

What a tragic fate! Hopefully, things will change after Lily and James are resurrected!

Dumbledore thought to himself, and was about to accept the task, when he remembered another, more important matter, and quickly continued:

"Now that Severus is monitoring Ecclesia, he has even less time to develop the soul-anesthetizing potion."

This will slow down our progress in extracting the soul fragments from the Horcruxes!

Dudley had anticipated this and quickly responded:

"I've wanted to mention this for a while now. Snape's potion-making skills are indeed top-notch in the magical world, but that doesn't mean that the matter of the Soul-Soothing Potion can only be pondered by him alone."

Horace Slughorn, the former Potions professor at Hogwarts and former Head of Slytherin House, was also a top Potions Master; even Snape learned Potions from him.

More importantly, he knows about Horcruxes and may even have in-depth knowledge of the dark magic used to create them.

It was he who told the young Voldemort about Horcruxes, which led Voldemort to find the book "The Secrets of Dark Magic" in the forbidden section of the library and learn how to create Horcruxes.

We can rehire him from Hogwarts to help Snape with half of the Potions course, giving Snape more free time and providing another person to research Soul-Nervous Potions.

These two potions masters are exchanging ideas and brainstorming; they might soon achieve results.

Why not?

Dumbledore was somewhat intrigued, but also lost in thought. He then asked:

"Dali, your talent allows you to recall certain scenes from the past? This is another miracle! Horace actually taught his student such a brutal form of dark magic as Horcruxes, he's too..."

"The past is the future, and there is no need to worry about the details."

I understand your concerns. Professor Slughorn isn't a bad person; he's just vain and overly biased towards high-achieving students. He's trustworthy and reliable.

Dudley offered a brief explanation and then picked up where Dumbledore left off. He realized that Dumbledore was worried that Slughorn's character was not trustworthy.

Dali continued, "In a couple of days, my magical abilities will experience a major leap forward."

At that time, I will temporarily stay at the school and keep an eye on Voldemort's main soul.

Go to Professor Slughorn's house in person, ask him to return to Hogwarts as a professor, and tell him about Voldemort's Horcruxes and the development of a soul-numbing potion.

Note that you should first use the fact that he leaked information about the Horcruxes to give him a verbal warning, making him feel afraid and regretful, and realize that he should take responsibility.

Then, changing the subject again, flattering him and fully satisfying his vanity, she said that the development of the soul-anesthetizing potion could only be completed with his participation.

Finally, assure him that while the matter of Horcruxes would remain a secret for the time being, his achievements would be made public once Voldemort was truly defeated.

They published a special feature praising him in the Daily Prophet and had his portrait placed in the Slytherin common room so that future Slytherin students could admire and worship him.

In this way, he will surely take the bait and do his best to serve us.

Dumbledore was stunned by Dudley's meticulous plan. He had thoroughly studied Horace and arranged everything perfectly!

He nodded in agreement with Dudley's plan, but a fleeting inspiration struck him from a particular detail Dudley had just mentioned.

"Dudley, you just mentioned a portrait?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes! Is there a problem? This is Professor Slughorn's wish; we can definitely control him!"

Dudley replied that he didn't understand why Dumbledore was concerned with such details.

As long as I can concoct the Soul-Anesthetic Potion, what's a portrait? I'd even publish a book specifically for Slughorn.

Using these superficial things to obtain real results is a sure-fire way to make money.

“A portrait would be more suitable, even more so than a doll.”

Dumbledore didn't answer Dudley, but instead muttered to himself.

What he was thinking and what Dudley was saying were not the same thing at all.

"What do you mean by 'suitable' or 'unsuitable'? A clone? You've figured out how to create a clone?" Dali asked in surprise.

The original story didn't have a particularly useful magic like the ability to create clones. If Dumbledore had figured it out, he would definitely have come over to learn how to use it.

“We’ve found a direction; we’ve created a semi-finished product.” Dumbledore said, taking a small white statue that resembled a wizard’s chess piece from the headmaster’s desk drawer.

However, this small statue is not of a king, queen, or knight, but a miniature version of Dumbledore himself.

Dumbledore held his small statue, poured a large amount of magic into it, and then casually tossed it into the empty space next to Dudley.

The small statue underwent a dramatic transformation upon landing, twisting, expanding, and growing larger... eventually becoming a white statue one-to-one with Dumbledore himself.

Hello, Dali!

The white statue version of Dumbledore's clone suddenly moved his lips, greeted Dudley beside him, and stretched out a plaster-like arm to pat Dudley's shoulder.

Dudley was startled and dodged away in a flash.

"Dumbledore, is this the clone you created? It's terrifying! What can it do?"

Dali got goosebumps all over and complained loudly.

Dumbledore himself shrugged helplessly: "That's why I only said it's a half-finished product! It's not perfect yet."

I combined the magical items created through alchemy with transmutation and mental magic that connects with the mind to create this semi-finished product.

I originally wanted him to take my place in class, the one you asked me to teach, the 'Great Wizard's Mindset Enhancement Course'!

Upon hearing this, Dudley turned to look at Old Deng in disbelief, and blurted out a sarcastic remark:

"You're researching clone magic just to be lazy? So you won't use your real body to attend class?"