Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Evan had once asked Elaine whether vampires could eat bread.

The answer was yes, but it would taste strange and the body would instinctively reject it.

If swallowed forcefully, it was also possible and could create a sense of fullness, but it could not replenish magic power.

And, Elaine had never eaten it.

Aside from dragon blood, Blood-flavoured lollipops, and Evan, she ate nothing else.

This child was very picky about her diet; otherwise, she wouldn’t have nearly fainted from hunger in Diagon Alley back then…

The lunch that Slughorn had meticulously prepared obviously did not satisfy Elaine. He had not noticed this yet as he was concentrating on inquiring about the students’ family situations and asking about their famous relatives.

“Now, you, Cormac,” said Slughorn, “I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he has a rather splendid picture of the two of you hunting nogtails in, I think, Norfolk?”

“Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was,” said McLaggen deliberately. “We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour — this was before he became Minister, obviously —”

He knew exactly what Slughorn wanted and made sure to mention it.

“Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?” beamed Slughorn, now offering around a small tray of pies; somehow, Belby was missed out. “Now tell me …”

“Hmph, I understand now, it seems that, except Ginny and us, everyone here seem to have been invited because they’re connected to somebody well-known or influential,”Hermione whispered to Evan.

“That’s just his style,” said Evan. “Remember what Dumbledore told us about his hobbies? I bet he’s planning to re-establish that club at school and is screening the members.”

In all fairness, joining the Slug Club wasn’t such a bad idea.

It would be even better if there weren’t so many Slytherins and all their scheming.

“I have no interest in any club. He doesn’t seem to have prepared my food,” said Elaine, looking at her portion of pie and roll unhappily. “How am I supposed to eat this when there’s no blood?!”

If it had blood, she wouldn’t be able to eat it anyway.

Elaine was a little anxious. Watching others eat while hungry was a painful torture.

“Evan, do you still have dragon blood?” she swallowed.

“There’s still some left, let’s go back and you can eat,” said Evan quickly.

Though Elaine’s eating habits weren’t bad, there was no need to publicly display how a vampire ate.

He stood up and everyone stared at him in surprise.

Harry also straightened up hastily. He had just heard the conversation between Evan, Hermione and Elaine, and was eager to find an excuse to leave quickly before Slughorn brought up the topic of his parents. He had a hunch that Slughorn would definitely ask about the prophecy that had been hotly discussed some time ago.

These were things Harry didn’t want to talk about, especially in front of a bunch of Slytherins.

“Something wrong, Evan?” Slughorn looked at him in surprise.  

“Well, Professor, we…” Evan walked over and whispered a few words into Slughorn’s ear, explaining Elaine’s situation and politely excusing themselves.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, truly sorry! That was so inconsiderate of me; I completely overlooked this,” said Slughorn apologetically, noticing that Elaine hadn’t touched her food. “I forgot to prepare a separate meal.”

“It’s alright, Professor, we’ve brought our own,” said Evan.

“Can’t you eat here? Or perhaps come back later? You haven’t even tried the pheasant I prepared.”

“No need, Professor. I’m the Head Boy. Hermione and Elaine are prefects. We’ll have to go on patrol after lunch. You know, taking care of the first years is an important task.”

“Yeah, promising students are usually very busy. You should go on patrol instead of staying here with an old guy like me,” said Slughorn, looking at Elaine with a regretful expression, and then quickly turned to Harry, Neville, and Ginny who had also stood up, “Ah, but you three don’t have to patrol, right?”

Neville and Ginny both turned to look at Harry, who hesitantly said, “No!”

“Then don’t leave so quickly. Come on, Harry. I just want to introduce you to everyone,” said Slughorn, shifting massively in his seat with the air of a compere introducing his star act. “Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!”

Evan, Hermione and Elaine left the compartment, and Harry looked at the three of them helplessly.

Beside him, Slughorn was still contemplating him as though he was a particularly large and succulent piece of pheasant.

Then he quietly said, “ ‘The Chosen One,’ they’re calling you now!”

Harry said nothing. He knew this would happen, and the others were all staring at him.

“Of course,” said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, “there have been rumors for years. … I remember when — well — after that terrible night — Lily — James — and you survived — and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary —”

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

Harry didn’t say anything, but an angry voice burst out from behind Slughorn.

“Yeah, Zabini, because you’re so talented … at posing. …”

“Oh, dear!” chuckled Slughorn comfortably, looking around at Ginny, who was glaring at Zabini around Slughorn’s great belly. “You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn’t cross her!”

Hearing Slughorn’s warning, Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

“Anyway,” said Slughorn, turning back to Harry. “This summer has been filled with rumors. The Wizarding World is in turmoil, with terrible things happening everywhere. Aside from Evan, you are the hottest topic, Harry. People are still talking about a disturbance at the Ministry a few months ago. And of course, there’s that legendary Prophecy Orb. Rumors are flying left and right, and one doesn’t know what to believe. The newspapers frequently print inaccuracies, make mistakes, but from what I know from the inside, that prophecy clearly involves you and him… and your extraordinary powers…

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