"What do you think of Slughorn?" Dumbledore asked.
"An ordinary good man who likes showing off a little," Kasen replied.
"In fact, he is also rather cowardly," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Mm-hm. Just get to the point. You said Slughorn once taught Voldemort, which means you want to obtain information about Voldemort from him." Kasen crossed one leg over the other.
"You look as though you don't understand," Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't understand why you need me for this," Kasen explained.
"There always needs to be someone playing the good man and someone playing the bad man, doesn't there?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"So, am I the good man or the bad man?" Kasen asked.
"Hmm..." Dumbledore merely smiled without answering.
"All right, I'll go call Grindelwald over."
Kasen understood. Dumbledore had dragged him here to play the bad man. He immediately got up to leave, intending to find someone who was genuinely good at this sort of thing instead.
"What I need is not a death threat. I need moral coercion."
Dumbledore hurriedly stood up and grabbed Kasen by the sleeve.
"...I'm not good at moral coercion," Kasen said stiffly.
"You're not? I thought you were rather good at it. When you came with me to Slughorn's house, you had one argument after another ready," Dumbledore said with a smile.
"That was genuinely what I thought. Haven't I told you that?" Kasen replied speechlessly.
"Then there is even less of a problem. Moral coercion needs to be used by someone who genuinely has morals, not someone like Gellert. Coming from him, it would only feel like threats and bribery," Dumbledore explained.
And so, Kasen rolled his eyes repeatedly as he followed Dumbledore to the door of Slughorn's office.
"Why don't you just use force?" Kasen made one final attempt to resist as he thought about this task, which was neither dirty nor tiring, but humiliating, undignified, and embarrassing in hindsight.
"If something can be resolved with words, there is no need to use violence. Don't you agree?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Fine."
Kasen helplessly knocked on the door, then decisively pulled Dumbledore in front of him.
Dumbledore stood there rather helplessly. Before long, Slughorn opened the door and invited them both inside.
"What brings you here?" Slughorn asked as he placed refreshments and black tea on the table.
Kasen nudged Dumbledore with the tip of his shoe, making his meaning perfectly clear. Get to the point.
They could not possibly spend the whole evening eating and drinking without saying anything, then go home with everyone's stomach full of sugar water.
Dumbledore spoke directly.
"Horace, last night, Kasen killed Tom again."
Slughorn's face instantly turned pale and stiff.
"What?"
"Last night, Kasen killed Voldemort again," Dumbledore said even more bluntly.
Slughorn's face remained pale, but he still forced out a smile. "That's good news."
"No, you didn't hear me clearly. Kasen has killed Voldemort more than once, yet he keeps returning again and again. As the professor who was once closest to Tom at Hogwarts, I believe you should know something about it," Dumbledore said slowly.
Sitting beside him, Kasen raised an eyebrow. He had a feeling there would be no need for him to sit here like an idiot and play along with Dumbledore's little double act today.
Judging by Dumbledore's current verbal firepower and forcefulness, he could probably interrogate the whole story out of Slughorn by himself.
Seeing this, Kasen relaxed. He took a small silver flask from his robes, leisurely poured its contents into his teacup, and drank it all in one gulp.
What a waste.
Kasen awkwardly set the teacup aside and focused entirely on the flask instead.
"What could I possibly know?" Slughorn stopped forcing himself to sit upright and sank completely into the sofa, allowing it to support his entire body. Putting on an air of indifference with just a hint of surprise, he said, "We all know You-Know-Who may have mastered some method of preserving his life and returning from death. We have known that ever since Harry Potter killed him sixteen years ago and he came back."
"...."
Dumbledore remained silent.
In fact, it was not only Dumbledore. The entire office fell silent.
Kasen frowned, feeling that the air had become strangely clean. Then he suddenly realised that Dumbledore was not speaking because it was now his turn to perform.
Fuck your...
No, no. He should use a gentler approach.
In the end, he arranged his face into something that looked reasonably human. Combined with his slightly flushed cheeks from the alcohol, it appeared, at least in his own imagination, barely... perhaps a little intimidating.
"But what exactly is this method of his?" he asked.
Slughorn glanced at Kasen, and the tension on his face instantly vanished.
"Would you like me to get you something to eat with your drink?"
After saying that, he stood up on his own and went to search the cabinet for snacks.
"Weren't you silent just now because you wanted me to take over?" Kasen muttered quietly when he saw Dumbledore's speechless expression.
"I was taking a deep breath and preparing to unleash everything on him," Dumbledore replied helplessly.
"Sorry about that," Kasen said awkwardly.
"Do not concern yourself with such a trivial matter. I am in excellent condition right now. You may continue drinking there and watch with amusement as I tear into him," Dumbledore said, slowly raising his head with pride.
At this moment, Kasen genuinely felt that his Headmaster had finally grown up!
He no longer needed a professor like Kasen to worry about him.
What a wonderful Headmaster!
Kasen was only one step away from bursting into tears and shouting, "Headmaster Kaka, I am your most loyal soldier!"
Before long, Slughorn returned with a plate of dried salted fish and placed it in front of Kasen to accompany his drink. Then he drew his wand, pulled a bright silver thread from his temple, placed it inside an exquisite little glass vial, and tossed it to Dumbledore.
"Take it."
The gesture left both Kasen and Dumbledore dumbfounded, especially Dumbledore.
He had already prepared an entire speech in his head and planned to work as hard as two people, giving Kasen and Slughorn a proper demonstration of the art of language.
And now...
Slughorn had simply surrendered?
For a Gryffindor, having the enemy surrender without a fight might genuinely be considered disappointing.
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