This old man's teaching ability really was not to be underestimated. Even though he loved slipping a bit of personal promotion into his lessons, talking about how close he was with some famous person or how many outstanding students he had taught.
He was loud and lively, with none of the steadiness one might expect from someone his age.
Still, overall, what he taught was good. And he was very "fashionable," openly praising methods of processing ingredients that differed from the textbook.
Leonard occasionally went over to sit in and listen. This old man's teaching level was far above Snape's, and even Leonard felt he benefited a great deal from it.
And Horace, in turn, became interested in Leonard.
That day, Leonard and Fleur were in the Slughorn family's potions room, discussing a problem from the potions textbook concerning the brewing of Felix Felicis, while Claudia lay on the windowsill nearby, playing with a crow.
Felix Felicis was an extremely difficult potion described in Advanced Potion-Making.
The brewing time alone lasted six months, and the slightest mistake at any point in the process could turn the whole batch into a deadly poison.
Whether in terms of difficulty or brewing time, it was impossible to complete in a competition, so Fleur had not chosen it as her competition target.
But as a topic for discussion, it really was an interesting potion.
Just as the two of them were discussing the amount of Occamy eggshell needed, one of the main ingredients in Felix Felicis, Horace walked in.
"Leonard." Seeing the two deep in discussion, Horace smiled. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"Professor Slughorn." The two stood when they saw Horace and greeted the learned old professor.
"Not at all. Is there something you needed, Professor Slughorn?" Leonard asked.
"There is, actually." The more Horace looked at Leonard, the more satisfied he seemed.
Through these past days of interaction and teaching, Horace's genius radar had kicked in. He had keenly sensed that Leonard's learning ability far exceeded anything he had expected. A genius like this had limitless prospects.
As a seasoned old operator, Horace liked young talents like that very much and was more than willing to offer that kind of genius some help and encouragement.
"Leonard, your level in potions is already far beyond what your age would suggest. Have you ever considered developing in this field in the future?" Horace asked.
That question...
Leonard looked at Horace curiously. "Professor, are you saying...?"
"I think you're very gifted." Horace's smile brightened. "If you're interested, I can recommend you to attend some gatherings for potioneers. Don't worry, they're not formal competitions, just simple gatherings."
"At those gatherings, you can make friends with other potioneers, join some mutually supportive associations, and of course, you can discuss potion knowledge with some famous potion masters, friends of mine."
When Fleur heard that, envy appeared plainly on her face.
Being able to exchange ideas with potion masters was probably the dream of many potioneers. At any rate, Fleur was so excited by it that she nearly wanted to answer in Leonard's place and accept on the spot.
But the moment she thought of Leonard, she could not help rolling her eyes.
Because she still remembered what Leonard had said before.
He had said he was not good at brewing potions.
What a lie. Even Professor Slughorn had acknowledged his talent.
What a hypocrite.
A gathering of potioneers?
Leonard really was interested as soon as he heard it. After all, it sounded very high-end. Potion masters and the like might very well know quite a few secrets of the wizarding world.
If he could join, he might be able to learn something from them.
"Would I need to do anything?" Leonard asked.
"No, of course not. You wouldn't need to do anything in particular. Consider it a small gesture of goodwill from me." Horace smiled. "Though naturally, it would be even better if you were willing to become my student."
Become Horace's student?
If Leonard had been an ordinary Hogwarts student, he might have accepted gladly.
Unfortunately, he was not.
He had no interest in putting a teacher over his own head.
"I'm sorry, Professor Slughorn, but my interests don't lie in potions. I'm afraid I can't become your student." Leonard refused tactfully.
"I see." Horace sounded a little disappointed, but there was no forcing the matter.
As an old hand with excellent social instincts, someone even better at networking than Veela-blooded Lehende, Horace was not the sort to take a polite refusal as a personal slight.
"If you change your mind in the future and decide you want to keep developing in potions, you can come to me anytime." After that, Horace gave the two of them some more pointers on their potion discussion, then left.
Once Horace was gone, Fleur looked at Leonard as if she wanted to say something, but hesitated.
"What kind of look is that?" Leonard asked, curling his lip.
"You shouldn't have refused him," Fleur said. "Becoming Professor Slughorn's student would be very helpful for your future."
"At most, he would teach me some potion knowledge. You know I don't intend to develop in that direction, so that doesn't really count as much help." Leonard sounded utterly unconcerned.
"No, it's not just potion knowledge. He could also give you a certain social standing." Fleur sighed. "Professor Slughorn belongs to one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families. His bloodline itself represents status. If you acknowledged him as your teacher, then the pure-bloods would accept you as well."
"You may be outstanding in every respect, but that only determines your lower limit. Bloodline is what determines your upper limit."
Leonard raised a brow.
That was true enough. In the wizarding world, the upper limit for a wizard born to a Muggle family was very low. Even if they graduated with excellent results and entered the Ministry of Magic, it was still hard for them to receive real advancement.
But if you had a teacher with high status and great ability, that would be different. At least in one particular field, your achievements would be much easier for others to accept.
But did Leonard need to care about any of that?
Of course not.
What did the wizarding world's bloodline ideology have to do with him?
He had no interest in displaying his achievements, nor any need for others to accept them.
And in any case, what did he even have to display?
His endlessly multiplying blood grapes that could control other people? His bloody, horrifying parasitic seed pods?
The moment he showed that kind of thing, no one would accept it. All it would do was attract waves of righteous wizards determined to put him down.
Dumbledore would probably be the first to step up and clean house.
So he was better off staying honestly behind the scenes and being a rich man with no worries at all.