Horace Slughorn
Oct 14, 2014 5:37:27 GMT
Post by Horace Slughorn on Oct 14, 2014 5:37:27 GMT
Horace E. F. Slughorn
109 - June 3rd, 1922 - Single - Pureblood
Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House
"Horace likes his comfort. He also likes the company of the famous, the successful and the powerful. He enjoys the feeling that he influences these people. He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself. He prefers the back-seat; there is more room to spread out."
—Albus Dumbledore describing his colleague.
Wand: Apple and Unicorn Hair, 8 1/2 inches.
Slughorn's wand is unusually thick. It is also very ornate, resembling Horace's liking for luxury. The wand's handle displays a pair of tentacle-like protrusions, not unlike those of a slug. The tentacle-like protrusions even have eyespots at the ends, also like those of a slug. This may have reflected it's owner's surname, Slughorn. Also, below the handle seems to resemble a trail of snail slime, which curves around until the end. This could also reflect Horace's last name. The wand itself may have been inherited or passed down from earlier Slughorn generations.
Slughorn's wand is a grayish, metal colour with white curved lines on the shaft. It has a very unique handle in the shaped of a snails head.
—Albus Dumbledore describing his colleague.
Wand: Apple and Unicorn Hair, 8 1/2 inches.
Slughorn's wand is unusually thick. It is also very ornate, resembling Horace's liking for luxury. The wand's handle displays a pair of tentacle-like protrusions, not unlike those of a slug. The tentacle-like protrusions even have eyespots at the ends, also like those of a slug. This may have reflected it's owner's surname, Slughorn. Also, below the handle seems to resemble a trail of snail slime, which curves around until the end. This could also reflect Horace's last name. The wand itself may have been inherited or passed down from earlier Slughorn generations.
Slughorn's wand is a grayish, metal colour with white curved lines on the shaft. It has a very unique handle in the shaped of a snails head.
Appearance: Short and round-bellied, standing at a whopping 5'2, his boisterous personality compensates for his lack of height. He is wrinkled and balding, in his youth he had strawberry blond hair and was quite dashing. He wears satin robes beneath his cloak, for there's always first impressions to be made and lavish cocktail parties to be held. Horace has eyes the color of gooseberries, a sparkling, pale green and is often seen smiling warmly when he's not looking confused and baffled, for at the age of one hundred and nine, his mind isn't as sharp as it once was.
Personality: Horace Slughorn was described as having a bumbling, jovial sort of personality. He was rather vain and quite fond of food, especially crystallised pineapple. Despite being a relatively good-natured person, he only had eyes for people who he thought had talent, would go far in life, and thus give him helpful connections and be able to influence or gain benefits from them. Thus, while he invited other students to his "Slug Club," he had a tendency to rudely ignore people like Ronald Weasley because he didn't view them as important, talented, or famous enough to warrant his attention.
Slughorn is also a bit of a hypocrite, as he told Harry he believed teachers should not have favorites but then proceeded to say that Harry's mother, Lily Evans, was one of his. Shortly after this encounter, Dumbledore told Harry that in fact, while Slughorn was a teacher, he formed a group of his favourite students with him at the centre in order to forge connections, make introductions, and always reap some sort of benefit from them. In addition, he says he isn't prejudiced against Muggle-born students, but seemed surprised that Harry said Hermione Granger was the best in his year; despite this, he asserts that Lily was one of the most talented students he ever taught, and frequently compares Harry's talent to hers in very favorable terms. It seems Slughorn feels that pure-blood students usually displayed the best talent but was happy to bring Muggle-borns or half-bloods into his inner circle if he thought they were talented or gifted enough.
Compared to Snape, Slughorn's teaching methods were more friendly, excitable and interactive, not unlike how a good-natured laboratory professor conducts lessons. He also appears to know how to motivate students for his subject; in his first Potions lesson since coming out of retirement, he encouraged his students to concoct for him the Draught of Living Death with a ready bottle of Felix Felicis as reward to the student who does best. He also exhibited no qualms at using his school connections to procure useful assets for his own benefit, as seen when he convinced Pomona Sprout to provide him with plant samples as potion ingredients fresh from the Hogwarts Greenhouses, or when he took advantage of Hagrid's attendant despair to retrieve some of Aragog's prized venom, along with the stocks of unicorn hair Hagrid had inside his cabin.
Special Abilities:
Family History: Horace was born in the early 20th century into the pure-blooded Slughorn family. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the age of eleven and was Sorted into Slytherin House. At some point after completing his education, Slughorn was employed, possibly by Armando Dippet, as Potions Master, around the same time as Albus Dumbledore's employment.
Slughorn used Felix Felicis twice prior to 1998; once when he was twenty-four years old, and again when he was fifty-seven. This resulted in two "perfect days". Lucius Malfoy remarked that Slughorn was a "good wizard" in his day.
When Horace was in his early twenties he took on the position of Potions master at Hogwarts and would eventually become Head of Slytherin House. He joined the faculty around the same time as Albus Dumbledore. Slughorn founded a small club consisting of students he thought were particularly talented, ambitious, clever, or simply well connected. This group would become known informally as the Slug Club. By showing extreme favoritism to these select pupils, Slughorn was able to benefit from their eventual success or fame, reaping rewards such as free Quidditch tickets, boxes of sweets, or simply the chance to give advice to high ranking officials at the Ministry of Magic.
Horace Slughorn in 1942:
He tended to ignore students he felt weren't "high-fliers," such as Arthur Weasley, and later Arthur's son Ron. Still, he tended to treat all his students reasonably well. During the school year of 1942, he hosted a supper in his office with a group consisting mostly of Slytherin boys; most prominent among them was Tom Marvolo Riddle. After dismissing them from his study, Tom remained behind and questioned Slughorn on the matter of Horcruxes, and whether it would make him more powerful if he were to create six, therefore having seven separate bits of his soul hidden in the world, as seven is the most highly magical number. Despite being taken aback by Riddle's interest in such Dark Magic, he reluctantly agreed to give him an overview of Horcruxes, on the condition that everything they discussed remained between them. Using the information, Riddle later went on to create six Horcruxes, making himself immortal. It is likely that Riddle already knew most of what he needed about Horcruxes, but the fact that Slughorn had provided some of the the knowledge that made this possible was a terrible truth he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
Slughorn remained at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for many years after Riddle's departure, going on to teach many talented students, including his eventual successor as Potions Master, Severus Snape, and Snape's best friend Lily Evans, whom he particularly liked for her sheer cheek and natural flair for Potions. The extent of his involvement in the First Wizarding War is unknown. If, however, it was the same as the Second War, he likely went into hiding, fearing the Death Eaters would attempt to recruit him.
During the Second Wizarding War Slughorn stayed at Hogwarts under the tenure of Severus Snape as Headmaster and, like the rest of the teachers, attempted to protect the students from Snape and the Carrows. When the Dark Lord invaded the castle with his army, it was initially believed that Slughorn had fled in cowardice, but as it transpired, he had gone to Hogsmeade to round up reinforcements. He returned to the castle at the head of vast number of residents and shopkeepers from the town, several Slytherin students who also returned to defend the school, and the friends and family of the students and staff already fighting.
Slughorn engaged the Dark Lord head on, with McGonagall and Kingsley, proving himself a masterful duellist, able to hold his own against even the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time. After the battle, he sat at the Great Hall by Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick, telling of how he had lost his wand during the fighting, but eventually found it in the folds of his gowns and "dispatched" a few Death Eaters. Horace remained teaching at Hogwarts and resumed his position as Head of Slytherin house.
Slughorn is also a bit of a hypocrite, as he told Harry he believed teachers should not have favorites but then proceeded to say that Harry's mother, Lily Evans, was one of his. Shortly after this encounter, Dumbledore told Harry that in fact, while Slughorn was a teacher, he formed a group of his favourite students with him at the centre in order to forge connections, make introductions, and always reap some sort of benefit from them. In addition, he says he isn't prejudiced against Muggle-born students, but seemed surprised that Harry said Hermione Granger was the best in his year; despite this, he asserts that Lily was one of the most talented students he ever taught, and frequently compares Harry's talent to hers in very favorable terms. It seems Slughorn feels that pure-blood students usually displayed the best talent but was happy to bring Muggle-borns or half-bloods into his inner circle if he thought they were talented or gifted enough.
Compared to Snape, Slughorn's teaching methods were more friendly, excitable and interactive, not unlike how a good-natured laboratory professor conducts lessons. He also appears to know how to motivate students for his subject; in his first Potions lesson since coming out of retirement, he encouraged his students to concoct for him the Draught of Living Death with a ready bottle of Felix Felicis as reward to the student who does best. He also exhibited no qualms at using his school connections to procure useful assets for his own benefit, as seen when he convinced Pomona Sprout to provide him with plant samples as potion ingredients fresh from the Hogwarts Greenhouses, or when he took advantage of Hagrid's attendant despair to retrieve some of Aragog's prized venom, along with the stocks of unicorn hair Hagrid had inside his cabin.
Special Abilities:
- Occlumency: Horace was an extremely able Occlumens, being able to shield his mind against even a wizard of Albus Dumbledore's calibre.
- Memory modification: Horace was able to modify his own memory to make it seem something less horrible, as seen in the case of Tom Riddle asking about Horcruxes. However, this was crudely done, as parts of the memory were clouds with a booming voice, rather than an actual visual.
- Transfiguration: Despite his wide frame, Horace was extremely agile, being able to create the impression of a struggle within his house in a matter of seconds and transforming himself into an armchair; human transfiguration is something only a master of that art could accomplish
- Dueling: Slughorn was a master duelist, being able to survive the battle of Hogwarts and hold his own against even Lord Voldemort himself. However it should be noted that he fought alongside Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Also, although Voldemort was wielding the Elder Wand at the time, the Dark Lord had not unlocked the Wand's full power. Plus, Harry Potter's loving sacrifice was preventing Voldemort from fatally harming anyone who opposed him.
- Potioneer: Perhaps chief among Slughorn's many talents was his ability as a potioneer. Slughorn was able to create extremely complicated Potions such as Felix Felicis, the Polyjuice Potion, and Amortentia. He was a master on Potions, as he taught the subject up to N.E.W.T. level, and was seen to be at least an equal to Severus Snape in the subject, as he understood and agreed with Snape's edits of a copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He also fully understood Golpalott's Third Law to the letter and was flawlessly proficient with Antidotes as he was able to recite a long and complicated theory of them to a class of N.E.W.T students and swiftly, with no effort, make a perfect remedy for a very powerful Amortentia
- Non-verbal magic: In 1996, Slughorn and Albus Dumbledore fully restored an entire room that had been torn to pieces with "one identical sweeping motion" of their wands and neither said anything. He extracted one of his own memories from his temple for Harry Potter with no incantation. It is also not mentioned that Horace said anything during his duel with Voldemort.
- Charms: Slughorn was able to fix a whole room with one spell (with Dumbledore's help), give Harry one of his memories and cast the Anapneo charm easily and without fail.
- Defence Against the Dark Arts: Since Slughorn knew quite a lot about the theory of Dark Magic and was able to duel the most powerful Dark Wizard ever it can be assumed that he knew a good deal of advanced defensive magic. He also helped cast an extremely powerful shield around Hogwarts that temporarily kept Voldemort and his minions at bay.
- Dark Arts knowledge: Considering he was the one who taught the young Tom Riddle what horcruxes were, it is obvious that Professor Slughorn had a high level of knowledge on the Dark Arts. Although Tom Riddle was a brilliant student, he was not capable of discovering the true nature of horcruxes, without help from Slughorn.
Family History: Horace was born in the early 20th century into the pure-blooded Slughorn family. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the age of eleven and was Sorted into Slytherin House. At some point after completing his education, Slughorn was employed, possibly by Armando Dippet, as Potions Master, around the same time as Albus Dumbledore's employment.
Slughorn used Felix Felicis twice prior to 1998; once when he was twenty-four years old, and again when he was fifty-seven. This resulted in two "perfect days". Lucius Malfoy remarked that Slughorn was a "good wizard" in his day.
When Horace was in his early twenties he took on the position of Potions master at Hogwarts and would eventually become Head of Slytherin House. He joined the faculty around the same time as Albus Dumbledore. Slughorn founded a small club consisting of students he thought were particularly talented, ambitious, clever, or simply well connected. This group would become known informally as the Slug Club. By showing extreme favoritism to these select pupils, Slughorn was able to benefit from their eventual success or fame, reaping rewards such as free Quidditch tickets, boxes of sweets, or simply the chance to give advice to high ranking officials at the Ministry of Magic.
Horace Slughorn in 1942:
He tended to ignore students he felt weren't "high-fliers," such as Arthur Weasley, and later Arthur's son Ron. Still, he tended to treat all his students reasonably well. During the school year of 1942, he hosted a supper in his office with a group consisting mostly of Slytherin boys; most prominent among them was Tom Marvolo Riddle. After dismissing them from his study, Tom remained behind and questioned Slughorn on the matter of Horcruxes, and whether it would make him more powerful if he were to create six, therefore having seven separate bits of his soul hidden in the world, as seven is the most highly magical number. Despite being taken aback by Riddle's interest in such Dark Magic, he reluctantly agreed to give him an overview of Horcruxes, on the condition that everything they discussed remained between them. Using the information, Riddle later went on to create six Horcruxes, making himself immortal. It is likely that Riddle already knew most of what he needed about Horcruxes, but the fact that Slughorn had provided some of the the knowledge that made this possible was a terrible truth he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
Slughorn remained at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for many years after Riddle's departure, going on to teach many talented students, including his eventual successor as Potions Master, Severus Snape, and Snape's best friend Lily Evans, whom he particularly liked for her sheer cheek and natural flair for Potions. The extent of his involvement in the First Wizarding War is unknown. If, however, it was the same as the Second War, he likely went into hiding, fearing the Death Eaters would attempt to recruit him.
During the Second Wizarding War Slughorn stayed at Hogwarts under the tenure of Severus Snape as Headmaster and, like the rest of the teachers, attempted to protect the students from Snape and the Carrows. When the Dark Lord invaded the castle with his army, it was initially believed that Slughorn had fled in cowardice, but as it transpired, he had gone to Hogsmeade to round up reinforcements. He returned to the castle at the head of vast number of residents and shopkeepers from the town, several Slytherin students who also returned to defend the school, and the friends and family of the students and staff already fighting.
Slughorn engaged the Dark Lord head on, with McGonagall and Kingsley, proving himself a masterful duellist, able to hold his own against even the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time. After the battle, he sat at the Great Hall by Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick, telling of how he had lost his wand during the fighting, but eventually found it in the folds of his gowns and "dispatched" a few Death Eaters. Horace remained teaching at Hogwarts and resumed his position as Head of Slytherin house.
