The True Half-Blood Prince

Chapter 11: Liquid Loss

"A memory, sir?" Harry asked Dumbledore after transporting through the Pensieve, "From Professor Slughorn?"

"Unfortunately, Harry," Dumbledore sighed, "That memory is one of the most important ingredients I need and it can only be given by Horace himself."

"Voldemort asked him a question about something," Harry said, "It seemed a bit...fuzzy. Tom Riddle was also in the Slug Club, wasn't he?"

"He was one of Slughorn's most trusted students, Harry."

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly. Through the Pensieve, he had just witnessed a faint memory of Horace Slughorn's, Harry's potions teacher. Apparently, he had a really strong connection to Tom Riddle and once had a private conversation with him in his office to talk about...well, that part was yet to be discovered. The memory was a bit fuzzy after all.

"You need to ask him for the memory, Harry," Dumbledore said solemnly.

"But how do I do that, sir?" Harry asked.

"Get him to trust you, Harry. Be careful around him and don't push him over the edge. Remind him that you are the Chosen One."

"Professor," Harry frowned, "Why do we need that memory?"

Dumbledore replied, "That memory is just another step I need to take in order to destroy He Who Must Not Be Named."

* * *

Quidditch match day: Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Man, was Percy ready. He had gotten up early that morning, dressed in his wicked Beater uniform and was ready to fly. He waited for Ron as he changed and smoothed out the brush of his broom. Ron was Keeper and Percy had felt quite worried about him because he'd been looking really queazy.

"Need help?" Percy asked him at the Gryffindor Table.

Ron shook his head and answered, "I dunno if I'm ready for this."

"Ron," Hermoine assured, "You are going to be fine." She glanced at a worried-looking Percy, "And you too, Perseus."

Percy was not intending to look worried. In fact, he was quite confident about himself, but he kept looking back to the latest conversation he'd had with Annabeth.

"See you on the Quidditch field," she had said.

Annabeth wouldn't just throw a statement like that out of the blue. Either she was playing in the match or just ready to 'boo' him as he played Quidditch horribly. Neither was pleasant.

Seconds later, Harry took something out of his pocket and tilted it into Ron and Percy's cup.

"Felix Felisis!" Hermoine gasped, "Harry, what are you doing?"

Percy stared at his glass. As the Son of Poseidon, he was kind of an expert at anything water related. He immediately knew that the water in the glass had not been tainted with.

I'm not a bloody fool, Percy thought.

But that would make Ron one because he completely fell for it, drinking his water with glee. Percy smirked at Harry, making the Chosen One frown in confusion.

"Wish us luck out there," Percy teased, drinking the clear water as if there was actually Felix Felisis in his cup.