Harry Potter
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Brand new Sky documentary, The Boy Who Lived tells the inspiring story of David Holmes, a Harry Potter stunt double that was left with a debilitating spinal injury after a tragic incident...
- Overview
- Biography
- Physical description
- Personality and traits
- Magical abilities and skills
- Possessions
- Relationships
- Etymology
"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 regarding Slughorn's preference for "famous" friends
Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn (b. 28 April between 1882 and 1913) was a wizard. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a member of Slytherin before returning in 1931 as Potions Master. He also served as Head of Slytherin House, before retiring in 1981 due to a fear that Albus Dumbledore would discover that he had told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes, though Dumbledore himself did not feel that Slughorn had done anything wrong.
Following the return of Voldemort and the Death Eaters beginning to seek Slughorn out, the retired professor lived a life on the run, unsure if Voldemort intended to recruit him or kill him to keep his Horcruxes a secret.
In 1996, Dumbledore convinced Slughorn to return to Hogwarts by tempting him out of retirement with the prospect of "collecting" Harry Potter as he had so many other students, with his true goal being to learn what Slughorn had told Riddle. Slughorn eventually divulged his true memory. He continued to teach during the 1997–1998 school year under Voldemort's regime, and was surprised to learn that Voldemort meant to recruit him only to teach the young wizards that Voldemort would deem suitable to attend Hogwarts.
During the Battle of Hogwarts, Slughorn sided with the defenders of Hogwarts, gathering reinforcements from Hogsmeade, and engaged his former pupil in a duel alongside Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt. He survived the battle and had retired a second time by 2011, having a portrait hung in the Slytherin Dungeon.
Early life
"My father always said he was a good wizard in his day." — Draco Malfoy talking about Professor Slughorn Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn was born in the late 19th century or early 20th century, certainly between 1882 and 1913, into the wealthy and pure-blood Slughorn family. Although his parents never believed as strongly in the ideals pure-blood superiority as some others did, they nevertheless encouraged Horace to make friends with the "the right sort" upon arriving at Hogwarts. However, they were still loving parents and they only "quietly" encouraged the belief.
Hogwarts years
He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the age of eleven and was Sorted into Slytherin House. Horace excelled at school and became friends with Muggle-borns even though his parents didn't agree with it. However, Horace did already have a need to play favourites with anyone he considered talented enough and loved to make out that he knew famous people, such as the Minister for Magic whom he would refer to by his first name to try and convince others he was close to him.
After Hogwarts (1920s)
At some point after completing his education, Slughorn was employed as Potions Master to his joy, likely around the same time as Albus Dumbledore started. Although he was well suited to working in politics, he preferred to stay in the background and enjoy the privileges of having famous and successful friends. He was a natural teacher and loved Hogwarts. Slughorn used Felix Felicis either 1907 or 1927; 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.
"Harry's jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye."
— Harry Potter seeing Horace Slughorn for the first time in 1996
Slughorn was described as being an enormously fat, bald, old man. He was short with an immense belly, so large that the buttons on his waistcoat usually threatened to burst off. His round stomach was usually said to precede him when he entered rooms, and when he stood, the top of his head barely reached Albus Dumbledore's chin. His girth was seen to take up most of the compartment of the Hogwarts Express and occupy at least a quarter of Honeydukes Sweet Shop. He was described as having a shiny pate, prominent, gooseberry coloured eyes, and an enormous, silver, walrus-like moustache.
In his youth, his moustache was gingery blond and his hair was thick and straw coloured. He had pudgy hands, fat thumbs, and a vast forehead, as well as highly polished buttons on his maroon velvet jacket that he wore over his lilac silk pyjamas. Slughorn had a particular liking of lavish, old-fashioned clothes: waistcoats with gold buttons during the day and luxurious velvet smoking jackets when at home. In one particular trip to Hogsmeade, he wore an enormous furry hat and an overcoat with matching fur collar and clutched a large bag of crystallised pineapple. When he duelled Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts, he wore an emerald-green pair of silk pyjamas. He claimed to suffer from old age, fatigue, rheumatism, and a weak chest. According to Harry, he seemed remarkably unabashed for someone whom he had just seen pretending to be an armchair.
"Harry wasn't sure whether he liked Slughorn or not. He supposed he had been pleasant in his way, but he had also seemed vain and, whatever he said to the contrary, much too surprised that a Muggle-born should make a good witch."
— Harry Potter's feelings about Horace Slughorn
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. He also turned to ignoring Marcus Belby after discovering he did not have any attachment to his accomplished uncle, despite inviting him to the Slug Club's reopening.
Slughorn was also a bit of a hypocrite, as he told Harry he believed teachers should not have favourites 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 stated that he was not prejudiced against Muggle-born students, but seemed surprised that Harry said Hermione Granger was the best in his year; despite this, he asserted that Lily was one of the most talented students he ever taught, and frequently compared Harry's talent to hers in very favourable terms. It seemed Slughorn felt 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 his predecessor Snape, Slughorn's teaching methods were more friendly, excitable, and interactive, not unlike how a good-natured laboratory professor conducts lessons. He also appeared 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 brewed the best potion. In contrast to Snape, who only allowed students that had achieved Outstanding in their Potions OWL to attempt the N.E.W.T. class, Slughorn was content to admit students with Exceeds Expectations.
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. Slughorn's professional relationships with his fellow professors often worked to mutual benefit, often working with his fellow instructors to maximise their benefit to the students, such as ensuring that his students had plenty of spare ingredients from Pomona Sprout's greenhouses while offering his own expertise within her field in exchange for the favour.
Slughorn: "What would the Death Eaters want with a poor, broken-down old buffer like me?"
Albus Dumbledore: "I imagine that they would want to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder."
— Dumbledore regarding what Voldemort would want with Slughorn's abilities
Horace Slughorn was an accomplished wizard. Lucius Malfoy commended his son about Slughorn's competence and even Albus Dumbledore, quite possibly the greatest wizard of all time, openly respected Slughorn's abilities, saying that he was an extremely able wizard and calling his talents considerable. Voldemort himself also acknowledged the considerable magical abilities of his former teacher, so much so that he strongly desired to recruit Horace to his side. Slughorn's impressive magical abilities allowed him to survive the Battle of Hogwarts and even stand up against Voldemort himself with aid and survive the duel.
"He is much more accomplished at Occlumency than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I coerced him into giving me this travesty of a recollection."
— Albus Dumbledore regarding Slughorn's abilities as an Occlumens
•Wand: Slughorn likely purchased his wand from Ollivanders at the age of eleven before starting his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, like many other wizards in wizarding Great Britain. It is 10 1/4" long and comprised of Cedar wood with a core of dragon heartstring. The handle has two prongs extending out of the end, which might relate to his surname 'Slughorn'.
•Hourglass: Slughorn's Hourglass is a clock made of two glass vessels connected with a narrow passage, with a green fluid flowing through inside and serpent design outside (representing him as a Slytherin and Head of House). He owned it since before Tom Riddle began studying at Hogwarts. The sand runs accordingly to the quality of the conversation: if stimulating, the sand runs slowly, and vice versa.
•Dragon-skin briefcase: Horace also owned a rather expensive briefcase made of prized Dragon-skin which he uses to hold his personal things, mainly documents related to the subject he teaches at school.
•Potion-making kit: This is where Slughorn stored his ready supply of potion ingredients. Horace pulled out several components inside it to mix up an antidote for Ron's love potion-induced lovesickness upon Harry's request to cure his friend. It is also from here where Slughorn placed a bezoar that Harry showed him in one of their lessons.
•Piano: Horace owned a piano. When he used to escape from Death Eaters, he took the piano with him, making sure "neighbours don't spot [him] bringing in the piano".
•Antidote to Veritaserum (suspected): Dumbledore suspects that ever since he requested Slughorn to divulge the memory regarding Tom Riddle asking about Horcruxes, the Potions Master has kept a side of antidote to veritaserum as a precaution for any further attempts.
Lily Evans
"The student who gave me Francis... A spring afternoon I discovered a bowl on my desk, just a few inches of clear water in it. Floating on the surface was a flower petal... as I watched, it sank... just before it reached the bottom, it was transformed, into a fish. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold. The flower petal had come from a lily, your mother. The day I came downstairs, the day the bowl was empty, was the day your mother.... I know why you're here... but I can't help you. It would ruin me." — Slughorn in his later years on Lily Evans to her son Harry Potter During her time at Hogwarts, Lily Evans proved to be very talented at Potions, becoming one of Slughorn's best students and a member of his Slug Club. Slughorn considered her one of his favourite students, though he was surprised by her Muggle lineage. Slughorn believed Lily to be a kind, witty, and charming student, and he doubted that anyone who met her wouldn't like her. Harry Potter: "I forgot. You liked her, didn't you?" Horace Slughorn: "Liked her? I don’t imagine anyone who met her wouldn’t have liked her... Very brave... Very funny... It was the most horrible thing..." — Slughorn's sadness over Lily's death Lily also gave Slughorn a bowl with some water, and a petal from a lily that transformed into a fish, which he named Francis. When he saw that Francis had disappeared one day, Slughorn realised that Lily Evans had died. He was very upset when he heard what happened to the Potters, and he continued to mourn Lily even many years after her death. Harry Potter used Slughorn's fondness for Lily to his advantage while under the effects of Felix Felicis, and successfully persuaded Slughorn to give him the true memory of Tom Riddle's inquiry about Horcruxes, claiming that it would undo whatever wrong Slughorn had originally done. Slughorn was very close to Lily, whom he found to be an extremely caring and love-driven young woman, a trait that resonated with Slughorn long after her death. In a way, he felt responsible for her death along with many others for giving Tom Riddle the knowledge of Horcruxes he sought out in his schoolboy days. His desire to see her murderer stopped was enough to overcome his shame, which allowed Harry to obtain the horcrux memory and eventually avenge his mother and Slughorn's beloved student.
Harry Potter
"You are talented, famous, and powerful — everything Horace values. Professor Slughorn is going to try to collect you, Harry. You would be his crowning jewel." — Albus Dumbledore warning Harry Potter that Slughorn will try and collect him Horace Slughorn first met Harry Potter in 1996, when Harry and Albus Dumbledore tracked him down at the Muggle home he was borrowing at the time, to persuade him to return and teach at Hogwarts. Given Slughorn's tendency to "collect" famous, well-connected, or talented young minds, Slughorn gave in to Dumbledore's request upon meeting Harry. He became Potions Master for the 1996–1997 school year, and wasted no time in inviting Harry to join his 'Slug Club'. With the help of the Half-Blood Prince's Potions textbook, Harry appeared to be following in his mother's footsteps as a great potioneer, which further earned Slughorn's favour. During one of their private lessons, Dumbledore showed Harry a memory of Slughorn's, in which a young Tom Riddle asked the Potions master about Horcruxes. However, as the memory was obviously and unconvincingly edited to make it seem as if Slughorn had refused to answer, it was impossible to discern exactly what it was Riddle had wanted to know about Horcruxes. Dumbledore told Harry that the original memory would undoubtedly be essential in determining what ultimately defeating Voldemort would entail, and assigned Harry with the task of retrieving it. Slughorn sensed that Harry wanted to retrieve the memory, and subsequently tried to avoid him. He stopped Slug Club dinners, and would flee at the end of Potions. He felt very guilty for giving Tom Riddle information on Horcruxes. Harry Potter: "Be brave like my mother, Professor..." Horace Slughorn: "I am not proud.... I am ashamed of what — of what that memory shows... I think I may have done great damage that day..." Harry Potter: "You’d cancel out anything you did by giving me the memory. It would be a very brave and noble thing to do." Horace Slughorn: "Please... don't think badly of me when you see it... you've no idea what he was like, even then...." — Harry successfully persuading Slughorn to give him his true memory of Tom Riddle After several failed attempts, Harry eventually finessed the memory from a very drunk Slughorn, with the help of Felix Felicis and the opportunity for Slughorn to collect a few vials of valuable Acromantula venom. The 'sluggish' memory is Slughorn's memory of what he said to the young Tom Riddle, which he himself tried to blot out. The word 'sluggish' suggests that the memory is slow, lethargic, and difficult to arouse. The memory allowed for Dumbledore to confirm his suspicions that Voldemort had been planning to create seven Horcruxes, and for Harry to continue Dumbledore's mission of destroying them. Although Harry initially seemed Slughorn's "crowning jewel" as Dumbledore put it, Slughorn felt genuine care for the boy and fearlessly battled the Dark Lord head on in a gallant attempt to avenge Harry's presumed death and end the evil warmonger forever. Suffice it to say, Harry was among the many students that Slughorn came to be fond of beyond just the parameters of social climbing.
Tom Riddle (Lord Voldemort)
Horace Slughorn: "Look sharp, Tom, you don't want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect..." Tom Riddle: "Sir, I wanted to ask you something." Horace Slughorn: "Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away..." Tom Riddle: "Sir, I wondered what you know about... about Horcruxes?" Horace Slughorn: "Project for Defence Against the Dark Arts, is it?" Tom Riddle: "Not exactly, sir. I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it." Horace Slughorn: "No... well... you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed." — Tom Riddle asking Slughorn about Horcruxes Professor Slughorn was the Potions Master during Tom Riddle's years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Head of Tom's House, and given his tendency to favour students who displayed talent of some sort, Slughorn became Riddle's mentor, and was likely the professor Tom liked most. Riddle became a favourite of Slughorn's which Tom knew, and so he often manipulated Slughorn by flattering him. One day, Riddle asked Slughorn about Horcruxes, and Slughorn, — after convincing himself Tom's intentions were "purely academic" —, reluctantly told him what it basically took to create one, though he refused to give Tom any details. Most significantly, when Tom asked if it were possible to create more than one Horcrux, Slughorn seemed appalled by the idea of it, but did not deny that it could be done in theory. Riddle did keep his promise to Slughorn about never disclosing the contents of their discussion that night, thus never implicating Slughorn's contribution to what would become Lord Voldemort. Though this was undoubtedly because Voldemort would never admit to needing help to achieve immortality and to keep his ultimate secret just that. Regardless, Slughorn still had faith in Tom and ignored Albus Dumbledore when he tried to warn him that Tom was only using him. Slughorn believed he had judged Tom right and defended him. However, this changed when Tom left Hogwarts and disappeared, having refused many great offers of employment. He severed ties with Slughorn, which upset him most possibly because he loved to keep in touch with his old students that he had considered talented in the hope of being given things in return. With the information from Slughorn in hand, Riddle managed to create seven Horcruxes and achieve something near immortality. When Riddle had returned to Hogwarts many years later to seek employment at Hogwarts, Slughorn was terrified and hid away in his office so that he didn't have to talk to him. When Tom reappeared as Voldemort and rumours began during the First Wizarding War that Voldemort had indeed achieved immortality, Slughorn felt incredibly guilty about telling Tom how to achieve it. He was so ashamed, he even modified his own memory so he did not have to remember. He stayed at Hogwarts until the end of the war, believing it was the safest place to be. When Voldemort apparently died in 1981, he was pleased. The guilt still continued in a smaller way though, as he was scared that someone would still find out what he said and it was what made him retire from Hogwarts shortly after the war ended. When Voldemort returned in 1995, Slughorn knew without a doubt that Tom had created Horcruxes. He was scared that Voldemort may seek him out, to either recruit him or kill him to keep their secret safe. Voldemort did soon try to find Slughorn, which he did not understand at the time. Slughorn escaped and hid from Voldemort for over a year, and even returned to Hogwarts. However, even though Slughorn had managed to modify his memory to hide what he told Tom, Harry Potter managed to take the original version of the memory with the help of Felix Felicis, in 1997, and from it, he and Dumbledore gleaned crucial information about what Voldemort had done and what it would take to destroy him. When Voldemort managed to take over Hogwarts in 1997, Slughorn finally found out what Tom wanted from him. He was surprised to find that it was only to teach at Hogwarts, showing that perhaps Tom respected Slughorn, his status and his teaching enough to keep him around. Regardless, Slughorn fought Lord Voldemort head on, with the help of Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, during the Battle of Hogwarts, in 1998. His duel with him likely allowed him to come full circle for his contribution to his former student's rise to power and all of the deaths that transpired in his wake. In this regard, Slughorn redeemed himself in his own eyes, fighting for everyone who had ever been harmed by Voldemort.
•'Horace' was the name of an epicurean Roman poet, fond of food and someone who liked to make friends with people of influence. Notably, Horace's full name was "Quintus Horatius Flaccus", thus sharing another name with "Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn".
•'Eugene' is comes from the Greek εὐγενής (eugenēs), "noble", εὖ (eu), "well" and γένος (genos), "race, stock, kin". As such, the name means literally "well-born".
•'Flaccus' was a cognomen of the ancient Roman plebeian family Fulvius, considered one of the most illustrious gentes of the city. As usual for cognomina, "Flaccus" was likely originally a nickname, probably of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, the founder of the family. It has been variously interpreted as meaning "big ears", "flop ears", "floppy", or "fatty". As previously mentioned, this name was also shared by Horace the poet, whose full name was Quintus Horatius Flaccus.
•Slughorn - a 'slug' refers to the garden slug, a cousin to the snail but without the shell. Additionally, 'Slughorn' is a historical heraldic term meaning 'war-cry', derived from an old Scottish word and later becoming the modern 'slogan', but may also be derived from his large, sluggish physique.
Horace Slughorn : A Horcrux is an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul. Tom Riddle - Age 16 : But I don't quite understand how that works, Sir. Horace Slughorn : One splits one's soul and hides part of it in an object. That way you are protected should you be attacked and your body destroyed.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and produced by David Heyman from a screenplay by Steve Kloves.
Daniel reprised his famous character once again for the next installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). In February 2007, he took on his first stage role in the West End play Equus, to worldwide praise from fans and critics alike.
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Oct 25, 2023 · Daniel Radcliffe has produced a documentary about his Harry Potter stunt double, who was paralysed while filming the blockbuster. David Holmes sustained a spinal injury during Harry Potter and...
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