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"My dear Horace," said Dumbledore, looking amused, "if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house." The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast forehead.
"The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew there was something ... ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room." He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his mustache flutter.
"Would you like my assistance clearing up." asked Dumbledore politely.
"Please," said the other.
They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the short round one, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion.
The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments reformed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean.
"What kind of blood was that, incidentally." asked Dumbledore loudly over the chiming of the newly unsmashed grandfather flock.
"On the walls. Dragon," shouted the wizard called Horace, as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, the chandelier screwed itself back into the ceiling.
There was a final plunk from the piano, and silence.
"Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable." He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, examining the thick liquid within.
"Hmm. Bit dusty." He set the bottle back on the sideboard and sighed. It was then that his gaze fell upon Harry.
"Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. "Oho!" "This," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the introduction, "is Harry Potter.
Harry, this is an old Friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."
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