One of the names Slughorn calls Ron Weasley is Rupert. Ironically, the actor that plays Ron in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is Rupert Grint. Slughorn was keen to make evermore connections, and in his post as teacher, made a habit of having regular meetings with students who were either famous ( Harry Potter), related to famous people ( Cormac McLaggen), or gifted or talented in one way or another (i.e. Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley). Known as "the Slug Club," this group of students were constantly being invited to Slughorn's office for dinner and parties. Students that he did not consider to be "high-fliers," such as Arthur Weasley, and later his son Ron, were simply ignored. However, those with negative affiliations, such as Draco Malfoy, due to his father being a Death Eater, were not invited to the club meetings either. [7] File:Horasclass.jpg

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. [12] 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. In the film, Horace is depicted in tweed outfits rather than the described velvet, and is not bald, and has no moustache. Slughorn was also a rather analytical and calculating individual, able to see great potential in students, but also had his blind spots as well, such his overlooking of Ron Weasley's latent talents and being vulnerable to Tom Riddle's flattery. His analytical abilities and mindset allowed him to deduce Harry's early attempts to coax the Horcrux memory from him. In many ways, not only did Slughorn possess an inordinately strong moral compass, but was also the consummate strategist, such as when he fetched necessary reinforcements from Hogsmeade to aid in the Battle of Hogwarts.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". In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Rubeus Hagrid mentions to Harry that he "never had a lot to do" with Slughorn, implying the two had never had any interaction with each other. However, seeing as Tom Riddle went to school with Hagrid, it follows to the conclusion that Horace taught Hagrid. As there are teachers and students that never really relate in all walks of life, Hagrid might well have simply been saying that Horace had never had any direct interaction during his time at school.

And, more importantly, he was finally honest about a dark secret that had cast a horrendous, guilty shadow over him across the years: a memory of telling Tom Riddle about Horcruxes. Yes, the very Horcruxes that would turn him into the most powerful Dark wizard of all time. Talk about a faux pas. After editing his own memory from Dumbledore’s Pensieve out of shame, the night at Hagrid’s hut finally marked the moment he told Harry the truth.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4 ( Horace Slughorn) - "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." Textbooks: Magical Drafts and Potions · One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi · Advanced Potion-Making · Moste Potente Potions On Pottermore - "New from J.K. Rowling: Pure-Blood", the Slughorns are mentioned to have been included in the Pure-Blood Directory published in Britain in the 1930s. As Horace Slughorn was already alive by 1930, this establishes that he must be a pure-blooded wizard.

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. Boathouse passageway · Corridor of Secrets · Dungeon cave · Dungeon Corridor · Forgotten Cavern · Hidden Herbology Corridor · Hieroglyphic Hall · Kitchen corridor · Lost Tunnel · Lower Chambers Corridor North-East · Lower Chambers Portrait Corridor · Lower Chambers Corridor West · Poltergeist Passage · Porticus Circumscriptus · Porticus Periculum · Porticus Imago · Porticus Medius · Prowling Passage · Quidditch cave · Secret way to Slytherin common room · Slytherin Corridors · Undercover route to the Kitchens · Unexplored passage to Hogsmeade · Way to Courtyard · Way to the Forbidden Forest 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 [src]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. One of the names Slughorn calls Ron Weasley is Rupert. As J.K. Rowling wrote the book after the Harry Potter film series began, this might be a nod to Rupert Grint.

Cauldron cupboard · Dungeon Five · Potions basement · Potions Classroom · Potions Club · Potions Staircase · Potion Master's office · Potions StoreroomDespite his ambition, Slughorn knew where to draw his personal boundaries. His tendency to ally himself with powerful, talented, and important people never blinded him to his moral values, and thus, he was never tempted to join forces with Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Unlike Peter Pettigrew, Dolores Umbridge and others who were keen to surround themselves with powerful people, he was not one to side with whoever was winning. Slughorn knew where his loyalties lay, and he fought against Lord Voldemort head on during the final battle.