The Cabin's discussion about "Muggles becoming wizards" had clearly caught Dumbledore's attention, though he didn't seem inclined to get involved. He simply invited Anton to leave the school with him and visit someone who, supposedly, could help.
"He comes from one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Pure-blood families. If you ask who has the most connections in the Wizarding World, it has to be him."
"The most connections?" Anton asked curiously as he looked at Dumbledore. The two had Apparated to a small town in southern Britain and were now sitting in the back row of a Muggle bus, heading toward a place called Budleigh Babberton.
Dumbledore nodded and fiddled with a strange device in his arms. It looked a little like a nautical compass, except that a peculiar little wooden figure of a dwarf stood on the needle. As the bus jolted along, the little figure swayed as if it were dancing.
"Yes. Even Tom had a certain fondness for him. You know how unusual that is."
Anton blinked curiously. He had a pretty good idea who Dumbledore meant.
"Professor Horace Slughorn. He once treated Tom the way Professor Snape treats you."
"Ohhh..." Anton's face scrunched up. "That's a terrible comparison."
Dumbledore looked away from the wooden dwarf and glanced at Anton. "What's interesting is that my old colleague was a Potions professor back then, and the Head of Slytherin House."
Anton grimaced. He didn't like this sort of inexplicable coincidence. "So you're planning to recruit him as a Potions professor?"
"That's one possibility." Dumbledore rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. "Who knows when Professor Snape will wake up? Professor Fiennes's teaching can only serve as a supplement, and I don't want all my students being led down the wrong path in Potions."
"Besides, Fiennes has complained to me