How old is slughorn

He started his career as professor of alchemy class. He started his career as professor of alchemy but he became the head of Slytherin house in short time. He founded a club called Slug Club with his favourite students. He is known for doing discrimination between students. He is known with giving different gifts to his favourite students in the club like Quidditch tickets, even gave them opportunity to meet with important Ministry of Magic employees.

Slughorn was very close with his favourite student Tom Marvolo Riddle and he spend a lot of time with him in s. Slughorn returned to Hogwarts between years — and helped to Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore with giving his memories about Tom Riddle and Horcruxes.

Slughorn helped them to find out Horcruxes which has a great importance in battle against Lord Voldemort. As a result of his heroic acts in Battle of Hogwarts her portrait was hanged in Slytherin room. Slughorn retired again and left the Hogwarts in Hi, geeks! 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. However, he was still sufficiently agile to turn himself into an armchair and create a scene of chaos at short notice when he was trying to avoid unwelcome visitors, and managed to live on the run from Voldemort moving from house to house every couple of weeks including his grand piano.

He had a liking for embroidered clothing, with gold coloured buttons and plenty of velvet. His largeness fit his personality: he was jolly and genial, bustling around, twiddling the ends of his walrus moustache and puffing out his massive belly. He at times wore a silver pocket watch.

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. Horace Slughorn talking to Harry Potter , whom he tried to collect. 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 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.

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 generally displayed the more positive traits of Slytherin , such as ambition. By his own admittance, he revered magical creatures such as Acromantulas , and thought Aragog was a magnificent specimen. This revelation disquieted Harry, as it showed that Slughorn saw nothing wrong with risking a house-elf's life to protect his own. Although, there is the very strong possibility Slughorn possessed an antidote to give the house-elf if poison was present in the drink.

The aforementioned possibility is extremely likely due to Slughorn's knowledge of antidotes and generally kind and caring nature, and due to his general determination not to repeat dangerous past mistakes. Slughorn was shown to be easily forgiving, like when Harry brought a Love Potion-intoxicated Ron to his office to be cured and saying their misunderstanding about retrieving Slughorn's memory as "water under the bridge". Slughorn was keen to make ever more connections, and in his post as teacher, made a habit of having regular meetings with students who were either famous, related to famous people, or talented in one way or another.

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 proven negative affiliations, such as Draco Malfoy , due to his father being a Death Eater and imprisoned in Azkaban , were not invited to the club meetings either.

And while he invited Marcus Belby for his affiliation with the famous Damocles Belby , Horace turned to ignoring Belby once discovering that he has no contact with the man. Slughorn's personality, in many ways, contradicted the "evil Slytherin" stereotype held by many students of the other Houses, Gryffindors in particular.

He was a good person, and did not seem to hold any real prejudice against Muggle-born witches and wizards. While he thought pure-bloods generally had more wizarding talent, he was always happy to meet and teach Muggle-borns and half-bloods who displayed great potential.

He was, however, self-serving enough to favour students of status or talent, largely for the purpose of benefiting from his connection to them in the future.

He was horribly guilt-ridden about the information he gave to Tom Riddle about Horcruxes , and crudely edited his memory of the event to prevent anyone finding out what he had done, as much as to relieve his own guilty feelings. Though Albus Dumbledore would undoubtedly have tried in earnest to convey the importance of the contents of the original memory, Slughorn stubbornly refused to give it up till He was also horrified at his accidental poisoning of Ron Weasley and later came to visit him in the Hospital Wing.

Despite 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. Although Slughorn initially attempted to hide and avoid getting himself into any danger or conflict, he was willing to defend himself and other people when his loyalties were questioned, when backed to a corner and when it was necessary to defend those he cared about. This was especially shown during the final battle as while it initially seemed that Slughorn fled in cowardice with the other Slytherins , he had actually only left to round up reinforcements and returned to the battle.

This, along with the fact that he fearlessly stood up to Voldemort himself, showed that he was a courageous man. He was also strong willed and was able to master Occlumency , a rare ability that requires a strong mind.

Slughorn possessed a great ability to feel shame and regret for his mistakes, many of which he often tried to cover up, hide from, or when it came down to it, fight with all of his magical power. His determination not repeat past mistakes or to lay them to rest was rather evident in his handing of the Horcrux memory to Harry and his duel with Voldemort.

He clearly regarded his giving of information about the possibility of multiple Horcruxes to young Tom Riddle to be his greatest mistake. 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. This propensity towards strategy and making powerful alliances is compliant with the Slytherin traits of cunning and fraternity, as Slytherins will take calculated risks and always have a backup plan, usually relying on staunch and stalwart allies, something that Slughorn was a certifiable genius at.

In a great many ways, Horace Slughorn embodied the best traits that Slytherin House has to offer: camaraderie, strong social intuition, cunning, and strategy. However, Slughorn was also difficult in taking surprises, as when Ron was accidentally poisoned by a mead, he became too shocked to do anything to help, until Harry saved the situation with a bezoar.

Horace Slughorn was a highly powerful and accomplished wizard, with a wide variety of magical skills and talents. 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. Lily Evans , one of his favourite students. 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. 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 , one of his favourite students.

Horace Slughorn first met Harry Potter in , 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 — 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. 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 , his former favourite pupil and enemy. 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. 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 , 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 , 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 , 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 , Slughorn finally found out what Tom wanted from him. Field: Potions. Office: Below the hospital wing HBP Location of home: Unknown. During the Battle of Hogwarts he even dueled Voldemort whilst wearing an emerald-green pair of silk pajamas DH Potioneer and Potions Master.

Presumably also talented at transfiguration because he was able to turn himself into an overstuffed armchair at a moment's notice. Slughorn is even better at name dropping than Gilderoy Lockhart. He has an "uncanny" knack for picking and mentoring students who will make their mark on the Wizarding world; he fosters these connections to the famous, successful and the powerful.

Note: Slughorn signed his invitations as 'H. Slughorn' HBP7. Related images. NPR: The real psychology behind "unethical amnesia". Tags: comfort emerald emerald green fat green guilt Gwenog Jones remembrall Horcrux society. Editor: Jeanne Kimsey. Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn. Distinguishing Features Large belly, enormous silvery walrus-like mustache. Family Groups Slughorn family. Related Entries. Lily Potter.

Severus Snape. Albus Dumbledore. Damocles Belby. Regulus Black. Dirk Cresswell. Barnabas Cuffe. Ambrosius Flume.