Slughorn, Election and Qilin.
The bright light of the sun shone through the rusted window of the old bar in one corner of the Leaky Cauldron, illuminating a table in the corner and making this place more tolerable than the rest of the bar.
"What brings you here today, Slughorn?" Dumbledore was sipping coffee and asking a question to the middle aged man next to him, who was sitting in one of the four chairs at the table.
Next to him was another middle-aged man dressed in slightly opulent clothes with actual golden buttons on his waistcloths, he was fat and his belly could be considered rather huge, for the golden buttons were stretched in their gap with force, as if they might burst at any moment.
Tom and Jack sat in front of them, each with a cup of coffee in hand and their attention drawn to the talk going on before them.
"It's all business and following up with our former students."
"How quickly have they grown up, Albus?" Slughorn asked, his voice trailing off. "Many have already established themselves in the ministry. They were outstanding, especially Lucinda Lestrange and Sullivan Fawley." His tone was tinged with pride.
"Oh, yes!" Slughorn exclaimed and tapped his table with his finger and gestured as if recalling something. "Can you tell me about your favourite student?"
"How has he been lately? My students, in comparison to him, are really insignificant." At the end, he laughed it off, implying that he was only joking.
"He's on his way to China." Dumbledore gave a vague reply, and drank a sip of the coffee.
"Does it have anything to do with the impending election?" Slughorn's tone became a little serious. His prior guffaws and colourful emotions vanished, and his reaction alone showed the gravity of the situation.
Dumbledore remained silent for a few period before turning to face the children in front of him and introducing them. "They are Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Jack Frost. This year's freshmen, and believe me when I say that they are extremely talented in their own right."
Dumbledore wasn't lying at this point, whether it was the powerful wind produced by Jack or Tom's magical activities, it wasn't simple, as most young wizards have a hard time controlling their magic, and their early casts of magic are largely based on mood swings and emotions.
"This is Horace Slughorn, your potion professor and he is also the current head of the Slytherin." Slughorn was introduced to two of them by Dumbledore.
Slughorn's face sagged as he realised Dumbledore was avoiding his queries again; he hated this guy and his bizarre habit of keeping everyone in the dark.
"Hello," Slughorn said hello to the two kids in a flat tone, and he didn't even bother to look them in the eyes while doing so.
They should be amazing, according to Dumbledore, but he uses that phrase far more than he wants to. And they appeared to him to be very common and nothing out of ordinary. As a result, he paid them little to no attention.
Jack had previously been listening to the chat while swirling the coffee with a spoon to cool it down slightly because it was too hot to drink.
They had met Slughorn as they were about to enter the Leaky Cauldron, and Dumbledore, noting Tom's situation, who was still suffering from the effects of the apparition, decided to give Tom some time off by agreeing to whatever this is.
Slughorn was quite similar to the his character described in movies and books; he was a man who enjoyed being in the company of renowned, powerful, and successful people, and he seemed to love influencing them.
Jack might gather this much just from Slughorn own remarks and the things he's know.
Slughorn appeared to enjoy inviting outstanding students to his group, and he is very certain that the two people described by Slughorn are members of this club.
Regardless of Slughorn prejudices, he had a significant influence. Pure-blood families hold the majority of influential positions in the wizarding world, and many of them hail from Slytherin.
However, Jack merely had a passing thought about all of this; if he were solely in the Harry Potter universe, he might have paid more attention to the issue of pure-blood and other matters, but in the world he is now, this was the least of his worries.
Tom, on the other hand, felt a little excited at the prospect of meeting another professor. At the very least, he had worked out that he had left a poor impression with Dumbledore. As a result, he decided to make up by leaving a good impression with another professor.
How is he going to accomplish this? It's simple: he'll act like Jack and put on a good boy act. Even much he despised it, he was once again proven wrong by not following his advice. And, he knew this is was only way.
But, when he realised what was going on, his look crumpled and turned into a somewhat twisted visage.
"All right, Albus. I'll see you at Hogwarts," Slughorn had come here to simply obtain information from Albus, as he had been unable to obtain it now. He could only go so he wouldn't embarrass himself any further and he also had a lot on his pretty full itinerary.
He stood up from his seat after saying this and left without waiting for Albus' response. He completely ignored Jack and Tom who wanted to greet him back.
"He isn't like that all of the time." When Dumbledore spotted Tom's expressions, he spoke to back Slughorn. "He is a fantastic potion master and teacher, even though he has a tendency to favour certain over others. However, his classes can teach you a lot."
"It's all right, Professor." While drinking his coffee, Jack responded in the same languid tone. He appeared to be unmoved by the incident.
Tom, on the other hand, appeared to be dazed, his hands clasped slightly beneath the table.
"Professor, What election are we talking about? Is it similar to what's going on in our world?" Jack inquired, his face filled with genuine curiosity. He wanted to learn more about it because he wanted to grasp the world he was going to enter. The majority of the Harry Potter books and films focused only on Britain.
"That's interesting." Dumbledore's brows furrowed. "World politics do not pique the curiosity of many children." He spoke something, and Jack stayed silent with the same curious expression, and Tom awoke from his stupor, and he began to listen to Dumbledore.
"Well, everyone is indeed different." When Dumbledore noted Jack's silence, he shrugged. He took a breather and set the cup down before starting into a serious explanation.
"The supreme mugmump, the head of the international confederation of wizards, is the post that is up for election."
"In order for you to fully understand. In the muggle world, the ICW is comparable to the League of Nations, but it wields far more authority. The leader of the ICW wields considerable power over the wizarding world's states." Dumbledore explained everything to them in a simple and clear manner.
"How do they choose their leader?" Tom inquired, his curiosity piqued.
"Is voting taking place?" This knowledge revealed by Dumbledore, Jack believed, was crucial.
This once again, reminded him, that is a real and unique world with a large number of magical nations; Britain is not the centre of the world as shown in movies and books.
World War 2 is looming on the horizon, which is why he felt so crucial. Soon, the wizarding war will commence, and whoever is chosen this term will become one of the world's most powerful political figures. They will have a huge impact on the rest of the planet.
"The supreme mugmump is chosen through a ritual," This time, Dumbledore replied vaguely, as if he didn't want to reveal anything more.
"Can you tell me about the ritual, professor?" Jack didn't give up and persisted in his inquiry.
"The Supreme Mugmump is chosen by a Qilin at the ceremony." With a sigh, Dumbledore explained that while this information is relatively secret and not widely known.
However, it's already known within the government's upper echelon and many important people. So telling that to two kids won't make a difference.
Jack, who was trying to take a cup of coffee, halted, thinking he had misheard. "Do you mean, Professor, that the most important position in the wizarding world is chosen by a magical creature?" When he asked the question again, his tone was slightly higher.
Because, no matter how amazing a Qilin is, it can't erase the fact that it's a magical creature!
So, from his perspective, the whole event made the magical world seem a little strange and ludicrous.
"It's a Qilin, Jack." Dumbledore seemed to understand what he was implying. Unlike others, he has a vast understanding of the muggle world. "They are unique and special and they have the ability to choose someone who is more qualified and appropriate for the office than people who vote." In a calm tone, he explained with such controversial words.
"Professor, I understand." Jack nodded and didn't enquire further. In only one sentence, he was able to infer a lot.
Dumbledore seems to have a significant role in the ceremony. Dumbledore's favourite student should be none other than Newt Scamander, and he coincidentally going to be in China, which is home to Qilin.
Obviously, Dumbledore orchestrated everything.
And he went on to reason that Dumbledore is most likely supporting this ceremony rather than suggesting a genuine election is due to deeper secrets and ulterior intentions. It's not as straightforward as it appears on the surface.
However, this are just his guesses and he didn't bother to question or say his opinion on this ceremony.
As he drank the last of his coffee and set the cup down, Jack's thoughts strayed.
"Let's go, professor." Tom spoke abruptly, and he didn't seem to react much when he heard this. He'd known from the start that the wizarding world would be different. "Now that I'm feeling better, let's go get our school supplies."
"Professor, I believe we are consuming a significant amount of your time." He expressed it in a polite manner.
"It's nothing," Dumbledore indicated that everything was fine with a wave of his hands. And he turned a blind eye to the sudden change of Tom.
He finally got up from his seat and began walking into the bar, with Jack and Tom trailing closely behind him.