Horace Slughorn

 Prof. Horace Slughorn

Biographical Information

Full Name

Prof. Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn

Nickname(s)

Old Sluggy (by Hermione)

Blood Status

Pure-blood

Title(s)

Professor

Physical Information

Species

Human (Wizard)

Gender

Male

Hair

Straw blond

Eyes

Gooseberry

Skin

White

Family information

Parents

• Unnamed Father †

• Unnamed Mother †

Relationships

Allies/Friends

• Albus Dumbledore

• Armando Dippet

• Hermione Granger

• Minerva McGonagall

• Tom Riddle

Magical Information

Boggart

Running out of crystallized pineapple

Affiliation

Occupation

• Potions Master (future)

• Potions Professor (Past)

• Head of Slytherin House (Past)

House

Slytherin

Loyalty

• Slughorn family

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

• Slytherin

• Slug Club

Horace Slughorn is a Head of Slytherin House and Potions Professor at Hogwarts School at Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

Magical abilities and skills

• Occlumency: Horace was an extremely able Occlumens, with his skills being acknowledged by even Albus Dumbledore, who deemed him to be much more capable in it than Morfin Gaunt. His mastery would have allowed him to resist even a Legilimens of Dumbledore's calibre as well as the effects of Veritaserum, which made Dumbledore refuse to use such forceful and coaxing methods against Slughorn due to his ability to repel them.
• Memory modification: Horace was able to modify his own memory to make it seem something less horrible, as seen in the case of Tom Riddle asking about Horcruxes. However, this was crudely done, as parts of the memory were clouds with a booming voice, rather than an actual visual.
• Transfiguration: Despite his wide frame, Horace was extremely agile and displayed impressive skills in Transfiguration, being able to create the impression of a struggle within his house in a matter of seconds and transforming himself into an armchair; Human Transfiguration is something only a master of that art can accomplish. He was also able to swiftly use the spell Anapneo to vanish throat blockages, demonstrating his proficiency in this field.
• Duelling: Slughorn was a highly accomplished duellist, being able to survive the Battle of Hogwarts, later claiming that he was able to dispatch many Death Eaters by himself to Sprout and Flitwick after the battle. Alongside Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, he was even able to contend with Voldemort himself, only being overpowered when Voldemort's rage over Bellatrix's death caused him to lash out, although it must be noted that Voldemort was wielding the Elder Wand at the time without having achieved mastery over it and Harry Potter's loving sacrifice was weakening the power of Voldemort's spells. Being capable of duelling such a powerful Dark wizard although, was a testament to his superb skills in martial magic.
• Potions: Perhaps chief among Slughorn's many talents was his considerable ability as a pioneer. Slughorn was able to create extremely complicated Potions such as Felix Felicis, the Polyjuice Potion, and Amortentia. He was extremely proficient in Potions, having taught the subject up to N.E.W.T. level, and was even seen to be at least on par with, if not superior to, Severus Snape in the subject, considering he was Snape's teacher on Potions, as he understood and agreed with Snape's edits of a copy of Advanced Potion-Making. He also fully understood Golpalott's Third Law to the letter and was flawlessly proficient with Antidotes as he was able to recite a long and complicated theory of them to a class of N.E.W.T students and swiftly, with no effort, make a perfect remedy for a very powerful Amortentia. He was also said to Dumbledore to be capable of brewing an antidote to Veritaserum, which he has always carried to prevent Dumbledore from using Veritaserum to coerce the true memory when Voldemort asked about Horcruxes out of him.
• Non-verbal magic: As a testament to Slughorn's considerable magical abilities, he was capable of effectively performing nonverbal magic, something that only wizards and witches of outstanding skill can perform. In 1996, Slughorn aided Albus Dumbledore in fully restoring an entire room that had been torn to pieces with "one identical sweeping motion" of their wands without saying anything. He extracted one of his own memories from his temple for Harry Potter with no incantation. It is also noteworthy that Slughorn was able to cast non-verbal spells during his duel with Voldemort, an incredibly impressive magical feat.
• Charms: Slughorn was able to repair a whole room with one Mending Charm (with Dumbledore's help) and provide Harry one of his memories using the Memory extraction spell, both of which are non-verbally, showcasing his skill with charms. He also successfully used the Freezing Charm to deactivate various Muggle Burglar alarms whilst evading the Death Eaters, as well as using the Intruder Charm as a magical alarm. and could cast the simple Wand-Lighting Charm successfully as well. Furthermore, he was capable of producing a non-corporeal Patronus, a mark of superior magical ability, given the immense difficulty of casting such an advanced and powerful protective charm.
• Defence Against the Dark Arts: Slughorn possessed superb defensive abilities against Dark Magic and his knowledge of the Dark Arts also gave him knowledge of many advanced defensive spells. Overall, Slughorn's proficiency in defending himself from the Dark Arts was great enough that he was able to aid in the creation of the extremely powerful defence around Hogwarts during the Battle of Hogwarts that only Voldemort was able to breach and alongside Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, he was even able to duel Voldemort himself, the so-called most dangerous Dark wizard in history, only being overpowered when the Dark wizard was angered over the death of his lieutenant, and survive the encounter.
• Dark Arts knowledge: Professor Slughorn had considerable knowledge of the Dark Arts, having even been aware of the extremely advanced ability to create Horcruxes. He was horrified at the mere suggestion of murdering people so he never took it beyond theoretical knowledge, but he knew enough to tell Tom Riddle everything he needed to know to achieve immortality, something he regretted deeply.
• Love: Though not as demonstrably learned in this powerful branch of magic as his peer and colleague, Albus Dumbledore, Slughorn was still exceptionally knowledgeable and powerful like love. This was evident when teaching Love Potions, as he was able to distinguish between the obsessive love caused by love potions and the genuine, unconditional love felt by most people. He was clearly capable of love, as it allowed him to overcome the shame of his Horcrux memory and to give it to Harry as a weapon to destroy the monster he felt partially responsible for creating, as it was Voldemort who killed so many of his beloved students, especially Lily Evans, whom Slughorn was extremely fond of and doted upon as one of his most prized pupils. Slughorn also felt a great need to protect his students, regardless of favouritism, as was his most redeeming quality. He also could love which gave Slughorn the strength to ultimately show his true loyalties and fight against Voldemort himself head-on.
• Social networking: Slughorn was a seasoned and gifted individual in his ability to form powerful and lasting connections throughout his career as a teacher. His ability to form connections for himself and others made him a valuable ally, and he capitalised on this skill for decades for both self-serving and selfless reasons. He was also a master rallyman, as he was easily able to stir the citizens of Hogsmeade into a war frenzy and gain their support to add their power to the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
• Indomitable willpower: The fact that Slughorn was capable of performing Occlumency and avoiding giving his real memory to Dumbledore and Harry showed that his willpower was extremely strong. This was especially evident as he was unwilling to join forces with Dark wizards like Voldemort despite his tendency to ally himself with powerful people and ultimately fought against Voldemort head-on during the Battle of Hogwarts.
• Piano playing (Possibly): Slughorn owned a piano he brought with him when he was on the run from Death Eaters, suggesting that he could play it.

Relationships

Students:

Tom Riddle

Horace Slughorn: "So... you two getting married before summer. Good ... very good."

Tom Riddle: "Yes. indeed! We decided so, sir."

Horace Slughorn: "I mean. I never thought you would find someone here and marry immediately! But a good choice, Tom."

~~ Horace discusses with him about his quick marriage. ~~

Professor Slughorn was the Potions Master during Tom Riddle's years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As Head of Tom's House, and given his tendency to favour students who displayed e 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.

Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger: "Professor! I worry about my grades lately."

Horace Slughorn: "What about them? ... They are alright, Hermione.

At least it seems to me!"

Hermione Granger: "You know me, professor!"

~~ Hermione asks Slughorn about her late grades. ~~

Professor Slughorn was Hermione's potion master both past and future.