Well, I can't believe that no one else started a topic about the new Potions Master.

Personally, I thought he seemed like a poor shade of Gilderoy Lockheart - right down to his preference to keep only famous people around him. How very Slytherin of him. Yet again, Dumbledore excels in his selection of teachers.

Anyone else feel the same?

Yeah I agree there has to be more to Slughorn than meets the eye. Does he think maybe if he keeps the more famous people around that they'll protect him in exchange for interviews at whatever job they want?

Ooh, that's an interesting thought. Mmm...I hadn't considered that. But then, we've all had faith in Dumbledore before but he sort of admitted in HBP that he didn't always see the faults in his DADA teachers, didn't he? I think that the Dumbledore in HBP was a lot weaker, far less informed and knowledgable and much more vulnerable than we have been led to believe, and so my faith in him isn't quite what it was. Which leads me to the conclusion that his judgement is flawed and therefore maybe Slughorn is exactly what he appears to be - a bit of a shallow prat really...

I liked him, he's an interesting character and I hope he's around for the next book.

I wonder who'll play him in the movie?

I liked Slughorn too. And I think Dd was fully aware of what he was like when he hired him, if you remember, he warned Harry that Slughorn would consider him a prized collection, so Harry should not be seduced by all of his bravado.

I think Dd chose him for a couple of reasons, one being that no one wants the job, but Dd knew if he took Harry along as bait, a lure, Horace would not be able to help himself and could be swayed, and he was. Also, Slugnorn is not a bad man, he is as you said Dana incredibly shallow, and only seems to be interested in people for connections, like Dd said, it makes him feel important. But you probably already realized that Horace Slughorn is also an extremely talented potions master, so in this case I think Dumby got it right.

Slug may be shallow and self indulgent, but he does seem to have a good heart. The Slytherin part of him is demonstrated in the favours he bestows upon people he thinks will be valuable to him in the future. Basically I thought he was likable though, but I might change my mind about that if I was one of the people he treated like they didn't exist.

I also noticed similarities to Lockheart.

I think the main reason that Dumbledore got him in was because of the memory that they needed, Dumbledore most of known if he was at Hogwarts and around Harry it would be easier to extract the memory from him for the pensieve.

Also, Slughorn was in hiding from the D.E. wasn't he? Dumbledore must of known that if there were after him it was only a matter of time before he was found and then that vital memory would be gone forever.

Doh!
I cant believe I never thought of that stupefy, but it makes perfect sense, Dd did want that memory very badly! I think that is far more likely than what I posted.

tatatta!!! I finally got the link between CoS and HbP! Lockheart (sp?) and this Slug. omg, he really looked like Locky! why in heavens name does he excist???? And that slug club, thought there would be more about it, thouht it would be important but no. not even reports about the parties. pfff..... hate this new man.. gonna have my own club, anti-slug club I guess.. and using it to get boys to the parties...

The way Dumbledore treats Slughorn in this book bothers me greatly!

It seems to me that DD only hired Slughorn so that he could get the memory from him. In addition, DD appears to be giving Harry private lessons so that he can use Harry (Slughorn's prize) to get his memory. This shows a side of Dumbledore that I would rather not see -- he is plotting for an entire year to use people to achieve his end.

I was troubled by DD's response to Harry when Harry did not succeed in getting the memory. He did not even give him a suggestion of how to get it -- it was kind of like Voldy ordering Draco to kill DD for revenge at Lucius.

If Hogwarts opens in book 7 (which I believe it will), the Slughorn will be back -- otherwise there will be three new characters to create as teachers instead of 2.

I think that yes, Slughorn exhists only as vessel for both the memory of LV, but also to empart to Harry his respect for Lily.

Also, the Felix plays a quite large part, and he wouldn't have got that without Slughorn (nobody else would show off as much as him), also, Slughorn is the reason that Harry can take potions and thus gets his hands on the HBP's book. But in retrospect, any other teacher could have done that.

I've got a suspicion that he may play a small part in the next book...

You can hardly blame him for plotting againist Slughorn for the memory if the result is the knowledge of how Harry will destroy the most evil wizard in the world for good can you?

And its hardly plotting murder or torture!

Like Hagrid said, it's Chamber 'o Secrets all over again.. Slughorn also told his potions class about Harry, and how he had his mother's talent. That was like how Lockhart picked Harry to take part in their little plays in class.
The only thing I hated about Slughorn was that he kept on bragging that he knew all these famous people.
I felt sorry for him, as well. He seemed to really regret telling Voldemort about the Horcruxes. I thought it was funny how Dumbledore plotted it all out. He knew exactly what to do, and what was going to happen.

well as you can imagine from my nick, I´ve loved this character. He´s enormous at the burial of Aragog with that speech that makes Hagrid cry. I hope that he continues as Potions Master.

stupefy writes "You can hardly blame him for plotting againist Slughorn for the memory if the result is the knowledge of how Harry will destroy the most evil wizard in the world for good can you?"

My point was how DD treated Harry when Harry hadn't yet gotten the memory. I understand that the need for the memory, but DD was not kind or considerate at all -- both Harry & Slughorn were people to be used to achieve DD's goals. Everything else (including student education) was secondary.

There are similarities between Slughorn and Lockhart, but there's one major difference--Slughorn can perform. Besides being an accomplished potions master, he knew about horcruxes, he has been able to evade the DEs (though I'm sure they've been after him in force to get that memory or prevent its emergence), he taught the class well, and he didn't have any of the latent Slytherin prejudices against muggles.

He'll play at least a semi-important part in the last book because of one other thing--something besides his knowledge of potions and the ever-important memory probably influenced DD to choose him. Slughorn used to be the Slytherin head of house.

If some of the other theories are true, Dumbledore would have known that Snape would be gone by the end of the year, so DD was recruiting a potions master and the next Slytherin head of house. At the very least, DD knew the DADA job was cursed and he would need to replace Snape for some reason or another.

One last important role that Slughorn could play--Slughorn could more capably guide the remaining Slytherins at Hogwarts to unite with the other houses against Voldemort.

I personally loved Slughorn. I thought he was a great character; very likeable and funny. His obsession with only famous/extraordinarily gifted people (or relatives of them) was a bit annoying, but it also added to his character. He also seemed to be very intelligent.

I think Slughorn was a really wierd Character,. I am not sure if I like him or not. He sure was interesting though. He put a lot comic relief into the book, there were alot of funny parts involving him and it helped alot with the book since the rest is so tense.

I agree with much of the above; Horace was brought in for the memory and his potions ability.

I however feel that large part of DD's choice was Slughorn's connections to well known wizards. The fact that Slughorn who is important to so many 'important' people will possibly some to come around to the 'good' side, or offer their services to DD.

PP

i dont' know if anyone brought this up, it was kind of obviously, as a friend of mine pointed out.
the only reason dumbledore wanted slughorn to be in hogwarts was because of his memory with tom riddle, the one that was proof that voldie was using horcruxes.
other than that i don't think Slughorn has any importance,

MOD EDIT : I think that avatar might not be working because it's linked directly to the VTM icons - you need to save it to your computer and then upload it to a hosting service for it work...just a tip...

I realy like Slughorn, i don't know why, it's someone who i would like to have as a teacher, really light hearted, he also wanted to get to know his students (even if it was because he thought that they would be famous)

But then again, who doesn't like a claim to fame? I'll tell any one who listens that I met Phillip Scholfield when i was seven, or journalists used to phone me to try and speak to the the man who made Jimi Hendrix! (His manager, also bass player to the Animals) and i might well be related to him (same surname same city of birth, both families originally come from there too.) but it's unlikely.

The wizard community seems to be extremly close-knit though. To meet the Minister of magic, or have family/friends who have doesn't seem to be that rare. While in our community to have met a famous person, is something we generally boast about. Or even to have met some one who's met some one whos met someone Really famous is something that well at least somepeople *blushes* keep close to their heart.

eg, one of my teachers used to know David Bowie, who i love!

So in Harry's eyes, it's no big deal, cos he's met the minister as well, and he's very famous himself. but i won't put my weak claims to fame in everyday conversation (except now) which Slughorn seems to do, in fact he goes out of his way to do so, which would drive me round the bend, more of jealously than anything.

But DD knows perfectly well that the DADA job is cursed, cos LV cursed it himself, the fact that he was looking for a new potions teaher, to replace Snape does make me wonder. did DD fimally allow Snape to take the DADA job because he wanted to subtely get rid of Snape? hmmm curious

I feel the same way Harry does. I neither like him or dislike him. He's certainly better than Snape. He's better than Lockhart. He's a fine teacher. I liked him in the chapter Horace Slughorn but he got kinda annoying when he kept trying to get Harry to come to his slug club. But I didn't hate or like him. He was mot good or bad, just all around o.k.

Indeed Albus-wan,

Slughorn is a good and experienced teacher, who had tremendous respect for Dumbledore. No character is perfect and I can't help thinking people are ganging up on him a little...

Not sure if it was mentioned...but here goes...

Why wasn't he happy about what he said in the memory. I know it was about Horcruxes...but does that mean he knows what Voldemort is up to? Or can he just speculate since he doesn't really know like Harry and Dumbledore do?

I really like Slughorn. I completely don't see how people see him as similar to Gilderoy Lockhart. As Albus-Wan pointed out, Slughorn is competent. Beyond that, Slughorn seems basically good, and enjoys teaching. Yes, he has an abundance of self-indulgant character traits, but he is, from the description in the book, about as brilliant a potions master as there is in the world. And, he seems to be a good, completely fair, and devoted instructor in the classroom. He plays favorites--but his favorites are not based on wizarding blood or past relatives, but on future potential (thus Hermione being in the Slug Club; Ginny being invited to his car on the Express because he caught her performing an impressive piece of magic). His club of favorites, despite references to "Oh, I know your uncle" or such, seems really to be the purest meritocracy we see at Hogwarts.

Gilderoy, on the other hand, is not simply shallow and self-centered, but a liar. He is manipulative, he steals credit for things he hasn't done, and then erases the memories of those who deserve the credit. Remember what he was willing to do to Harry & Ron in the Chamber. Gilderoy is shallow to the point of actually being an evil man--no concern for his fellow human. This is not at all in Slughorn's character.

Obviously, in terms of the plot, Slughorn goes to Hogwarts because Dumbledore needs his memory. But I think an important thing to note is that JKR really needed a character like him: someone associated with Slytherin who is a good person, who is on the right side. Yes, there are things about him that we as readers don't like, and those are the things that associate him with his House. However, this is the first character who is in Slytherin who behaves honorably, doesn't punish students for petty gripes of the past (a la Snape). JKR needed to put a character like this in. I think too many of Slughorn's detractors are stopping at the fact that he is in Slytherin, and holding that against him.

Yeah, I don't see the connection between Slughorn and Lockhart at all. Lockhart was absolutely horrible, and I rather liked Slughorn. He wasn't perfect, but he was an excellent teacher and good natured, who really cared about his students. Because he is always looking for talent, regardless of what house people are in, I think he could play a major role in helping to unite Hogwarts. He recognizes the abilities in everyone, and this could be quite important.

I dont really like Slughorm. He is as irritating as Lockhart was. They had hardly left the railway station when he started organizing the Slug Club. I really think that its just disgusting how he treated Ron when he was speaking Harry or Hermione.

He will be a perfect Head of Slytherin. He does not hate Muggle-borns but he will never treat students equaly.

I also think that DD wanted him going back to Hogwarts because of the memory, but i guess that Slughorn knew that. He gave DD the monified memory but im sure he knew DD too well to believe that he wouldnt try and persuade him to give him the whole.

Does anyone have any idea as to what happened on his lucky days? Remember, Slughorn mentioned that he's taken the Felix potion twice, once when he was 24, and once when he was 57. According to wikipedia, most say he was born between 1900 and 1919. So check these dates out and see, perhaps, what happened in those years and how they may be related to Slughorn (it goes...year = +24, +57).

1900 = 1924, 1957
1901 = 1925, 1958
1902 = 1926, 1959
1903 = 1927, 1960
1904 = 1928, 1961
1905 = 1929, 1962
1906 = 1930, 1963
1907 = 1931, 1964
1908 = 1932, 1965
1909 = 1933, 1966
1910 = 1934, 1967
1911 = 1935, 1968
1912 = 1936, 1969
1913 = 1937, 1970
1914 = 1938, 1971
1915 = 1939, 1972
1916 = 1940, 1973
1917 = 1941, 1974
1918 = 1942, 1975
1919 = 1943, 1976

For some reason, I have a strange feeling it has to do with Eileen Prince or the potions book she had. However, according to the book, it was published 50 years ago from book 6 (1996), which would make it 1946 50 years from then. Key years involving young Tom Riddle are present, and perhaps something having to do with Regulus in 1976. Didn't Slughorn divulge the Horcrux information in 1943? What do you guys make of that information?

For more information on Slughorn, check out this website.

I think that Slughorn just wants to be famous because he has always had the students that would go the farthest in the wizarding world with him in his slug club.

I basically couldn't say it any better than Albus Wan.
Slughorn and Lockhart both just wanted infamy. On the contrast, Lockhart could perform (as you said). Another contrast is that Lockehart actually had infamy, though he milked it from other people, rather than Slughorn who wasn't really famous, but he knew well known people.

Slughorn has to be important, in my opinion, because DD respects him and Voldemort wants hiSlughorn on his side. There is more to Slughorn than metes the eye and we might find out in the next book what it is.