Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
“But surely, sir,” he said, keeping his voice as respectful as possible, “you
don’t need me — you could use Legilimency... or Veritaserum “
“Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who will be expecting
both,” said Dumbledore. “He is much more accomplished at Occlumency
than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not carried an
antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I coerced him into giving me
this travesty of a recollection.
“No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the truth from Professor
Slughorn by force, and might do much more harm than good; I do
not wish him to leave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses like the
rest of us, and I believe that you are the one person who might be able to
penetrate his defenses. It is most important that we secure the true memory,
Harry...
How important, we will only know when we have seen the real thing. So,
good luck and good night.”
A little taken aback by the abrupt dismissal, Harry got to his feet quickly.
“Good night, sir.”
As he closed the study door behind him, he distinctly heard Phineas Nigellus
say, “I can’t see why the boy should be able to do it better than you,
Dumbledore.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, Phineas,” replied Dumbledore, and Fawkes
gave another low, musical cry.
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