He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself. He prefers the back-seat..." Horace was born in the late 19th century or early 20th century, certainly between 1882 and 1913, into the wealthy and pure-blooded Slughorn family. Although his parents never believed in pure-blood superiority as much as some others did, they encouraged Horace to make friends with the "the right sort" upon arriving at Hogwarts. However, they were still loving parents and they only "quietly" encouraged the belief. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the age of eleven and was immediately Sorted into Slytherin House. Horace excelled at school and became friends with Muggle-borns even though his parents didn't agree with it. However, Horace did already have a need to play favourites with anyone he considered talented enough and loved to make out that he knew famous people, such as the Minister for Magic who he would refer to by his first name to try and convince others he was close to him. At some point after completing his education, Slughorn was employed as Potions Master to his joy, likely around the same time as Albus Dumbledore started. Although he was well suited to working in politics, he preferred to stay in the background and enjoy the privileges of having famous and successful friends. He was a natural teacher and loved Hogwarts. Slughorn used Felix Felicis twice prior to 1996; once when he was twenty-four years old, and again when he was fifty-seven. This resulted in two "perfect days". Lucius Malfoy remarked that Slughorn was a "good wizard" in his day.
