Advanced Potion-Making

"The seventies?"

"The spells he created in Snape's Potions textbook!"

After hearing Quirrell's introduction, he immediately thought of this treasure.

Basil closed his eyes.

In the castle's underground Potions classroom, dark and eerie, with specimens scattered everywhere, a battered copy of Libatius Borage's Advanced Potion-Making vanished from a storage cabinet in the corner.

An extra book appeared in Basil's schoolbag.

As soon as class ended, he asked Hermione to look up the term "Archmage" for him, then successfully shook her off.

He hurried back to the dormitory and opened it.

Unlike its tattered exterior, its contents were exceptionally rich.

Not only were the blank spaces in the book crammed with tiny writing, but the printed text had annotations as well.

Better ways to process ingredients, crossed-out sections, added potion components, more efficient stirring methods.

But since he knew the plot, he went straight to searching through the original blank spaces.

Finally, three minutes later, amid the scribbled revisions, he found the spells Snape had invented in his youth.

How could Harry be so stupid?! Basil thought the instant he saw them.

"Buying the casket and returning the pearl" perfectly described Harry's actions in the films.

Hermione had not noticed because she could not accept her own mediocrity—in the face of the Half-Blood Prince.

That made her prejudiced against the book's contents.

But although Harry clearly valued what was inside, he mistook those spells for the true treasure.

And overlooked the revised notes.

They fully documented the thought process behind creating a spell from nothing.

So the spell Quirrell had taught in class was the Bebbing Charm.

But Snape had not been satisfied with its power. Perhaps to better target his enemies.

He translated, broke apart, and recombined the original Bebbing Charm incantation, testing it step by step until he produced a new version.

Its incantation had become [Lock Tongue Seal Throat].

The victim would not even notice that their tongue had been glued down until they tried to cast a spell or speak.

It seemed James Potter, or Sirius—one of them was terrible at silent casting.

Or perhaps both were.

The other spells in the book.

Their effects could not be determined from their incantations alone.

Other than the famous Sectumsempra, Levicorpus and the Silencing Charm, which had appeared in the films.

Trying unfamiliar spells on others without permission was also extremely dangerous.

But fortunately, Harry had tried them all in the films.

Aside from Sectumsempra, these spells were not dangerous.

So in the days that followed, Basil began following in Harry's footsteps and testing those spells.

On himself.

These spells were all very interesting.

And very useful.

There was one hex that made a person's toes grow wildly.

It could effectively prevent nimble wizards who could dodge spells with their bodies from escaping, because of the changes to their toes.

All in all, this copy of Advanced Potion-Making was Basil's greatest gain since school began in October.

His Spell Card had also gained new cards: Sectumsempra and Lock Tongue Seal Throat.

The progress of his Grimoire, along with the data panel, updated accordingly.

Number: 000000001

Grimoire Level: Level 3 (1100/100)

Name: Ryan Smith/Basil Granger

Race: Wizard

Identity: Hogwarts · Gryffindor (Fire spell bonus +1%) · First-year student (20 gems issued daily)

Enrollment Date: 1991/07/27

Health: 10+15 (Echo bonus: 1000 False Life: 142·341)

Magic Power: 7+9

Luck: 3–7

Family Traits: Dragon Blood of Red Dragon (awaiting ignition), Plant Affinity (awakened), Potions Mastery (awakened)

Among them, the data for the Sectumsempra card surprised Basil the most.

Sectumsempra

Level: 1

Magic Power Cost: 4

Creates multiple invisible swords that slash at enemy units. When the player unit has negative emotions or possesses the Fallen Soul identity, the swords become imbued with an undispellable curse, preventing the enemy unit's wounds from regenerating.

Damage: 12+?

Note: Additional damage depends on the amount of negative emotion and the degree of the soul's fall.

Effective Range: Within the caster's line of sight or perception range.

This brought up a concept that was not exactly new: the Fallen Soul.

Killing people and taking souls—whether the Echo obtained in the end was holy or fallen, perhaps it all originated from this.

Perhaps those souls caught in between produced only golden Echoes?

It also confirmed what Professor Flitwick had said.

But unfortunately, this spell was only suitable for wizards like Snape, whose hearts were full of resentment and negative emotions.

Harry in the fifth film, viewed as a liar by most people and distanced by the Dumbledore he respected most, also qualified.

And Basil himself?

As a sunny and cheerful young man, without counting all sorts of bonuses, his damage was probably only 12.

And on the data panel of his crippled system, magical defense and physical defense were not factored into health.

They were values calculated purely from biological structure.

So apart from plants with absurdly high health, even a fire dragon probably would not have more than a hundred health.

If he struck a vital spot, 12 damage was enough.

Afterward, he tested it too.

Standing in the dormitory washroom, he used the castle in his mind to test it remotely on the bed in Quirrell's bedroom.

Regrettably, no matter how radiant and holy he was.

He still could not help having negative emotions.

As a result, his invisible swords also carried a curse.

Which meant he could not use the Repairing Charm to fix the bed.

And so, just as Quirrell finally lost his patience and ordered Filch to find the culprit.

October arrived.

The first day of October was Tuesday.

Basil wore a gloomy expression all day.

Even Quirrell's eyes, nearly bulging out as he kept glancing around during dinner, could not cheer him up.

No one could understand his pain.

October 1st!

National Day!

Seven days of vacation!

He could not enjoy it, and still had to attend class!

Just then, Nearly Headless Nick drifted over.

"Basil, haven't you always wanted to know why Professor McGonagall is especially indulgent toward Gryffindor in Quidditch? I can tell you today."

Basil rolled his eyes.

Hermione beside him gave Nick a grateful look.

After the opening feast, Nick had changed his attitude and avoided discussing it.

Even Ron had failed to uncover that secret.

Through his correspondence with Mrs. Weasley, he had only learned a little about Professor McGonagall's romantic history.

Professor McGonagall had two boyfriends.

The first had been a Muggle. She broke up with him to pursue her ambitions in the magical world.

The second had been her superior in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had pursued Professor McGonagall for decades.

It was not until the eighties that she agreed.

And married him.

She had even unusually kept her Muggle surname rather than taking her husband's.

In the third year of their marriage, her husband died unexpectedly after being bitten by a Venomous Tentacula.