Potions Class continued as Snape guided everyone through brewing a Cure for Boils Potion. After explaining how to prepare it, he divided the class into pairs and had them begin brewing.
Albert was naturally paired with Lee Jordan, since they shared a desk.
"Let's go over the steps a few times before we start brewing the Cure for Boils Potion, so we don't make any mistakes," Albert reminded him. "As long as we follow the steps correctly, the finished product shouldn't differ much from the one in the book."
The greatest fear in potion brewing was carelessly adding ingredients or stirring at random.
Albert opened Magical Potions and Brews and memorized the recipe for the Cure for Boils Potion, paying no attention to Snape, who had approached from behind in his black robes.
After Snape walked away, Albert took out the necessary ingredients from his potion kit: several snake fangs, a Pungous onion, some bundled dried nettles, a jar of Horned Slugs, and several porcupine quills.
"You handle boiling the Horned Slugs. They need to be boiled for at least thirty-three to forty-five minutes." Albert handed his tweezers to Lee Jordan.
"Sure, leave it to me." Lee Jordan had no objections. Taking the tweezers Albert offered, he picked the disgusting Horned Slugs out of the jar.
Come to think of it, a jar of these things cost one Galleon at an apothecary.
"Remember to wash them first. You don't need to put in too much water, and be careful not to let it boil over," Albert added.
Then, he began grinding the snake fangs with a mortar and pestle. The book required them to be ground into a fine powder, which was exhausting work.
Compared with Albert's practical skills, the other students were rather hopeless.
Of course, that might have