An Ordinary Friday

Friday, dinner time, in the Great Hall.

Loren swallowed the last piece of pie, tugged at his slightly bulging belly, and tilted his head back with a satisfied smile, "Carbs, what a great Elixir of Joy!"

Seeing his actions, Hermione quickly placed her hand on her lower abdomen and pressed it, unconsciously comparing the size of her belly before and after eating. She only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that her belly was not like his.

Seeing the girl's nervous movements, Loren chuckled softly and teased her in a low voice, "You used to eat like this all the time during the holidays, why are you suddenly so concerned about your image now that school's started?"

I've lost my composure in front of this person far too many times; I can't refute them.

Hermione's eyes twitched a few times, but she ignored his teasing and said seriously, "Are you full? If you are, go back to the Common Room. You haven't written the ending of the paper on the Boggart that Professor Lupin assigned."

Loren took another piece of mango pudding and muttered a complaint, "It's all your fault. Lupin only asked us to write a short summary, but you insisted on making me write a paper."

"Didn't you write a lot of analyses about Boggart Magic Power yourself?" Hermione said angrily, picking up a spoon and scooping up a large spoonful of pudding, then eating it viciously. "What kind of Magic Power, soul... and all those speculations about Boggart did you write in your little summary? The worst part is that you even made me find information for you!"

"I only mentioned it briefly while writing, but you want me to write it as a thesis!"

"That was written by you too!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

"..."

The two bickered back and forth until the pudding was completely devoured. Only then did Hermione belatedly realize that she had eaten too much, and she pressed her lower abdomen with a somewhat sad expression.

The little Witch pursed her lips and silently exerted her strength.

Inhale!

The lower abdomen remained completely still.

Inhale!

My belly still won't go back down.

"Want me to give you a massage?" Loren chuckled.

After trying a few times, Hermione gave up, her gaze towards Loren filled with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "It's all your fault, go back and write your paper!"

"I'm afraid that won't work." Loren shrugged. "I need to go to Professor Snape's office. You know, he mentioned it in Defense Against the Dark Arts the other day."

The reasons are sound and irrefutable.

Hermione was furious; she just couldn't stand Loren's smug look.

"Besides, I don't have to study five elective courses on weekends, so I can write the paper slowly."

Damn it, I'm even angrier now.

Hermione stood up abruptly and walked towards the Great Hall entrance without looking back; she was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would start hitting someone.

Watching her retreating figure, Loren muttered to himself, "Strange..."

Ever since that Defense Against the Dark Arts about Boggart, Hermione has been acting strangely, becoming increasingly irritable.

She especially forbade him from mentioning her relationship with Boggart; at best, she would scold him, and at worst, she would beat him.

However, Loren was happy to tease her, since hitting her wouldn't hurt anyway.

Loren popped a mint into his mouth, shook his head, and headed towards the basement.

"Tsk, it's quite sweet..."

Friday night at 9 p. m., in the underground Potions Master's office.

Sizzle—

Sizzle—

Sizzle—

A pure white, smooth Bone Knife, crafted from the Basilisk ribs, scraped against the translucent red Sorcerer's Stone surface. Snow-white bone powder mixed with crimson stone powder fell onto the porcelain dish, forming a thin layer of pink powder.

At the workbench, Snape, dressed in a dark green shirt, was intently preparing the powder for the Sorcerer's Stone.

Loren sat beside him, engrossed in reading a parchment journal.

As Snape prepared the stone powder, he said in a calm voice, "During the summer, Professor McGonagall and I went to Africa and got some inspiration from their traditional methods. If we're lucky, we should be able to determine the excipients for the elixir of Resurrection Potion within two years."

For the sake of the school's business, the four Head of House took the recruited students to many places during the holidays. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout went to more civilized places like France and Italy... Professor McGonagall and Snape went to the more troublesome African continent.

It seems Professor Snape also took care of some personal matters. Loren looked at the notes in his journal:

The indigenous shamans of Madagascar in southern Africa are said to be able to summon the spirits of the dead through rituals such as turning over corpses—this remains to be verified, as there have been no eyewitness accounts, but there are concrete records.

The blood of loved ones poured into a burning fire is believed to transmit messages to the deceased through the smoke—this remains to be verified; it is an eyewitness account, and is suspected to be a trick used by indigenous shamans to maintain their rule.

Besides the magical rituals, there were also many strange and unusual materials, such African Tree Snake and the stingers of Moonlight Scorpion...

Looking at the meticulously written notes, Loren remained silent. He noticed that the powder on the porcelain dish was stirred when Snape spoke, and the professor was not as calm as he appeared.

Determining the excipients is likely a futile effort. The key to Resurrection Potion; Snape is destined to fail in this endeavor.

Nicol lived during the era of the Black Death when human lives were as fragile as weeds, with cities dying one after another, appearing as patches of death on the map.

Even if Voldemort launched Second Wizarding War, not this many people would die. Unless Voldemort ruled the Wizarding World, declared a full-scale war against Muggle, and launched a genocide, Snape would have to wait until World War III.

In short, there's not much of a chance.

However, it's always good to have hope.

With that thought in mind, Loren didn't dwell on the matter of the Resurrection Potion and instead brought up other things. "Professor, it's a new school year, how is the Potions Club recruiting new members?"

Last year's seventh-grade students graduated, and it's time for the club to recruit new members again.

Taking 1/16 ounce, or a dozen ounces, of powder, Snape stood up, wiped the Bone Knife with a clean handkerchief, and returned the Sorcerer's Stone to him. "Observe for a while, and I will send out invitations around Halloween to replenish manpower."

"Second grade?"

"Every grade, except for freshmen."

"But Professor, didn't you say last year that those who didn't receive invitations were those who lacked talent? Why were they included this year?" Loren asked tentatively in a low voice. "Could it be that their talent has improved?"

"Just do your own thing."

"If Dumbledore and McGonagall hadn't needed manpower, I wouldn't have bothered hiring anyone." Snape glanced at him coldly and said indifferently, "The Wolfsbane Potion needs further improvement. I'll provide the materials, and we'll test it according to the plan you submitted last semester. From now on, give me one bottle of the improved potion every month."

Why did you provoke him?

Loren really wanted to slap himself. The smell of the Wolfsbane Potion was already unpleasant, and now they were adding those stinky herbs. People would be driven crazy by the smell.

"Did you remember?"

"Yes, Professor," Loren replied listlessly.

Snape's lips curled into a smile.

Evening, in the dormitory.

Loren stared blankly out the window; the moon shone through the glass, its light blurry and slightly fuzzy.

He wondered if he would have ended up in this situation if he hadn't provoked Snape.

It's probably possible.

Professor Snape was determined to find something for Lupin to do. Not only him, but it was estimated that after the Potions Club recruited, other members would also want to join in the research and development of the Wolfsbane Potion.

It's better to share happiness than to enjoy it alone.

Thinking this way, Loren felt much better and more at ease.

"Great, school starts on Wednesday, and it's the weekend after two days of classes." Harry lay on his four-poster bed, holding his hand up to his eyes, watching the candle flame stretch through his fingers.

"Yeah, if only we could have two days of classes and two days of vacation every day," Ron chuckled foolishly.

"To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to next week's class. George and Fred said Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures is really interesting." Harry rolled over and lay on the edge of the bed, resting his chin on the pillow.

Seamus held a Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs in his hand, tossing it up and catching it repeatedly. He glanced around and asked, "Where's Neville? Did he forget the password again and get locked out of the lounge?"

"No way?" Loren sat up. "I didn't see him when I came back."

Just then, the dormitory door was kicked open, and Neville swayed in, carrying a gold cardboard box that was bigger than his upper body.

Neville put down the box, wiped his forehead, sat back on his bed, and let out a long sigh, "The owl couldn't carry this. Mr. Flume promised to deliver it to the school gate, so I had to carry it back myself. Thank goodness Merlin, I almost fell down the stairs several times."

"So why don't you use the Levitation Charm?" Loren asked sincerely.

Neville, who was catching his breath, froze, and after a moment of silence, he said, "I... I forgot?"

"Sometimes Loren is more like a Pure-blood wizard than you are," Ron muttered, then leaned closer curiously. "What did you buy?"

Neville grinned foolishly. "A deluxe gold gift box from Honeydukes, as a token of our gratitude to Loren."

"Merlin's Beard, in a deluxe gift box!"

"I heard that one Galleon is more expensive than dragon meat."

Seamus and Harry both gasped in surprise.

This time, it was Loren's turn to be stunned. "You actually bought it?"

"Hmm!" Neville scratched his head sheepishly. "I was planning to buy it when I went to Hogsmeade during the event week, but I couldn't wait."

Loren opened his mouth, but the words of refusal and denial remained unspoken.

"Let's open it. I heard there are some new magic gummies." Neville looked at him, his eyes filled with sincere and earnest gratitude. He smiled at the others. "I can't wait to try them. What about you?"

"Me too!"

"Come on, Loren, take it apart."

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

Everyone crowded around, watching as Loren peeled back the layers of gold packaging and took out bag after bag of candy from the gift box.

Exploding filled candies, Coconut Ice Cake shimmering with pink light, oddly shaped Bertie Bott's Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, bouncing Chocolate Frog, Liquorice Wands, Fizzing Whizbees, Jelly Slugs...

"Look at this, the new gummy candy!" Seamus popped a candy into his mouth, smacked his lips, and let out a monkey-like squeal as he looked at the others.

"Squeak—squeak—squeak—"

Loren swallowed the Cockroach Clusters in his mouth. "Stop pretending, Seamus, that's your own voice, isn't it?"

Seamus glared at him angrily: "Squeak—squeak—"

This remark thoroughly amused everyone else in the dorm. Ron and Harry burst into laughter, lying on their blankets, unable to straighten up.

"I'll try." Neville took one and popped it into his mouth, letting out a loud, elephant-like moo, "Moo-hmm—"

Others also tried it one after another.

Ron let out a majestic Lion's Roar: "Roar—"

Harry opened his mouth and let out a crisp owl's hoot: "Chirp—"

A whale's long cry echoed from Loren's nose, "Buzz—"

A sweet and warm atmosphere filled the dormitory room, and laughter echoed against the glass, making it seem as if even the crescent moon was laughing along...