I Have an Agreement with the Potions Master

Loren suspected the challenges below had not yet been completed. Dumbledore was testing the waters.

In the original story, the challenges had been designed around the strengths of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Now, it seemed the difficulty might be increased.

Whatever. When the time came, he would just tuck his hands away and sit this round out. Loren chuckled to himself.

Harry said little beside him, his eyes fixed on the Mirror of Erised. When he could not see the mirror before, he had thought he had let it go. But now that it was right beside them, Harry could not stop himself from glancing toward the corner.

Dumbledore noticed this and said gently, "Harry, dwelling on dreams and forgetting to live in reality is of no use at all."

His pace was neither hurried nor slow, yet every word seemed to seep into Harry's heart.

The strange atmosphere silenced everyone, and Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for them to think it over.

Only Loren popped a Hazelnut chocolate into his mouth, chewing noisily.

After a while, Dumbledore smiled. "All right, I think you should be heading back. Otherwise, Neville may bring Minerva to come trouble me later."

"Goodbye, Headmaster Dumbledore."

The group hurriedly got to their feet and made their way back to the dormitories in a daze.

"Was Headmaster Dumbledore criticizing me?" Harry thought Dumbledore had been disappointed by how often he looked toward the mirror.

Loren yawned. "Don't overthink it. If he wanted to criticize you, he'd say so directly."

Harry said nothing. His mind simply would not stop running, always thinking too much.

Seamus snapped out of his daze. "So this is sneaking out at night? It was thrilling. Don't ask me next time."

First, they had been startled by ghosts. Then, they had run into Dumbledore after going to see the Three-headed Dog. It really had been thrilling—and they really had nearly been expelled. Neville had been the one with foresight.

Most importantly, they could not even tell anyone about it to show off. That was the worst part.

"We still don't know what the Three-headed Dog was guarding." Ron realized the blind spot: they had not accomplished the original purpose of their nighttime adventure.

Loren declared boldly, "It's fine! There'll be another chance!"

Loren did not say the rest: next time, you lot can go by yourselves.

Friday, after one Potions class in the morning, the weekend began with free time.

That afternoon, Loren dragged Hermione to the Room of Requirement to practice the Shield Charm.

"Honestly, I think we should wait until we're older to learn this spell. You're wasting your time right now." Hermione frowned as Loren pulled her along.

"It definitely won't be like that this time. I've improved a lot!" Loren remembered his record of twenty-two to zero last time. That explanation was not very convincing.

Hermione remembered it too and smiled delightedly. "All right, we'll do as you say, Mr. Twenty-Two to Zero."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Mr. Twenty-Two to Zero, Mr. Twenty-Two to Zero..."

Even when they reached the Room of Requirement, Hermione still found the nickname amusing.

They took their positions.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Their voices echoed repeatedly through the Duel Chamber.

Hermione could clearly feel Loren's improvement. He could now cast a magical barrier almost consistently. Most of the time, it merely canceled out Hermione's spells, but occasionally it could deflect them in random directions.

For an entire afternoon, Hermione repeated the process of casting, casting, casting, and countering spells. If she had proficiency levels, her Binding Charm would surely have gone up several levels.

"Petrificus Totalus." Hermione casually flicked her wand.

At that moment, Loren suddenly had a strange instinct. He lowered his wand slightly. "Protego."

Hermione's thin white beam struck the tip of Loren's wand as if it had hit an invisible shield. The shield flashed, and the white beam bounced back in the direction it had come from, hitting Hermione.

Hermione's body suddenly stiffened, her hands pressed against the sides of her trousers, her face turning bluish as she fell straight backward.

"My Shield Charm can reflect spells now!!!" Loren cheered.

But there was something more important to do. Loren sat cross-legged beside Hermione and looked into her eyes. "Ahem, Miss Granger, Loren Morgan has something to discuss with you. If you're willing, blink your eyes."

A fierce fury surged in Hermione's eyes, making her meaning perfectly clear: Undo the spell now, or you're dead!

Loren pretended to wait for a response. "All right, Miss Granger agrees to talk with me. We have reached a contract: if you never bring up the twenty-two-to-zero thing again, I'll remove the spell for you."

After letting Hermione think for a moment, Loren continued, "If you agree, blink your eyes."

This time, Loren did not pause. He quickly went on, "Then we have a deal."

Loren had talked himself into making the deal.

So what was the price?

Being beaten all the way back to the dining hall by Hermione.

In the basement, Loren arrived for his weekly Friday appointment with Snape. He had already prepared himself for intimate contact with their respective toads, venomous snakes, and lizards.

When he entered the office, Snape was still grading assignments.

Hearing Loren come in, Snape did not even look up. "Answer me: what is the function of Bifurcated Grass in Polyjuice Potion?"

This was from the reading list Snape had assigned. Loren answered, "It creates a connection with another person."

"What magical creature corresponds to the habits of the Two-horned Beast?"

"Thin Cow."...

The next few questions all covered material from the first few books on the reading list, and Loren remembered them fairly clearly.

Loren answered every question correctly, and Snape's tone became less aggressive.

"Loren Morgan, you're a calculating child. I merely gave you a reading list, and you treated it as an opportunity to get close to me." Snape leaned back in his chair, as though he were discussing something entirely insignificant.

Loren did not argue. At times like this, silence was always the best answer.

"You are well suited for Slytherin. It can fully develop your potential."

"I come from a Muggle family, sir." Loren remained neither servile nor overbearing. "And Gryffindor is not a bad place either."

Snape did not continue the topic. "Your information is well-connected. The Wolfsbane Potion was developed only recently. Likewise, it is extremely expensive."

After a pause, Snape rose and led Loren to the storage room. "I want you to study some Potions with me. For quite some time, the potions you brew will be used to pay off your debt."

Loren felt that he was actually getting the better end of this deal. Personal guidance from a Potions Master was worth far more than Wolfsbane Potion.

"I understand, Professor." Loren agreed readily.

"Brewing Wolfsbane Potion will take some time. Before then, I will write to my friend Damocles Belby. He has finished potions on hand. Those expenses will also be charged to you."

"I understand, Professor."

Snape dragged over two more trunks, and Loren's legs went a little weak.

This time, however, the trunks were filled with flowers. Snape took out a pair of tweezers with an exceptionally fine tip. "Tonight, you need to separate the stamens from these Flowing Liquid Flowers."

Loren looked at the tiny flowers clustered in the trunks like baby's breath. There appeared to be more than a dozen clusters, each with nearly a hundred flowers.

He had to pick out the stamens one by one with tweezers?

His eyes were going to go blind!

"Professor, isn't there a specific spell for this?" Loren tried to struggle a little.

Snape did not address the matter of magic. He merely said flatly, "Flowing Liquid Flowers are sensitive and fragile. The slightest unsuitable fluctuation of magical power will cause them to lose their medicinal properties."

Loren sighed, sat down, and began picking out the stamens. "This is worse than extracting venom from Green-striped Vipers."

Snape did not look at him again and paced away. "Don't worry. You'll have plenty of opportunities to handle Green-striped Vipers in the future."

Loren: I really want to slap myself twice!