Potions Master

October 23, Wednesday.

It was the day first-year students used Telescopes to observe the Starry Sky, learning the names of different stars and the orbital paths of planets. It was said that many forms of magic were connected to celestial phenomena.

Loren noticed that the Full Moon had just passed, leaving a small, inconspicuous flaw.

Last night had been the night of the full moon. Grandpa Bates should have tried the Wolfsbane Potion by now. Loren wondered how effective it had been.

Mars shone especially brightly. Thinking of Grandpa Bates, Loren planned to write him a letter. Grandpa Bates could not contact Loren first; he always had to wait until Loren wrote before replying.

Hermione noticed the moon as well. She moved closer to Loren and gently patted his arm without saying anything.

A warmth surged through Loren. He looked up and smiled at Hermione. "I had Hānhan deliver the Wolfsbane Potion. Grandpa Bates probably did not suffer too badly last night."

Loren had told them about the Wolfsbane Potion at the Clock Tower last time.

Although Loren seemed fine, Hermione still stayed by his side and did not mention Werewolves. She only talked about how beautiful the moon was after the full moon, about the light of Mars...

On their way back to the common room, the group ran into Professor Quirrell.

The smell of fermented garlic had grown stronger with time. Quirrell was at one end of the corridor, while Loren and the others were at the other, yet they could still smell it.

The students slowed down, intending to wait for Professor Quirrell to leave the floor before passing through the corridor.

George and Fred sneaked along behind Professor Quirrell, eager to do something to his turban. But they followed him all the way until Quirrell went upstairs, and the Twins never found an opportunity.

Loren and the others had seen scenes like this many times. Everyone was looking forward to the Twins making Quirrell suffer some embarrassment.

No one sat in the front rows of Defense Against the Dark Arts anymore.

Last time, Hufflepuff's Hannah Abbott had been unlucky enough to arrive late and sit in the first row. After class, she had been unable to walk and had been carried to the Hospital Wing, pale-faced.

Although Madam Pomfrey said that Hannah had eaten something bad the day before, everyone believed Professor Quirrell had been the main reason.

Seamus strongly agreed. "If I had not been so strong, I would have ended up in the Hospital Wing last time."

Ron analyzed the situation and concluded that as Professor Quirrell's smell grew more powerful, even the second row would become uninhabitable.

"Just wait. One day, Quirrell will send every student to the Hospital Wing," Ron said.

From then on, everyone went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom an hour early. The unlucky ones who failed to get a seat either squeezed into the back rows or simply pretended to be ill and went to the Hospital Wing.

Percy hesitated over whether to report the matter to Professor McGonagall. He believed students should not speak ill of professors, and ultimately chose to do nothing. The Twins said that sooner or later, they would get Percy into the first row so he could get properly acquainted with Quirrell.

And so the matter dragged on.

The Twins watched Quirrell escape beyond the range of their ambush and were deeply disappointed. They spoke one after the other:

"Private Fred, we have once again let this grave threat escape!"

"Yes, Commander George!"

Then they said in unison, "I have another brilliant idea!"

Loren and the others watched the Twins become energized again before laughing and joking their way off.

Hermione noticed a few details. "Have you noticed that Professor Quirrell looks even paler?"

Ron grinned, his eyebrows practically flying upward. "A Vampire must have found him and sucked a lot of his blood!"

Harry added with a laugh, "So he fermented even more garlic in his turban to drive the Vampire away."

"Hahahahaha!" The students around them were all amused by the joke.

Seamus raised an objection. "But Vampires in the wizarding world are not afraid of garlic."

Ron quickly came up with another possibility. "He plans to marinate himself so thoroughly that the Vampire will be too disgusted to drink his blood!"

Everyone burst out laughing again, and even Hermione was distracted.

As Loren laughed, he recalled the plot. Voldemort and Quirrell were almost unable to hold on now. By his reckoning, were they about to head into the Forbidden Forest to hunt for blood?

Loren planned to warn Hagrid.

During Friday lunch, Loren received Grandpa Bates's reply.

The letter said that although he still felt weak for a period after transforming, he truly could control his body. Even without going to the Cave or locking himself up, he could avoid hurting others.

Grandpa Bates planned to begin traveling, returning to his hometown for a look before possibly visiting other old places from his memories.

At the end of the letter, he questioned Loren. He suspected that Loren had deliberately put something in the potion, because it had been bitter enough to make even a seventy- or eighty-year-old man unable to stand it. Combined with the warning that he absolutely must not add sugar, it looked even more like a prank.

"You had better pray I do not catch you. Otherwise, your grandpa will squeeze sheep's gall into your mouth."

Loren smiled at Grandpa Bates's childish words. It seemed that the Wolfsbane Potion had truly helped him relax considerably.

Loren strongly supported Grandpa Bates's plan to travel. The problem of being a Werewolf had trapped him in the mountains for decades. Now that he could finally break free, it was a good thing for him to go around and see the world.

That evening, unlike before, Loren went to Snape's office in high spirits.

"Come in."

Once again, Snape had noticed him without Loren knocking. Loren suspected that wizards who reached a certain level all possessed senses beyond the ordinary.

Snape was not grading assignments. He was replying to a letter.

Loren sat across from Snape. A graded essay already lay on the desk, the one-foot paper Loren had submitted last time. Although he had padded the word count somewhat, its main points had still been distilled from Snape's teaching rather than copied from a textbook.

The comments written on it were extremely detailed, and Loren benefited greatly as he read them word by word.

One wrote a letter while the other read an essay, and the office settled into a harmonious calm.

Loren had already accepted Snape. Setting aside the grudges of decades ago, setting aside Voldemort and the Death Eaters, Snape was a qualified Potions Master.

Once Snape placed the letter into its envelope, Loren put down the essay as well. He immediately expressed his gratitude to Professor Snape and told him about Bates's favorable condition.

Snape did not reply at once. He looked at Loren, his gaze as calm as ever, but without that watchful feeling of a cold-blooded animal.

"Potions. A great discipline. The fortunate may glimpse the methods of Glory, immortality, and restored youth. You happen to possess a tiny, insignificant bit of talent."

"Walk this path with reverence. It is all for your own sake."

Loren felt that Snape was once again saying something vaguely cryptic and embarrassingly dramatic, yet his tone made one unable to help but think about it.

Voldemort had chosen Horcruxes, while Nicol Flamel had used the Sorcerer's Stone. Could Potions truly possess a path leading to the ultimate mystery?

Before Loren could think further, Snape began that day's lesson.