Professor Snape Can Finally Wash His Hair!

Lockhart had to run around everywhere to ask people about this.

It wasn't until the early morning of December 4, 1987, that Lockhart knocked on the castle gates.

After being let in by Luke, he walked straight to the dining hall, where Moriarty was enjoying breakfast.

"Young Master, I know why the Daily Prophet didn't report on the Mutual Aid Foundation."

Lockhart's voice was dry, and Moriarty noticed that his appearance was terrible.

He must not have slept well for several days because of this matter. Two large dark circles hung under his eyes, and the hem of his embroidered coat was covered in mud. It was clear that his recent travels had left him exhausted.

Moriarty poured Lockhart a glass of milk. "Here, Lockhart, drink this and tell me slowly. Put your heart at ease. With me here, no problem is a problem."

Lockhart gulped down the glass of milk, his face regaining its color. He took out a letter.

"Young Master, look. Old Filius wrote to me early this morning saying that the Mutual Aid Foundation has been boycotted!" Lockhart said through gritted teeth. "It's Lucius Malfoy! He's united with several pure-blood families to boycott your Mutual Aid Foundation! That cunning and treacherous Death Eater! If you ask me, he should be locked up in Azkaban. He's utterly wicked!"

"Haha, don't say that," Moriarty said, amused by Lockhart's demeanor.

The pure-blood families hadn't put any pressure on him. He hadn't even looked at Old Filius's letter. In fact, as soon as he heard Lucius Malfoy's name, he understood everything.

"It's important to figure out who is targeting us behind the scenes. You've done well, Lockhart!" Moriarty praised, and then his gaze sharpened. "I've already prepared for the worst-case scenario in my mind—if goblins are behind this, I might find a way to cripple Gringotts first."

Lockhart blinked, lost in thought. "So, perhaps this move by the pure-blood families isn't a bad thing for you, Young Master. Can we cooperate with the pure-blood families?"

"The way you think makes me happy."

Moriarty poured Lockhart another glass of milk and even clinked glasses with him.

After drinking the milk, Moriarty cleared his throat. "Regarding pure-bloods, you need to remember that most of them are immersed in past glories.

Do you remember the revival era I mentioned? When the times abandon them, they won't even say goodbye.

Unless the pure-blood families change, my relationship with them will only be one of cooperation."

"I understand, Young Master," Lockhart said with a serious expression. "So, what should we do this time?"

"Even if it's cooperation, I won't be at a disadvantage," Moriarty said slowly. "My original intention in having you establish the Mutual Aid Foundation was to dig a pit for the goblins. Since the pure-blood families have emerged, let them pay for Merlin's underwear!"

Moriarty said this and left the dining hall. He took Salazar's diary from Salazar's bedroom and pointed to a note on one of the pages, saying to Lockhart, "See? You go to Diagon Alley yourself and buy these potion ingredients."

"Wow," Lockhart said in surprise. "Are you going to brew potions?"

"That's right. I'm going to brew the first of the 17 potions left by my ancestor Salazar, and it's a potion that has never existed in the wizarding world: the Neutralizing Potion!"

Moriarty had already memorized Salazar's diary and began to introduce it skillfully.

"This potion is like a counterweight, it can balance a tilted scale. It is used for unbalanced potions, it can reduce the dangerous ingredients in the potion and enhance the potion's properties.

My ancestor Salazar said it could even neutralize the bad luck brought by drinking too much Felix Felicis. However, it's not easy to prepare it. Besides what can be bought on the market, many raw materials have become extinct. But I think I should have the materials I need in the first vault."

After Moriarty finished speaking, he saw Lockhart, who had been listening dumbfounded. "What are you still standing there for?"

Lockhart jolted, shook his head, and stumbled away.

"He's really strange today," Moriarty exclaimed, tutting. "Don't you think so, Luke!"

The house-elf made a show of offering an evaluation, but he didn't stay happy for long, being sent by Moriarty to tidy up the cauldrons.

"Ingo!" Moriarty instructed the slow-walking goblin. "Go to Knockturn Alley and buy vampire eyeballs, werewolf fingernails, dew from the first bloom of a treant, teeth from a color-changing corpse-eater..."

Many ingredients were only sold in Knockturn Alley. Moriarty didn't dare let Lockhart buy them. The goblin Ingo was the most suitable candidate.

After dispatching his three assistants one after another, Moriarty walked towards the underground vault. Following the records in Salazar's diary, he found the most important materials.

Luke carried the cauldrons, scales, small vials, stoves, and other instruments into the room where Salazar had brewed potions nine hundred years ago.

There were more than ten cauldrons of various sizes and materials. Luke numbered them and placed them one by one on the long table.

Overcome with emotion, Luke shed tears. "Young Master is truly too much like the old master..."

Moriarty repeatedly recited each step to avoid mistakes. This was his first time brewing a potion.

According to his academic year plan, he was supposed to attempt to brew the Neutralizing Potion and two other potions after enrolling at Hogwarts. The targeting by the pure-blood families had pushed this plan forward by nine months!

An hour later, Lockhart returned first. As soon as he entered, he eagerly looked for Moriarty.

"Young Master? Young Master? Please allow me one minute to tell you an idea, my idea!"

Lockhart ran into the potion room, out of breath, and said, "When I was still studying at Hogwarts, I thought about creating a shampoo.

And I actually did it—I successfully created a new shampoo using Cockatrice eggs as the main ingredient. I called it Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo!

It can effectively lock in hair shine. I tried it, and it really works.

But the only drawback is that it's a bit dangerous... For example, hair might suddenly grow longer, then you'd go bald, and then it would grow even longer!

Of course, this only happens occasionally. I think it has something to do with the Cockatrice's ability to stretch at will..."

Lockhart said a lot, and the room was extremely quiet. He looked at Moriarty expectantly. "So? I thought about it on the way. I think adding the Neutralizing Potion to the Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo might neutralize the dangers brought by the Cockatrice! Young Master? Do you think my idea is correct?"

Moriarty looked at Lockhart as if he were meeting him for the first time. He finally understood why Lockhart had been acting so strangely before.

He remembered Gilderoy Lockhart saying in his class that his greatest ambition was to eliminate evil in the world and sell his series of hair care products.

A crisp "ding dong" sounded in his mind, and Moriarty received a system prompt.

"Quest Issued: Brew a safe Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo and give it to Professor Snape! Quest Deadline: One year. Reward: One Achievement Draw! Failure Penalty: Host will have the same hairstyle as Professor Snape."

Does it have the same hairstyle as Professor Snape?

Isn't that the lustrous, elegant, and beautiful hair (greasy hair) that's messy yet refined!

Moriarty fell into thought. This mission, on the surface, was one task, but in reality, it was two.

The first was to refine a new shampoo.

Even if the system hadn't assigned a task, Moriarty would have refined this shampoo. He wanted Lockhart to break the Potter family's monopoly on shampoo with the new product and then compete with the pure-blood families for market share.

The second was to deliver the new shampoo to Professor Snape???

This task left Moriarty speechless. Given Snape's personality, he'd probably only accept shampoo from Lily, and even Voldemort couldn't make him wash his hair!

It seemed this task would have to wait until school started. Moriarty sighed and turned his attention back to Lockhart.

At that moment, Lockhart looked like a student who had just finished an exam, anxiously awaiting the teacher's grading.

"You never disappoint when it comes to fashion!" Moriarty praised Lockhart profusely. "No one else could have come up with such a genius idea! The Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo with the Neutralizing Potion will surely shock the entire wizarding world."

"Oh, Young Master~ Thank you!" Lockhart shed tears silently. He was invisible at Hogwarts, but he yearned for fame and recognition, yet no one had ever offered him a word of praise.

The thought of those who had once looked down on him using the shampoo he created made Lockhart happier than winning his fourth Most Charming Smile award. For some reason, the first person Lockhart thought of was Severus Snape.

"I must write to Professor Snape and recommend my shampoo to him! Haha, it's simply brilliant."

Lockhart was a man of action and was about to write the letter, but Moriarty stopped him. "Be realistic, we haven't even started refining it yet! Come and refine the potion with me. You need to refine many batches of Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo to ensure I can freely experiment with the ratio of the Neutralizing Potion."

If Lockhart were allowed to write to Snape, Moriarty's task would likely never be completed, and he'd be erased by the system that very day!

Therefore, Moriarty's tone was very stern. Lockhart quickly put away his smug expression and began frantically refining the shampoo.

Luke, witnessing this scene, bent over with laughter. However, Moriarty soon sent him to organize the mountain of materials that had piled up.

"That's more like it." Moriarty surveyed the potion room for a few moments. The atmosphere for potion-making was now present, and he gradually got into the zone.

The process of refining the Neutralizing Potion was not dangerous. Salazar's original intention in developing it was precisely to eliminate the dangers of most potions. As dozens of ingredients with lethal toxicity were added to the first golden cauldron, it began to bubble with a "glug glug" sound.

Moriarty slowly simmered the second golden cauldron over low heat. After roasting for thirty minutes, he needed to pour the contents of the first cauldron into the second to extract the essence from the dangerous ingredients.

This was not an easy task. Perhaps, just as there is no true fairness in the world, Salazar's formula eliminated the potential disasters from dangerous ingredients but could not eliminate their unpleasant odors.

The fangs of the color-changing ghoul emitted a hot, pungent stench, nearly making the master and his servant in the potion room vomit their breakfast.

"Luke, control the fire's temperature at 44.43 degrees!" Moriarty said, covering his nose and mouth to the house-elf. "Not even one degree more! The dew from the pixies will react with the black dragon's saliva."

At this moment, Moriarty regretted not learning Fire Elemental Magic. Potions and the magical fire used in refining them were closely related, like twin brothers.

Having Fire Elemental Magic would undoubtedly make his control over low and high heat more precise, rather than relying on Luke's assistance like he was now.

This made Moriarty determined to study more Potions, and his trials were not limited to this.

Salazar's remaining formula was very complex. Moriarty had to memorize the exact time each ingredient was added to the first cauldron, then pour them into the second cauldron according to the order on the formula to extract the white essence.

"Lockhart, bring the scale over. I need to ensure the weight of the essence does not exceed 610 grams!"

Order, temperature, weight – Moriarty overcame one difficulty after another, finally reaching the last step.

Time.

Moriarty poured the essence into an ordinary cauldron and began stirring. This stirring had to continue for fourteen hours and seventeen minutes!

Lockhart watched Moriarty with admiration. Although there was an automatic stirring cauldron, Moriarty insisted on stirring it with his own hands!

"The speed and force of the automatic stirring cauldron are different from how our ancestor Salazar stirred. I cannot neglect any detail just because it's difficult.

Lockhart, you must remember that the shampoo is what we will sell. We must ensure every step is identical to Ancestor Salazar's."

Moriarty said this, and Lockhart was greatly encouraged. He decided not to rest and to use the time to refine more batches of Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo.

Luke shed tears of excitement and relief again. He closed the door and quietly retreated, knowing he could finally get some rest. At least he didn't have to prepare lunch or dinner.

Fourteen hours and seventeen minutes later, Moriarty finally finished stirring. The Neutralizing Potion was complete!

Moriarty let out a sigh of relief, put down the spoon, and slumped into a chair, his arms hanging limply.

He was exhausted. Even fighting four Dark Wizards hadn't tired him out this much.

Lockhart had already collapsed onto the carpet. He had refined over ten batches of Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo and had been waiting for Moriarty.

He mumbled weakly, "Young Master, I'd rather fight four Dark Wizards again, or go through an avalanche again, than refine potions!

My Potions class grades weren't very good when I was at school, and I had quite a few complaints about that old bat, Professor Snape.

Now I think about it, I truly admire him. Those potion masters – I don't know how they managed to persevere. They... are truly outstanding!"

Lockhart covered his forehead and eyes with his hand. He had great fame, but not the corresponding strength.

"Come on, get up, Lockhart. We still have one final step to complete! After today, your Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo can be launched!"

Moriarty laboriously stood up from the chair. He looked out the window; it was already around one o'clock in the morning. Regarding Lockhart's sentiments, he knew that any words of comfort would have little effect on this poor person.

Moriarty could only continue to explore the skies of magic, leading Lockhart to experience the charm of magic, changing him and shaping him.

The rest of the process was much simpler. The Neutralizing Potion perfectly eliminated the Cockatrice's ability to stretch and shrink at will, and the Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo no longer had the potential for mutation or danger.

Lockhart seemed to have regained full strength. He grabbed the freshly made shampoo and rushed into the washroom, happily washing his hair with his own creation.

1. The inventor of Cockatrice Yolk Shampoo is Gilderoy Lockhart. Its effect is to ensure hair "locks in shine," and its known ingredient is the yolk of a Cockatrice egg. However, this shampoo is expensive and dangerous to use, so it has never been produced for the mass market.

2. A Cockatrice is a two-legged, winged creature native to Asia. It is a bird-headed, serpent-bodied, carnivorous creature, a Class 4x magical creature. Cockatrices can stretch and shrink at will, allowing them to be large enough to fill any space or shrink to fit available space.

3. The above knowledge points are from Fandom, Harry Potter Wiki.