The Most Delicious Potion

Chapter 41: The Most Delicious Potion

Charles hadn't expected to be cornered in Hogwarts, let alone by two men.

"Mr. Smith..."

"We need an explanation!"

Fred and George had Charles pinned against the wall, their faces contorted in anger.

Charles looked at them innocently and asked, "Mr. Weasley, what do you want me to explain?"

Fred said, "The Forbidden Forest, when did you go to the Forbidden Forest?"

George added, "The Centaurs know you, they say you're their friend!"

Upon hearing this, Charles used a pre-planned excuse: "I met the Great Elder of the Centaurs near the Forbidden Forest that day, and I followed him to their tribe. Halfway there, I rescued a Centaur friend, and later I helped them procure some supplies."

"Professor Dumbledore knows about this too," he added at the end.

The twin brothers were a bit dejected, missing out on such an exciting event.

So, they put their arms around Charles's shoulders, one on each side, and began to negotiate: "How about you take us next time?"

"The Forbidden Forest is dangerous, we can protect you."

Charles's mind raced, and he decided to pass the buck first: "Going into the Forbidden Forest privately is against school rules. If you can get Professor Dumbledore's approval, then I have no problem."

The two brothers exchanged a look and immediately went to the Headmaster's office. They appealed to Dumbledore's emotions and reason, explaining how dangerous it was for Charles to go to the Forbidden Forest alone and how they needed to protect him.

Dumbledore smiled and said to them, "Mr. Smith flew there on a broomstick from the sky, so it wasn't dangerous at all."

Fred and George looked at each other. There really wasn't much danger in the air.

But the two didn't give up. If there was a difficulty, they'd face it; if there wasn't, they'd create one. George thought of a new problem: "Professor Dumbledore, many of the Hogwarts broomsticks have various faults. It would be terrible if Mr. Smith fell off halfway."

Fred immediately followed up, "We are the Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If anything happens to him in the air, we can help."

Dumbledore maintained his smile: "Mr. Smith has the best broomstick in all of Hogwarts, French technology, no worse than a Nimbus 2000."

The twin brothers tried every excuse, but the Headmaster easily diffused them. Finally, they were defeated and left the office dejectedly.

Since they couldn't get anywhere with the Headmaster, they decided to focus on Charles again.

When they returned to the common room, they found Charles wasn't there.

At this moment, Charles was in Eleanor's private laboratory, working with her on several dark-looking potions.

Eleanor frowned and asked Charles, "Is this the Exploding Liquid Professor Snape brewed?"

Charles nodded and replied, "That's right. A bottle like this could blow up the entire common room, it's more powerful than Seamus'."

"Unprocessed Exploding Liquid will explode with violent shaking. After passivation, it needs to be ignited with fire or triggered by a spell to explode."

Eleanor thought for a moment, then turned to him and asked, "Give me two bottles. Do you want Galleons or Pounds?"

Charles replied, "I can give them to you."

Eleanor immediately looked up at him. Free things are sometimes the most expensive. She asked very seriously, "What do you want me to do? I wouldn't mind kissing you, but if you dare ask me to help with your homework, I'll beat you up."

After saying that, she even puffed out her cheeks and waved her fists a couple of times.

Charles pursed his lips and pointed at the Exploding Liquid potion, saying, "I need to figure out a way to launch these potions. Can you make those fireworks that can carry half an ounce of Exploding Liquid for 100 yards and then detonate?"

The Exploding Liquid was quite powerful, and he didn't want to mess up by having a range shorter than the kill radius. People in Hogwarts occasionally played with magical fireworks, so he had an idea.

"I don't know," Eleanor shrugged. "If you want to make fireworks, you can ask the other boys. They like to use them for pranks."

Charles thought that was true. It seemed he'd have to find the Weasley twins; they should know something.

Eleanor put two bottles of Exploding Liquid potion into a box and went back to her bedroom to get a basket of cookies for Charles. "I made these. See if they're good?"

Charles thought this was payment for the Exploding Liquid potion and took a bite. He could actually taste the flavor of his favorite dish.

"Delicious!" he asked, "What did you put in these cookies?"

After saying that, he picked up two more cookies and ate them.

Eleanor replied with a sly smile, "Amortentia."

Charles blinked. He knew what that was used for.

"Amortentia for whom?" Charles asked nervously. If it was for people, it would be fine, but if it made sheep go into heat, that would be a disaster.

Eleanor replied with a sly smile, "There's no specific target. Whoever you see first after eating it is who it works on."

Charles blinked and carefully observed the beautiful older sister in front of him, then shook his head and said, "Maybe your charm is too weak. Even Amortentia can't make me interested in you."

Eleanor suddenly burst out laughing. She took a few cookies and ate them herself. She pinched Charles's nose and said, "Little guy, you have wicked thoughts. Amortentia emits a scent that makes the person smelling it feel it's their favorite scent. So, based on Amortentia, I created a potion that makes people feel their favorite scent, but without the effect of causing strong infatuation. Pretty amazing, right?"

Charles was shocked. If this potion were widely promoted, Coca-Cola and Pepsi would be waiting to be acquired.

Eleanor said proudly, "Hmph, you're the first person I've invited to share with! You should feel extremely honored!"

Charles was stunned and asked her cautiously, "I'm the first one to eat it?"

"It's okay, it's okay," Eleanor said. "I ate some yesterday and locked myself in my bedroom all day. Nothing happened."

"Would you like some tea?"

Charles was relieved. As a foodie, he wouldn't pass up such a delicious potion, so he went to the study with Eleanor to make tea and chat slowly.

Mostly, Eleanor was bragging about the delicious potion she invented, envisioning herself becoming the richest person in the world after its launch, and deciding to give Charles a villa as a gift then.

Charles suddenly said, "There's a problem. If something is too delicious, you can't stop eating it, and you might get sick from overeating."

At this moment, the two of them had unknowingly eaten more than half of a basket of biscuits. If there was a problem, it was probably from overeating.

"It's okay," Eleanor said, "Worst case scenario, we just skip dinner tonight."

As the biscuits were almost gone, Eleanor suddenly said, "It seems... that if you eat too much of this potion, there will be problems due to the high residual dosage in the body..."

Charles replied, "It seems the effect of the Love Potion on emotions hasn't been completely removed, and there's still residue..."