Obsessed with Learning, Loving the Professor

Eliana got her wish and was confined, along with a grand prize of ten points deducted from Gryffindor.

It's fine, just ten points. Even if she only answered one question a day and earned one point, she'd get them back in two weeks.

Although Gryffindor lost points, it gained me!

Eliana was calm and collected, baring her small white teeth as she anticipated her main course—getting one-on-one tutoring from Professor Snape, no, being confined by Professor Snape.

Hehe.

Snape sneered at the girl radiating anticipation and coldly announced the confinement task: helping Hagrid grow pumpkins. He said since she was so good at transfiguration, making pumpkins grow must be easy for her.

Eliana's small white teeth retracted.

No hehe.

Wait, what does growing pumpkins have to do with transfiguration? That's related to fertilizer, isn't it?

Then Eliana saw Hagrid's giant, super-sized pumpkins.

Oh right, this is the wizarding world!

Eliana suddenly became passionate about growing pumpkins—what a practical spell! She wanted to grow ten pumpkins that size to take back; it would be enough for the entire orphanage to eat pumpkin for a month straight!

Although she couldn't use magic in front of Muggles and reveal the existence of the wizarding world, she could just cut the pumpkins into pieces before giving them to them, right?

Or she could just raid the kitchens and kick them out while she cooked.

If they were still suspicious, she'd just say she stole the ingredients from the school kitchens—oh, she could steal ingredients from the kitchens to take back too!

Eliana suddenly felt her mind had opened up considerably. She quickly jotted down her sudden inspiration and continued to fantasize:

Once they got tired of big pumpkins, she could switch to big potatoes, big sweet potatoes, big winter melons... and then switch back again.

She didn't dare to imagine how much money that would save!

Learning magic is really great.

Eliana's eyes lit up, and she rubbed her hands together.

"Oh, little Ellie, are you hungry?" Hagrid brought over a large platter of Rock Cakes and placed it enthusiastically in front of Eliana.

Although Eliana was here as punishment, this little witch was lively and clever. Not only was she diligent when working, but she also proactively asked how she could do better. Even when faced with the fermented, foul-smelling fertilizer, she didn't show any signs of disgust or shyness.

Most importantly, she wasn't afraid of him at all!

Hagrid liked this little witch so much that even though Eliana was sent here for punishment, she was now able to recline on Hagrid's cabin's lounge chair, her feet propped up and swinging the chair back and forth.

Hagrid, meanwhile, sat on a small stool opposite her, enthusiastically pouring her tea.

"Wow! Thank you, Hagrid!"

Eliana reached out with both hands to take the tea and poked the hard-looking cakes with great interest, taking a bite.

"Ouch!" She felt like she had bitten into a rock, and the impact made her head buzz.

"What's wrong, not tasty?"

Hagrid nervously rubbed his hands together.

Eliana forced a difficult smile, "No, I just accidentally chipped a tooth."

She looked down at the cake in her hand, which had only suffered superficial damage, and licked her small canine teeth defiantly: "I don't believe there's anything I can't eat!"

She suddenly opened her mouth wide!

Crack! Snap!

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

A corner of the granite-like cake disappeared, leaving two clear rows of teeth marks.

"A bit hard," Eliana grumbled, veins popping on her forehead. It took her a while to swallow. "But it tastes pretty good. Are there raisins in it? I quite like them—can I dip it in some sugar, Hagrid?"

"Of course," Hagrid noisily brought over several bottles and jars. "The brown bottle is honey, the black one is white sugar, the jar is butter, and there's another one with cream. You can dip it in whatever you like, little Ellie!"

Eliana divided the Rock Cake, missing a corner, into several sections, evenly spread a bit of each dipping sauce, and then ate it bite by bite in circles.

She gnawed with a crunching sound, veins popping on her forehead, but as she chewed, the cake didn't seem as difficult to eat anymore.

Eliana moved her slightly sore jaw. Hmph, she knew it, there was nothing she couldn't eat?

It must have been that her teeth weren't ready and were a bit loose just now, but now they were toughened up!

"Hagrid, how do you make your Rock Cakes? I want to make some for my family to try."

Eliana had never encountered a cake that suited her so well. Before, she had thought about bringing giant vegetables back to the orphanage, but due to the Statute of Secrecy, she had to cut them into unrecognizable pieces to take them out. However, cut vegetables couldn't be stored for long, which meant she couldn't use magic to cook the books anymore once she returned to Hogwarts.

But this granite cake looked like it could be stored for a long time!

And this thing was handmade, so making it a bit larger could be explained—she'd just say that one cake was for their whole year group to eat. Would Mrs. Brown and the others really come all the way to Hogwarts to verify it?

Hagrid was also meeting someone who appreciated his cooking for the first time. His curly beard was so excited it almost straightened out. He generously said, "I'll pack more for you, I have plenty! Eat!"

Eliana had to repeatedly state that she wouldn't be going back until Christmas before the enthusiastic Hagrid reluctantly put down the large burlap sack he had already unfurled.

Eliana felt her days becoming more and more fulfilling.

During the summer holiday, she could only spend her days aimlessly reciting books, occasionally pondering one or two spells from the experimental sections; at the beginning of the school year, she had the addition of reviewing the scattered few spells she had learned and doing homework—the tasks were still easy, and she had plenty of free time every day.

Later, she discovered the true use of the library—besides providing free paper and quills for assignments, it contained numerous books detailing various spells, their underlying principles, how to craft magical artifacts, and more. She had previously treated it merely as a resource hub for class assignments; what a waste!

Now, she woke up early every day to exercise and review all the spells she had mastered. She previewed and organized material before class, reviewed and tidied up after class, visited the library to read and write essays, borrowed a spellbook or two to study and practice by the Black Lake, sought out Hagrid to learn how to grow pumpkins, carved patterns into walnuts and pumpkins, practiced in the underground classroom with her own cauldron, and took her best creations to knock on Professor Snape's door for evaluation… It was incredibly fulfilling.

She savored the feeling of knowledge and skills slowly accumulating within her.

Well, the last part was a bit unpredictable. After opening the door, she might encounter sarcastic taunts and critiques, nitpicking criticism, or be told she was too idle and should deal with potion ingredients, among other varied outcomes.

However, her questions were generally resolved, even beyond Potions—for instance, regarding spellcasting and Transfiguration. Snape would sarcastically remark, "If you still remember that I am your Potions professor," but he would ultimately tell her the answer.

And the information was incredibly detailed and rich—far exceeding the little she found after flipping through the library for half a day.

Therefore, Eliana didn't feel criticized at all. She believed Snape was all bark and no bite.

It didn't matter if his words were harsh. For a teacher with a tough exterior but a kind heart, who was capable and offered guidance, she would indulge him—and after listening for a while, she even found Snape's insults rather artistic.

She had taken the wrong path before. Why not just knock on his door to ask questions? Why insist on being confined by Snape—which also meant doing chores for him.

Although she was occasionally roped into doing chores now, she considered it practice for handling potion ingredients. The ingredients were free, and sometimes she would secretly, ah, no, discreetly take some processed ones back as her hard-earned pay—don't let these things fool you, they look disgusting but are actually quite expensive.

A Gorgon's eye costs ten Galleons, a small jar of leech saliva costs seven Galleons, a small bottle of pufferfish eyes costs five Galleons… Each time she took a little, these were all money.

Snape made her work for free, so she paid herself with her own skills. The amount of her wages depended on how focused Snape was that day.

When Snape was in a good mood, he would occasionally share little tips for handling potions, like how to get more juice from Sleepease by squeezing it with the side of a silver paring knife.

Inspired by this, Eliana actively explored new methods for handling potion ingredients when she was put to work. When collecting black beetle eyes, the traditional method usually involved tweezers—but this often crushed the eyes. Eliana transformed a matchstick into a mini ear-digging spoon. And you know what? It worked quite well; she could scoop them out whole.

Of course, her attempts weren't always successful. Many times, she tried various methods and wasted some ingredients, only to realize that some ancient methods had their reasons for being passed down.

As for the wasted ingredients, she considered them sacrifices for the advancement of Potions—they weren't bought with her money anyway.

Eliana felt completely justified: she was just a little troll with her head full of Bubotuber pus—Snape's words—but since he dared to entrust potion ingredients to a little troll, she believed he was prepared for the possibility of them being wasted by a troll.

And to her surprise, while she was messing around, Snape, despite his taunts—especially after her failures, when he would transform into a master of sarcasm—didn't throw her out immediately when she started working, nor did he stop her from reaching for the next batch of ingredients.

So, wasn't this tacit approval and encouragement!

Eliana thought with great confidence.

Thus, even though Snape's words were sharp, his expression was harsh, and his face was unpleasant, Eliana grew to like the professor even more.