Potions Class

"Uncle, what are you thinking?"

Inside the carriage, Lai Ke looked at his uncle with a puzzled expression.

Wasn't what he had said at the end essentially a plan to put the entire family back on the gambling table?

For the Lans Family, it was like having just crawled out of a swamp, only to turn around and dive right back in. It was practically suicide.

Worm fell silent for a moment, a nostalgic look appearing on his face.

"Lai Ke, do you know what I regret most in my life?"

The question left Lai Ke at a loss. After thinking carefully, he realized that although they had lived together for many years, his understanding of this uncle of his was still only superficial.

It felt as though his uncle had handed him power and made him the heir to the family not because he wanted to nurture the next generation, but simply because he had become utterly disheartened.

Otherwise, Lai Ke and Katharine's marriage would probably have died before it even began. Even if it had been permitted, Katharine would not have been nearly as relaxed and carefree as she was now.

"I don't know, Uncle."

Lai Ke could only shake his head and answer.

"My greatest regret was that I never became one of the Followers." Worm's eyes grew distant as he spoke. "Lord Grindelwald invited me back then, but because the family stopped me, I never became one of the Followers. I distanced myself from the plan for the Greater Good."

Seeing the regret on Worm's face, Lai Ke felt as though he were looking at a madman.

"You wouldn't understand, Lai Ke." Worm noticed Lai Ke's expression, but did not care. "The Dark Lord you experienced was The Dark Lord. He was powerful, terrifying, and insane."

"But he was base, shortsighted, and selfish."

"To be called a 'Dark Lord' alongside him was the greatest insult to Lord Grindelwald."

The fanatical worship in Worm's voice was already enough to make Lai Ke lose interest in listening. Right now, it felt as though Worm were preaching to him.

"Do you think Luke Gaunt has the same prospects as Grindelwald? Then... that doesn't sound very promising either."

Lai Ke's voice grew softer toward the end.

He did not know whether his uncle would turn against him for exposing the shortcomings of his idol after he had spoken the truth.

Worm was not as mad as Lai Ke had imagined. On the contrary, the moment he spoke of Grindelwald's ending, the previously fervent Worm became calm almost instantly.

"Lord Grindelwald failed. But among those supporters behind him, how many withdrew in time and still gained benefits?"

"I saw Lord Grindelwald's shadow in Luke Gaunt. But that does not mean we should side with him because of him personally."

"We should side with him for the benefits he can bring us."

Worm shook his head and sighed softly. "Perhaps I really should give you a proper lesson. Your performance today was truly far, far inferior to Luke Gaunt's."

Lai Ke did not know how great the gap between himself and Luke was. He only felt that when it came to shamelessness, vigilance, and the bottom lines one could abandon for profit, he was still far, far behind Worm.

The person he ought to measure himself against definitely was not Luke Gaunt, but his own uncle, Worm Lans.

Luke did not know what Worm Lans intended by siding with him. Even if the Lans Family joined his camp now, it would hardly count as help in a time of need.

After all, the Lans Family was not particularly powerful. In the social circles of the Nobles, they could not compare to the Malfoy Family. In terms of family strength—the number of Wizards they could field—they could not compare to the Weasley Family. As for their prestige in the entire wizarding world, their whole family stacked together could not compare to Harry alone.

One had to know that during Tom Riddle's reign, even if you wanted to become a die-hard Death Eater, they would check your family tree to see whether you were worthy.

Clearly, a family like the Lans Family was not.

Now, however, since they were willing to stake their future and fate on following Luke, they still had some value in being accepted. Honestly, if this had happened after Voldemort had muddied the waters and Luke had risen to power amid the chaos, Luke would not even have spared them a second glance.

The Twenty-Eight Families were about to divide the cake, and you still wanted to come join the fun?

Feeling uneasy, Luke reviewed tomorrow's material one last time before going to bed that night.

"Asphodel and powdered moon dew flowers can serve as the main ingredients of Hell Broth. In this formula, they provide a neutralizing effect. When heated in wormwood infusion and supplemented with magic, they will undergo..."

Just looking at it made Luke's scalp tingle. Honestly, memorizing this much was nothing to him, considering he had studied the humanities in his previous life.

But it was like when he had studied chemistry in his previous life: he could memorize equations flawlessly, yet when it came time to balance them himself or analyze chemical reactions, his vision would go black.

Even chemistry experiments could become dangerous due to improper procedures, let alone Potion brewing. In a chemistry experiment, the most you could do was make an operational mistake. But when brewing a Potion, if the force or angle of your wand movement—or any other factor—was even slightly wrong, everything would be ruined.

Explosions and incorrect Potion effects were the most common problems. There had even been cases where a Potion turned directly into Poison and killed its brewer.

Unfortunately, Luke was certain that his talent was no fake. He had no problem memorizing things, but found them difficult to understand. He knew every step by heart, yet whenever it came to details beyond the written descriptions of those steps, he always managed to mess something up.

"Potions can be bought..."

Luke closed the book and quietly told himself. Anyway, he had plenty of money. As long as the payment was sufficient, even Snape probably would not refuse to brew Potions for him.

Of course, if their relationship became truly terrible, it would be better not to drink anything Snape brewed. It was like offending a chef and then going to eat at his restaurant.

You would not even know how many people had added "extra ingredients" to your food.

With that thought, Luke understood what he needed to do.

He could not pretend to understand in front of Snape. He needed to prepare two sets of Potion notes as a show of sincerity. He had to study as hard as possible and show Snape through his actions that it was not that he did not want to learn, but that his talent truly was not up to par.

Of course, if the system eventually gave him two talent points, he would definitely put on a performance for Snape: "Thirty years in the east of the river, thirty years in the west—never look down on the poor!"

Then he fell asleep sprawled over his copy of A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

Book, curled up in his little nest, looked at Luke's state and tilted his head in confusion.

And when Luke woke up, Potions Class arrived right on schedule.