Probing Potion Ingredients

Hogwarts' classes began without mercy on the second morning.

For the first-year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, the first lesson was History of Magic. In the classroom, Professor Binns, the ghost, recounted the Goblin Wars in his monotonous, lullaby-like voice. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, warm enough to make even the most alert drowsy. Lin Yanqing forced himself to stay awake and take notes. He could vaguely sense that on the other end of their soul bond, Snape seemed to be in a similar hypnotic state, but with a stronger sense of impatience—clearly, the future Potions prodigy had no interest in rote memorization of history.

"Host, you need to perk up! (○｀ 3′○)" System Cub sent an emoji of a little person pinching its own face into his mind. "Don't forget your mission! You only have three days!"

Lin Yanqing rubbed his temples. The mission... How should he do it? Walk directly to the Slytherin table and hand Snape a packet of ingredients in front of everyone? He could almost imagine how Snape would flay him with his eyes.

After lunch was Charms class, shared with Gryffindor. Professor Flitwick stood on a stack of books and called the roll. When he called "Lin Yanqing," he happily welcomed the oriental magical bloodline. Today's lesson was the Levitation Charm—"Wingardium Leviosa."

James Potter and Sirius Black had already been making feathers fly for a while over there, but hadn't managed stable control yet. Hermione Granger (Note: This should be a typo; Hermione wouldn't exist at this generation.) ... No, it was Lily Evans. Her feather could elegantly rise into the air and hover steadily for a few seconds, earning Professor Flitwick's praise.

Lin Yanqing collected his thoughts, flicked his wand, and clearly enunciated the incantation. Perhaps it was due to the soul enhancement from his transmigration, or perhaps the trace amounts of magical power shared through his contract with Snape had an effect, but he felt the flow of magic was exceptionally smooth. The feather in front of him floated up lightly, hovering stably in the air, even bobbing up and down with the slight movements of his wand.

"Very good! Five points to Ravenclaw!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed shrilly. "Perfect control, Mr. Lin!"

Some Ravenclaw students cast admiring glances his way, and even a few Gryffindors looked over. Lin Yanqing noticed Lily smile at him kindly, while James, over there, pouted, seemingly unconvinced.

Through the contract, he vaguely sensed an extremely faint fluctuation from afar, a hint of surprise from Snape's direction, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by a deeper silence. Snape must have been in some other class at the moment.

The opportunity didn't arise until the next afternoon. The timetable showed that first-year Ravenclaws and first-year Slytherins had Potions class together.

The Potions classroom was in the dungeons, much colder than the main castle building. Glass jars filled with various animal and plant specimens lined the walls, emitting a mixed, peculiar odor. Snape was already seated at a cauldron near the front, with no one beside him. Clearly, no one was willing to approach the gloomy newcomer.

Professor Slughorn, his belly protruding, began with his booming voice: "Potions is a precise and fascinating science... it can bring influence far beyond some flashy spells..." His gaze swept over the students, lingering for a moment especially on Lily (a half-blood, but exceptionally talented) and Lin Yanqing (a rare oriental bloodline). When he looked at Snape, it was with a hint of curiosity—this child had shown astonishing talent in Potions during the entrance test.

Today's lesson was a simple potion for treating boils. After Professor Slughorn explained the steps, the students began to get busy.

Lin Yanqing deliberately chose a workstation not far from Snape. He noticed Snape's movements were extremely fluid, his handling of dried nettles and crushed snake fangs precise and efficient, far surpassing the fumbling classmates around him, even more standard than Slughorn's demonstration. His large hands, which might seem clumsy in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, were exceptionally nimble when handling ingredients.

However, while boiling slugs with tentacles, Lin Yanqing saw Snape frown slightly and glance at the few remaining porcupine quills beside his cauldron—they looked a bit shriveled and of poor quality. This seemed to be a minor mistake on his part, or perhaps a problem with the ingredients themselves.

Now's the chance!

Lin Yanqing's heart sped up slightly. He took a deep breath. While Professor Slughorn turned to guide a Hufflepuff student who had managed to burn through the bottom of his cauldron, he quickly took out several plump, sharp-quality porcupine quills from his own ingredient bag, placed them on a piece of parchment, and gently set them down at the corner of Snape's workstation.

Snape's movements abruptly stopped. His icy gaze swept over instantly, filled with vigilance and questioning.

Lin Yanqing didn't dare meet his eyes. He immediately turned back, pretending to be focused on his own cauldron of potion, which was only barely considered successful, his palms sweating slightly. He quickly organized his thoughts in his mind, trying to make the upcoming conversation sound less deliberate.

"I... I brought some extra," he lowered his voice, ensuring only the two of them could hear, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible, as if sharing casually. "These... look a bit better in quality."

Snape didn't speak, just stared at the porcupine quills, then looked up at Lin Yanqing's cauldron of merely passable potion. The suspicion in his eyes was almost tangible. A person with mediocre Potions skills would "happen" to have brought better quality ingredients he needed?

"Mission Complete! Rewards distributed! ヽ(??▽?)ノ" The system's cheerful notification chimed. Lin Yanqing felt the weight of several ingredients and the touch of a few gold coins appear in the inner pocket of his robe.

Snape's brow furrowed even tighter. He had clearly detected Lin Yanqing's momentary relaxation again. He was silent for a few seconds. Just as Lin Yanqing thought he would sweep the ingredients into the trash, Snape, with an incredibly fast, almost imperceptible movement, gathered the quills and replaced his shriveled ones.

He offered no thanks, not even a glance. But in the subsequent operations, Lin Yanqing clearly felt through the contract that amidst the strong rejection and hostility, a barely perceptible crack had appeared—a pure satisfaction with the high-quality ingredients, and a hint of deeper confusion.

What did this Ravenclaw want? To curry favor? To spy? Or did he have other motives? This unfathomable feeling made Snape very uncomfortable, but at the moment, the superior ingredients were indeed leading his nearly completed potion towards perfection.

When Professor Slughorn ambled over and inspected Snape's cauldron, he let out an exclamation: "Perfect! Absolutely perfect! The color, consistency, and smell are impeccable! Ten points to Slytherin! Oh, Severus, my boy, you are simply a genius!" His chubby face was wreathed in smiles as he lavished praise on Snape.

Snape's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. It could perhaps be called a hint of extreme, faint pride, but it quickly vanished beneath his usual gloom. Several Slytherin students around them also cast looks of mixed surprise and scrutiny.

The dismissal bell rang. Snape quickly bottled his potion, handed it to Professor Slughorn, then packed his things without delay and, like a black bat, silently glided out of the classroom without looking at Lin Yanqing.

But Lin Yanqing was not discouraged. He sensed the emotion from the other end of the soul bond, still cold but with a little less sharp malice, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The first step, though difficult and fraught with misunderstanding, had finally been taken. The "bridge" he provided, though small and unacknowledged, had indeed been built.

However, he also knew clearly that this was only the beginning. Snape's suspicion was like the most resilient armor. To truly reach his core would require more patience, timing, and... perhaps also a deeper influence from the contract itself, which he hadn't yet realized.