Potions Class

Matthew woke up earliest in the morning, while Jerry and Geralt were still fast asleep.

He first woke Jerry and Geralt, then changed clothes and headed to the washroom to freshen up.

After washing up and returning to the dormitory, he saw Jerry and Geralt had climbed back into bed.

He pulled out an alarm clock bought from a Muggle, checked the time—7:50. Breakfast at Hogwarts was from 8:00 to 9:00, and the first class of the morning started at 9:00.

He set the alarm for 8:30, put the clock down, and left the dormitory.

As he passed through the Slytherin Common Room, someone greeted him, "Good morning, Senior Matthew."

The greeter was a second-year Slytherin student, Griffin Everett.

Griffin was a Half-blood Wizard. The proportion of half-bloods in his year was rather small, so they were often bullied by the Pure-blood Supremacist Followers in Slytherin.

Last semester, Matthew had come across several incidents where half-bloods were being bullied by Pure-blood Supremacists. Being a half-blood himself, he hadn't chosen to look the other way or stand idly by. Griffin was one of the students he had helped.

Matthew said gently, "Good morning, Griffin."

Griffin lowered his voice and said to Matthew, "Senior Matthew, I heard that over the summer holiday, Will Crabbe told a lot of upperclassmen that you're the 'New King of Slytherin.'"

"Oh?" Matthew's interest was piqued.

He had first learned of that title from the Weasley Brothers on the Hogwarts Express, and it turned out Will Crabbe was the one who arranged it.

This Will Crabbe was one of the people who bullied Griffin. Once, while picking on Griffin, he had made a sweeping remark against half-bloods, which Matthew overheard while passing by. Matthew had taught him a harsh lesson.

"He probably wants the upperclassmen to come after you, Senior Matthew," Griffin paused, then said, "Be careful, Senior."

Matthew lightly patted Griffin on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Thanks for the info. I'll be careful."

Matthew didn't pay much mind to Will's little schemes. After everything he had been through, these campus grievances were just seasoning in his school life.

Matthew smiled and asked him, "Want to grab breakfast together?"

Griffin declined with an apologetic look, "I promised my girlfriend last night that we'd eat breakfast together today."

He had deliberately waited in the Slytherin Common Room for Matthew. After their chat, he still had to go to the Ravenclaw Common Room to find his girlfriend.

Matthew's smile froze for a moment. "Alright."

Matthew headed to the Great Hall alone.

"Kids these days really mature early. Already dating in second year, not focusing on studies—no wonder you can't beat Will Crabbe!" Matthew sighed inwardly.

When he reached the Great Hall, quite a few students were already there.

Matthew observed the state of each house table. Many first-years hadn't arrived yet, but the Hufflepuff students were the earliest.

Among the Gryffindor first-years, only Hermione had come this early, eating breakfast alone.

"Good morning, Matthew."

At the entrance to the Great Hall, Matthew ran into Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff classmate who had been the year's second-place student last term.

"Good morning, Cedric. Didn't come with your roommate?"

Their year's Charms Class was held jointly between Slytherin House and Hufflepuff House, and Cedric had asked Matthew for charm tips, so they were fairly well-acquainted.

Cedric said, "They couldn't get up. I'm bringing them breakfast."

Matthew felt envious. "Can I swap dorms with your roommate?"

Cedric chuckled. "Then Professor Sprout would be overjoyed. This year's House Cup should go to Hufflepuff."

Ever since Matthew started studying Potions under Professor Snape, he had been called on to answer questions every Potions class.

Matthew suspected Professor Snape was deliberately creating opportunities to award points.

Matthew said goodbye to him and went to his own house table for breakfast.

After finishing breakfast, with time still to spare, Matthew headed to the library.

The library was on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle, filled with thousands of bookshelves housing a millennium's worth of accumulated texts.

Madam Pince, the librarian, was already on duty. She was a thin, aged woman who looked like a malnourished vulture.

She glanced at Matthew, and seeing he wasn't a first-year, said nothing.

Matthew smiled and greeted her, "Good morning, Madam Pince."

Madam Pince only nodded expressionlessly. She disliked unnecessary chatter in the library.

Arriving at the section housing manuscripts from former masters, the bookshelves here were arranged by era. Matthew searched through all of them but found no manuscript by Salazar Slytherin.

Matthew approached Madam Pince and asked, "Madam Pince, may I ask if the library keeps any manuscripts by Salazar Slytherin?"

Madam Pince stared at him for a moment and said sternly, "The materials left by the four founders are all stored in the Forbidden Section. You'll need a professor's signature to access them."

"Thank you."

He couldn't go to the Forbidden Section now. He planned to ask Professor Snape for a signature after Potions Class.

With time still left, he grabbed an interesting book from the library to pass the time.

Potions Classroom.

"Matthew, you answer." Professor Snape said unhurriedly, "How do you extract the liquid from a Salamander Horn?"

Matthew answered quickly: "Soak the Salamander Horn in Mugwort Infusion for ten minutes, then remove it. Combine with Feldspar Powder, crushed Scarab Beetle, and Armadillo Bile in a cauldron. Simmer on low heat for fifteen minutes, then strain out the residue."

Snape nodded expressionlessly. "Correct. Slytherin earns two points."

Similar scenes had played out three times already in this Potions Class.

Today's Professor Snape seemed somewhat unusual. In a normal lesson, he would only call on Matthew to answer questions once or twice.

Snape returned to the podium and said slowly, "Next is practical work. I hope you haven't wasted your Summer Holiday."

He swept his deep, hollow gaze across the students below the podium. Many of them guiltily lowered their heads, afraid to meet his eyes.

He continued, "This Time, practical work will be in groups of three. Matthew, go distribute the Potion Ingredients."

Hearing Professor Snape's command, the Slytherin and Gryffindor students stirred into motion, finding their own teammates.

Matthew took Salamander Horns, Feldspar, Scarab Beetles, and other Potion Ingredients from the cabinet in the corner of the classroom, distributing the materials to each group.

Matthew grouped up with his two dormmates. Geralt was responsible for crushing the Scarab Beetles, and Jerry for grinding the Feldspar into powder. They both looked relaxed now, because their teammate was Matthew.

It was different at the Gryffindor table next to them. Snape frequently patrolled over there.

When Snape patrolled to George and Fred's table, he stopped.

Snape stared at Fred expressionlessly and said slowly, "Perhaps you should clear the bezoar out of your brain. Fred Weasley! I recall mentioning that Feldspar Powder and Scarab Beetles should be handled separately!"