At Professor Snape's command, the students immediately got to work.
"I'll go," Scott said, volunteering.
"Thanks." Milton smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for the trouble, Scott."
Scott understood. Unless absolutely necessary, Milton didn't want to go near Snape.
Scott walked over to the cabinet at the side of the classroom and began gathering the Potions ingredients they needed.
The other students were also well organized. No one panicked because they didn't know which ingredients to get.
After all, they were already in their fourth year. They weren't going to give Snape an excuse to take points off for something like that.
Once everyone had returned to their seats with their ingredients, Snape took out his wand and waved it. Instructions appeared on the blackboard behind him.
"Good," he said. "Now, follow the steps on the board and get started!"
Scott and Milton hurriedly looked up at the board and used their quills to mark the differences between the instructions and their textbook.
A true Potions Master would always find ways to improve the brewing process. After countless lessons, the fourth-years had learned to follow Snape's instructions on the board.
Scott reviewed the process for making the antidote again, discussed it briefly with Milton, and then they divided up the work of preparing the ingredients.
Snape started moving around the classroom too. He silently paced back and forth, occasionally stopping to scrutinize the students' work with an intimidating stare.
Whenever Snape passed by Scott and Milton, Milton would shrink back, barely daring to breathe. Scott had to divide his attention between brewing and making sure Milton didn't panic and make a mistake.
Fortunately, this wasn't Milton's first time in this situation, and he'd learned how to cope.
He still couldn't tune out Snape, but whenever he felt his thoughts growing muddled, he simply stopped working. That slowed them down, but it kept him from making careless mistakes.
During the lesson, Snape passed by Milton several times. Once, he even deliberately leaned in close to watch what Milton was doing.
Scott quickly took over before Milton's hands could start shaking.
Snape seemed disappointed. Scott heard him give a loud snort before turning and walking away.
But Milton wasn't the only one who escaped unscathed that lesson. Several Hufflepuff students made mistakes while brewing, allowing Snape to take five points from Hufflepuff as he'd hoped.
In particular, Mill, Roger's ex-girlfriend, seemed to have all her attention on Roger and his new Potions partner. At any rate, she kept making mistakes throughout the lesson, until her cauldron was even billowing smoke.
So Hufflepuff lost another five points because of Mill's mistakes.
Fortunately, Hufflepuff students never cared much about House Points. By the time they were walking away from class, they were already cheerful again.
Milton, on the other hand, still looked as though he'd narrowly escaped disaster after leaving the Potions Classroom.
Scott patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's over. We got an A (Acceptable) for our Potions. Now let's forget about the antidote and hurry to History of Magic, where we can get some rest."
"Oh, right. History of Magic."
Milton came back to himself, put Magical Drafts and Potions into his schoolbag, and pulled out a copy of History of Magic.
"I love History of Magic!"
Milton brightened visibly and hugged the thick book to his chest.
I knew it, Scott thought.
Milton was probably the only student who listened to History of Magic with genuine interest.
Professor Binns was a ghost, and his droning lectures were enough to make anyone sleepy. But Milton was remarkably good at imagining all sorts of romantic, beautiful stories from the dull historical accounts.
He'd gotten plenty of inspiration that way, and had even written over thirty cello pieces based on "historical stories."
Ravenclaw had History of Magic with Slytherin, so Roger hurried into the classroom by himself just before the lesson began.
"You didn't even bring your textbook."
Scott looked at the copy of Magical Drafts and Potions in Roger's hand.
Was this guy getting a little too cocky?
"Geminio."
Roger took out his wand and copied Scott's textbook, then smiled smugly.
"By the way," he said, leaning in to speak quietly, "we're testing a new formation this afternoon. Do you and Milton want to come watch?"
"A new formation? I thought the team had changed its Seeker," Scott said.
"That's right. Cho's not bad," Roger said. "Honestly, she's better than Carson."
Carson, a seventh-year, had been Ravenclaw's Seeker. With graduation approaching and no great results to show for his time on the team, he'd decided to give the position to Cho Chang.
"Want to come watch? Maybe you can give us some advice," Roger said to Scott and Milton.
Scott and Milton were both interested in the team's new formation and new member, so they readily agreed.
"I'll come," Scott said. "I only have one class this afternoon, Arithmancy."
"I have Divination," Milton said.
In the afternoon, Scott went back to his dormitory after leaving the Arithmancy classroom.
By the time he reached the Quidditch Pitch, Milton was already sitting in the stands.
"Did you come straight here after class?" Scott asked casually, noticing that Milton was still carrying his schoolbag.
"That's right. The atmosphere in Divination today was a little heavy," Milton said, sounding uneasy. "I wanted to come here early and relax."
"What did Professor Trelawney predict this time?" Scott asked, accustomed to it.
"She said..." Milton swallowed and began imitating Professor Trelawney's peculiar voice. "The shadow has fallen over Hogwarts. Someone will meet with misfortune after Halloween."
That sounds pretty accurate, if she means the 'original plot' about the Chamber of Secrets.
"You should be used to this by now," Scott told Milton. "Professor Trelawney often makes ominous-sounding predictions."
"I hope nothing happens," Milton said, still worried.
"Nothing will happen," Scott said.
Because he'd already decided to nip the danger in the bud. If his plan went smoothly, the only victim would be a cat.
As the two of them talked, the team members flew out of the changing rooms beside the pitch on their broomsticks.
They circled the pitch a few times, and Roger waved at Scott and Milton again and again.
"Something's wrong."
Scott narrowed his eyes and suddenly stood up, drawing his wand.
Seeing how serious he looked, Milton immediately asked, "What is it?"
"Sonorus."
Scott pressed his wand to his throat.
"Roger!" His voice instantly rang across the entire pitch. "Jump off right now! There's something wrong with your broom!"
Trusting Scott and their long-standing understanding without hesitation, Roger immediately flipped off his broom and jumped.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Scott raised his wand and cast a perfectly timed Levitation Charm on Roger as he fell, stopping him in midair.
At that moment, Roger's broom began spinning wildly in the air, even belching black smoke.
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