Snape's Office

After dinner, Wentworth went to Snape's office alone. This time, even Cedric kept his distance and did not follow.

After he knocked, the door to Snape's office opened from the inside, revealing Snape's perpetually icy face.

"Did you go off to fiddle with that damn hot pot again? Coming here so late!"

Without waiting for Wentworth to explain, Snape turned and walked back into his office.

Wentworth shrugged and followed closely behind him.

Perhaps because it was located in the dungeons, Snape's office was incredibly dim. Shelves lining the walls were filled with large glass jars, inside of which floated all sorts of disgusting things.

Snape pointed to a desk nearby, and Wentworth, being very sensible, walked over and sat down obediently.

Then, Snape took a cloth bag from the other side and tossed it to Wentworth.

Wentworth opened it to find the bag filled with many bean-like plants.

"I hope you aren't going to tell me you don't know what these are, but judging by your performance in class today, you should recognize them."

Wentworth nodded and replied:

"Of course, Professor Snape. These are Sopophorous Beans, and they can be used to..."

But before Wentworth could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Snape.

"I don't need you to tell me what they can be used for! I was brewing potions with them before you were even born!"

"Your task for tonight is to extract at least 10 grams of their juice. I hope you won't be like the idiots before you, who used up an entire bag of Sopophorous Beans and still couldn't extract a single drop! You know how to extract it, don't you?"

Wentworth nodded. When Cedric was tutoring him last night, he had mentioned the Sopophorous Beans, noting that one must use a small silver knife to crush them bit by bit; with every cut, juice would flow out. Their juice could accelerate the reaction of many potions.

Seeing Wentworth nod, Snape said nothing more. He tossed a small silver knife to Wentworth and went back to his own business.

Wentworth held the knife and looked at the Sopophorous Beans on the table, thinking to himself that it was fortunate Snape hadn't made him start brewing potions immediately; otherwise, knowing nothing, he probably wouldn't have made it back to his dormitory before curfew.

But soon, Wentworth realized that while Snape had promised to teach him how to brew potions in a cauldron, it looked like he was being treated as cheap labor instead!

Was he really that angry just because he used a cauldron to make a hot pot? Even if he was, two days had passed—hadn't the anger faded yet? No wonder Lily chose Potter in the end; for a man, he was remarkably petty! Wentworth continued to grumble inwardly.

As soon as he started, Wentworth realized he had underestimated the task. The name "Sopophorous Bean" was truly accurate.

The beans in front of him were smooth and hard. Every time he brought the knife down, the bean remained unscathed and skittered away, nearly costing him his fingers.

Wentworth spent a massive amount of effort just to process one bean, obtaining only a few drops of juice. Reaching 10 grams felt like an impossible goal.

"Mr. Wentworth, do you intend to live in my office tonight?"

Snape had appeared behind him at some point. Seeing Wentworth's performance, a look of disdain crossed his face.

"I am going to see Headmaster Dumbledore. I hope that when I return, you will have managed to collect 1 gram of Sopophorous Bean juice. Also, try using that brain of yours—it's barely better than a troll's!"

Snape turned and walked out of his office, leaving Wentworth alone in the dim room.

Seeing Snape leave, Wentworth let out a long breath. He had to admit, Snape's presence was incredibly oppressive; even though Wentworth knew Snape's character, he still felt stifled.

Wentworth opened the old textbook with the name "Half-Blood Prince" written on the front page. He quickly found a note next to a potion recipe that required Sopophorous Beans.

The note read:

The extraction of Sopophorous Bean juice is extremely troublesome, but one can choose to crush the beans by pressing down with the flat of the blade. This way, you can obtain more than twice the juice from each bean. Because the beans are very hard, you need to cast a strength-enhancing charm on your arm beforehand. The charm is as follows...

After reading the note, Wentworth sighed. Perhaps Dumbledore's refusal to let Snape become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, insisting he remain the Potions master, was simply because Snape was truly a peerless genius at potions.

Looking at the dense notes in the book, occasionally interspersed with spells Snape had invented himself, Wentworth's anger at being treated as a laborer began to fade.

Forget it, consider it tuition, he thought. After all, the contents of this book could be considered priceless treasures.

Using the methods and spells recorded in the book, Wentworth's speed increased exponentially. Soon, he had collected 10 grams of Sopophorous Bean juice, and there was still half a bag of beans left.

With the work finished, Wentworth couldn't help but wander around Snape's office. Looking at the cabinets full of glass jars and the disgusting things inside, he felt that no matter who worked in this office, their mental health probably wouldn't stay intact for long.

"Wentworth, have you completely given up? If so, I can understand why you used a cauldron to cook food, because you are clearly not fit to brew a single potion!"

Suddenly, Snape's voice rang out behind him, startling Wentworth. He turned around to see Snape standing at the office door, glaring at him with fury.

"Professor Snape, let me explain!"

But before Wentworth could explain, Snape said with utter impatience:

"Say no more! I don't welcome students like you here! Get out!"

Seeing this, Wentworth simply shut his mouth, walked back to the table, took out the vial of extracted Sopophorous Bean juice, and waved it in front of Snape.

The office fell into a sudden, heavy silence. The atmosphere was awkward, but it wasn't Wentworth who felt the awkwardness. If he didn't have to maintain his image, Wentworth would have wanted to whistle.

"What, do you think you're impressive? Anyone could extract that much juice from such a large bag of beans. Your speed is merely passable!"

After a long while, Snape finally spoke, pretending to be unimpressed.