Snape's Office

After dinner, Wentworth went alone to Snape's office. This time, even Cedric wanted nothing to do with the place and didn't come along.

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

"Have you been fiddling with that damn hot pot again? You're late!"

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

Wentworth shrugged and followed him inside.

Perhaps because it was underground, Snape's office was terribly dim. A row of shelves lined the walls, holding many large glass jars filled with all sorts of disgusting things.

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

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

Wentworth opened it and saw that it was full of plants that looked like beans.

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

Wentworth nodded and replied,

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

But before Wentworth could finish, Snape cut him off.

"I don't need you to tell me what they can do! I was brewing Potions with them before you were even born!"

"Your task tonight is to extract at least ten grams of their juice. I hope you won't be like the idiots before you, using up an entire bag of Sopophorous Beans without extracting a thing! You know how to do it, don't you?"

Wentworth nodded. Cedric had mentioned Sopophorous Beans while tutoring him the previous night. You had to use a small silver knife to chop them up bit by bit. Juice would flow out with every cut, and it could speed up the reactions of many Potions.

Seeing Wentworth nod, Snape said no more. He tossed him a small silver knife and went off to attend to his own business.

Holding the knife and looking at the Sopophorous Beans on the table, Wentworth thought, At least Snape hasn't made me brew a Potion myself tonight. If he had, I wouldn't know the first thing about it, and I'd probably still be here after curfew.

But Wentworth soon realized that Snape had said he would teach him to brew Potions with a cauldron. As things stood, though, he was being treated like a laborer!

I only used a cauldron to make hot pot. Is there really any need to be so angry? Even if he was mad, hasn't he had two days to cool off? No wonder Lily chose Potter in the end. What kind of man can't even be a little magnanimous? Wentworth grumbled inwardly.

As soon as he got started, Wentworth realized he had underestimated the task. The name Sopophorous Bean was no misnomer.

The beans in front of him were smooth and hard. When he brought the knife down, the bean was unharmed and shot off to one side. His finger had nearly been sliced off instead.

Wentworth struggled mightily to process a single bean, getting only a few drops of juice. Reaching ten grams seemed like a distant dream.

"Mr. Wentworth, are you planning to spend the night in my office?"

At some point, Snape had come up behind Wentworth. Seeing his progress, he looked faintly disgusted.

"I have to go see Headmaster Dumbledore. I hope you'll have managed to collect one gram of Sopophorous Bean juice by the time I return. And try using that brain of yours—it's hardly any better than a Troll's!"

With that, Snape turned and left his office. Wentworth was left alone in the dim room.

Seeing Snape leave, Wentworth let out a long breath. Snape's presence was truly oppressive. Even knowing what Snape was like, Wentworth still felt thoroughly stifled.

Then Wentworth opened the old textbook with the words Half-Blood Prince written on its title page. Before long, he found a note beside a Potion recipe that called for Sopophorous Beans.

It read:

Extracting juice from Sopophorous Beans is extremely troublesome, but you can use the flat of the knife to press down hard on them. This will yield at least twice as much juice from each bean. Because Sopophorous Beans are so hard, you should first cast a strength-enhancing charm on your arm. The incantation is as follows...

After reading the note, Wentworth marveled that perhaps the only reason Dumbledore had refused Snape's request to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, insisting he teach Potions instead, was that Snape truly was an unparalleled Potions prodigy.

Looking at the densely packed notes in the book, with the occasional charm invented by Snape himself, Wentworth's anger at being put to work here gradually faded.

Fine. I'll consider it tuition. The contents of this book are practically priceless, after all.

Using the method and charm described in the book, Wentworth worked many times faster. Before long, he had collected ten grams of Sopophorous Bean juice, and there was still half the bag Snape had given him left.

Once he finished the task, Wentworth couldn't help wandering around Snape's office. Looking at the cabinet full of glass jars and the disgusting things inside them, he thought that whoever worked in this office couldn't possibly be very well-adjusted.

"Wentworth, have you given up completely? If so, I suppose I can understand why you used a cauldron to cook. You were never going to be capable of brewing a single Potion!"

Suddenly, Snape's voice sounded behind Wentworth, making him jump. Wentworth turned around and saw Snape standing in the office doorway, glaring at him furiously.

"Professor Snape, let me explain!"

But before Wentworth could say another word, Snape said impatiently,

"No need. I don't welcome students like you here! Get out!"

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

The office fell abruptly silent. The atmosphere was awkward, but Wentworth wasn't the one feeling awkward. If he hadn't been trying to maintain his dignity, he might have even whistled.

"What, you think you've accomplished something impressive? Anyone could extract that much juice from such a big bag of Sopophorous Beans. The only thing you did reasonably well was the speed!"

After a long moment, Snape finally spoke, pretending not to care.