The Extraordinary Potions Guild!

London.

Diagon Alley.

A narrow wooden house sandwiched between a cauldron shop and an herb shop.

At a glance, the entire building looked no wider than its oak door.

At that moment, a long-haired man,

dressed in a black robe,

strode toward the unassuming little house without a care in the world.

He pushed open the heavy oak door

and stepped inside, greeted by the scent of herbs wafting toward him.

The door slammed shut behind him.

A line of delicate lettering was carved into the mottled brass plaque, worn by the passage of time.

"The Extraordinary Potions Guild."

--

"Oh! Severus Snape! What a rare visitor. The last time you came here was seven years ago, wasn't it?"

As soon as he entered, a wizard greeted him warmly.

He was middle-aged,

tall and slender,

with neatly trimmed short hair,

slightly gray at the temples.

His manner was dignified,

and his speech and conduct conveyed a sense of composure and professionalism.

With a wave of his wand,

he sent a glass of pine-nut wine over to the new arrival.

"Thank you, Blackwood. You know I don't drink that sort of thing."

Snape nudged the glass aside and set it on a nearby ledge.

He looked around.

The inside was far more spacious than it appeared from the outside.

This was the reception hall of the Extraordinary Potions Guild.

At a glance, it seemed only a little smaller than Hogwarts's Great Hall.

A huge crystal chandelier hung from the reception hall's ceiling.

Blue flames burned inside it,

illuminating the entire hall.

The walls all around were decorated with specimens of various magical herbs.

Near the entrance stood a bar stocked with all kinds of drinks.

It was unattended,

leaving guests free to help themselves.

It was nearly noon,

and the hall was already quite crowded.

People had begun forming groups to socialize.

At the far end of the reception hall,

a spiral staircase led to the second floor.

That was Snape's destination today.

"So, Professor Snape, what brings you here today?"

Snape turned his gaze to the wizard in front of him.

Arthur Blackwood.

A senior member of the Extraordinary Potions Guild and its reception officer.

He had studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

specializing in Potions and defensive magic.

He had been Snape's senior in Slytherin.

Now he was watching him with great interest.

"The youngest Potions professor at Hogwarts. We invited you over three times before, and you turned us away every time. And now you've decided to grace this International Exchange Conference with your presence?"

That was right.

Though Snape was young compared with the great luminaries of the field,

he was only thirty-one.

Yet the title of Potions professor at Hogwarts alone

made him someone every faction was eager to recruit.

After all,

most young wizards in Britain

went to Hogwarts.

That meant they would all become Snape's students.

The reason people wanted to curry favor with him

was self-evident.

As for Snape,

he was extremely difficult to get along with.

Only wizards from Slytherin could get a few words out of him.

Those from Gryffindor

didn't get so much as a scrap of consideration.

And he didn't care for social gatherings like the International Exchange Conference, either.

There were plenty of idiots who managed to get in.

Hearing Blackwood's words,

Snape remained unmoved.

He answered coolly,

"Today's session is on Transfiguration Potions. I've made some progress."

At that,

Blackwood raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? Now that's interesting. Karkaroff from Durmstrang is here today, too. He says he's come up with some kind of innovation in Transfiguration Potions. Heh, he's been boasting like nobody's business."

As he spoke, he tilted his head

and pointed toward a group of people.

Snape looked in that direction.

Sure enough,

there was a tall, thin wizard

with short white hair

and a pointed chin adorned with a goatee whose ends curled into little ringlets.

He was surrounded by people, laughing heartily.

Snape's brow furrowed slightly.

He looked away.

To be honest,

he had no desire to get involved with this former colleague.

"What they've come up with has nothing to do with me."

Blackwood smiled faintly.

Then he turned to the side and gestured with his hand.

"Why don't you sit down for now? There's still a while before the opening ceremony."

Before long,

Snape was seated on a leather sofa away from the crowd.

A small table stood beside him,

with a cup of hot tea on it.

"So, how long are you planning to stay today? I hear that distinguished gentleman will be attending the opening ceremony."

Blackwood stood beside him, smiling as he spoke.

"No matter how important he is, I'm only here to submit a potion-improvement proposal. I doubt I'll stay long."

Snape picked up the hot tea and took a small sip.

Not bad.

It had chamomile in it.

"Oh, then you'll miss the founder of our Extraordinary Potions Guild..."

Halfway through,

Blackwood suddenly stopped.

Snape set down his teacup and turned to look.

Blackwood stood frozen in place, his face pale.

Then he quickly bowed his head and said in a low voice,

"Sir Granger, good afternoon."

At those words, Snape immediately turned around.

A short, kindly old man stood beside Snape's leather sofa, smiling warmly.

He wore a long, emerald-green robe.

He was almost completely bald.

He looked every bit the little old man.

"Severus, it's been a long time."

A thousand Flying Brooms roared through Snape's mind.

The man before him was none other than—

the founder of the Extraordinary Potions Guild!

the Regulator of twentieth-century Potions research!

the creator of more than eighty potions over the course of his life!

the founder of a fund that had supported over a thousand potion-makers!

a contributor to One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi!

Hector Dagworth-Granger!!!

Snape was about to stand up,

but Granger rested a hand on his shoulder

and smiled as he shook his head.

Then he raised his left hand,

and an identical leather sofa appeared opposite Snape.

Granger sat down,

then nodded to Blackwood.

Blackwood immediately took the hint

and hurried off as if fleeing for his life.

That left Snape and Granger facing each other.

Snape realized that no one around them seemed to have noticed this great man suddenly appearing on the first floor of the reception hall.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, he spoke first.

"Er... Sir Granger, it's not that I have anything against you. It's just that I need to return to the school to teach this afternoon, so..."

Granger grinned

and waved a hand.

"Severus, there's no need to worry about that. But..."

A glint of amusement appeared on Granger's aged face.

"Why is Hogwarts scheduling classes for students on a Friday afternoon?"

Snape hurriedly waved his hands and explained.

"No, it isn't part of the school's regular timetable. There's a student whose grades are particularly poor. He needs to keep up with the fifth-year classes, so I'm giving him some extra lessons."

(Devero: Huh? My grades are particularly poor?)

Snape behaved very respectfully in front of Granger.

Though, that was only to be expected.

The big shot in front of him had done Snape a great favor.

He had to treat him with the utmost respect.

"Haha, all right, all right. Let's put that behind us and talk about your new proposal."

Granger was beaming.

He didn't look at all like he intended to put the matter behind him.

Speaking of which—

Snape immediately grew serious.

He reached into his small bag,

pulled out a file,

and handed it to Granger.

"Sir, this is a proposal for optimizing the Polyjuice Potion recipe. It can greatly reduce the rarity of its ingredients. I've also distilled a general method for improving recipes for Transfiguration potions. Please take a look."

Granger's eyes narrowed at that.

He immediately took the file

and began reviewing it.

Snape waited quietly beside him.

In less than fifteen minutes,

Granger had reviewed the entire file at remarkable speed.

Snape was left gaping.

Was this really an old man nearing a hundred?

"Brilliant work, Severus!"

Granger took a deep breath.

His face flushed with a vigor rarely seen in someone his age.

"This could be a discovery that changes the entire course of Transfiguration! Silephus, your name will go down in history!"

Hearing such praise from this man, perhaps the most authoritative Potions master in the field,

Snape felt as if he were floating among the clouds.

But a moment later,

Snape composed himself.

This wasn't his achievement!

Snape's expression remained calm as he said gravely,

"Sir, I didn't actually come up with this. The method was proposed by one of my students. I refined and optimized it, but the basic idea still came from his work."

Granger was clearly taken aback.

He blinked several times,

making sure he'd heard correctly.

"Severus, are you saying this was discovered by a student currently attending Hogwarts?"

"That's right, Sir."

Snape replied firmly.

After receiving confirmation, Sir Granger leaned back,

sinking into the soft leather sofa.

He stared straight up at the ceiling.

After a long pause,

he murmured,

"These young people are downright terrifying~"

As he spoke,

Granger sat upright

and looked Snape in the eye.

"So this student must have an extraordinary instinct for Potions, at the very least. He may even have made other discoveries?"

Snape nodded slightly.

"Yes, Sir. I can confirm that. But he still lacks experience, so the original version had quite a few errors. The basic idea, however, was extremely valuable, so I developed this proposal based on his draft."

At that,

Sir Granger understood.

After all, he was still a student.

He was bound to lack experience.

Mistakes in a proposal

were only natural.

After graduating,

he could spend some time honing his skills at the Potioneer Association.

He would surely become a master Potioneer one day!

Granger was already thinking about recruiting him.

A gleam flashed in his eyes.

"Severus, when you give your detailed report next week, be sure to bring him along. I want to see what this new generation's Potion Prodigy can do."

At that request,

a trace of hesitation passed through Snape's eyes.

But in the end, he nodded.

"Excellent, then it's settled! Severus, I have a few more details I'd like to ask you about. Would you care to discuss them upstairs?"

Granger held the file, his eyes alight with intense interest,

and extended an invitation to Snape.

Snape's lips curled slightly.

"I'd be delighted."

After their discussion, Snape returned to Hogwarts.

That was why

he had been a little late

arriving at the office earlier.

And now,

he was sitting in his office,

holding a newly redrawn diagram of the improved Polyjuice Potion brewing process.

He looked incredulously at the person who had drawn it—

the Hogwarts student he had just described as lacking experience.

Devero Alexander!