The Extraordinary Potions Guild!

London.

Diagon Alley.

A slender wooden house wedged between a cauldron shop and an herbology store.

At first glance, the entire house was probably not as wide as its oak door.

At this moment, a long-haired man.

Dressed in a black robe.

Walked towards this inconspicuous small house, oblivious to the world.

He pushed open the heavy oak door.

And walked in, greeted by the aroma of herbs that rushed towards him.

The door closed heavily.

A line of exquisite inscription was carved on the mottled bronze plaque, weathered by time.

"Extraordinary Potions Guild."

--

"Oh! Severus Snape! A rare visitor, wasn't it seven years ago the last time you were here?"

As soon as he entered the house, a wizard greeted him enthusiastically.

A middle-aged man.

Tall and slender.

With neat short hair.

Slightly gray.

His demeanor was solemn.

His words and actions exuded a sense of calm and professionalism.

With a wave of his wand.

He handed a glass of pine nut wine to the newcomer.

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

Snape flicked his hand, placing the glass on a platform beside him.

He looked around.

The interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

This was the reception hall of the Extraordinary Potions Guild.

At first glance, it was not much smaller than the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling of the reception hall.

Blue flames burned within the chandelier.

Illuminating the entire hall.

The surrounding walls were decorated with specimens of various magical herbs.

And near the entrance, there was a bar filled with all sorts of alcoholic beverages.

Unattended.

Guests were free to take what they pleased.

It was now nearing noon.

The place was already quite crowded.

People had begun to form different groups for socializing.

And at the very end of the reception hall.

There was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

That was Snape's destination today.

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

Snape shifted his gaze to the wizard before him.

Arthur Blackwood.

A senior reception member of the Extraordinary Potions Guild.

He had studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Specializing in Potions and Defensive Magic.

He was Snape's senior from Slytherin.

He was now looking at him with great interest.

"The youngest Potions professor at Hogwarts. We invited you three times in a row, only to be turned away at the door each time. To think you'd actually grace this international exchange with your presence today?"

Indeed.

Although he was young compared to the titans of the industry.

Snape was only thirty-one.

Yet, the mere title of Potions professor at Hogwarts.

Made him a target that every faction was desperate to recruit.

One had to understand.

The vast majority of young wizards in Britain.

Attended Hogwarts.

Which meant they would inevitably become Snape's students.

So, why everyone scrambled to curry favor with him.

Went without saying.

As for Snape.

He was notoriously difficult to get along with.

Only wizards from Slytherin could strike up any sort of conversation with him.

As for those from Gryffindor.

He wouldn't give them the slightest bit of face.

Furthermore, he had no love for social gatherings like this international exchange.

Where many blockheads tended to sneak in.

Hearing Blackwood's words.

Snape remained unmoved.

He replied coldly.

"Today is the special session on Transfiguration potions. I've made some progress in that area."

Hearing this.

Blackwood immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? That's interesting. Karkaroff from Durmstrang is here today as well, claiming to have come up with some sort of innovation in Transfiguration potions. Heh, he's being insufferably arrogant."

He tilted his head as he spoke.

Pointing toward a crowd.

"Right over there."

Following his gaze.

Sure enough.

He saw a tall, thin wizard.

With short white hair.

And a goatee with curled tips on his gaunt chin.

The man was currently laughing heartily, surrounded by a throng of people.

Snape frowned slightly.

He withdrew his gaze.

To be honest.

He had no desire to have any dealings with this former colleague.

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

Blackwood smiled faintly.

Then he stepped aside and gestured with his hand.

"Well, have a seat first. The opening ceremony for the exchange won't start for a while."

Before long.

Snape sat down on a leather sofa far away from the crowd.

On the small table beside him.

Sat a cup of hot tea.

"So, how long do you plan to stay today? It's said that 'that lord' will be attending the opening ceremony as well."

Blackwood stood beside him, smiling as he spoke.

"No matter how big a shot they are, I'm only here to submit a potion improvement proposal. I don't expect to stay long."

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

Not bad.

It had chamomile in it.

"Oh, well then you're going to miss the founder of our Extraordinary Potions Guild..."

Halfway through his sentence.

Blackwood suddenly stopped.

Snape set down his teacup and turned his head to look.

He saw him standing there, pale and stunned.

Immediately, he lowered his head and whispered.

"Sir Granger, greetings."

Hearing this, Snape turned around at once.

He saw a small, thin man.

With a smile on his face.

A kind, amiable old man standing beside Snape's soft leather sofa.

He was wearing a set of emerald green robes.

His hair was almost entirely gone.

He was the very image of a little old man.

"Severus, it has been a long time."

Ten thousand Flying Brooms whistled through Snape's mind.

The person before him was none other than.

The founder of the Extraordinary Potions Guild!

The standard-setter for 20th-century potion research!

The creator of over eighty new potions in his lifetime!

The founder of the fund that sponsored thousands of apothecaries!

A co-author of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi!

Hector Dagworth-Granger!!!

Snape was about to stand up on the spot.

But Granger placed a hand on him.

He smiled and shook his head.

Then, with a lift of his left hand.

An identical soft leather sofa appeared opposite Snape.

Granger sat down.

He nodded toward Blackwood.

The man immediately understood.

He left as if fleeing.

Leaving only Snape and Granger to stare at each other.

Snape noticed that none of the people around seemed to have realized that this legendary figure had suddenly appeared in the first-floor reception hall.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, he spoke first.

"Er..., Sir Granger, I don't have any issue with you, it's just that I need to return to school for classes this afternoon, so..."

Granger grinned.

He waved his hand.

"Severus, you don't need to worry about that, but..."

A hint of teasing appeared on Granger's aged face.

"Why does Hogwarts still schedule classes for students on a Friday afternoon?"

Snape hurriedly waved his hands to explain.

"No, it's not a class on the school's official schedule. It's just that a student has particularly poor grades, and since he needs to keep up with the fifth-year curriculum, I'm giving him some private tutoring."

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

Snape acted very honestly in front of Granger.

Though, indeed.

The big shot before him had shown no small amount of kindness to Snape.

He had to be treated with the utmost respect.

"Haha, alright, alright, let's turn the page on this matter. Tell me about your new proposal."

Sir Granger smiled very happily.

It didn't look at all like he intended to turn the page on the matter.

At the mention of this, Snape immediately straightened his expression.

He took a file folder out of his small bag.

He handed it to Sir Granger.

"Sir, this is a proposal for optimizing the Polyjuice Potion formula. It can significantly reduce the rarity of the required materials, and at the same time, I have distilled a universal method for improving transformation-based potion formulas from it. Please, take a look."

Sir Granger's eyes narrowed upon hearing this.

He immediately took the file.

He began to examine it.

Snape waited quietly to the side.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Sir Granger had finished reviewing all the documents at an incredibly fast speed.

The speed left even Snape tongue-tied.

Was this really a man approaching a hundred years of age?

"A genius idea! Severus!"

Sir Granger took a deep breath.

His face flushed with a ruddiness rarely seen in an old man of his age.

"This could be a discovery that changes the entire course of transformation magic! Severus, your name will be written into history!"

This praise from the man who was arguably the most authoritative titan in the potion industry instantly made Snape feel as if he were floating on clouds.

But in an instant, Snape calmed down.

This was not his achievement!

Snape said in a calm, deep voice, "Sir, actually, this was not invented by me, but rather a method proposed by one of my students. I performed the refinement and optimization based on it, but the general direction still utilizes my student's results."

Upon hearing this, Sir Granger was clearly stunned.

He blinked several times in succession.

He confirmed that he had not misheard.

"Severus, are you saying this was the discovery of a current Hogwarts student?"

"That is correct, Sir."

Snape replied firmly.

Having received a definitive answer, Sir Granger leaned straight back.

He lay on the leather sofa.

His eyes stared directly at the ceiling.

After waiting for quite a while, he finally murmured, "These young people, they are truly terrifying~"

As he spoke, Sir Granger sat upright.

He looked into Snape's eyes.

"So, this student has at the very least extraordinary potion intuition, and perhaps even other discoveries?"

Snape nodded slightly.

"Yes, Sir. I can be certain of that. However, his experience is still too limited at the moment, so there were actually quite a few errors in the initial version. But the general direction was extremely valuable, so I researched this set of proposals based on his original draft."

Hearing this, Sir Granger nodded in understanding.

After all, he is still a student.

It is only natural that he lacks experience.

Making errors in his proposed plans or the like.

That is completely normal.

Once he graduates.

And undergoes further training at the Pharmacists' Association.

He will surely become a master of potions!

Granger was already considering poaching him.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"Severus, when you give your detailed report next week, you must bring him along. I want to see the capabilities of this new Potion Prodigy for myself."

Hearing this request.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Snape's eyes.

But in the end, he nodded.

"Fine, then it's settled! Severus, I still have some details to ask about; would you be willing to discuss them on the second floor?"

Granger held the file, his eyes filled with intense interest.

He extended an invitation to Snape.

The corners of Snape's mouth curled upward.

"I would be delighted."

After the in-depth discussion, he returned to Hogwarts.

This was the reason why.

Snape had been.

Slightly late to his office earlier.

And at this moment.

He was sitting in his office.

Holding the redrawn improvement chart for the Polyjuice Potion brewing process.

He looked at the author of this chart in utter disbelief.

The Hogwarts student he had just described as lacking experience.

Devero Alexander!