The Application of the Magic Eye

Wizet stood up and explained calmly, "Professor Snape, it's like this. My grant is only thirty Galleons."

"If I used it to buy new books, I wouldn't have enough left to purchase the consumables on the list, so I copied out all the textbooks."

"Touching. It feels like listening to some vulgar inspirational story." Snape's face was expressionless, his voice drawn out. "Since you can even make your own textbooks..."

"I imagine you're very familiar with the contents, then? What ingredients are needed for the Boil-Cure Potion? What symptoms is it mainly meant to treat?"

Hearing this, the other students hurriedly opened their books.

Before they could turn to the page for the Boil-Cure Potion, Wizet had already begun to speak.

He said with clear order, "Half a cauldron of water, four finely ground Snake Fangs, three Horned Slugs that need to be steamed, two portions of Dried Nettle, and one Porcupine Quill."

"The Boil-Cure Potion mainly treats ordinary pustules, measles, boils, and also works quite well on some symptoms of scrofula. As long as it doesn't involve magical injury, it's a specific cure."

"Before adding the Porcupine Quill, if the heat has been controlled properly during brewing, pink smoke will rise from the cauldron. The purer the pink smoke, the more skillful the potion-maker's technique."

Snape curled his lip, his icy gaze sweeping over the entire classroom. "Why haven't you started preparing the ingredients? Are you waiting for me to serve you?"

Aside from Wizet, everyone else shuddered in unison and hurriedly pulled out their ingredients, measuring out the corresponding amounts.

Snape was not idle. He wrote the key points on the blackboard:

Grind the Snake Fangs as finely as possible. Lift the lid often to observe the steaming Horned Slugs; it is best when black can be seen beneath the transparent skin. Brew until bubbling, stir clockwise five times, remove from heat before adding the Porcupine Quill...

Although the method for making the Boil-Cure Potion was not difficult, preparing the ingredients took a great deal of time, and every operation emphasized precision.

Even without counting preparation time, they still had to brew for at least half an hour before the potion was complete.

In such a tight span of time, they also had to record how long each step took, while enduring Snape's patrols back and forth.

Snape walked with wind in his robes, drifting through the classroom like a ghost. Almost everyone felt a chill down their spine.

Faced with the slime-covered slugs, Hannah held her tweezers but did not dare to move, her body trembling badly.

Wizet noticed Hannah's troubled expression and pushed the Snake Fangs over. "Why don't you handle these? Don't rush. There's enough time."

Hannah nodded with a grateful expression and began grinding the Snake Fangs with focused attention.

Wizet picked up six slugs with his tweezers and placed them into the Steamer.

Under the effect of the high-temperature steaming, the slugs' mucus solidified, and their bodies also shrank.

He used Magic Eye and discovered that the slugs inside the Steamer had changed.

The slugs' loose Magic Circuits were also drawing inward, and a neat symbol was about to form.

Could this be the reason the slugs had to be steamed?

Wizet thought to himself, not lifting the lid, only using Magic Eye to observe the changes in the symbol.

"Why aren't you opening the lid?" Snape appeared behind him, his sinister voice sounding out. "Or are you planning to follow the book and steam the slugs for exactly ten minutes?"

Hannah's hand shook, and she nearly smashed the mortar.

The reactions of the people around them were not small either. They held their breath and focused, almost not daring to communicate at all.

"Of course not, Professor Snape." Wizet did not even raise his head, paying attention to the changes in the slugs' Magic Circuits. "If the lid is opened frequently, it will affect the final product."

"Quite right." Snape pressed his lips together and simply planted himself behind Wizet, occasionally glancing at the timer beside them.

At exactly seven minutes, Wizet picked up his tweezers, took out two of the slugs, quickly covered the lid again, and recorded the time.

Snape's eyes narrowed. The two slugs that had been taken out were semi-transparent, with a deep black beneath the clear skin.

His jaw moved, but with his arms folded across his chest, he still said nothing.

At seven minutes and forty seconds, Wizet opened the lid again, took out the remaining slugs, and recorded the time once more.

There were six Horned Slugs in total. After steaming, their shape and size were consistent, and their appearance was exactly the same. All of them were excellent specimens.

"Not bad!" Snape looked deeply at Wizet, then began drifting through the classroom again.

The Potions Class classroom was still very oppressive, but Wizet was not affected by the atmosphere. Instead, he began to enjoy the quiet.

Whether it was the slugs or the Snake Fangs, or the Dried Nettle and Porcupine Quill, each of them had their own magical symbol.

With the help of Magic Eye, Wizet placed the ingredients into the pot one by one to brew, watching those symbols break apart, reshape, and turn into exquisite, complex patterns.

He found joy in the process, feeling as if he were a painter, sketching various ingredients into interesting pictures.

Just as Snape had said at the beginning—whether destruction or rebirth, it was all contained within the steaming cauldron.

The mixture in the pot turned a deep green, then transformed into a murky blue, and began to release large bubbles with a "glug, glug."

Wizet glanced to the side. "Hannah, it's bubbling already. Now you should stir clockwise five times."

"All right! All right!" Hannah nodded repeatedly, picked up the spoon, dipped it into the cauldron, and stirred carefully.

Once the stirring was complete, the large bubbles turned into fish-eye bubbles. The murky blue gradually cleared, and the impurities gathered bit by bit toward the center.

The potion in the cauldron transformed into a clear pale blue. At that moment, the impurities suddenly flew up, forming pure pink smoke at the mouth of the cauldron.

"It's so beautiful!" Hannah was so excited that her face flushed red. She impatiently grabbed the Porcupine Quill and was about to throw it into the cauldron.

Wizet hurriedly reminded her, "Hannah, you have to remove it from the heat before adding the Porcupine Quill."

"I almost forgot!" Hannah said gratefully. She quickly picked up a rag, lifted the cauldron, and added the Porcupine Quill.

The Porcupine Quills slowly melted in the lingering heat, turning into specks of starlight that dotted the potion.

Snape walked over again, picked up a spoon, and scooped out some Boil-Cure Potion to inspect it. "Your first time making a potion? You've never learned before?"

Wizet asked in return, "I've helped Mr. Lovegood squeeze Gurdyroot to make tea. Does that count?"

"Gurdyroot tea?" Snape's hand trembled. He looked at Wizet very seriously. "Do not be influenced by those absurd theories. Can you do that?"

Wizet was a little puzzled. "Do you mean Mr. Lovegood? I think what he and Luna say all makes quite a lot of sense."

"You do have some talent!" Snape did not respond to that, his voice dry.

Then he changed tack and continued, "Since you've already finished your potion, why not look at the classmates around you? Are you trying to make yourself stand out from the crowd?"

Wizet still answered calmly, "All right, Professor Snape."

Hannah followed behind him, and the two of them wandered around the classroom just as Snape had.

If Snape brought fear to the students, then Wizet brought hope.

With the help of Magic Eye, Wizet improved the potion-making process by observing how complete the material symbols were.

Before long, all the students whom Wizet had helped successfully completed their potions.

In the students' eyes, the cauldrons that had once been scalding hot now looked much more pleasing.

Even the pink smoke rising from them seemed as festive as celebratory fireworks.