Library

The water in the cauldron soon began to steam. Wade added the Snake Fang Powder, then the Nettle, stirred twice clockwise and three times counterclockwise. The crushed nettle melted rapidly like ice cubes.

Just then, cries of alarm suddenly erupted in the classroom. Thick green smoke hissed into the air, and some students had their skin corroded by their failed Potions, screaming in pain. Theo jumped in fright. "What happened?"

"Don't get distracted!" Wade did not even look over. Counting ten seconds in his head, he added the slug as well.

"Theo, move the cauldron off the heat."

Theo immediately did as he was told—he was still wearing Dragonhide Gloves—while Wade waited a moment before adding two Porcupine Quills and stirring five times clockwise.

The Potion immediately underwent a visible change. The disgusting brownish-green liquid swiftly turned a shimmering green, the color of jelly—just as the book described the color of a successfully brewed Potion.

Theo looked at the Potion, then at the book, and exclaimed in amazement, "It worked! Wade, you got it right on your first try!"

At the other end of the classroom, Snape, who had just dealt with a Potion accident and reduced several students to tears in the process, heard the commotion and strode over. He lowered his head and examined it thoroughly. At last, under Theo's nervous gaze, he reluctantly said, "Not bad. It barely meets the standard. One point each."

"—I heard Professor Snape rarely gives points to any House besides Slytherin. I mean, it's great to earn back the points that were deducted." On the way after class, Theo excitedly said to his friend Ryan, "And once we finish our Potion, we can use the remaining time to prepare for the next lesson's Cough Potion. The next time Professor Snape questions me, I definitely won't be unable to answer a single question!"

Ryan was happy for him too, then said, "Our group's Potion was always just a little off—it gave off a strange smell. I don't know if we didn't brew it long enough..."

"Hey, Wade!" A voice came from behind them. Michael hurried after Wade and said, "I wanted to ask, how did you brew it into that light green color? I followed Professor Snape's steps exactly too, but I don't know why mine came out a bit dark."

"If there weren't any mistakes in the steps, then it should be a difference in how the ingredients were handled." Wade looked at his partner Theo. "Theo prepared the ingredients perfectly. Our final product had almost no impurities."

Michael looked at the Hufflepuff in surprise.

Theo seemed unaccustomed to being praised. His face reddened slightly, and he quickly changed the subject. "Oh, right, do you have classes this afternoon? How about we go to the library and do our homework together?"

Before class ended, Snape had assigned them an essay on the Pimple-Curing Potion, at least six inches long—around fifteen centimeters.

"Isn't that a little too soon?" Michael was reluctant. "It's not due tomorrow. There are still several days until Friday!"

He naturally included himself, even though Theo had initially only asked Wade and Ryan.

"I'm going to the library," Wade said. "It's only six inches. I'll finish it quickly, so I don't have to keep thinking about it."

Ryan nodded as well. "Library."

Michael seemed to have a bit of a procrastination problem. He dawdled, looking longingly at the students discussing exploring the castle or taking a walk by the Black Lake. Two girls giggled and invited Michael to go take a look at the Quidditch Pitch with them, but for some reason, after hesitating for a while, Michael ultimately jogged over to join Wade's group of three.

"You're not going to play?" Wade asked him.

Michael sighed. "If everyone were going to play, of course I'd want to go too. But when someone's already doing their homework in advance, I feel guilty having fun."

Hogwarts's library was on the western side of the castle. Its interior was far larger than it appeared from outside, and Wade was certain that some kind of space-expanding magic had been used here. The library had several floors, with several staircases moving among them. Rows upon rows of crisscrossing bookshelves stood silently, holding tens of thousands of books, while lines of brown desks stood between the shelves.

On the first day of term, there were very few students in the library. When the four Young Wizards stood at the entrance, staring in amazement at the endless books, Madam Pince, the librarian, noticed them at once.

She strode over, looked down at the four of them, and asked, "First-years?"

Theo, who stood at the front, nodded.

"You are not to scratch, tear, fold, soil, damage, or throw books. No shouting, and no eating in the library. Understood?" Madam Pince said sternly.

Theo hurriedly nodded, as though he had caught a glimpse of Professor Snape.

"You are not allowed into the Restricted Section. You may browse the books in the general section, but do not scribble or draw in them! If you wish to take a book out of the library, you must have my permission. Remember that?"

Everyone nodded together again.

Madam Pince asked again, "What books are you looking for?"

"Uh... Pimple-Curing Potion... books related to Potions," Michael said.

Madam Pince waved the Wand in her hand in a circle, and more than a dozen books flew over from several bookshelves.

"These should be enough. Go study," Madam Pince said, a faint smile appearing on her face.

The group carried the books to a seat by the window. Michael flipped through them. Perhaps because there were four of them, there were two copies of every kind of book, and even the thinnest was an inch thick—when were they supposed to finish reading all this?

He casually flipped through several books, unable to take in a single word. He was considering whether he could first copy out a hundred or two hundred words from the textbook, then randomly copy a few sentences from another book to make up the length, when he heard the scratch-scratch-scratch of a quill moving across parchment beside him.

"Wade?" Michael asked in surprise. "You already know what to write?"

"Hm?" Wade did not look up. "It's not that difficult."

Several books were spread out before him. In only a moment, he had written four or five lines, and he was not even writing particularly large.

Not only Michael and Theo were dumbfounded; even Ryan, who had always been rather quiet, could not help looking to see what Wade had written.

Seeing their expressions, Wade realized that he had overlooked something—these children in front of him were all eleven years old, not like his university classmates, who could casually cobble together essays of a thousand words or more. If these children came from wizarding families, they might not even have received a systematic school education. Even if they had attended Muggle primary schools, they might not have written many essays.

He did not mind sharing his essay-writing experience with them.

"Writing an essay is actually very simple." Wade pulled out a blank sheet of parchment and wrote on it as he spoke quietly. "You just need to make a simple outline and fill it with suitable content. First, briefly introduce the Pimple-Curing Potion. Second, discuss the history of this Potion, such as who invented it and who improved it. Third, write about the brewing process and any precautions. Fourth, analyze the reasons a Potion might fail to meet standards, what accidents can result from improper brewing, and how those accidents should be handled. Fifth, you can analyze in detail the effects of several ingredients and their reactions with one another. For that, you can consult One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and Introduction to Common Potion Ingredients. Sixth, write about the condition treated by the Pimple-Curing Potion: its causes, symptoms, how the Potion is used, past cases, and so on. You can also compare it with similar Potions, such as comparing their ingredients, brewing time, cost, and effectiveness. Finally, you can write a brief conclusion and include your own thoughts. There's far too much you could write about. Just pick two or three of those points, and you should be able to complete a satisfactory essay."

The three of them were silent for quite a while. Then, all at once, they pulled out parchment and began copying furiously—not writing their homework, but copying down everything Wade had written.

"You're a genius, Wade!" Michael clicked his tongue in admiration as he copied. "This is practically an Essay Cheat Sheet!"

Theo nodded. "Exactly! I feel like from now on, no matter what kind of essay it is—forget six inches, I could write six feet!"

Ryan's quill paused. He thought about it and said seriously, "Six feet won't work! Six feet is still too much. I can't write that."

Wade and the other two could not help laughing.