Potions Class

Seeing Silan walk over, a Slytherin student whispered in a mocking tone.

"Look, the Chimera Duo is here again."

"What's the Chimera Duo?" Someone even played along.

"A composite beast made up of a goat, lion, and snake. Don't you think it's a fitting description for certain people?"

The student speaking cautiously glanced at Silan. Seeing that he had not noticed them, he put on a fearless front and spoke to the person beside him.

Several people who heard him burst into laughter.

"Chimera Duo" was the nickname they had privately given Silan and Hermione, specifically referring to the two of them.

Though they had deliberately lowered their voices, Silan had still noticed them.

Eleven-year-old young wizards still did not know how to hide themselves.

Even though Silan had not heard what they said, he could tell from their changing expressions and the looks they gave him that they had not been saying anything nice.

So, he tossed over a note.

However, the note was not for the two boys who had spoken, but for Theodore Nott.

Ever since losing his hair, Theodore had started wearing his pointed hat. It made him especially conspicuous.

He had been happily watching the show, but when he saw Silan throw him a note, his smile immediately vanished. His hands trembling, he unfolded it.

Two simple sentences were written on it.

"Mr. Nott, I'd like to ask whether your hair has grown back.

Also, if those two little rats beside you keep talking about me, I'll have to challenge you to a spell duel."

First asking about his hair, then mentioning a spell duel.

Put together, the two things were clearly a threat.

Nott looked aggrieved and furious.

What did this have to do with me?

I was standing here watching quietly. What did I do to provoke you? I wasn't the one who said it!

Though he thought that, under Silan's calm gaze, Chris still gave in.

He reached out and patted the two boys, gritting his teeth as he warned, "Shut up, all of you!"

The two young wizards looked blankly at Chris, wondering what had gotten into him.

We weren't talking about you!

Why are you so worked up?

Just as they were about to snap back, they suddenly realized that the classroom had gone silent, and even the temperature seemed to have dropped considerably.

This made them instinctively look toward the door.

There, they saw an oily-haired bat storm into the classroom.

The two young wizards instantly fell silent and obediently closed their mouths.

Snape's face was taut. He did not speak immediately, instead using silence to press upon the students' nerves. Once the atmosphere had been completely consumed by that silence, he took out the roll call list and began calling names.

When he reached Harry's name, he paused exactly as expected and drawled out Harry's name in a strange tone.

"Haaarry! Potter!"

"Oh, our new... famous figure."

Snape flicked his eyelids and glanced at Harry before quickly finishing the roll call.

"Potions is a highly precise and rigorous subject." Snape's voice was low, but everyone heard him clearly.

Because the classroom was far too quiet.

"This class does not require you to wave your wands around like fools, and I do not expect you to truly understand the beauty of a cauldron simmering over a gentle flame, white smoke rising from it, carrying waves of fragrance."

Snape pulled at his black robes with both hands, like a bat drawing in its wings.

"I can teach you... how to improve your reputation, brew glory, and even... stop death."

At the end, Snape nearly stretched out the final words twice as long.

But the Slytherin students did not care.

They all held their heads high, as though that would make him notice them.

Snape curled his lip and looked at the Gryffindor students with contempt.

"Provided you are not the kind of foolish idiots I so often encounter."

Before the students could react, Snape suddenly fixed his eyes on Harry and quickly asked:

"Potter! If I added powdered asphodel root to an infusion of wormwood, what would I get?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Tsk, tsk. It seems fame does not represent everything." Snape curled his lips disdainfully.

"I'll give you another chance, Potter. If I asked you to find me a Bezoar, where would you look?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Then tell me, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

As he said this, Snape had already walked up to Harry and stared into his emerald-green eyes.

Though he seemed to be looking at Harry, the one he missed was someone else.

In that instant, his face remained tense, but a faint tremor appeared in his cold eyes.

Silan watched with great interest from the side.

This was a classic performance, titled: The tattooed underworld spicy teacher before the prodigal's return versus the lawless active-duty scarred problem child.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said quietly. "Hermione obviously knows the answer. Why don't you ask her?"

Snape slowly moved his gaze away, turned, and glared at Hermione, who had been holding up her hand for so long she was practically about to stand.

"Put it down!"

"Mr. Silan Prewett. Oh... how could I have forgotten you? Such a prominent figure of our Slytherin."

After lingering on Harry's eyes for one more moment, Snape looked at Silan.

"Why don't you teach our famous Savior the answer?"

This involves me too?

Silan, who had been enjoying the drama, was suddenly called on. He straightened up and slowly began to speak.

"Powdered asphodel root and wormwood can be combined to make a powerful sleeping potion—the Draught of Living Death. A Bezoar is taken from a goat's stomach and is a stone that can counter poison."

"As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, collectively known as Aconite."

"It seems not everyone with fame is undeserving of it." After taking another subtle jab at Harry, Snape wore a mocking smile.

"Not bad. But anyone who had prepared by reading the textbook beforehand would know what a simple question that was. Only an idiot would fail to answer it."

"Five points to Slytherin."

Clearly not satisfied with merely speaking, Snape seized the opportunity to jab Harry again, then turned and stared at Hermione and Silan.

"But Prewett, perhaps you can explain why you are sitting with a Gryffindor student."

Several students beside them who had long disliked Silan and Hermione looked over gleefully.

At last, a professor had noticed the issue!

Silan raised his head and met Snape's gaze. "Professor Snape, Hermione is my friend. Are we breaking any school rules by studying together in class?"

"Don't you have any good friends in Gryffindor?"

His repeated questions made the corner of Snape's mouth twitch.

Good friends in Gryffindor?

Though he had suffered terribly at the hands of Gryffindor students during his school days, his best friend had also been a Gryffindor student.

Only... he had lost her himself.

He stood motionless in silence. It was not until the students began wondering whether Snape had been hit by a Petrification Charm that he finally squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth.

"Class!"

Snape had them work in pairs and distributed the ingredients.

He even deliberately placed Silan and Hermione in the same group.

To ensure that there were enough ingredients, Snape had prepared three portions for each group. Yet when he reached Silan, he gave them only two.

"I heard Slytherin has gained a spell prodigy. On the first day of school, he dueled spells with a classmate. So, Mr. Prewett, perhaps you are also a Potion Prodigy. Why not let me see what you can do?"

"Is being short one set of ingredients enough to trouble you?" Snape said.

Some students had already begun to jeer. "For the famous Mr. Prewett, this must be a piece of cake, right?"

"One less set of ingredients means one less chance. This Slytherin is probably going to make a fool of himself." Ron sounded somewhat gleeful.

Hermione frowned, worried. "Will two portions be enough? What if we fail..."

"It's fine. Two portions are enough." Silan took the ingredients and said with a smile, "With the two of us working together, how could we fail?"

Snape was right. He really did have the [Potion Prodigy] trait.

"That's true." Hermione regained her confidence.

Ever since before, the two of them had never failed when working together.

Not even once.

The students began brewing potions, while Snape dragged his black robes around the classroom. Whenever he saw a student make a mistake, he never spared them his criticism.

"Oh, heavens, I truly wish you would squeeze those barren brains of yours properly. If you could wring even the tiniest bit of wisdom from them, you would not make potions like this!"

"What is this? Syrup? Start over!"

"The color is not pure enough. Pour it out and start again!"

Like a great bat, Snape patrolled every corner of the classroom. Wherever he passed, cries of misery followed.

However, he was quite approving of Malfoy's method of boiling slugs.

But before everyone could look over, a plume of green smoke suddenly rose from Neville's cauldron, followed by a sizzling sound.

Almost instantly, his cauldron burned and warped out of shape. The potion inside violently exploded, splashing toward Silan.