It All Matched Up!

It had to be admitted that Neville's cauldron contained a genuine Boil Potion.

Anyone splashed by it would break out in boils all over their skin. It was also highly acidic; the splattered potion had even burned holes through several students' shoes.

"It might not be good enough as a healing potion, but it would make a decent weapon."

Thinking this, Silan pulled Hermione back a step.

The two of them swung their wands at the same time.

"Scourgify!"

"Idiot!" Snape roared at Neville. "I suppose you put the porcupine quills in without taking the cauldron off the fire first, didn't you?"

Neville was terrified. With boils all over his face, he could not even speak.

"Take him to the hospital wing!" Snape turned around and snapped at Seamus.

"Potter! Why didn't you tell him not to add the porcupine quills?"

Snape could drag Harry into anything.

"Do you think his mistake makes you look better? Gryffindor loses another point because of you!"

No one in the classroom dared to speak. Nearly everyone stared blankly at Snape like frightened chicks.

"What are you all standing around for? Waiting for me to brew your potions for you?"

Amid Snape's furious yelling, everyone else hurried back to work.

"Silan, we'll probably have to throw this batch away." Hermione looked grimly at the cauldron in front of them.

Some potion that had splashed out of Neville's cauldron must have landed in theirs, ruining their entire batch.

They only had one set of ingredients left now.

Snape stood at the front of the classroom, looking down at them without any intention of giving them more ingredients.

The students who had gathered before class to badmouth Silan were also watching them with gloating expressions.

They were secretly hoping their cauldron would suddenly explode and cover both their faces in boils.

"Looks like we only have one chance." Silan glanced at Snape.

"Can we succeed?" Hermione asked.

"With you here, we can." Silan handed her the tools on the table. "Let's prepare the ingredients together."

Boil Potion was only a simple potion. The most important parts were controlling the heat and adding the ingredients at the right time.

He had already memorized all of that while previewing the textbook. Now, all they needed to do was prepare the ingredients properly.

Silan ground the snake fangs into powder.

Hermione used tweezers to pick up the slugs and put them into the cauldron to boil, while carefully controlling the heat with her wand.

After she removed the boiled slugs, Silan poured out the water from the cauldron and heated it again.

Meanwhile, Hermione finely chopped the dried nettles and set them aside.

White steam soon began rising from the water in the cauldron.

Seizing the right moment, Silan added the powdered snake fangs and nettles. After stirring them according to the method in the textbook, the nettles and snake fang powder quickly dissolved together.

The potion in the cauldron also turned black.

At that moment, another cloud of green smoke rose in the classroom. Someone shouted, "Hiss... get back!"

Several students howled as splattered potion burned them.

When Snape saw that they were Slytherin students, his expression immediately darkened further.

Having such brainless idiots in his own house disgusted him.

If they had not been Slytherin students, he would have deducted a massive number of points already.

Two accidents in a row left the remaining students deeply uneasy, and even Hermione could not help worrying.

After all, they only had one set of ingredients left. There was no room for error.

If they failed...

Hermione shook her head, driving the messy thoughts from her mind, and carefully lifted the cauldron off the fire.

"Be careful, Silan."

"Don't worry."

Silan stared at the potion in the cauldron when an idea suddenly came to him. Instead of immediately adding the porcupine quills as described in the textbook, he paused.

"What's wrong, Silan? The book says we need to add the porcupine quills quickly." Hermione urged anxiously.

After calmly counting to three in his head, Silan added two porcupine quills and stirred according to the textbook's instructions.

The moment he finished stirring, the potion in the cauldron changed instantly.

Pink smoke rose from the cauldron, and the potion changed from a deep black to dark green.

"Does this count as success?" Hermione extinguished the fire beneath the cauldron stand and set the cauldron back onto the rack.

Silan flipped through the textbook and found the description of Boil Potion. "Pink smoke, dark green potion. That should be right."

[Successfully brewed a perfect Boil Potion]

[Potion Prodigy: Proficiency +2]

The two of them poured the finished potion into a vial. Hermione held it up before her eyes for a close look, comparing it with the textbook's description, and could not help exclaiming, "We did it! We succeeded on our first try!"

At the other end of the classroom, Snape had just reduced several students to tears. Seeing that the two of them seemed to have finished, he strode over and carefully inspected the cauldron, which still contained a little residue.

Brewing a perfect Boil Potion was effortless for a potion master like Snape.

But many first-years had never encountered potions before entering Hogwarts. Even if they succeeded, the quality of their potion was usually far from satisfactory.

Yet Silan and Hermione had brewed a Boil Potion that could be called perfect.

This surprised Snape somewhat.

Hermione clutched the potion vial tightly, feeling nervous.

Since class had begun, Snape had already sent two groups of students away and made several people cry.

If the potion she and Silan had brewed did not meet the standard, they would probably receive a vicious scolding too.

"Not bad. Barely passable." Snape raised his head and reluctantly dragged out the words. "One point—each."

The other students who heard this instantly erupted.

Everyone knew Snape never awarded points to Gryffindor students.

Yet today, he had made an exception!

Although it was only one point, it had broken the usual rules.

This was another huge piece of news!

The Slytherin students all watched Silan with sour expressions.

They had originally wanted to use Snape's authority to dampen his spirit, but they never expected Silan to have such talent for potions as well.

It made them feel rather defeated.

Chris squeezed deeper into the crowd, trying to make himself less conspicuous. It did not do much good, considering he wore an extremely conspicuous pointed hat.

He felt somewhat relieved.

Fortunately, he had followed what Silan's note said earlier.

Malfoy glared at Silan angrily.

His potion was finished too, but he had been a step slower than Silan, so Snape had barely noticed him.

"Thank you, Professor Snape." Silan smiled as he thanked him.

"You two worked well together."

"It was all Hermione's credit. Her handling of the ingredients was perfect." Silan pulled Hermione in front of himself. "If I hadn't worked with her, I couldn't have brewed it at all."

"No, Silan and I prepared the ingredients together, and he controlled the heat," Hermione hurriedly said. "It wasn't all my credit."

Professor Snape's gaze shifted from Silan to Hermione. His lips twitched as he was about to say something sarcastic.

But the words suddenly stopped at his lips.

He knew Hermione was a very clever girl.

Clever and hardworking, just like Lily had been...

At that thought, Snape suddenly clenched his teeth, and his heart gave a violent tremor.

He suddenly realized that, in some ways, the Hermione before him was remarkably similar to Lily.

Blood status, house, and talent...

Once that thought appeared, it occupied Snape's mind like Devil's Snare, wrapping tightly around him and making it impossible for him to break free.

Snape turned his gaze away with some difficulty.

But as his view shifted, the figures of Silan and Hermione suddenly entered his sight again.

His mind suffered an even more violent shock.

Behind these two children, he suddenly saw two other figures.

One was himself. The other was the person he thought of day and night, the one he could never forget.

Lily and Hermione were far too alike.

Both had two Muggle parents, both were intelligent, and both were Gryffindors.

He and Silan were far too alike as well.

Both were half-bloods, both had talent for potions, and both were Slytherins.

It all matched up!

Every bit of it matched up!

His thoughts became a tangled mess. He abruptly turned away, no longer daring to look at the two children.

"For your cooperation... five more points each." Snape tried his best to keep his voice calm.

He thought, If I had never said those irreparable words, Lily and I might have been like Silan and Hermione are now...

Even though he knew it was utterly impossible, Snape still projected his hopes onto Silan and Hermione.

The surrounding students were even more bewildered when they heard Snape's words.

In a single class, Professor Snape had awarded Gryffindor six points!

Six points!

The same thought arose in everyone's mind: If I told anyone else about this, they would definitely think I'd gone mad!

"Oh, now those two will be even more pleased with themselves." Ron sounded indignant. "I really wish this guy wasn't my cousin. Just being associated with a Slytherin makes me feel uncomfortable all over."

As Snape walked past him, he saw Harry's features, which looked so much like his father's, and immediately felt sickened.

"Mr. Weasley! Since you have time to talk, why aren't you brewing your potion?" Snape shouted. "Gryffindor loses five points!"

Well then, points had been added first and deducted afterward. Didn't that just widen the gap?

Ron was unlucky too. Not only was he sitting beside Harry, but he had also been badmouthing Hermione to Harry.

Didn't that make Snape identify with the situation even more?