Potions and the Dungeons

Early in the morning, at the long tables in the Great Hall.

Su Yu lay in Daphne's arms because he had not slept well last night.

Who would have thought that Gemma Farley, that woman, had no sense of fair play and launched a sneak attack on an innocent young man like him in the middle of the night?

Could you imagine it? Waking up in the middle of the night to find an incomparably beautiful, mature woman with seductive eyes and sexy red lips already straddling your bed, looking like she wanted to devour you—you would have done what? Su Yu had planned to enjoy it if he could not resist, but who knew the Nine-Tailed Fox would sweep her tail and send Sister Fa flying, leaving her unconscious. Su Yu had no choice but to pick Sister Fa up and put her back in bed before trying to go back to sleep himself. But the Nine-Tailed Fox absolutely refused. So he had spent the whole night lying awake on the dormitory sofa.

Now, Su Yu lay in Daphne's arms and did not even feel like eating.

Daphne said nothing. She simply held him and patted his back, wanting him to sleep more peacefully. Her movements were gentle, her palm landing softly on his back again and again. The Nine-Tailed Fox lay on the tabletop with a slice of cheesecake before her, but she did not eat it. She merely rested her chin on her paws and watched Su Yu with amber eyes, the tip of her tail swaying lightly across the table.

Su Yu closed his eyes. Daphne's arms were soft and carried a faint soapy scent, like freshly washed clothes. He had only meant to rest his eyes for a moment, but his breathing gradually grew deeper and steadier. His shoulders slowly relaxed, and his fingers slipped from Daphne's sleeve.

It was not until class was about to begin that Daphne gently shook his shoulder.

"Su Yu, it's time to go."

Su Yu lifted his head groggily and rubbed his eyes. His weight had left a patch of wrinkles in Daphne's robes, and she was smoothing them out with her hand, her expression calm as though nothing had happened.

"What time is it?" Su Yu asked.

"Class is about to start. Potions first, in the dungeons."

Su Yu stood and scooped the Nine-Tailed Fox off the table. She stretched lazily in his arms, draped a paw over his shoulder, and yawned.

Everyone headed to the Potions classroom together.

The Potions classroom was located in the dungeons beneath the castle. The farther down they went, the colder the air became. Niches lined the classroom walls, filled with glass jars containing preserved animal corpses—octopus tentacles soaked in yellow-green liquid, the eyeballs of some unknown creature, and several clumps of things Su Yu could not identify. The younger students hunched their shoulders as they walked in, and no one spoke.

The dungeons were far colder than the upper parts of the castle, gloomy and terrifying enough to make one's skin crawl.

Su Yu found a seat near the back, with Daphne beside him. The Nine-Tailed Fox lay on the desk, glanced at the jars around them, then buried her face in her paws.

Before long, Professor Snape swept into the room like a gust of wind.

His black robes billowed behind him as he strode swiftly forward. When he reached the front, he spun sharply around, the hem of his robes tracing an arc through the air. His black, greasy hair hung beside his face like two curtains. His eyes were black as well—cold and hollow, bringing to mind deep, dark tunnels. His gaze passed over every student's face like an icy blade.

The classroom was so quiet that everyone could hear their own heartbeat.

He picked up the register and began calling names.

When Snape called Harry Potter's name, he slowly raised his head and let his gaze fall upon Harry's face.

"Ah, yes," he murmured softly. "Harry Potter. Our school's newest... celebrity."

Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, covered their mouths and snickered.

Snape continued taking attendance. Once he had finished, he set the register on the desk, braced both hands against its surface, and looked up at the class.

His gaze swept across every face once again.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Snape said.

His voice was low, almost a whisper, yet everyone heard every word clearly. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape possessed a mysterious power that could make students keep quiet with ease.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I do not expect you will truly understand the beauty of potion-making. Imagine it: ingredients simmering in a great cauldron, potions slowly bubbling as white vapors curl into the air... and the liquid flowing through the veins of the human body, a liquid of incomparably exquisite power... enough to intoxicate your heart and enthrall every one of your senses..."

He paused.

"I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even... store death... provided you are not as foolish as the bunch of idiots I have taught before."

After Snape's speech, the classroom became even quieter.

It was Gryffindor and Slytherin's first class together. Hermione, seated beside Su Yu, sat ramrod straight, with only the very edge of her bottom touching the chair, as if that could prove to Snape that she was certainly no idiot.

"Potter!"

Snape suddenly called Harry to his feet.

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

Powdered what added to an infusion of what? Harry stole a glance at Ron, who looked just as confused as he was. Hermione, however, frantically raised her hand high. Her arm stretched straight toward the ceiling, and she was nearly standing up from her chair.

"I don't know, sir," Harry answered quietly.

Snape curled his lip and gave a contemptuous little laugh.

"Tsk, tsk. Fame clearly isn't everything."

He completely ignored Hermione's raised hand.

"Very well, another question. If I asked you to find me a Bezoar, where would you look first?"

Hermione raised her hand as high as possible, so high that it seemed about to leave her body and fly into the air. But Harry did not have the faintest idea what a Bezoar was. He tried his hardest not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking all over with laughter.

"I don't know, sir."

"Do you never bother preparing before class? Hmm, Potter?"

Harry did his best to face those cold eyes.

Snape still ignored Hermione's trembling hand.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

This time, Hermione stood up. Her right hand was practically reaching the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," Harry said quietly. "But I think Hermione does. Why don't you ask her?"

Several students burst into laughter. Harry glanced at Ron, who winked at him. Snape, however, was not pleased in the slightest.

"Sit down," Snape said, glaring at Harry.

"As for the questions I just asked—root of asphodel mixed with wormwood makes a powerful sleeping potion known as Death's Web. A Bezoar is a stone found in a goat's stomach and is an antidote to many poisons. And monkshood and wolfsbane are the same plant, both common names for aconite. Well? Why aren't you writing this down?"

The dungeon immediately erupted into movement as everyone hurriedly pulled out quills and parchment.

Snape added, "Potter, for your disrespectful retort to a teacher, I have decided to deduct one point."

The first class passed in such boredom that Su Yu felt as if he had watched a movie—a tedious melodrama.

But there was more bad news: the second class was Potions too.

They had two classes that morning, both of them Potions.

Snape had the students pair up and taught them how to mix several simple herbs to treat burns.

After all, Hermione was a Gryffindor. She could not pair up with Su Yu and could only reluctantly return to the Gryffindor side. Before she left, she glanced at Su Yu and moved her lips as if she wanted to say something.

Naturally, Su Yu paired up with Daphne.

Snape paced around the dungeon in his voluminous black robes, watching them weigh dried nettles and crushed snake fangs. His steps were slow, every one of them silent, like a snake gliding through the shadows. Whenever he stopped beside someone, that student's body would unconsciously tense.

Almost everyone got scolded.

"These are dried nettles, not hay—where are your eyes?"

"Snake fangs must be crushed, not smashed—are you a savage?"

"The fire is too high—are you cooking a meal or brewing a potion?"

Only Malfoy and Daphne escaped criticism. Snape seemed to like Malfoy somewhat, telling everyone to watch carefully how Malfoy did things. When acidic green mist rose from the simmering slug horns with a hiss, Malfoy handled it so well!

Su Yu followed Daphne's steps one by one. He did not know much about Potions, but he was neither blind nor crippled—whatever Daphne did, he did; however much she added, he added; however many times she stirred, he stirred. Their progress was neither fast nor slow. The potion in their cauldron gradually turned pale blue, and when Snape passed by and glanced at it, he said nothing.

Neville's group, however, ran into trouble.

He was paired with Seamus. Somehow, Neville managed to burn through Seamus's cauldron. Black smoke first rose from the bottom, then—Bang!—a crack split open underneath it. Scalding potion poured through the crack and streamed down the table, burning hole after hole through the students' shoes. Before long, many students had climbed onto their desks.

Neville did not manage to jump onto a table in time. He was frozen with terror, standing perfectly still as the cauldron's boiling contents were about to spill all over him—

A sheet of sand blocked Neville's path.

Sand surged from Su Yu's sleeve and silently spread into a thin barrier before Neville. The scalding potion struck the wall of sand with a hiss, then flowed around its curved surface and dripped onto the floor. Neville stood there, white as a sheet and trembling at the lips, but not a single drop of potion touched him.

"Idiot!" Snape roared, flicking his wand and cleaning up the splattered potion on the floor.

He walked over to Neville and looked down at the terrified child.

"Did you put the porcupine quills in before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville was so frightened that he began to sob. Huge tears rolled down his cheeks, his nose ran, and his whole body shook like a leaf in the wind.

Snape turned around and stared at Harry and Ron, who sat beside Neville. His eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"You—Potter—why did you not tell Neville that porcupine quills must not be added while brewing this potion? You thought that if he made a mistake, you would get a good show, didn't you?"

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Snape gave him no chance.

"I am deducting another point from you!"

Then he changed the subject and looked at Su Yu.

"Because of Su Yu's quick thinking in saving a fellow student, Slytherin receives five points!"

At eleven o'clock, they left the dungeons.

Su Yu was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. Last night's insomnia, combined with the dungeon's chill, had left him feeling hollowed out. His steps were unsteady, and his eyes were half-closed.

He and Daphne went to the Great Hall, where he asked her to get him a few hamburgers, fried chicken, and cola.

"I'm going back to sleep," Su Yu said.

Daphne looked at him without saying things like, "You haven't eaten yet." She merely nodded, wrapped the hamburgers and fried chicken in paper, and put them in a small bag.

"Go back and sleep first," she said. "I'll bring your food along, and you can eat when you wake up. But remember, you still have two classes this afternoon—Charms and Herbology."

"Mm."

"I'll wake you up early."

Su Yu nodded, turned, and left with the Nine-Tailed Fox in his arms.

Daphne stood in the Great Hall and watched his back disappear in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room. Then she looked down at the small bag in her hands, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

At one-thirty, Daphne knocked on the door to Su Yu's dormitory.

The Nine-Tailed Fox opened it. She hooked the handle with her tail and pulled, opening the door before squatting in the doorway and looking at Daphne with amber eyes.

Su Yu was already up and washing.

The Nine-Tailed Fox turned and walked inside, with Daphne following behind. She placed the small bag on the table. Inside were the hamburgers and fried chicken from lunch, along with a cup of cola—it was no longer cold, but still drinkable.

By the time Su Yu came out of the washroom, his hair was combed and his robes were on. He looked much better than he had in the morning—his eyes were open, and some color had returned to his face.

"Let's go," he said, pulling out a hamburger from the bag and taking a bite as he walked.

Su Yu was in much better shape on the way. He hurried toward the Charms classroom while eating his hamburger. The Nine-Tailed Fox lay in his arms, occasionally lifting her head to glance at the hamburger in his hand before resting it again.

Professor Flitwick taught their Charms class.

He was a very, very small wizard, so short that only the top of his head showed above the lectern. He had piled a stack of books beside it and had to stand on them during class to see over his desk. His voice was shrill but enthusiastic, and his hands constantly gestured when he spoke, like an excited little bird.

Su Yu liked listening to his lessons.

Professor Flitwick did not coldly berate students like Snape, nor was he so stern that one could barely breathe, like Professor McGonagall. He smiled, clapped, and bounced around behind the lectern on tiptoe. When a Ravenclaw girl successfully cast the Unlocking Charm, he clapped his hands and said, "Good, good, good," awarding Ravenclaw ten points.

Su Yu leaned back in his chair, twirling his wand as he watched Professor Flitwick gesture animatedly behind the lectern.

This was what class was supposed to be like.