A Long-Overdue Sweep

The benefits of serving as Hogwarts' Potions professor did not end there.

According to Professor Slughorn, while teaching as usual, Severus could also brew and sell Potions normally. The title of Potions professor could even add extra value to his Potions.

There were also certain invisible perks.

Hogwarts had its own channels for purchasing Potions ingredients. If Severus bought the ingredients he needed along with the school's orders, he could enjoy the bulk-purchase discount.

And since those ingredients were for the students, the school would inevitably buy more than necessary to account for losses caused by mistakes and other factors. If there was anything left over in the end... the Potions professor could dispose of it as he saw fit.

He could either use it to brew Potions himself or simply resell it.

When Slughorn explained that, Severus stared at him in astonishment, while Slughorn was utterly unconcerned:

"If there are more Potions ingredients left over, doesn't that just prove I taught well? What's wrong with earning a little extra?"

The Mead he had drunk and the candied pineapples he had eaten at school over the years had not cost him a single Copper Knut! He had earned them all through his excellent teaching ability!

"That... actually sounds pretty good?"

After thinking for a while, Lily said:

"But if that happens, you'll have to stay at Hogwarts for a long time. We won't be able to keep in touch normally."

"If it really comes to that, there won't be much we can do... but nothing about the future is settled yet. Professor Slughorn only said that I could do it in the future. It's just one option."

Severus shrugged.

"And even if I do stay at Hogwarts as a Potions professor in the future, I couldn't possibly apply to take