Special Power

Aisling deliberately sent away the Slytherin first-years who had been following her around and stayed alone in the Potions classroom after class.

After all the students had left, Snape began checking the classwork from that lesson.

Snape inspected the potions each student had brewed. It was obvious that he was very dissatisfied with the final results of the lesson.

"Hmph—what a bunch of idiots. I repeated three times that flobberworms had to be handled before the flame was lit, yet so many of you still couldn't listen."

Snape could tell where most potions had gone wrong with a single glance. As he spoke, he graded every student's classwork.

Though Snape cursed viciously, he was actually a little more lenient with his grading than Professor McGonagall. Aside from the students who had completely turned their potions into a pot of sludge, most received average marks.

By the end of the lesson, only Roy and Aisling had received full marks from Snape. Even Cedric had lost some points.

After inspecting the final cauldron of potion, Snape turned around and found Aisling standing silently beside the podium, her expression respectful.

She was the most gifted student Slytherin had admitted this year. Snape had also heard something about what had happened in the common room last night. Whether it was her personality, talent, attitude, or family background, Snape could find nothing to dislike about Aisling.

"What is it, Grindelhill?"

When alone with Aisling, Snape's attitude was much gentler. The man who always wore a grim expression forced an ugly smile onto his face and asked Aisling, standing beside the podium, what she wanted.

"It's like this, Professor." Aisling took several potions in transparent crystal bottles from her pocket and respectfully handed them to Snape.

"These are potions I practiced brewing on my own over the summer. For some reason, no matter how many times I tried, I could never make them completely free of impurities."

Snape accepted the potions, uncorked them, and sniffed them with his large hooked nose. It was clear that he was quite satisfied with Aisling's skill in Potions.

After returning the potions to Aisling, Snape easily pointed out the flaw in her work.

"There is nothing wrong with your preparation or handling, but you cannot provide a stable output of magic while brewing. For a student your age, brewing complex potions will inevitably be affected by the limitations of your own magic. Still, I must say, well done, Grindelhill. You are unlike most of the fools in this school."

Snape had identified the problem with Aisling's potion after just one look. After all, he had faced the same issue himself when he had been in school. Was this some common affliction of geniuses?

"May I look at the potion Roy Smee brewed?"

Aisling was now completely determined to compete with Roy. The more she looked at his carefree manner, the more irritated she became. The key was that she always seemed to lose to him. Remembering Professor McGonagall's advice earlier that day, Aisling decided to utterly crush Roy in Potions.

"Be my guest." Snape handed Aisling the glass bottle containing Roy's potion.

"That's impossible—"

Aisling took the glass bottle and examined the potion inside through the dim light of the Potions classroom. She could be certain that, judging by sight alone, Roy's potion was as flawless as hers.

After pulling out the stopper, Aisling leaned in and smelled Roy's potion. Its scent was much fainter than that of a normal potion, and it carried a faint, distinctive fragrance.

"He clearly heated it for the wrong amount of time. Why did it still succeed?"

Snape noticed Aisling's impatience whenever Roy was involved and merely spoke four words in a gloomy voice.

"Ancient Magic."

"What?" Aisling had never heard of Ancient Magic.

"It is an extraordinarily rare talent, recorded only in a few very old books. This special power can strengthen the effect and power of all the holder's magic, including speeding up potion brewing and enhancing the effects of the potion."

Hearing that Roy possessed such a powerful force, Aisling was deeply shaken and could not help losing her composure. It was clear that Roy and Aisling seemed to have some sort of conflict, so Snape gave her a stern warning.

"I need to remind you, Grindelhill. Whatever conflict exists between you and Roy Smee, you would do well not to oppose him. You should know that Roy Smee is a student Dumbledore pays close attention to, while you..."

"You are Grindelwald's last relative. There are many things I need not spell out. There are also some things you would do well not to do under Dumbledore's nose."

Snape's words were filled with warning.

Aisling suppressed the agitation in her heart, thanked Snape, and prepared to leave.

"I understand. Thank you for your guidance. I do not bear the name Grindelwald. In fact, I have never even met that person in my entire life."

Aisling turned and pushed open the door to the Potions classroom. Just as she stepped outside, Snape's voice came from behind her.

"Saturday night at eight. Here. Do not tell anyone else. Study up on the Pepperup Potion beforehand."

Aisling turned her head and saw a rare trace of a smile on Snape's face.

Aisling gave him a deep bow, then turned and left.

Walking alone through the underground corridor, Aisling's face was terribly dark. She strode along quickly, muttering under her breath.

"I was never Grindelwald, and I will not be defeated like him."

At dinner, Roy ran into the Weasley twins. They had just returned from Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the excitement on their faces was impossible to suppress. Roy noticed that the Ravenclaw students who had attended the class with Gryffindor were equally thrilled.

"You have no idea. Our professor from America is fantastic. He had us fight Dark creatures directly. I also heard Professor Thorn made the third-years duel each other with jinxes. It would be great if we younger students could learn that stuff too."

Fred threw an arm around Roy's shoulders and chattered excitedly about how every student had performed against the Hinkypunk in Defense Against the Dark Arts that day.

Aisling returned from the Potions classroom. As she passed the Hufflepuff table, she glanced at Roy, who was enthusiastically chatting with Fred and George.

At the staff table, most of the teachers had chosen to eat dinner in the Great Hall that day. Dumbledore sat in the middle of the group, quietly discussing something with Professor McGonagall beside him and occasionally glancing toward Roy.

Aisling returned to the Slytherin table, where Marcus Flint was bragging to the surrounding students about his Quidditch skills.

"Sigh—I mean, most students are still curled up at home playing toy Quidditch, while my parents have already taken me to the Tutshill Tornados' training grounds to train with real Quidditch players. It's just—you know."

"Jiahao."

Aisling dropped heavily into the seat across from Flint. She did not look to be in a good mood, and Flint immediately shut his mouth.

Watching Flint make such a fool of himself, Aisling now more or less understood what Roy had meant by "Jiahao."