Understanding Twisted Knowledge!

Time flew. On the day before Christmas break, Will sat by the fire, leisurely reading material from the Potion Conversion School. Notifications flickered before his eyes now and then.

[You gained new spell knowledge. Charms experience +1]

[You gained new potion knowledge. Potions experience +1]

The gains were decent, but he still hadn't acquired any more [Twisted Knowledge] lately. He had already ruled out several theories.

For instance, he had suspected that bloody, inhumane knowledge counted as twisted. Yet he had recently read plenty of material on the Potion Conversion School's gruesome experiments without gaining any. Worse, some of it contained false information, so he couldn't even earn experience from it. It had wasted a lot of his time.

With the break approaching, Will eased up. He had plenty of time; he didn't need to work himself to the bone becoming some great wizard in his first six months.

To his surprise, he had noticed Quirrell limping these past few days, too. Fluffy must have bitten him as well. Will just didn't know why Quirrell had tried to get past Fluffy so early. As he recalled, Quirrell was supposed to learn how to subdue him when he gave Hagrid that dragon egg.

"Have you packed?" Sylvia asked as she entered the Room of Requirement with Hermione and Neville.

Will pointed to the trunk at the foot of his bed. "Everything's in there."

He practically lived in the Room of Requirement now. It was far more comfortable than the Slytherin Common Room, with not just a cozy bed but several soft, oversized sofas and a large glass coffee table. The fireplace was warm and bright. For the past week, Will had even had Anco the House-elf bring him tea and snacks every day, and sometimes ate all three meals there.

"Give me your address so I can write to you over Christmas." Sylvia settled onto her usual sofa and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Most of Hogwarts Castle was nowhere near this cozy.

She casually picked up the teapot beside Will and poured hot tea for everyone who had just arrived.

"Yeah, Will. My grandmother's been wanting to thank you for teaching me spells," Neville said. He was still timid, but he had improved a lot since the start of term. He had mastered the Summoning Charm and learned quite a few first-year spells from Will. In Charms, he was now among the better students.

"We've known each other for years, and I still don't know where you live," Hermione said. Her gaze roamed over the stacks on Will's desk. She discovered she couldn't make heads or tails of theories like the "Potion Conversion School," "Potion Improvement Theory," and "Potion Enhancement Theory." She knew every word, but put together, they made no sense to her.

And because the materials came from the Restricted Section, she couldn't read them herself. That only frustrated Hermione more. She was always coming in second. If she hadn't known how the other young wizards were doing, she might have developed an anxiety disorder.

"I've got things to do over Christmas, so I might not be home to receive your letters. Give me your addresses instead, and I'll contact you." Will set down the material, stretched, and glanced at Sylvia to signal that he wanted another cup of hot tea.

The four of them sipped tea and chatted beside the toasty fireplace. The three visitors wrote down their addresses for Will, and Neville brought out a set of Wizard's Chess.

"I've seen Harry and Ron playing in the common room a lot lately, so I thought you might like it," he explained.

"We've got nothing else to do. Let's play for a while," Sylvia urged Will. She had watched him bury himself in those Restricted Section materials for days. She knew the section held plenty of strange, misleading things, and she couldn't help worrying.

Will spent a rare, relaxing afternoon with them. He had never played chess, though, and was hopeless at it. His games were painful to watch, while Hermione won quite a few times.

That evening, Will returned the materials to the library, and the group went to the dining hall for dinner. He happened to spot Harry at the Gryffindor table and suddenly remembered that Harry's Detention should be ending in the next few days.

An idea struck him. After dinner, Will headed straight for Snape's office.

"Berens, if you're here to ask about the Potion Conversion School's theories, you can leave," Snape said from behind his desk. One glance at Will, and he was already showing him the door.

Snape clearly disliked the school's theories. Will had visited him before, but Snape had always fobbed him off with simple chores. And Will could only gain so much experience from repetitive work.

Today, though, Snape had more to say.

"I've told you before: Potions is the exact science and strict craft of brewing. It comes from a great cauldron simmering over a low fire. The wondrous liquid that flows through the veins holds marvelous magic capable of stirring the soul and clouding the mind. It does not come from waving a wand like a fool and trying to imitate a potion with magic. That is stupidity, a loss of reverence for Potions. Bamptus may have conducted that foolish Felix Felicis experiment, but he was right when he said, 'Potions are nature's gift.'" Snape rose and paced through his office, past shelves crowded with bottles and jars.

"Potions and spells were never the same thing, yet they insist on lumping them together. This so-called potion conversion and potion improvement are absurd. Potions are Potions." Snape held the theory of Potions' primacy in the highest regard. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had become a Potions Master.

"The liquid imbued with magic is the essence of a potion." Snape's words reminded Will of what he had read in a textbook he'd bought: the essence of a potion was a liquid imbued with magic.

"Then, Professor, could I say that magic itself is what matters?" Will thought that had to be right. Whether it was a potion or a spell, the key was magic itself, not the form it took.

Professor Flitwick had already taught that a spell was a specific structure of magic, while Snape had repeatedly stressed that a potion was a liquid containing magic.

I got so caught up in all the different outward forms in the world of Harry Potter that I overlooked what they really were: changes in magic. So-called potion conversion is just a matter of combining different forms of magic and transforming them!

Except the magic in potions did not come from wizards. It was extracted from magical materials.

Another thought suddenly flashed through Will's mind.

If I can conjure those materials with Transfiguration, could a potion made from them become a real potion?

What if I brew a potion using Transfiguration and spells?

Can Transfiguration affect my own magic? Probably not. But what if I turn water into the materials and liquids, then use spells to imitate a cauldron and its heat, and brew a potion according to a real recipe...

Would that be a real potion?

In theory, it could work. Putting it into practice would be extremely difficult.

Just as Will reached that thought, a notification appeared.

[You comprehended twisted knowledge. Your Charms, Potions, and Transfiguration experience gains increased by 5%!]