Still, in all honesty, Will finally understood why the professors were so stern in class—even with a potion as simple as the Draught of Living Death, plenty of young wizards couldn't get it right.
Was this even remotely difficult?
As long as they followed the steps Will had explained, failure was practically impossible. Potions class demanded focus and care, along with an understanding of potion ingredients and how their properties changed. But the Draught of Living Death was a very simple potion. At most, they needed to watch when they stirred it.
Even so, a quarter of the young wizards had failed.
"Pay attention," Will said, waving his wand to clean out a cauldron that was spewing black foam. "Don't grind the valerian root into powder, or this might happen. I imagine you added the powdered valerian root before your asphodel root powder had fully blended with the wormwood infusion, correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Behrens." The young wizard nodded, looking a little frightened—he felt as though he were facing Snape.
"There's still enough time to start over." Will patted the young wizard on the shoulder. "Try again. I believe you can do it."
The young wizard looked up at Will's warm smile, and somehow, a surge of strength welled up inside him. I can do this!
Will patrolled the classroom as Snape did, correcting the young wizards' mistakes from time to time. Watching them work, he couldn't help feeling his blood pressure rise a little. It wasn't that he couldn't tolerate their mistakes, but when he saw them making such incredibly simple ones, he still ended up wearing the same expression as Snape.
This was especially apparent when he taught the third-years. Will felt that if this went on long enough, he would end up just like Snape.
Fortunately, Snape had