"Before we begin, can anyone tell me what this is?"
Slughorn pointed to the smallest cauldron on the table, which held a liquid like molten gold.
"Does nobody know?" Slughorn turned back with a smile and scanned the room. Everyone remained silent; apparently, nobody recognized it.
Slughorn glanced at Will, who smiled back at him. He had no intention of calling on Will—having Will attend the class was already enough to leave the other students hopelessly outmatched.
"Miss Granger, why don't you take another guess?"
Slughorn wanted to see just how much Miss Granger knew.
"Hmm..." Hermione frowned deeply, seemingly searching through everything she knew. "Is this Felix Felicis?"
"Oh, yes. Another five points to Gryffindor." Slughorn clapped his hands. "Your knowledge of potions is remarkable, Miss Granger.
"Now, we're going to start brewing potions. I won't be teaching you directly today. You'll brew the Euphoria Draught independently, so I can see how solid your grounding in potions is.
"I hope everyone gives it their very best, because I'll reward the winner with a bottle of Felix Felicis!"
Then Slughorn noticed the students deflate all at once, with quite a few turning to look at Will.
Most of them seemed to accept in an instant that they had no chance of winning the Felix Felicis.
Often, living in the same era as a genius was a misfortune in itself.
"Now, everyone, what's the matter?" Slughorn sounded rather helpless. "I won't be giving it to Mr. Behrens. That would be terribly unfair.
"I suppose you don't yet know that he's one of the few potion-makers in England capable of brewing Felix Felicis?
"He has no need for it as a reward from me. He can brew it himself."
After hearing that, the students were too stunned to speak for a long