Potions and Alchemy

"Boss, George, help me!"

Lee Jordan's voice came from beside him.

Gerald turned and saw Lee Jordan wobbling on his broom a little over a meter above the ground.

His body tilted to the left, and his broom tilted with him. He looked ready to slide off at any moment.

"Lean a little to the right. Keep your weight centered."

Lee Jordan tried adjusting his balance. His broom did steady somewhat, but it still wobbled slightly.

"Don't be nervous. The more nervous you are, the less steady your broom will be," Gerald continued.

"I'm not nervous!" Lee Jordan's voice trembled.

Gerald couldn't help laughing at the sight of him.

"All right, you're not nervous. But if you don't relax soon, your broom's going to take you into the Forbidden Forest."

Lee Jordan looked down and saw his broom drifting slowly toward the Forbidden Forest. Startled, he hastily leaned to the right, and the broom slowly turned back.

Fred and George were already flying about a meter above the ground.

They hovered side by side, looking as relaxed as if they were sitting on a sofa.

"George, how about a race?" Fred gave his twin brother a challenging look.

"What kind?"

"First one to fly a lap around the Black Lake."

"You're going to lose."

They exchanged a look, then leaned forward and accelerated together, their brooms shooting off like arrows from a bow.

"Come back, Mr. Weasleys! I haven't told you to fly that fast yet!"

They pretended not to hear and kept flying.

Madam Hooch sighed helplessly.

With about twenty minutes left in flying class, Madam Hooch finally abandoned her plan to have everyone take it slowly.

Fred and George had already returned from the Black Lake, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"There's a flock of swans on the southern shore of the Black Lake!" Fred hopped off his broom and shouted excitedly.

"White ones, at least twenty! They all took off when they saw us. You should've seen-"

"All right, all right."

Madam Hooch waved them back into line.

"The rest of you can try flying a short distance too. Don't go too far. Stay where I can see you."

Gerald mounted his broom again, rose to about three meters, then leaned forward and began flying around the grounds.

The wind swept past his ears, lifting his spirits.

He flew a good three or four laps before landing.

Lee Jordan came over as he touched down.

"Boss, was that really your first time flying?"

"It really was."

"So this is what a genius looks like? I've got to hand it to you."

"Just the basics. No applause needed."

"What?"

"I mean, it wasn't that hard to begin with."

"???"

Lee Jordan couldn't help rolling his eyes.

Just then, the bell rang.

Fred and George flew back from the distance, their hair now a pair of thoroughly disheveled red bird's nests.

The five of them returned their brooms to the edge of the grounds and headed across the lawn toward the castle.

They had the afternoon free, with no classes.

That meant Gerald had an entire half day to spend however he liked.

Gerald silently worked out his plans.

He hadn't visited the Hogwarts library yet.

Entering the Restricted Section required a professor's signature, but the books in the ordinary section would keep him busy for a while.

After that, he would use the Ironwire Vine to brew the Foundation-Stabilizing Liquid.

Gerald had even decided where to brew it: Hagrid's place. Hagrid already knew what it was for, anyway.

Brewing it in front of him would help put his doubts to rest, and Gerald wouldn't need an excuse like looking for a pet on future visits.

"Gerald, got any plans for the afternoon?"

As he was thinking, Fred draped an arm over his shoulders.

"I want to check out the library."

"The library? We've only been at school a little over a week. We don't even have homework yet. What are you going to the library for?"

"To find some fun."

"What fun could you possibly find in a library?"

"That's where you're clueless. There are girls from every house in the library," Lee Jordan said, leaning over with a sleazy grin.

"Oh? Didn't see that coming. You're interested in girls too, Gerald?"

George grinned at that as well.

"Didn't you say girls would only slow down your wand draw?"

Gerald pushed their arms away and quickened his pace.

"Are you coming or not? If not, I'm going ahead."

Fred and George exchanged a look and shook their heads together.

"The four of us agreed to check out the Quidditch training grounds."

"Apparently, the Gryffindor team is practicing this afternoon. Oliver Wood will be there too," Kenneth Towler added.

He rarely spoke, but he was surprisingly interested in Quidditch.

"Did you know? Wood's incredibly fast."

"We're trying out for the team next year, so we need to start preparing now."

A flicker of anticipation appeared in George's eyes before he changed tack.

"You're so talented. Are you sure you don't want to have a look?"

Gerald shook his head.

Oliver Wood, huh?

Gerald had a fairly good impression of him.

Although he was a Gryffindor, he showed none of their recklessness or impulsiveness.

He was a decent person.

After eating lunch together in the Great Hall, the five of them parted at the entrance.

Fred, George, and the other two headed for the west-side door, while Gerald went upstairs alone to the second floor and made his way toward the library.

He pushed open the door and entered. The library was much larger than he had imagined.

A rough glance suggested there were at least a thousand bookshelves inside.

Rows of towering shelves stretched all the way to the ceiling, every one densely packed with books.

Madam Pince stood hunched behind the lending desk, examining the spine of a thick book through an enormous magnifying glass.

She looked up over the magnifying glass, glanced at Gerald, then lowered her head and resumed her inspection.

Gerald didn't disturb her. He headed straight between the bookshelves.

He was looking for the potions and herbology sections.

Of course, it would be even better if he could search the Restricted Section for ancient magic.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't

found a legitimate reason to ask a professor to sign a permission slip for him.

-Never mind. There'll be plenty of chances later.

Gerald quickly dismissed the thought.

His main reason for visiting the library today was to answer one question: just how much overlap was there between potions and alchemy?

Today's Cure for Boils had given him a strong indication.

The underlying principles of potions and alchemy were highly similar.

The difference was that wizards might rely on magical power and mental strength when brewing potions, whereas alchemy introduced the concept of spiritual energy.

What would happen if he added a stalk or two of spiritual herbs while brewing a potion?

Gerald didn't know.

But the question was worth taking the time to explore.

He spent about half an hour weaving between the shelves and found four books: Advanced Potion-Making, Principles of Potions, The Interaction Between Herbology and Potions, and a slim booklet titled Eastern Herbology Studies.

The last book surprised him a little.

Eastern Herbology Studies.

He had found it tucked into a corner on the highest shelf of a bookcase. A layer of dust coated its spine, and it looked as though no one had opened it in a long time.

He opened it to the contents page and found several herbs he recognized.

Ginseng, lingzhi, fo-ti...

Their names were all given in English translation, and the descriptions beneath them were vague, clearly cobbled together from secondhand sources.

But at least it showed that someone in the wizarding world was interested in this field.

I'm not alone on this path.