The entire basement fell silent in an instant.
Snape's obsidian eyes narrowed sharply, fixing Hermione with an unrelenting stare.
This question... was utterly absurd.
These two ingredients had nothing whatsoever to do with each other. In every known potions text, they belonged to incompatible categories.
But the place name "the Apennine Mountains in Italy" struck his most sensitive nerve with the precision of a needle.
That was where Douglas and Lupin had dealt with Fenrir Greyback.
Out of his professional instincts as a top Potions Master, and his deep wariness of Douglas's unconventional ways, Snape did not immediately dismiss it with vicious words as he usually did.
He merely said slowly, in an icy voice:
"Utter nonsense. Five points from Gryffindor for wasting class time."
He paused, then added:
"After class, Miss Granger, write me a twelve-inch essay on why the properties of these two potion ingredients are completely incompatible."
Hermione sat down in "disappointment," but where no one else could see, the corners of her mouth curved into a victorious smile.
She had achieved her aim. That assignment proved precisely that Snape had taken this seriously.
After Defense Against Dark Magic, Harry "happened to run into" Professor Moody at a corner in the corridor.
"Well done, Harry."
Moody clapped him heavily on the shoulder, his wildly revolving Magical Eye fixed on Harry, an approving smile appearing on his face.
"Never mind those flashy theories. True strength always comes from vigilance."
Deep inside, however, a surge of wild joy was rising:
The bigger the smokescreen these brats create, the better! The more outrageous, the better! It'll provide perfect cover for my real operation next.
Hermione's "academic question" spread through the entire Castle as though it had sprouted wings.
All of Ravenclaw was fiercely debating the feasibility of "ecological resonance" theory,