Animagus Potions Are So Disgusting That Someone Can Actually Drink Them?

Animagus Potions Are So Disgusting That Someone Can Actually Drink Them?

Bell looked at Hermione strangely, unable to understand why the Little Witch was so furious. How he chose to do things and when he completed his transformation should have been his own business, shouldn't they? What did any of it have to do with Hermione?

"Hermione, everyone has different preferences. I don't like drawing attention to myself. Compared to that, I'd rather sit alone and read quietly. That's why I didn't complete the transformation right away," Bell explained calmly. "Honestly, I don't think there was anything wrong with what I did, so why are you so angry?"

Hearing Bell's unexpected answer, Hermione was left speechless.

Now that she had calmed down and thought it over carefully, she did not quite understand what she had been thinking earlier either.

Why was I angry again?

The briefly amnesiac Little Witch felt thoroughly confused. Whatever Bell wanted to do was his freedom. It really seemed to have nothing to do with her.

Ever since coming to Hogwarts, Hermione had felt that something was off about herself. Maybe it was because this was her first time studying so far away from home? Maybe it was because this was the first time she had felt herself losing to someone else in her studies? Maybe it was because what happened after she returned to the dormitory last night had made her realize the enormous gap between reality and imagination? In any case, after waking up that morning, Hermione barely recognized herself.

Hermione took a deep breath and apologized to Bell. "I'm sorry, Bell. I... I don't know how to explain it, I..."

"All right, I understand, Hermione."

Seeing how flustered the Little Witch was, Bell interrupted her.

"I wasn't blaming you."

"It's perfectly normal for your emotions to be a little confused after suddenly leaving home and coming somewhere so far away."

Bell comforted Hermione in turn. He could understand exactly how the Little Witch felt right now—or so he thought.

"Actually, don't let my appearance fool you. My emotions are far more chaotic than yours right now."

"Thank you, Bell."

Hermione gave Bell a complicated look.

"You're welcome." Bell waved a hand. "Do you have any plans afterward? Want to go to the Great Hall for lunch together? Even though we won't be eating at the same table."

Hermione had already planned to go eat, so she nodded and headed toward the Great Hall with Bell.

On the way to the Great Hall, Hermione voiced the question that had been bothering her during Transfiguration.

"Bell, do you know what kind of magic Professor McGonagall used before class? The one where she turned herself into a cat."

"That was Animagus."

"Animagus?"

Hermione recalled the books she had read and confirmed that she had never seen the term before.

"Yes. Animagus is a rather difficult type of Transfiguration magic that lets you turn yourself into an animal. But you can only transform into one fixed animal form. After the first transformation, every later transformation will be the same as the first. That's probably Animagus's drawback. Of course, it has its advantages too. An Animagus can maintain the transformation for a long time, and there are no traces of casting at all, so it's hard to detect."

"Then, Bell, can you transform using Animagus too?"

"No, I can't, and I don't plan to learn that kind of magic either. At least, not for now."

"Why?"

Hermione's face was full of curiosity.

"First, Animagus has limited uses. In most situations, if we need to transform into an animal to do something, we only need to use human Transfiguration. Although human Transfiguration has drawbacks like high consumption and obvious traces of casting, it can transform you into different animals as needed. Overall, it isn't any worse than Animagus. Another reason is that completing an Animagus transformation requires drinking a unique Potion, and that Potion is truly disgusting!" Bell said with a look of revulsion.

He truly could not understand how that Potion had been invented. Its inventor was far too impressive, in every sense of the word.

"What Potion could be that disgusting? Aren't all Potions disgusting?"

Hermione was puzzled.

"..."

Bell had no answer. Thinking carefully about the ingredients of those Potions, most of them really were quite disgusting. No, he definitely needed to eat more delicious food later to calm himself down.

"First, you need to keep a Mandrake leaf in your mouth. For an entire month, whether you're eating, sleeping, or doing anything else, you have to keep it there at all times. Then, during the full moon, you take the leaf out and put it into a small bottle, filling the bottle with your saliva. I won't go into the later steps, but basically, after fermenting your own saliva for several weeks or months, you drink it back down."

Just thinking about it made Bell nauseous. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.

"Honestly, I'd rather drink Flobberworm mucus than drink my own fermented saliva."

Hermione imagined it for a moment, then immediately cut off the thought. Lunch was coming up. If she kept thinking about it, she might not even be able to eat dinner.

"Of course, those aren't the main reasons," Bell continued. "The Magical World generally believes that Animagus transformation can only turn someone into an ordinary animal, but I don't think so. If you've read books on the subject, you'll find that their description of Animagus says, 'If one wishes to transform into a magical creature, unpredictable consequences will occur.'"

"In other words, it doesn't say it will fail. It says no one knows what will happen. It could mean that Wizards cannot transform into magical creatures, or it could mean that those Wizards who attempted it failed to successfully transform into magical creatures. After all, too few people learn this magic, and even fewer conduct in-depth research into it, so there isn't enough data to make a judgment."

"If there are two possibilities, why do you think it's that those Wizards failed, rather than that transformation is impossible?"

Hermione looked at Bell in confusion.

"Because of the Patronus Charm."

Seeing Hermione's confused expression, Bell continued, "You don't need to worry about what the Patronus Charm is for now. You'll learn about it later. Right now, you only need to know that Wizards generally believe that the Patronus summoned by the Patronus Charm can only be an ordinary animal. And because it is difficult and has limited uses, very few Wizards can master the Patronus Charm. Doesn't that sound almost exactly the same as the situation with Animagus?"

"However, an exception appeared among Patronuses. The greatest White Wizard in the modern Magical World, our own Professor Dumbledore, had a Phoenix as his Patronus. It was a magical creature, and it is currently the only known magical creature Patronus."

The moment Bell mentioned his magical research, his entire demeanor changed. His eyes seemed to gleam with sharp light. This was the first time he had discussed his research with someone other than Shanna.