Materials Processing

"Blaise, you actually got the time wrong!"

"Anyway, we're not late. We're just a little early. Can't we just wait in the classroom?"

"It would be fine to wait for other classes, but have you forgotten what class this is?"

"What class is this? Isn't this..." Blaise opened his mouth, but the words stuck in his throat as he remembered what class it was. "If I remember correctly, this should be... our Head of House's class?"

Sean nodded helplessly. "That's right. This is Potions Class."

"Uh... we're not Gryffindors. Getting here early shouldn't be a problem... right?"

Even Slytherin's own young wizards could not help looking nervous when taking their own Snake King's class. Snape's intimidation toward underage young wizards did not discriminate between Houses.

Blaise looked at Sean, coughed lightly, and said somewhat awkwardly, "How about we go back to the Great Hall and wait there?"

After thinking it over, Sean shook his head. "Forget it. We're already here, so let's go in and sit for a while. At worst, we can read first. If the Head of House asks a question, I can earn some points too."

"Hehe, sorry about that. It won't happen again."

"It's fine. It's not a big deal. Our Head of House wouldn't deduct points from his own House just because we arrived early."

Besides, Snape might not even be in the classroom.

With that thought, Sean and Blaise pushed open the door and entered the Potions Classroom together.

However, the moment they pushed the door open and stepped inside, they saw a familiar figure standing at the lectern, processing Potion Ingredients. Hearing the door open, those hollow eyes immediately turned toward them, making Sean and Blaise shudder.

He's here!

Blaise opened his mouth but could not say a word. Sean drew in a quiet breath and said to Snape, "Professor, the two of us got the time wrong and arrived early. We were planning to wait here for a while. Of course, if we're disturbing you, we'll go outside immediately and come back when class starts."

Snape looked at Sean, seemingly recalling how he had dug himself into a hole yesterday. The corner of his eye twitched almost imperceptibly as he said in an indifferent, emotionless tone, "Do as you please."

After saying that, Snape lowered his head and resumed grinding the ingredients in his hands.

By then, Blaise had already taken a seat at the back. Sean had intended to join him, but after some thought, he turned and walked over to Snape. Under Blaise's astonished gaze, he said, "Professor, may I try?"

Snape stopped what he was doing and looked Sean over briefly. "Processing Potion Ingredients requires patience and concentration. Cutting ingredients also requires considerable precision. If you fail and waste the materials, even I will have no choice but to deduct some points from my own House."

Sean looked at Snape. Most of what he knew about Snape came from the literary works of his previous life, and those works had all been told from Harry Potter's perspective.

Now that Sean was interacting with Snape as a Slytherin student, he discovered that Snape had a fair amount of patience when facing Slytherin students. Though his tone was as cold as ever, the air of keeping everyone at arm's length around him remained just as strong.

"Professor, I read some books related to Potions before school started. I wouldn't dare claim to know much about other potions, but I'm quite familiar with the Itching Potion."

Sean was not lying. Nearly half of the notes Gavin had left behind were about Potions. Gavin had been deeply immersed in the time he spent brewing potions. Sean felt that if Gavin were here, he and Snape would probably have quite a bit in common.

When Snape heard Sean mention the Itching Potion, his hands paused slightly. He studied Sean carefully, said nothing more, and simply took a step back, yielding the space and the tools on the lectern.

Sean glanced at the dumbfounded Blaise, took the Pestle Snape had been using, and began steadily grinding the Snake Fangs in the Mortar clockwise.

After standing behind Sean and watching for a while, Snape saw him grind batch after batch of Snake Fangs into standard materials. Once Sean began processing the Porcupine Quills and Snape confirmed there were no issues, he left everything here to Sean, turned, and walked out of the Potions Classroom, apparently to do something else.

Seeing Snape leave, Blaise quickly came over to Sean's side. Looking at the fine beads of sweat already appearing on Sean's forehead, Blaise did not disturb him. He merely watched quietly as Sean processed the ingredients, gaining an entirely new understanding of his newly made friend.

Originally, Blaise had only approached Sean because Sean had the guts to punch Malfoy senseless.

But after getting to know him today, Blaise discovered that his friend possessed not only the bearing he admired, but also considerable talent. Samuel, for example, had come to make Sean's acquaintance early and invest a little because of Sean's outstanding performance in Transfiguration Class at noon.

There were quite a few ingredients on the lectern, but if Snape had been the one processing them, he would not have needed much time to finish. Though Sean could process them as well, he was far inferior to Snape in both proficiency and speed. Thus, before Sean could finish processing the ingredients, the young wizards of Gryffindor and Slytherin had already begun filing into the Potions Classroom.

When the young wizards saw Sean standing before the lectern, standing on a footstool as he processed ingredients, every face showed surprise. Beyond that surprise, those like Harry and Ron, who bore Sean no ill will, were full of admiration. Top students like Hermione looked eager to give it a try, while Malfoy, Millicent, and the others grew somewhat gloomy.

Just as Sean finished processing the last Porcupine Quill, Snape returned to the classroom.

Walking as if propelled by the wind, his black robes billowing behind him, Snape crossed the room in a few long strides to Sean's side. He carefully inspected the ingredients Sean had processed, and after confirming that everything was correct, he announced in a low voice, "The ingredients have been processed to a highly standard. I am very pleased that this year's Slytherin has a student like you. Therefore, I will award Slytherin ten points!"

Hearing this, Sean glanced at Snape and gave him a slight nod before turning and stepping down from the lectern to sit beside Blaise.

Secretly letting out a breath, Sean rubbed his aching right hand.

The first day was a good time to earn points. He had earned points in both Transfiguration and Potions. Next would be Charms Class.

Just as Sean was considering how to keep earning points, Snape, following the familiar pattern Sean remembered, began making trouble for Harry.

Please add this to your collection, vote, and keep reading. Thank you, everyone!