Potions Club

Potions Club.

No unnecessary name—just a straightforward, concise description of the club's nature and purpose. It suited Snape's personality perfectly.

At 8:30 in the evening, in the room at the very deepest part of the dungeons, the Potions Club gathered.

When Sean arrived more than ten minutes early and pushed open the door, four people were already seated inside. Each had a table before them, with a cauldron and various racks for temporarily storing ingredients.

There were two boys and two girls among them, one of whom Sean recognized—the seventh-year Head Girl.

"When we came in today and saw the new tables and chairs, we guessed the professor might have recruited a new member. The four of us tried to guess who it would be, but none of us expected it to be you."

The speaker was a boy, one of the few Asian students at Hogwarts. He belonged to Hufflepuff, and Sean remembered his name because of his Asian features.

Grant Wang.

His grandfather was the director of the China Ministry of Magic's office in the United Kingdom.

His father was also an official at the China Ministry of Magic's office in the United Kingdom, while his mother was a British-born wizard of Chinese descent. He was a fourth-year student and usually kept an extremely low profile—so low that aside from his Chinese features, there was almost nothing especially noticeable about him. Sean had not expected him to be a member of the Potions Club with enough talent to earn Snape's recognition.

"Hello, my name is—"

Before Sean could finish, Grant Wang reached out and shook his hand with a smile. "I know you. Or rather, there probably aren't many students at Hogwarts who don't know you. Nice to meet you, Sean. I'm Grant Wang. You can call me Wang or Grant, either is fine."

"Then Wang it is. Nice to meet you."

Wang was clearly a very outgoing person. After getting acquainted with Sean, he took the initiative to introduce the others.

"This is Larina Brock. She's the seventh-year Head Girl. Other than our Potions Club, she rarely takes part in other activities now, since she has exams to prepare for.

"This is Buck Ake. He's a third-year Ravenclaw, and he joined the Potions Club before you did. Buck is very quiet and doesn't talk much, but he's a good person.

"And finally, this is..."

After introducing the first two, Wang was about to introduce the last person when she stepped up to Sean herself. She shook his hand and said with a smile, "My name is Jennifer Flea. Perhaps you can call me Cousin."

Cousin?

Flea?

Sean looked at Jennifer's slightly curly, golden hair and asked with an odd expression, "You're from the Flitwick family?"

Jennifer nodded with a smile. She clearly understood what Sean was thinking. "Don't worry, I'm different from that Oliver. His attitude toward you mostly comes from my father, while mine mostly comes from my mother. Though my mother was never especially close to your father, they were not exactly strangers either.

"Of course, if you don't like that, you can just treat me as an ordinary person."

Sean looked at Jennifer. He had not expected to run into someone from the Flitwick family here. Oliver had been a sixth-year, and Jennifer did not look close to graduation either, so she was most likely a fifth-year.

"Nice to meet you, Senior Jennifer."

Jennifer did not seem to mind Sean's form of address. She merely smiled and nodded, exchanged a few more words with him, then returned to her seat.

Sean still reserved judgment about Jennifer's claims. Time revealed a person's true nature. If Jennifer truly bore him goodwill, then whatever reason she had for approaching him would not stop Sean from interacting with her normally. But if she had other intentions, he could simply keep his distance when the time came.

The fifth table in the Potions Club belonged to Sean.

So after briefly getting to know the others, he took his seat.

The Potions Club had one Hufflepuff, one Ravenclaw, and three Slytherins including himself. That alone showed Snape's preferences—his favoritism toward his own house of Slytherin, as well as his dislike of Gryffindor.

After all, Sean did not believe that in a house as large as Gryffindor, not a single student across seven years possessed talent for potions.

Just as Sean's thoughts began to wander, at exactly 8:30, the club's door was pushed open. The Slytherin Snake King strode into the club, his swirling black robe dragging behind him. After Snape entered, the door shut on its own, making the place feel rather like a demon's lair.

Snape glanced at Sean, seated at the fifth table, without showing any reaction. He simply said, "Today, we will begin discussing alterations to standard potion-making procedures. We'll start with each person's potion-brewing habits..."

Sean gave the Potions Club his full attention. He listened to Snape, listened to the other members, listened to their discussions and the various little tricks they shared. His feather quill raced across the page, recording everything he heard. The others did not mind his behavior, because they had all begun the same way.

A club was least friendly to newcomers, because it was easy for them to fall behind the established pace. Yet a club existed to improve its members, so naturally it could not make everyone else waste discussion time for the sake of a newcomer.

Thus, during their first month in the club, new members often had to endure tremendous pressure and challenges. If they could withstand them and keep up with the club's pace, they would truly become part of it. Otherwise, they would leave the club, and might even suffer a considerable psychological blow.

In truth, Snape paid more attention to Sean's state than he appeared to. Perhaps it was because Sean was the only first-year student he had ever invited into the club. Perhaps it was because Snape admired the talent Sean had displayed. Or perhaps it was because Sean's understanding of potions was almost identical to that of someone Snape had once known. Thus, although Snape did not say a single word to Sean throughout this club session, he had been watching him from the shadows the entire time.

"Very good. This discussion is over. The next one will be Friday evening. I hope everyone arrives on time."

At those words, the others immediately rose and left the club. Just as Sean was preparing to leave as well, Snape passed by him and placed a slip of paper on Sean's table.

The sudden gesture genuinely caught Sean off guard.

Whew, made it. Also, please support the story in every way! Thank you, everyone!