Chapter Twenty-One: Such a Potions Class
“You don’t need to wave your wands like fools in my class, nor do you need to mutter spells randomly.”
Snape tightened his cloak before glancing at the students in front of him and continuing, "So, I suspect few of you will understand the precise and intricate art of potions. But for those few, I will teach you how to confuse the mind, how to deceive the senses, and how to brew brilliance, even...immortality.”
The same lines, the same actions as in the screen, even the tone was identical. Harry Potter breathed a sigh of relief, and then he heard Snape’s voice.
“Potter!” As expected, Snape looked at Harry. “What happens if you add daffodil powder to wormwood infusion?”
Harry stood up calmly, and then, with confidence, he said, “Adding daffodil powder to wormwood infusion can produce a potent hypnotic, also known as Living Hell Potion, or Death Water.”
Swish, swish, swish!
Instantly, the students in the whole classroom looked at Harry with admiration, even the little snakes in his class were quite shocked to see him.
What’s going on? He knows the answer to this question? Is this guy a hidden genius?
Feeling the admiring gazes around him, Harry suddenly felt the joy Zhang Dong experienced during Transfiguration class. This feeling...it’s awesome!
Only Hermione, sitting next to Zhang Dong, was unhappy. She knew the answer to this question too!
Snape was stunned for a moment. Zhang Dong, who was constantly observing him, clearly felt the surprise. But Snape was Snape, his expression control was unbeatable.
“Well then, I will ask you again. If I need a bezoar, where should I look for it?”
“Bezoar is a stone, it can be taken from a cow’s stomach, and it has a very strong detoxification effect,” Harry still answered calmly.
Zhang Dong had already seen a slight smile on Snape’s lips. Thus, Snape asked a third question.
“When making the original potions, what is the ratio of water to herbs? And how long does it need to wait?”
“Aconitum napellus and Aconitum vulparia are the same...huh??” Harry Potter stared blankly at Snape in front of him.
Damn it! Why are you not playing by the rules!
This wasn’t your third question!
At this moment, Harry finally realized that Snape must have also watched yesterday’s screen!
Now, Harry could only answer awkwardly, "Uh…sorry, I don’t know, Professor Snape.”
Harry dared not look at Snape’s face. He could imagine that the man’s expression must be terrifyingly gloomy.
“I thought you understood the principle of pre-reading before class, Mr. Potter,” Snape said coldly. “Brewing potions, that’s on the first page of the textbook. Remember, when making original potions, pour boiling water into the herbs, pay attention to the order, the ratio is one pint of water for one ounce of herbs, and it needs to wait for 15 to 30 minutes, you still need to read, Mr. Potter.”
Snape glanced at Harry Potter, and he was about to turn around and return to his podium. Even though he didn’t get the last question right, he had answered two correctly. Even Snape wouldn’t be so unreasonable as to deduct points.
However, at that moment, he suddenly heard Harry’s voice from behind him.
“So, do you really regret my mother’s death, Professor Snape?”
Harry Potter stared intently at Snape’s back. He knew it was a bit inappropriate to ask such a question in class, but he couldn’t help but want to know the answer.
At this moment, he was just an eleven-year-old boy who had never experienced a mother’s love, not the hero who saved the wizarding world.
Snape’s body froze. He turned around and looked at Harry, facing the young boy, his hands behind his back. He looked into Harry’s eyes, as if he saw Lily’s reflection in those beautiful eyes, which made him hesitate for a moment, unable to bear to look at Harry’s face.
After a long silence, Snape finally said, “Talking to the teacher without reason during class time, five points deducted from Gryffindor!”
“Huh?”
The little lions immediately hung their heads in dejection. Good heavens, even this gets deducted?
Only Harry was somewhat dejected, because he did not get the answer Snape gave him.
But Zhang Dong on the other side let out a soft sigh. If Snape didn’t actually mean that, then he wouldn’t have refused to answer directly. Unfortunately, Harry at this age couldn’t understand this logic yet.
Snape began to lecture. Perhaps it was because of Harry’s previous question that put him in a bad mood, so he simply taught the students how to make burn ointment, then had them split into pairs to make it themselves.
Harry was paired with Seamus, Neville was paired with Ron, and Zhang Dong was naturally paired with Hermione, who sat next to him. This made Zhang Dong relieved, because even though Hermione wasn’t the most outstanding potions genius, she at least wouldn’t cause trouble.
However, speaking of the most outstanding potions genius, it was Malfoy over there. While these little wizards were still thinking about how to weigh those nettles and how to grind snake fangs, Malfoy had already thrown slugs into the cauldron.
Originally, Zhang Dong didn’t understand the use of the potions talent he received yesterday, but today he truly understood.
Although they were all learning from the textbook, the processing and comprehension speed of those with talent and those without talent was truly different.
Obviously, even though Zhang Dong’s potion talent was only beginner level, paired with Hermione, an academic genius, their speed was not slower than Malfoy and Crabbe’s.
When the green mist, representative of acidity, rose from the slug horn in the crucible, the entire potion room seemed to hear the piercing hiss.
No matter how reluctant he was, Snape could only say helplessly, “Zhang. Dong, Hermione. Granger, Draco. Malfoy have completed the burn ointment. Five points to Gryffindor and Slytherin!”
This made Hermione, sitting next to Zhang Dong, very happy. She probably didn’t even expect that she could get points in potions class, and even faster than that annoying Malfoy.
Malfoy across from them looked provocatively at Hermione and Zhang Dong. The look in his eyes was clearly saying, this is just the beginning, we’ll see.
Ah, the self-esteem of children.