No matter how reluctant Harry and Ron were, the time for Potion Class finally arrived.
To avoid being late, William specifically called the others to arrive at the Potion Class classroom a bit early.
There were many others with the same idea as William; not just Gryffindors, but Slytherins as well.
However, once everyone entered the Potion Class classroom, they found that the gloomy environment was very similar to a morgue.
If it weren’t for the group of lively Young wizards in the room, the horror atmosphere would have been dialed up to the max.
Afterward, everyone found their own seats and sat down.
Thinking about what might happen next, William wanted to stay a bit further away from Harry.
But Hermione, the top student, loved the front row, and with the enthusiastic invitations from Harry and Ron, the four of them ended up sitting together.
“With you by my side, William, I won’t be nervous,” Harry said.
On the other side, Ron glanced at Hermione and nodded in deep agreement.
At this moment, both of them felt that having a top student nearby would definitely carry them through.
Hermione didn’t say anything upon hearing this, but from her expression, she seemed quite pleased with their words.
As for William, he looked at Harry and hesitated to speak.
He wasn’t bad at Potions, but he estimated he could only manage a passing grade from Snape.
However, if Harry was right next to him, he thought he might not be able to avoid being caught in the crossfire by Snape.
Harry saw William’s expression but didn’t sense anything wrong, still wearing that cute smile on his face.
“I hope you can still maintain that smile when class is over, Harry,” William said.
Harry:???
“With you here, William, I’m very relieved.”
William:…”Ignorant bliss.” This was William’s thought.
To be honest, he really wanted to change seats now, but it was already too late.
With a loud “bang,” the classroom door was roughly opened, and Professor Snape strode in.
His billowing wide cloak made him look like a giant bat at that moment.
But compared to his attire, what was even more chilling was his expressionless face and those eyes that seemed indifferent to everything.
At this moment, anyone who met those eyes couldn’t help but feel their skin crawl.
Then came the familiar opening speech, though it was unknown if Professor Snape said this to every batch of new students.
After the opening speech came the roll call.
When it came to Harry’s turn, the familiar famous scene appeared before William once again.
“Ah, yes,” Snape said, his tone unchanged and still devoid of emotion.
“Harry Potter.
Our new — celebrity.”
No matter how emotionless the delivery, the literal sarcasm was plain to see.
Consequently, the Slytherin students laughed at the appropriate time.
Malfoy was the first to laugh, while his two cronies, Goyle and Crabbe, laughed the loudest.
But when Snape’s gaze swept over them, the laughter stopped abruptly.
Snape suddenly asked, “Potter!
What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
Hearing this question, William knew the indispensable plot point of Potion Class had arrived.
He wanted to help by giving a hint, but Snape was right there, and his every move couldn’t escape the man’s eyes.
So, he could only feel helpless despite his intentions.
“I don’t know, sir,” Harry replied.
“Tut, tut — fame clearly isn’t everything,” Snape said contemptuously.
As for Hermione, who was raising her hand beside them, he ignored her completely.
“Let’s try another question.
If I told you to find me a bezoar, where would you look?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Harry’s answer remained the same.
“Then tell me, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”
“I don’t know, sir.” Harry now felt more and more that Snape was targeting him.
Seeing Hermione’s hand raised so high it looked like she wanted to poke through the ceiling, Harry looked up into Snape’s eyes.
Just as he was about to speak, he felt a tug on his robes and immediately swallowed the words he was about to say.
Seeing this, William breathed a sigh of relief.
He had sensed that Harry was about to talk back to Snape, so he quickly intervened.
But in the next second, Snape’s cold gaze fell upon William.
Mr.
Robert, are you preparing to answer for Potter?”
William:…He knew the answers, but he didn’t want to say them to avoid being targeted; after all, today was his very first Potion Class since enrollment.
“Not speaking?
It seems you’ve defaulted.
Come then, let me hear Mr.
Robert’s answers,” Snape’s tone was still indifferent, making it impossible to tell if he was angry.
William:…Is he unable to keep venting at Harry’s green eyes, so he wants to switch to someone else?
“Professor, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping Potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death.”
“A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat, and it has a very strong detoxifying effect.”
“As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the general name of aconite.”
William wasn’t worried about the content in the books at all; after all, he had memorized such useful knowledge just like Hermione.
“A correct answer.
Potter, why is it that others know while you do not?
Therefore, since you failed to answer three questions, Gryffindor will lose three points.”
Losing points didn’t cause much of a reaction from William; after all, there would be plenty of points lost later, so three or five points didn’t make much difference.
While William could accept it calmly, Harry couldn’t stand it and snapped back, “But William answered them afterward.”
“Talking back to a Professor, another five points from Gryffindor.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Malfoy’s low laughter rang out again.
But in the next second, Snape moved his gaze away from Harry’s eyes and coldly scanned the rest of the class, saying:
“Why aren’t you all writing that down?”
Before his voice even faded, Snape’s gaze had already moved away as he turned and returned to his desk.
With a flick of his wand, a method for brewing a Potion that was completely different from the one in the textbook appeared on the small blackboard.
“Now, begin brewing in pairs.”
As for a personal demonstration, that didn’t exist.
William and Harry exchanged a glance and then miserably began the brewing process.
“William, you do the brewing, I’ll prepare the ingredients for you,” Harry said.
“Okay.”
Compared to brewing, processing the ingredients was more troublesome, but errors were less frequent.
However, before long, Snape came behind the two of them again—or more accurately, he targeted Harry again.
“Potter, swap roles with William.”
William:…Although Harry was very reluctant, he still swapped with William.
Compared to Harry’s clumsy technique earlier, William handled the Potion ingredients with ease once he took over; after all, his month of practice wasn’t for nothing.
Meanwhile, Harry began brewing after taking the ingredients William had prepared.
However, his unfamiliar movements brought about many issues.
William spent the entire time giving verbal reminders, yet the closely watching Snape still criticized and deducted points from Harry.
To be honest, it was lucky this cauldron of Potion hadn’t turned into poison yet, otherwise he felt Harry might have splashed the whole thing in Snape’s face.
Perhaps anger also improved his focus, as Harry’s brewing became smoother and smoother afterward.
His operation was so standard that even if William tried to find a fault, he couldn’t find a single mistake.
Because of this, William could only marvel that Harry had activated his mother’s Potion talent.
Subsequently, with their tacit and skilled operation, their Potion brewing progress soon surpassed the other groups.
Before long, as the cauldron was taken off the fire, Harry added the final porcupine quills, and the Boil-Cure Potion was finished.
But as he looked at this cauldron of brewed Potion, William’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
It wasn’t that the Potion was brewed poorly; on the contrary, it was brewed too well.
So, Professor Snape circling around Harry did have some benefits after all.
“Potter, is merely brewing one of the simplest Potions well worth being happy about?
If Robert hadn’t been reminding you the whole time, you would have failed long ago.”
Harry didn’t get angry upon hearing this, but smiled and said, “But the two of us are a team.”
“Hmph, arrogance and talking back to a Professor—five points from Gryffindor.”
The targeting of Harry had become increasingly direct.
Harry: (╬◣д◢)
At this moment, Harry’s rage was clearly visible.
“Harry, don’t be impulsive, he’s a Professor, a Professor,” William said while holding Harry back and quickly reminding him.
After a while, Harry finally calmed his anger and said, “Don’t worry, I know the weight of the situation.”
“Good.”
Afterward, the two fellow sufferers began chatting.
But before long, a cloud of green smoke suddenly rose and filled the entire classroom, and everything it touched made a “hissing” sound.
Sensing the situation, William quickly looked around for the source of the accident and saw that Neville and Seamus’s Potion, not far from them, had gone wrong.
The Potion in the cauldron was like cold water splashed into hot oil.
“Oh no, it’s going to blow.”
This was William’s first reaction upon seeing that cauldron of Potion.
Just as he was thinking about how to handle it, Professor Snape’s figure suddenly flashed by, and with a wave of his wand, the cauldron of Potion was swept away.
“I suppose you added the porcupine quills without taking the cauldron off the fire, didn’t you!”
Neville was so frightened by Snape’s roar that he immediately started crying.
Fortunately, it was handled in time, so the plot from the original story where Neville was covered in boils from the Potion didn’t happen.
However, in the next second, Snape suddenly turned to look at the idle Harry and William.
“Potter, why didn’t you tell him not to add the porcupine quills?
Did you think his mistake would make you look good?
Another point lost for Gryffindor because of you.”
“Professor, that’s not fair.”
“Talking back to a Professor, another point deducted.”
As he spoke, Snape looked at Harry, hoping he would continue to talk back.
Seeing this, William hurriedly pulled Harry back and said to Snape, “Sorry, Professor, we will definitely watch out for other students making mistakes.”
Harry was shocked and confused, but at William’s signal, he still chose to trust him.
Snape didn’t say anything, turning to continue his patrol.
Immediately, William pulled Harry toward the area where the Little Snakes of Slytherin were located.
“Watch closely and learn,” William said softly to Harry.
Under Harry’s confused expression, William arrived in front of Malfoy.
“Malfoy, you heated your Potion for two seconds too short.
Professor Snape clearly said so, why did you still make this kind of mistake?”
“Goyle, Crabbe, your ingredients aren’t ground finely enough.
How many times has the Professor said this before?
Why do you still make this kind of mistake?”
“Xxx, what are you looking at me for?
Look at your own Potion.
Do you think looking at me will make your Potion brew itself?”
…Watching William’s well-reasoned verbal onslaught, Harry’s eyes lit up.
He immediately followed suit and went in front of Malfoy, saying:
“Malfoy, why did your movements pause?
Don’t you know that being a second slow might cause the Potion to fail!”
With that one sentence, Malfoy’s face instantly turned sour, and William, watching from the side, couldn’t help but facepalm.
Although the two were looking for trouble, what William had said was actually useful; you didn’t see Snape saying anything about it, did you?
But Harry, you were clearly just picking a fight for no reason.
As expected, the two finally succeeded in having five points deducted for disrupting classroom order.
Returning to his seat, Harry was clearly unsatisfied.
“What a pity, I only got to talk to Malfoy.”
William:…It was precisely because of your baseless nitpicking that we were successfully sent back.
He thought this, but he couldn’t say it out loud.
“It’s okay, we’re almost done, and class is nearly over.”
Harry looked at the situation of the others upon hearing this, and successfully received thumbs-up from the Gryffindors and fiery glares from the Slytherins.
Before long, the time for the end of class arrived.
At this moment, no one wanted to stay a moment longer.
Whether it was the Little Lions of Gryffindor or the Little Snakes of Slytherin, they all had the same thought at this moment…