During lunch, the Great Hall was filled with the noisy chatter of many students, and the trio of Harry and his friends, sitting together, were no exception.
However, compared to the cheerful groups elsewhere, the three of them looked quite gloomy.
“How long has it been?
Snape still hasn’t let him back yet,” Harry said, his voice full of worry.
It turned out that when the four of them were about to leave after Potion Class, William had been called back by Professor Snape.
Harry and the others had planned to wait and leave together, but after waiting for half an hour with no sign of him, they had come to the Great Hall first.
“It’s obvious that William is being targeted by Snape because of me,” Harry thought.
He remembered that when they parted, Snape had given him a pointed look.
“Don’t worry.
After all, he is a Professor at the school; he won’t do anything bad to William,” Hermione comforted them, though it was unclear if she was reassuring Harry or herself.
As for Ron, he echoed, “Hermione’s right.
George and Fred are punished all the time, and look at them—they’re still as lively as ever.”
Harry looked over; George and Fred weren’t just lively, they looked like they had been injected with chicken blood.
At that moment, George and Fred’s gaze shifted over, and they walked toward them with smiles on their faces.
“Ron, your two brothers are coming over to find you,” Harry said.
Ron:???
Glancing at George and Fred, Ron said firmly, “No, they are definitely not here for me.
I’ll bet my rat on it.”
By then, The Twins had arrived.
Hearing Ron’s words, they immediately looked aggrieved and said:
“Little Ronnie, how could you say that?
It breaks our hearts.”
Ron merely gave them a glance and continued eating his meal.
Seeing that Ron wasn’t falling for it, The Twins didn’t mind and sat down next to Harry.
“Potter, I heard about what happened between you and that Mysterious Merchant in Potion Class.”
“That was truly magnificent—scolding the Slytherins, and in their own Dean’s Potion Class no less.
Just thinking about it makes me want to fly with joy.”
“Indeed, you’ve done something that makes all of Gryffindor envious.”
“You’ve set a brand new record.”
“A scene that will make the Slytherins feel utterly humiliated whenever they recall it.”
As they spoke, the two of them produced a party popper from somewhere and set it off to celebrate.
Hearing this, Harry also recalled the scene of scolding Malfoy.
The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up as he said, “It’s a pity I only said one sentence.”
“That was already great,” Ron said, his tone full of envy.
Hermione, however, frowned slightly and said, “Doesn’t that mean William will be hated by all of Slytherin?”
The Twins looked at each other, smiled, and said, “Exactly.
“But don’t worry.
The self-proclaimed noble Slytherins won’t make a move on younger students; you’ll only be targeted by those in your own year.”
“Therefore, I strongly suggest that Mr.
Robert come to us to buy some stink bombs.
They are quite excellent prank items.”
Harry was a bit tempted, but Ron’s next words brought him back to his senses.
“It’s no use talking to us; we don’t have any money.
You have to find William.
Look, here he comes.”
As he spoke, everyone looked in the direction Ron was pointing and saw William walking toward them.
In the next second, The Twins dashed over.
“Look at how eager they are.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think William was their own brother,” Ron said, his tone lacking any real resentment, as he knew exactly what The Twins were like.
After a while, The Twins left looking somewhat disappointed, while William returned happily.
“Ron, your brothers are actually quite nice.”
With that, William took out three stink bombs and handed them over.
“One for each of you.
Since we haven’t learned many spells yet, these things are quite useful if you run into Slytherins.”
“William, you actually bought these!” Hermione reacted with shock.
At this point, Hermione hadn’t yet awakened the “reckless” trait of Gryffindor, so her way of solving problems was still that of a good student—reporting to the teacher.
“I didn’t buy them; George and Fred gave them to me,” William smiled.
“What!
They gave them to you for free?!” Ron was also shocked.
He knew his brothers too well; why would they just give things away?
“Thanks,” Harry accepted them happily; he had wanted to buy some earlier.
Food appeared on William’s plate, and he replied to the three of them while eating, “Put the stink bombs away.
We’re eating now, and if one goes off…
believe me, the consequences are definitely not something you want to see.”
The three of them also imagined the result and quickly tucked the items away, then changed the subject.
“William, Snape didn’t do anything to you, did he?” Harry asked.
At the mention of this topic, William’s expression suddenly became cheerful.
“Nothing much.
Professor Snape just gave me some extra lessons.”
It turned out that when he had reminded Harry about brewing the Potion, he had inadvertently used some experience from the magical chefs notes to salvage it, which had piqued Snape’s curiosity.
That’s why Snape wanted to have a “knowledge exchange” with William after class.
As for the process, William shared those experiences, and the other party critiqued his Potion brewing—the whole time spitting venom. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Harry and Ron were full of sympathy after hearing this, but Hermione felt a bit of envy.
After all, the idea of a Professor giving extra lessons was very tempting to her.
“You poor thing.”
It seemed that everyone except Hermione thought this way, as Professor Snape’s reputation couldn’t possibly sink any lower.
“It’s not so bad.
After all, as long as the Potion I brew has no issues, I don’t have to write my class assignments,” William said, quickly taking a bite of food.
At that moment, the sympathy in Harry and Ron’s eyes turned into a bit of envy.
Writing assignments was simply too painful for them.
“Don’t be so envious.
I have to go for extra lessons after every Potion Class for the next two months,” William said nonchalantly, but Harry and Ron gasped.
Their one long Potion Class per week was already their limit; adding extra lessons was no different from taking their lives.
“May Merlin bless you,” Ron said softly.
William rolled his eyes and said, “You might as well say ‘May Dumbledore bless me.’ At least he’s alive and well in the school.”
“Alright, may Dumbledore bless you,” Ron complied and changed his tune.
William:…
Their conversation successfully made both Harry and Hermione laugh, clearing away the heavy atmosphere from before.
“Oh, by the way, why do George and the others call you the Mysterious Merchant?” Harry asked curiously.
Hermione knew, but she understood that William wanted to keep it a secret.
Just as she was about to change the subject, William directly pulled a new bottle of chili sauce from his spatial bag.
“Merlin’s long legs!
No wonder George and the others call you the Mysterious Merchant,” Ron whispered.
“To be honest, I don’t like that silly name.
I originally just prepared it for myself, but some older students asked to buy a taste.
I felt bad refusing, and eventually, it turned into this.”
“And just now, George and Fred wanted to get stock from me to resell to others.
Unfortunately, I don’t have much left and need it for myself, so I turned them down.”
As William spoke, he opened the bottle.
A cooking light flashed, and the aroma immediately made those nearby swallow their saliva.
This cooking light and the domineering aroma were precisely the ways to verify if the chili sauce was authentic, and they were also the markers that George and Fred couldn’t replicate, which was why they wanted to get stock from him.
It was just a pity that he wasn’t short of money.
Noticing the trio’s reactions, William smiled and said, “Let’s eat together.”
Soon, a wonderful lunch came to an end.
“Harry, what time are we going to Hagrid’s this afternoon?
I happen to need Hagrid’s help with something,” William asked.
“Let’s rest a bit before we go,” Harry replied.
“Okay.”
…