It was the end of Potions Class.
Professor Snape conjured more than a dozen glass jars from nowhere and placed them on the lectern.
They were filled with fresh fish eyes that looked exactly like untreated pufferfish eyes.
“Merrick, return here at seven tonight.
Pick out the spoiled pufferfish eyes from these and clean them thoroughly.” After saying that, he turned and left without another glance.
Ryan walked over to John, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “Professor Snape is always like this.
He always picks a few students who fail Potions and punishes them with disgusting chores.” “Let’s go eat first.
I’ll come with you tonight to help clean up.” Ryan was worried that today’s class might have frightened John and left him overly stressed or discouraged, especially since John was a Muggle-born wizard.
He could not understand why Professor Snape seemed to be targeting John.
Even when Ryan himself had been distracted in class, Professor Snape had ignored it.
Yet John had only looked up in confusion before Snape suddenly snapped at him.
And even though John’s potion had failed, the overall quality of it was still better than most of the others.
Yet he alone had received a zero.
Ethan and Titus also came over to comfort John.
As first-year students, Professor Snape’s pressure was overwhelming to them, and they had no idea how they could help.
Only after hearing their reassurances did John gradually come back to himself.
He let out a small laugh and said, “What are you talking about?
I’m not that fragile.
I’m not going to lose my spirit over a little criticism.” “Besides, Professor wasn’t wrong.
I was too arrogant at the start.” John shook his head, grateful for their concern, but he still planned to accept the punishment alone that night.
There was no reason to drag them into it.
With that, he ignored their reactions and pulled them toward the Great Hall.
Although it was not mealtime yet, he wanted to go there early to wait and finish his homework before returning to complete Professor Snape’s “punishment” after dinner.
Seeing that John was still in good spirits, the others stopped worrying and began teasing one another instead.
Titus was the one who had thrown in the porcupine quills without turning off the fire first, nearly causing an explosion.
If Professor Snape had not noticed in time and stabilized the cauldron with a flick of his wand, it probably would have exploded on the spot.
Ethan laughed loudly and admitted that he had not even used a scale to measure the ingredients.
He had simply grabbed random amounts and tossed them in, yet his completion rate had turned out surprisingly high.
Ryan was even more outrageous.
He had thrown the pufferfish eyes and dried nettles into the cauldron together from the start, claiming it would stop him from mixing them up.
In the end, he still earned thirty points, even higher than Titus’s twenty.
After arriving at the Great Hall, the group sat together discussing the Potions homework assigned that day.
The assignment was basically an essay on the Scabies Potion, covering its uses, brewing process, and the collection and preservation of its ingredients.
In short, it was a review exercise.
Half of the material could be found in the textbook, while the other half required personal understanding or research in the library.
It did not matter whether the answers were completely right or wrong.
Students only needed to write down their understanding, and Professor Snape would determine whether it was correct.
“Good evening, John.” Just as John was working on his homework, Luna arrived at the Great Hall as well, looking like she had just finished class.
“Good evening, Luna.” John and the others greeted her one after another.
“Are you working on Potions homework?
Do you want to borrow my notes?” Luna noticed them all gathered around a copy of Magical Draughts and Potions, writing away, and casually asked.
“Notes?
Senior, are those your first-year notes?
Yes, yes, I want them!” The moment Titus heard there were notes from an upper-year student, he immediately nodded eagerly.
Luna did not hesitate and directly handed over her textbook.
The first and second-year Potions textbooks were the same, so it was easy to compare them.
Titus quickly thanked her, took the book, and opened it excitedly.
“…” But after only reading a few lines, he suddenly went silent.
“What the…
why does this say to add butterfly wing ash distilled by sunlight…
and what does ‘distilled by sunlight’ even mean?” “?” John and the others had originally planned to lean over and read Luna’s notes as well, but after hearing Titus’s words, they froze for a moment.
Were they really still talking about the Scabies Potion?
Luna, however, showed no sign of denying it.
Smiling gently, she said, “After butterfly wing ash has been exposed to sunlight for a long time, adding it to a potion can give it the effect of dispelling mental gloom.” Even though he could not understand it at all, John was still amazed.
“Then…
what’s the reason for replacing porcupine quills with moonflower roots and stirring counterclockwise?” Titus continued asking, still completely confused.
“Because counterclockwise energy can untangle the roots of resentment beneath the flower root’s skin.
If you stir clockwise, the potion will dream about being boiled.” Luna spoke calmly, as though she were stating an unquestionable fact.
“…” The group fell silent.
So this was an upper-year student’s understanding of Potions?
Stirring clockwise would make the potion dream about being boiled…
“Oh…
I see.
Thank you for the notes, Luna.
I’ve learned a lot…” After hearing that, Titus quietly closed Luna’s textbook and returned it with both hands.
He had better do his own homework honestly.
If he actually wrote Luna’s theories into his essay, there was no telling whether Professor Snape would single him out during the next class.
“You’re welcome, John.
Do you want to read them too?” Luna seemed happier than usual.
She smiled as she turned to look at John.
“Uh…
I…” After hearing the contents of Luna’s notes, John had originally intended to refuse, but when he met her large, completely pure eyes, he hesitated.
“Thank you, senior.
I’ll study them carefully.” In the end, John still accepted Luna’s textbook.
After all, she meant well, and refusing would have been rude.
Maybe there really were some interesting ideas hidden inside.
He could always keep the useful parts and ignore the rest.
Thinking that, John opened Luna’s textbook and began reading seriously.
But the more he read, the more confused he became.
He started wondering whether the Scabies Potion could really contain so many bizarre ingredients.
“Luna, have you actually tried these methods before?” “Of course.
But Professor Snape always stops me halfway through.” “…” Honestly, there was probably a reason for that.
Who would have thought that soil trampled by an Easter Bunny could be used as a potion ingredient, and that it would actually cause a reaction when added?
Was his imagination too limited, or was Luna’s imagination simply too wild?
Just as John was trying his best to understand Luna’s thought process, a sudden commotion broke out at the Gryffindor table.
“Someone saw him!
Sirius Black!”