On Friday, Slytherin and Gryffindor will have Professor Snape's Potions class.
Schelling and Draco arrived at the Potions classroom in the dungeon early. It was a dark and cold place. There were some glass jars placed along the wall, with many creepy animal specimens soaked in them.
Potions class requires two students in groups. Students from Slytherin and Gryffindor are paired up in their respective houses and sit clearly on both sides of the classroom - Sherrin and Draco, Goyle Team up with Crabbe, team up with Harry and Ron, and Daphne, under the guidance of Sherrin, team up with Pansy...
Sherrin suddenly found Meredith sitting alone in the last row of Slytherin. She seemed a little embarrassed because no one wanted to be in the same group as her. Xie Lin also recalled at this time that he didn't seem to see much trace of Meredith during this period except for classes. She seemed to be alone and seemed to have not made a friend yet.
"Meredith is too cold and arrogant. She always has a cold face, as if the whole world has offended her, so now everyone dislikes her." Daphne whispered.
Xie Lin couldn't help but ask Daphne at the next table, "Aren't you friends with her?"
"We did play together when we were children." Daphne said with a look of recollection on her face, "But as she grew older, her personality seemed to have changed, and she has developed such a bad temper now."
In the end, under Snape's forced assignment, Pansy was ordered to be paired with Meredith, while Sherlyn filled Pansy's vacancy and was paired with Daphne. The most unexpected thing was that Draco was actually ordered to Team up with Hermione!
The happiest person about this arrangement is Daphne. After all, the entire Slytherin community knows Schelling's strength, and is almost universally recognized as the strongest in the first grade. Pansy's face was full of reluctance, her eyes were staring fiercely at Meredith, and Meredith also raised her face to the sky, not even looking at Pansy.
Draco felt uncomfortable at the thought of being paired with a Muggle wizard. It was only after Sherlin coaxed him that this was a great opportunity to prove to others the strength of a pure-blooded family member that Draco was persuaded He was deceived into being complacent, and he teamed up with Hermione obediently.
After the names were called, Snape began to teach. "You are here to learn the precise science and art of potion-making," he began, his voice barely above a whisper, but everyone caught his every word. Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape has the intimidating power to bring order to a classroom with little effort.
"Since there's so little silly waving of a wand here, many of you won't believe it's magic. I don't expect you to really appreciate the beauty of the simmering cauldron with its white smoke and wafting fragrance. , you will not truly understand the miraculous magic of the liquid that flows into people's blood vessels, which makes the heart dizzy and blurs the will... I can teach you how to increase your reputation, brew glory, and even prevent death - but there must be one, and that is you Not the stupid fool I often meet."
(Note: It is necessary to wave a wand to prepare potions. The "Book of Potions" even has designated movements of the wand for each potion. Snape in the original English text said that it is rarely necessary to wave a wand. The so-called "no "Waving the magic wand stupidly" is actually a mistranslation by the People's Society)
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly, "what would I get if I added narcissus root powder to a wormwood infusion?"
What kind of grass root powder was put into what solution? Harry glanced at Ron, who was as stunned as he was; Hermione's arms were raised high in the air.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry.
Snape curled his lips contemptuously, "Tsk, tsk, it seems that fame doesn't mean everything."
Snape deliberately ignored Hermione's raised arms and continued to ask: "Let's try again. Potter, if I asked you to find me a bezoar, where would you look for it?"
Hermione raised her hands as high as she could without leaving her seat, but Harry had no idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.
"I don't know, sir."
"I think you didn't read a single book before school started, right, Potter?" Snape still ignored Hermione's trembling arms and continued to ask, "Okay, Potter, tell me. What is the difference between Aconitum scaphoides and Aconitum wolfsbane?”
"I don't know," Harry whispered, "but I think Hermione knows the answer. Why don't you ask her?" Several students laughed.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "Shailene, tell me the answer."
Xie Lin was a little helpless. Was this forcing him to have trouble with Harry? But under Snape's murderous gaze, Xie Lin had no choice but to stand up and said: "Add narcissus root powder and mugwort together to prepare a very powerful sleeping potion, which is the Living Hell Decoction. The feces are from goats. A kind of stone taken out of the stomach has a strong detoxification effect. As for Aconitum scapularis and Aconitum wolfsbane, they are the same plant and are also collectively called Aconitum."
"Ten points for Slytherin," Snape shouted. "Why don't you write these down!"
Then there was a sudden rustling of quills and parchment. In the midst of the commotion, Snape said, "Potter, you will be deducted one point from Gryffindor for contradicting the teacher."
Snape then spent half of the class instructing students in two classes to learn to prepare the simplest magic potion for treating boils in pairs. It is said to be the simplest magic potion, but both the materials and steps seem quite complicated.
Following Snape's order, Schelling took out dried nettles, viper fangs, porcupine quills and other materials from the Potions cabinet; Daphne raised the fire and put her cauldron on it. .
During their configuration process, Snape dragged a long black cloak around the classroom like a big bat, observing their configuration steps... During this period, most of Gryffindor students were severely criticized by him; even many Slytherin students could not avoid it.
After returning to his seat, Xie Lin moved very quickly. In fact, Xie Lin had already practiced the simple actions of grinding, dissolving and boiling at home before the start of school.
"Why do you need to grind the porcupine quills?" Daphne asked puzzledly: "The book says that the porcupine quills should be chopped into small pieces. In the final stage, the crucible should be removed from the fire and added again!"
"The solubility of porcupine quills is extremely low, and it is even more difficult to dissolve after being removed from the fire. Just seeing that it is the last ingredient added, we can deduce that it is probably the most unstable of all ingredients—— Grinding it into powder can make it dissolve faster, which reduces the probability of accidents." Because his partner is a delicate beauty, Xie Lin explained very patiently, but did not stop with his hands and continued to grind the porcupine quills.
Daphne frowned and looked at Xie Lin's confident look. She decided not to say anything and continued to hit the small piece of snake fang with the hammer.
"Help me put the nettles in the pot and roast them for a while. This will dry out the water. Be careful not to get hurt by the stings on the nettles...Thank you!" Xie Lin added the crushed snake fangs to the crucible, while He ordered while stirring slowly clockwise.
Daphne opened her mouth, but did not make a sound, but followed Xie Lin's instructions. During this period, Snape passed by their location several times and stopped to observe their movements for several minutes. He even saw the small plate of porcupine quills that had been crushed into powder... However, he did not interfere in the slightest and just squinted. Just glanced at Xie Lin a few times.
When the nettles and snake fangs were added to the pot, "it needs to be boiled for five minutes." Daphne glanced at the "Magic Potions and Potions" in her hand and reminded. Xie Lin nodded while looking at the alchemy brought from home. Watch, while taking out his wand and muttering to the crucible. The watch looks very strange, with twelve hands but no numbers, and various stars rotating along the edge of the dial.
"What...are you doing?" Daphne's uneasiness and doubts at the beginning have now turned into curiosity.
"Oh, I'm using magic to control the flame to keep the temperature of the crucible stable. You know, porcupine quills tend to explode when heated, so I want to ensure that the liquid inside the crucible can cool down quickly after it leaves the flame." Xie Lin Staring at the watch, he explained in a low voice, "My watch can not only tell the time, but also the stars and moon phases. "Today Mars is hanging low, so fire-related accidents are prone to occur. I must be particularly careful..."
(Note: The influence of celestial phenomena on magic effects and the refining process of potions is not made up by the author. The famous study by Hesper Starkey, the famous chocolate frog cartoonist, is about the influence of the moon phase on making potions)
When the mixed liquid began to turn yellow, he quickly turned down the flame to prevent the liquid from boiling too much.
Daphne's expression was a little uneasy, but Xie Lin had nothing to worry about... The Potions textbook at Hogwarts was actually not authoritative or correct. Even beans could be squeezed or cut to produce juice easily. Such a simple thing, Everything will go wrong.
Xie Lin suddenly smelled something wrong. He turned around and saw a burst of acidic green smoke and a loud hissing sound coming from the underground classroom. Neville somehow burned Seamus' cauldron into a crooked piece, and the potion in the pot spilled onto the stone floor, but Schelling took action in time, and the potion on the ground disappeared.
"Five points for Slytherin." Snape glanced at Sherrin, then turned to Neville and growled: "Are you an idiot? I think you put the porcupine quills in without taking the pot off the fire. In, aren't you?" Neville started to cry, and many boils suddenly appeared on his nose. After Snape scolded him, he asked Seamus Finnegan to send him to Go to the school hospital.
Half an hour later, Snape moved slowly between the tables, inspecting each cauldron and their results in turn.
When he saw the pot of ugly blue mixture prepared by Harry and Ron, a sarcastic smile appeared on his face: "Do you think you can drink this pot of potion, Potter and Weasley? I dare say, drink you This potion will poison yourself first before it cures the boil." Snape waved his wand and swept away the potion in the cauldron.
Almost every student's performance was faulted by Snape, and he was ridiculed. The Gryffindor students were scolded the worst, but some Slytherin students could not escape, especially Pan. The team of Xi and Meredith has become the laughing stock of Slytherin.
The combination of Draco and Hermione did a good job. With Hermione's careful configuration and Draco's attentive cooperation, the work produced was quite satisfactory, but Snape, who was biased, only added 5 to Slytherin. This completely ignored Hermione's achievements, which made many Gryffindors dare not speak out, and transferred all their anger to Draco.
The work configured by Schelling and Daphne was praised by Snape as a perfect work and gave Slytherin another 10 points. Xie Lin didn't think anything, but Daphne's eyes became more intense when she looked at Xie Lin. The other students may not know, but Daphne knew what Xie Lin had done - he improved many steps of preparing potions without authorization. , and finally made a perfect finished product.
She is well-informed and knows that this is a rare potion talent. It is no exaggeration to say that it is one in ten thousand. The entire European wizarding world has a population of more than 100,000, but being able to become a potion master, Less than 20 people have been invited to become members of the Association of Extraordinary Pharmacists. Even with the background of the Greengrass family from which she was born, she could not afford to hire a potion master to serve the family.
Hermione looked at Xie Lin unconvinced. She had obviously followed the steps in the book to refine the potion, so why could Xie Lin do it better than herself? At this moment, the fire of victory in her heart that refused to admit defeat was ignited, and she decided to spend more time improving her potion skills. She must become the first in her grade in all subjects!
