Curls of white steam rose from the crucible.
Lily carefully tilted a bottle filled with dark green liquid and dropped three drops into the pot. In an instant, the potion in the crucible changed from purple to grass green.
And just when she put the bottle down, there was a soft knock on the door.
Lily paused for a moment before speaking.
"Please come in."
Slughorn walked in carrying a box of pineapple preserves. Lily looked up at him, and the expression on her face softened significantly.
"Why did the teacher come to see me when he had time?"
"I just happened to get some things from the storage room, so I'll send you some too."
He put the box of preserves on the desk and sat down on a chair in front of the desk. Lily looked at the thing in his hand and said helplessly.
"Eat less sugar. You are already very old. Too much sugar is not good for your health."
"Okay, okay, don't lecture me. Without this, at least half of the fun in my life will be lost. Well, your pot of sedatives is almost ready, but I suggest you add a little more Fairy wings powder, which can give you an extra 0.3 to 0.5 pints of dosage for your final potion, which is my unique secret recipe.”
Lily followed her instructions and found a small bottle of fairy wings powder from the cabinet nearby. She tapped it twice and poured the powder into the crucible.
"Thank you for your generosity in sharing the secret recipe, teacher, but I always feel that you came to me more than just giving me a box of preserves. There shouldn't be such a roundabout way between us, right?"
Slughorn laughed dryly. Facing this once his most proud student, he could always guess the little thoughts in his heart.
After coughing twice, the smile on Slughorn's face faded, and he looked at Lily seriously.
"Did you bring that boy named Jon Green?"
Lily heard the change in Slughorn's tone and turned her attention from the potion in the cauldron to the conversation.
"Yeah, what's wrong? What's wrong with him?"
Slughorn shook his head and asked, staring into Lily's eyes unblinkingly.
"There's nothing wrong with him, but I want to know from you, what's your impression of him?"
Lily had a thoughtful expression on her face, as if she was recalling the scene when she first met Jon.
"He is very smart, even smarter than the Longbottom boy."
She told Slughorn about how she was in the orphanage and Jon finally chose to leave with her based on his observations.
"I have never seen an 11-year-old child think so much in such a short period of time."
Slughorn's face also showed deep thought, and he soon continued to ask.
"anything else?"
"He attaches great importance to relationships. When I went to find him, I also investigated his information. He did not live well in that orphanage. He was bullied before he showed his magic talent. After he gained his talent, he became an isolated object. But after he followed me out of danger, he still asked me about the safety of the orphanage immediately. I can see that if I talk about the people in the orphanage, There will be danger, and he will definitely ask me for help to save them.”
Jon left a deep impression on Lily, so she always remembered things about him very clearly.
Slughorn listened to her story, tapping the table of his desk gently with his fingers, and made no sound for a long time.
"So, teacher, why are you asking these questions?" Lily asked doubtfully.
Slughorn folded his hands in front of him, with a complicated expression on his face.
There is joy, relief, and hesitation in it.
"I was thinking, maybe, I could teach him something..."
...
Jon was woken up by Neville.
After returning from Slughorn's office, he lay on the bed looking at the ring and fell asleep unconsciously.
He slept peacefully without any dreams. It was already dinner time when he was shaken awake by Neville.
"Actually, we can eat dinner a little later today. After all, we can't go to bed until after the astronomy class, and we will definitely be hungry again by then."
Jon said with a yawn while changing out of the pajamas he wore in the dormitory.
"The restaurant won't wait for us until dark. Besides, didn't you bring back some snacks? You can eat these if you are hungry at night."
Neville didn't sleep much in the afternoon. He had already slept for a while in the morning and went back to sleep.
The two of them left the dormitory together. There were many students walking in the corridor, all of whom were senior students preparing to go to the restaurant for dinner after class.
The three of them met at the dining table with Ron. Others were also curious about Jon's whereabouts at noon today, and they all let him fool him with the excuse of helping Slughorn.
The astronomy class didn't start until nearly midnight. Jon and the five of them stayed in the lounge together for a long time after dinner, until Flitwick personally led them to the astronomy "classroom".
"Follow me, be careful not to disturb others' rest."
After Flitwick finished his instructions, he led them along the corridor toward the foyer, and did not stop until they reached a room near the foyer.
There is a sign hanging on the door that says "Astronomy Classroom".
Flitwick opened the door, but it was not a classroom inside, but a stairwell. Directly opposite the entrance, there was a spiral staircase going up vertically. He walked in front, leading Jon and the five others. Follow the stairs to the top of the carriage.
There is not as much space here as in the carriage. The top area is about the same as the carriage seen from the outside. It is an open-air space about three to four meters long and two to three meters wide. There is also a circle around the edge of the carriage that reaches the waist of the freshmen. guardrail.
Hagrid was still driving the carriage on the land of Great Britain. They were passing through a small town. Whenever the carriage passed by, the street lights would automatically go out, and after it left, those lights would turn on again.
As soon as the freshmen arrived on the roof of the car, they were attracted by the magical sight around them. This made Flitwick dissatisfied and tapped a blackboard erected in front of him with his wand.
"I know the surrounding scenery is wonderful, children, but our real target tonight is the vast sky rather than the land. It's time for you to find your seats."
Five desks and chairs have been set up on the roof of the car in advance, and an astronomical telescope is set up on the side near the guardrail. Obviously, these were prepared by Flivi in advance before class.
Jon and the others put their thoughts back and sat down on their chairs respectively. Most of the evening breeze was blocked, blowing very softly around them, and the voice of Flivy's lecture also sounded at the same time.
"In the last class in the classroom in the carriage, I just gave you a brief introduction to some basic knowledge of astronomy. From this class on, we will really start to understand the starry sky above our heads."
