Hogwarts: What wicked thoughts could a little wizard possibly have?

Chapter 22 Potions Class

Professor Snape had the same ability as Professor McGonagall; a single glance from him could silence the young wizards.

However, the two have completely different styles.

Professor McGonagall is serious and dignified, which stems from her impartiality and fairness in treating everyone equally.

But Snape...

When he hid in the shadows, his fingers lightly twirling the parchment, and he uttered the name "Harry Potter" with a blank expression, the drawn-out tone sounded as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

It inevitably evokes images of venomous snakes!

Snape took in the fearful expressions of the young wizards below, but he made no attempt to hide it; his lifeless, dark eyes remained fixed on Harry.

"Yes, yes, the boy who survived a great calamity, the savior of the magical world, a famous figure!"

Anyone could hear the blatant sarcasm in it.

Harry's face was stiff, feeling inexplicably wronged, and then he heard Professor Snape call out Vaughn's name.

"Oh, Vaughn Weasley, the famous potions genius, yet another notable figure."

Vaughn rose and bowed: "Thank you for the compliment, Professor."

Harry suddenly envied his composure; not everyone has the courage to ignore a snake spitting venom.

Snape snorted, and to Harry's relief, Snape finally stopped staring at him. Instead, he quickly finished reading the list and then wandered through the crowd like a ghost.

"...Perhaps many of you do not believe that potions are magic. I do not expect the stupidity inside your thick skulls to immediately understand the beauty of this subject, or how the magical potions, slowly simmered over a low flame, can make people's minds wander and their wills be clouded..."

The slow, deliberate words echoed in the quiet basement.

Sometimes near, sometimes far, it suddenly rang in Harry's ear, startling him:

"Harry Potter! Famous figure, please tell me, what would I get if I added daffodil root powder to wormwood infusion?"

What?

Harry glanced at Ron beside him; Ron's expression was just as blank as his.

Harry had certainly read the Potions books, but who would memorize the entire book of things they hadn't learned before?

Oh, except Hermione—she held her hand high.

Vaughn was trying to push her back into her seat, while behind them, Malfoy and his two henchmen covered their mouths and snickered.

"I don't know, Professor," Harry said dryly.

Professor Snape, whose long face almost reached the top of his head, snorted sarcastically, "I don't know... Hmph, it seems fame isn't everything, Mr. Potter. Well, let's try again..."

Humiliated, Harry's head was spinning. He blurted out impulsively, "Professor, why don't you ask Hermione? She must know! Or ask Vaughn? He's been brewing potions since he was eight, and he's improved many of the recipes. Ron showed me the newspaper that published his paper; I think he's even better!"

After saying all that in one breath, Harry felt a sense of relief.

These past few days, Ron has been bragging to Harry about Vaughn's potions skills, and Harry thinks that Snape might not be as good as Vaughn!

The basement fell into a deathly silence after Harry's words, and everyone saw Snape's face freeze.

puff...

Someone burst out laughing; it was Malfoy and his two henchmen.

This reckless commotion attracted Vaughn and Snape, who both gave them identical, cold stares.

Malfoy quickly shut up.

Snape then looked at Vaughn, his cold expression revealing nothing of his thoughts: "It seems, Mr. Vaughn Weasley, you hold a high place in the hearts of your classmates."

Vaughn resumed his smiling demeanor: "Just some insignificant achievements, Professor."

"In fact, my main purpose in coming to Hogwarts is to learn potions from you. I also want to thank you for publishing papers to speak up for me when some people in the Extraordinary Apothecaries Association criticized my potion-making ideas."

The young wizards from Gryffindor and Slytherin thought they must have hallucinated from the deathly silence—they actually saw Professor Snape seem to smile, but the atmosphere in the classroom was undoubtedly much more relaxed.

He didn't ask any more questions, but before the lecture, Snape once again mocked Harry: "Mr. Potter, I don't need to ask Mr. Vaughn Weasley such a simple question. You know why? His reputation is earned through his own hard work, while you—tsk tsk… Gryffindor loses 2 points!"

Harry felt like his face was on fire.

Vaughn also sighed inwardly, the emotional entanglement between Harry and Snape was simply a tangled mess.

Harry was undoubtedly aggrieved. He had no idea why he had angered Snape. As for Snape... one can only imagine how painful it must have been for him to see the eyes of the person he loved most on the face of the person he hated most.

Outsiders have no right to interfere in such a complex entanglement.

So everyone soon discovered that... Snape was only letting Harry off the hook temporarily.

Throughout the lecture, he kept circling around Harry's seat, asking questions from time to time.

This caused great distress to those sitting next to Harry. Not only did they dare not let their minds wander, but a few unlucky souls were inevitably caught in the crossfire.

This is especially true in the practical part at the end of the class.

Snape practically wanted to glue his feet to Harry's desk, finding fault with every move Harry and those around him made.

"Longbottom, what's inside your thick skull? Flour and water? Does it turn into mush the moment you move your head?"

"I've heard of your reputation, Finigan, that anything can cause an explosion. But in Potions class, if you dare to be even slightly careless, I'll show you what punishment truly means!"

Occasionally, he would walk up to Vaughn and watch him silently, without uttering a single sarcastic remark.

It wasn't because he favored Slytherins, although that's true, but because Vaughn's actions were perfectly fine—although his partner Hermione felt that his method of handling the herbs was different from what was in the textbook.

The practical operation involved preparing a medicated solution for treating scabies, a very basic medicine.

Vaughn had tried it before, but he didn't just throw something away because the potion was so basic. Instead, he focused intently on brewing it while explaining it to Hermione:

"...Potions don't have strict control over their properties. Unlike Muggle chemistry, which emphasizes precise control of ingredient proportions, potions are less about brewing a potion and more about cooking up a potion of mysticism, brewing a spell!"

"You've probably noticed, haven't you? The recipes in textbooks are very vague about the quantities of ingredients. They don't specify grams or milliliters; they usually just say a few drops, a few tablets, or even the whole ingredient. But in parts that Muggles don't care about, like stirring, potions will strictly specify the number of times!"

"Hermione, you can think of this whole process as a ritual, a ritual that invokes mystery and constructs spells."