Harry Potter: This senior is pretty strong

Chapter 23 A Happy Yet Disgusting Job

Looking at the mess of the spider's nest, Qin Yu asked leisurely after a long while, "Did I do all this?"

“That should be it. When we arrived, Professor Dumbledore and the others had already arrived. At the time, we thought the teachers had saved you, but Professor Dumbledore said it was because your magic went out of control,” Fred said to Qin Yu.

"Magic going out of control is actually quite common among young wizards, especially those from Muggle families. Without adult wizards to guide them, they are prone to magical outbursts. However, you were really impressive this time!" George's words carried a hint of admiration.

George and Fred initially thought Qin Yu simply had a very advanced business mind, but they didn't expect him to be so amazing in terms of magical power—albeit out of control.

Seeing their reaction, Qin Yu subconsciously glanced at Hagrid. The simple-minded uncle kept his mouth shut and shrugged at him, which probably meant: Dumbledore didn't tell them the truth.

Qin Yu thought about it and roughly understood Lao Deng's intention. It was better to keep the matter of the Silent Ones a secret on a small scale, as letting too many people know would be more harmful than beneficial.

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat, let's get started! Guys, can't you see tons of Galleons waving at us?" Qin Yu said, pointing to the corpse of the eight-eyed giant spider that filled the cave.

"Awooo!" "Roar!"

George and Fred shouted excitedly.

Hagrid seemed to be infected by the eccentric teenagers, and a happy smile appeared on his face.

So the four of them started looting the corpses—oops, I mean, picking up the items dropped by these mini-bosses—in the lair of the eight-eyed giant spider.

As for the big boss Aragog, even Hagrid, the zookeeper of magical creatures, didn't know where he went. "He's probably terrified and has hidden somewhere," Hagrid told Qin Yu and the twins.

This is one of the reasons why they dared to come in and collect supplies.

As for those little spiders that occasionally wander in aimlessly, they have nothing to fear.

"There's a small hole on the chelicerae of the giant spider, right here... This hole is where it sprays venom. When they clamp down on their target with their chelicerae, they quickly release the venom to poison it... Be careful, make sure you wear gloves, otherwise if the venom gets on your skin, it will cause your skin to rot and you might even get a fever or faint." Hagrid explained to Qin Yu and the other two while rummaging through the carcass of a giant spider.

George and Fred were impressed by his professional explanation. Their impression of Hagrid changed significantly because the knowledge of these magical creatures was something they could not necessarily learn from books, yet Hagrid could recount it all with ease and detail.

“Alright, Qin, put a jar down here, I’ll teach you how to extract the venom,” Hagrid instructed.

Qin Yu quickly put his jar on the ground, while Hagrid used a knife to cut open a part of the giant spider's head, then reached in with his gloved hand and began to grope around, making soft, squelching sounds.

"Ugh~ That's a bit disgusting," Qin Yu couldn't help but say.

George and Fred had already looked like they wanted to vomit, because the sound reminded them of the noise their mother made when she ate minced meat with her hands. They vowed that they would never be interested in their mother's steamed meatballs or fried meat patties again.

"Oh, found it!" Hagrid said with a delighted expression after groping around in the flesh of the eight-eyed spider for a while.

Then, he instructed Qin Yu to position the jar at the venomous opening of the giant spider's pincers. As Hagrid slowly applied pressure with the hand that had been inserted into the spider's head, a stream of light green water shot out from the venomous opening and accurately entered the jar.

"Wow! It's out!" "What a beautiful color!"

The twin brothers expressed their joy.

This isn't a beautiful color; it's a dangerous one. Qin Yu thought to himself, trembling with fear.

He was holding onto the rim of the jar, terrified of being splashed with the venom of the giant eight-eyed spider.

Fortunately, Hagrid's hand was steady, and not a single drop spilled out until all the venom was squeezed out.

"Alright, that's all!" Hagrid said, pulling his hand out of the giant spider's head with a thud.

The three boys quickly went over to see how much venom had been squeezed out.

"Tsk, is that all?!" George said with some disappointment.

“Yeah, it’s at most two ounces,” Fred estimated.

One pint equals twenty ounces, meaning they would have to squeeze out ten spiders to make one pint, which is worth 120 gallons. (Note: There was an error in the previous text; one gallon has been changed to one pint. One gallon is ridiculously cheap.)

As for how much is a pint? Converted to metric units, it's about 568 milliliters. To put that into perspective, a bottle of Nongfu Spring water is 550 milliliters, and a pint is a little more than that.

Therefore, our slogan from now on will be: We don't produce venom, we just act as nature's porters (or milkers)...

Qin Yu thought about all sorts of random things and then laughed to himself.

"Guys, although one giant spider is only this small, we have a whole cave full of them!" Qin Yu said, pointing to the remaining eight-eyed giant spiders.

George and Fred nodded vigorously at these words, as happy as a landlord's foolish son seeing a bumper harvest.

Then, the three of them worked together to begin the disgusting task of squeezing out the venom.

Qin Yu went first—after all, he had been influenced by movies and TV shows from his previous life and his recent Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so he was a bit bolder.

Following Hagrid's example, Qin Yu used a sharp knife to cut open the carapace of an eight-eyed giant spider at the mouthparts, revealing the fleshy part inside. Then, he reached inside with his hand, which was wearing a deerskin glove.

After groping around for a while, he found a soft sac that looked like a deflated balloon.

Next, Qin Yu had George and Fred hold the jar steady while he gripped the sac tightly. Sure enough, as he exerted force, the venom was squeezed out smoothly.

After squeezing out all the venom from the giant eight-eyed spider, Qin Yu and the other two rushed to the next one.

The whole process was disgusting and tedious.

They took turns squeezing in, of course. No matter how strong Qin Yu's mental fortitude was, he would still vomit if he did too much.

In the end, they collected the venom of more than two hundred giant eight-eyed spiders of various sizes from the cave, amounting to about a dozen pints.

Looking at the three nearly full jars, Qin Yu, Hagrid, and the twins all wore satisfied smiles.

Qin Yu thought to himself, even if I feel so nauseous that I can't eat today, it's still worth it.

……

Besides its venom, the eight-eyed giant spider has many useful parts, such as its eyes, exoskeleton, and chelicerae, all of which are rare monster materials.

While Qin Yu and the other two were squeezing out the venom, Hagrid used his tools to dismember the giant spiders whose venom glands had been emptied, taking out the useful parts and stuffing them all into a sack.

The four of them worked for most of the day, and finally finished their work around 2 p.m.

Then, Qin Yu and the others, carrying the venom canisters and Hagrid carrying two large sacks, returned to Hagrid's cabin, both happy and exhausted.

……

Meanwhile, on a hillside not far away, stood two tall men. One of them had a faint smile on his lips, while the other had a cold, expressionless face.

They were Stephen Swinton and Severus Snape.

“Professor Snape, he seems to be having a lot of fun,” Swinton said, raising an eyebrow.

“Professor Swinton, I think he’s just like a petty merchant, greedy for meager profits!” Snape said sarcastically.

“Haha, Professor Snape, there’s an old saying in the East that says, ‘A gentleman may also like money, but he will acquire it in the right way.’ I think what Qin has gained is his rightful reward,” Swinton said with a smile.

“I just think that a smart kid like him shouldn’t waste his energy on these things,” Snape said slowly.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve heard you praise someone, especially a child,” Swinton said, somewhat surprised.

“…” Snape rolled his eyes.

He didn't bother to say anything more and started walking towards Hagrid's cabin.

"Where are you going?" Swinton called from behind.

“Go ask them for some venom from the eight-eyed giant spiders; I’ll need it to make potions,” Snape said without turning his head.

"Oh, so that's why you said he looked like a street vendor. Are you afraid he'll rip you off?" Swinton teased, joining in.

“Are you kidding me? Why should I be afraid of him?” Snape said dismissively.