Chapter 9.
On Friday, Slytherin was to attend Professor Snape's Potions class with Gryffindor.
Soren and Draco arrived early at the Potions classroom located in the dungeon, which was dark and cold, with several glass jars lining the walls, containing many creepy animal specimens.
Potions class required two students per group, and the students from Slytherin and Gryffindor paired off within their respective houses, clearly sitting on opposite sides of the classroom—Soren and Draco in one group, Goyle and Crabbe in another, Harry and Ron in yet another, and Daphne paired with Pansy through Soren's introduction.
Soren suddenly noticed Meredith sitting alone in the last row of Slytherin; she seemed a bit awkward as no one wanted to pair with her. Soren recalled that he hadn't really seen Meredith around much lately, aside from classes; she seemed to always be alone and hadn't made any friends.
"Meredith is a little too proud, wearing that cold face, as if the whole world has teased her, so now everyone prefers to stay away from her," Daphne whispered.
Soren couldn't help but ask Daphne at the next table, "Aren't you friends with her?"
"We did play together when we were kids," Daphne said, a look of nostalgia on her face. "But as she grew up, her personality seemed to change, and now she has developed such a bad temper."
Ultimately, under Snape's forced arrangement, Pansy was ordered to pair with Meredith, while Soren filled Pansy's vacancy and teamed up with Daphne. The most surprising part was that Draco was actually ordered to pair with Hermione!
Daphne was the happiest with this arrangement, as the entire Slytherin first year knew of Soren's strength.
Pansy, on the other hand, looked very unwilling, glaring fiercely at Meredith, while Meredith kept her face turned up, not even glancing at Pansy.
Draco felt uneasy about being paired with a Muggle-born witch; it was only after Soren coaxed him, saying this was a great opportunity to prove the strength of pure-blooded students to others, that Draco was tricked into feeling ambitious and obediently paired with Hermione.
After taking attendance, Snape began the lesson. "You are here to learn the precise science and strict craft of potion-making," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper, yet everyone heard every word he said. Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape had a commanding presence that kept the classroom in order effortlessly.
"Since this rarely requires you to foolishly wave your wands, many of you may not believe this is magic. I do not expect you to truly appreciate the beauty of a cauldron simmering gently, emitting white smoke and a delightful aroma; you will not truly understand the wondrous magic of a liquid flowing through people's veins that can stir the heart and cloud the mind... I can teach you how to enhance your reputation, brew glory, and even stave off death—but there is one condition: you must not be the kind of foolish idiot I often encounter."
"Potter!" Snape suddenly said, "What would happen if I added powdered asphodel root to an infusion of wormwood?"
What root powder goes into what solution? Harry glanced at Ron, who was just as stunned; Hermione's arm shot up high in the air.
"I don't know, sir," Harry said.
Snape sneered, "Tsk tsk, it seems fame doesn't cover everything."
Ignoring Hermione's raised arm, Snape continued, "Let's try again. Potter, if I asked you to find me a bezoar, where would you go to look?"
Hermione tried to raise her hand as high as possible without leaving her seat, but Harry had no idea what that oar thing was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.
"I don't know, sir."
"I suspect you haven't opened a single book before the term started, have you, Potter?" Snape still ignored Hermione's trembling arm and continued, "Alright, Potter, then tell me what the difference is between aconite and wolfsbane?"
"I don't know," Harry whispered, "but I think Hermione knows the answer. Why don't you ask her?" Several students laughed out loud.
"Sit down," he barked at Hermione, "Soren, you tell us the answer."
Soren felt a bit helpless; was he being forced to go against Harry?
But under Snape's murderous gaze, Soren had no choice but to stand up and say, "Asphodel root powder and Wormwood can be combined to create a very potent sleeping potion, known as the Draught of Living Death. bezoar is a type of stone extracted from a goat's stomach and has a very strong detoxifying effect. As for the Aconite and Wolf's Bane, they are the same plant, collectively referred to as Aconite."
"Slytherin gets ten points," Snape said loudly, "Why don't you all write this down!"
At that moment, there was suddenly a rustling sound of quills and parchment. Amidst the noise, Snape said, "Potter, because you talked back, Gryffindor will lose a point for that."
Then Snape spent half the class instructing the two groups of students, pairing them up to learn how to brew the simplest potion for treating boils. Although it was said to be the simplest potion, both the materials and the steps looked quite complicated.
Following Snape's orders, Soren took out various materials from the potions cabinet, including dried nettle, snake's fangs, and shrake spines; Daphne then lit the fire and placed her cauldron on top.
During their brewing process, Snape glided around the classroom in a long black cloak, like a large bat, observing their steps... Most of the Gryffindor students received harsh criticism; even many Slytherin students were not spared.
After returning to his seat, Soren moved quickly; in fact, he had already practiced the simple actions of grinding, dissolving, and boiling at home before the school year began.
"Why are you grinding the shrake spines?" Daphne asked in confusion. "The book says to cut them into small pieces and add them at the last stage after removing the cauldron from the fire!"
"The solubility of Shrake spine is extremely low, and they are even harder to dissolve once removed from the fire. Just looking at the fact that they are the last ingredient added suggests they are likely the most unstable of all the materials—grinding them into powder will allow them to dissolve more quickly, thus reducing the chance of accidents." Since his partner was a girl, Soren patiently explained, all the while continuing to grind the Shrake spine.
Daphne frowned, but seeing Soren's confident demeanor, she decided to say nothing and continued hammering away at the small piece of snake's fang.
"Help me roast the nettle in the pot for a while; this will dry out the water. Be careful not to get stung by the nettle... Thank you!" Soren added the crushed snake's fang to the cauldron, stirring slowly in a clockwise direction while giving instructions.
Daphne opened her mouth but didn't say anything; instead, she followed Soren's instructions. During this time, Snape passed by their location several times, stopping to observe their actions for several minutes, even noticing the small plate of shrake spines grounded in fine powder..But other than that he didn't interfere at all, just squinting at Soren for a few times.
'When the snake fangs are added to the cauldron it needs to boil down for five minutes.' Daphne on the other side now began to pay attention to the recipe and began to remind Soren about it.
As the mixed liquid began to turn yellow, Soren quickly reduced the flame to prevent it from boiling over.
Daphne looked a bit anxious, while Soren seemed unconcerned... Hogwarts' potions textbook wasn't particularly accurate; even something as simple as whether roots yield juice more easily when pressed or cut could be wrong.
Suddenly, Soren caught a whiff of something off, and when he turned his head, he saw a cloud of acidic green smoke rising in the underground classroom, accompanied by a loud hissing sound. Somehow, Neville had burned Seamus's cauldron into a twisted mess, spilling the potion onto the stone floor, but Soren acted quickly, making the potion on the ground disappear.
"Five points to Slytherin." Snape glanced at Soren before turning to Neville and roaring, "Are you a troll? I assume you didn't take the cauldron off the fire before putting in the Shrake spine, did you?" Neville began to cry, and suddenly, many boils appeared on his nose. After reprimanding him, Snape had Seamus take him to the hospital wing.
Half an hour later, Snape walked slowly between the tables, checking each cauldron and their results in turn.
When he saw the ugly blue mixture that Harry and Ron had concocted, a sarcastic smile appeared on his face: "Do you think you can drink this potion, Potter and Weasley? I dare say, drinking this potion of yours will not only fail to cure your boils but will likely poison you first." Snape waved his wand, sweeping the potion in the cauldron away.
Almost every student's results were criticized by Snape, who mocked them one by one. The Gryffindor students received the harshest scolding, but some Slytherin students weren't spared either, especially Pansy and Meredith's group, which became a laughing stock for Slytherin.
Draco and Hermione's pairing did well; under Hermione's careful preparation and Draco's attentive cooperation, their work was quite standard. However, biased Snape only awarded Slytherin five points, completely ignoring Hermione's contribution, which made many Gryffindors seethe with anger, directing their resentment toward Draco.
The potion made by Soren and Daphne was praised by Snape as a somewhat perfect potion, earning Slytherin an additional ten points.
Soren felt indifferent about it, but Daphne's gaze toward him grew even more fervent. Other students might not know, but Daphne was well aware of what Soren had done—he had unilaterally improved many steps in potion preparation and ended up producing an almost perfect product.
Being well-informed, she understood that Soren could be a rare talent in potion-making. There were at least over a hundred thousand people in the wizarding community across Europe, yet fewer than twenty had become potion masters invited to join the potion association. Even with the prestige of her Greengrass family, they couldn't afford to hire a potion master to serve the family.
Hermione looked at Soren with a face full of disbelief. Clearly, she had followed the steps in the book to the letter, so why could Soren do better than her?
At that moment, the fire of competition ignited in her heart, and she decided to spend more time improving her potion skills. She was determined to become the top student in all subjects!