Hogwarts Raven

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"Brewing potions is not the same as cooking!" Snape's roar echoed through the dungeon but it failed to strike a chord.

The young wizards fell silent, but only out of fear, and not out of conviction.

"Look at what you've done!"

Snape already regretted letting Ian take the lead. Some things were fine to study, but they did not necessarily need to be practiced. Why had he let this boy corrupt everyone's minds?

Seeing Ian's completed potion, Snape, though still displeased with Ian's attitude and extremely annoyed by his influence over the students, ultimately acknowledged that the assignment had been completed.

"It's adequate, but it lacks the essence of potion-making— there is no reverence for the craft."

Snape gritted his teeth as he gave his verdict, though the deep furrow in his brow finally smoothed, and his perpetually stormy expression settled back into his usual cold neutrality.

The old bat was livid, but it seemed as though he had secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was just Ian's imagination.

"I expect better effort in the next lesson, and I do not want to hear another word of your nonsense. Only potions brewed with care can achieve their true potential." Snape delivered his half-hearted reprimand, then took Ian's still-warm potion and carried it to the front of the class.

"I am deeply disappointed in all of you. Some of you couldn't even manage the simplest brew, and I even witnessed one among you produce a revolting orange-yellow sludge."

Snape surveyed the room before holding Ian's potion aloft.

"Although this is a lifeless, textbook-exact replica, it is still superior to the abominations the rest of you have concocted. Take a good look at what a proper Boil Cure Potion should resemble!"

"I do not want to see another mess of mismatched colors again— especially from you lot!" Snape's glare sharpened as it landed on the Slytherin students.

"You are worse than idle slackers! The worst students I have had the misfortune of teaching in decades. Slytherin's legacy of excellence is utterly lost on you!"

His scathing remarks made the Slytherin students shrink in shame.

Just then, a foul stench, something between rotten eggs and sulfur, wafted from the Slytherin section, causing several students to wrinkle their noses in disgust.

Even Snape flinched and his expression darkened.

"Merlin's beard!"

Before he could intervene,

"Boom!"

A cauldron erupted.

A geyser of potion shot toward the ceiling from a Slytherin student's station. Snape whipped out his wand and cast a quick spell.

'Winggardium LeviOSa (Levitation Charm)'.

Droplets of liquid froze mid-air, preventing a potion shower from drenching the students.

"Giggs! Singed! What in the name of Salazar have you two dunderheads done?" Snape's voice was a mix of fury and alarm, and his wand hand trembled slightly.

Had he been even a moment slower, the entire class would have been covered in a disaster of unknown magical consequences. He might as well have had to resign and open an apothecary in Knockturn Alley.

"We... we were trying something new, Professor. My family has some old potion notes," Stammered a boy with a mess of curly hair.

"The standard text is insufficient for you? Do my lessons no longer suffice for your 'brilliance'?" Snape swept the suspended potion droplets away with a flick of his wand.

He looked like an enraged serpent ready to strike.

"I-I only remembered you saying earlier that we shouldn't blindly follow the textbook," The other, a bald-headed boy, muttered sheepishly.

"..."

Snape had been caught in his own contradiction and was momentarily speechless.

But unlike McGonagall and the other professors, he did not take such things lightly.

"Out! Straight to Gryffindor!" Snape bellowed, making the entire class recoil.

"I..."

"No, no!"

The two Slytherins turned red and shook their heads wildly. Of course, Snape had no real authority to reassign students to another house, but his sheer presence made it feel like a real possibility.

"Remember today's lesson well. If anyone dares to cause such trouble again, they will be packing their things and leaving my class permanently."

That threat was not idle.

For the rest of the lesson, Snape monitored the students closely as they struggled to refine their potions.

"The color is wrong! Throw it out and start over!"

"This shade is an abomination! Imbecile!"

"Did you not observe how Prince brewed his potion? Do it again!"

"This one is just barely tolerable— practice in your rest time until you can at least manage this standard."

Snape prowled the classroom with Ian's potion in hand until even the weakest students had managed something presentable.

"None of you possess true talent. The fact that this soulless potion has taken first place is a disgrace to Slytherin."

Snape lifted Ian's vial with distaste before returning it to Ian and Aurora's table.

"This reward is yours, Mr. Prince. It was meant for someone truly exceptional, but alas, it has found its way to one who has neither respect nor reverence for potioneering."

He then pulled out a small pouch and set it before Ian.

"Additionally, Five Points to Ravenclaw. Though I loathe to grant them, I do respect the system of rewards and punishments." He casually untied the pouch.

Some students craned their necks to see.

"It's Felix Felicis! My dad has a bottle!"

Excited whispers spread through the room.

The class erupted with murmurs.

"Yes, Felix Felicis. A true measure of a Potioneer's skill. Yet not one among you will likely ever have the opportunity to brew it."

Snape scanned the room, his gaze filled with arrogance. He glanced at Ian, who was staring at the potion with mild surprise, then turned and strode back to his desk without another word.

"Class dismissed!"

The students, having endured enough scolding, hurriedly gathered their belongings. Snape packed up his materials, ready to retreat to his office for some peace.

However, just as he stepped into the corridor, he spotted Ian and Aurora lingering outside.

"The gift I promised— I originally planned to learn alchemy and forge you a superweapon, but this is just as good. It's the result of my hard work!"

Ian selected the largest vial from the pouch and handed it to the German girl.

"??????"

Nearby, at the classroom doorway, Snape, having overheard Ian's words, felt a vein throb in his temple.

Your hard work?

I spent half a year brewing that!

This school has truly gone to the dogs!

"I don't want this; I want the superweapon. Is it really super?" Aurora asked, curious.

However, her act of returning the Felix Felicis was likely the final straw.

"Hahaha, so it seems we have two fools!"

(End Of This Chapter)