Chapter 15

The next day, Potions class.

Potions class was on Friday, and it was this class that made this day slip from Hector's favorite day of the week to the least anticipated day of the week.

Today they were going to the coldest classroom in the whole Hogwarts, together with the Slytherin students who were the most unfriendly, to attend classes taught by Snape, the coldest teacher in the school except Professor Binns. By the way, Professor Binns was a ghost.

At breakfast, Ron was drinking cereal while describing Snape to Harry.

"Snape is the head of Slytherin. Both Frege and George said that he favors students from his own house the most. Today we will know if it is true.

Harry thought of the teacher with greasy hair that caused his scar pain. Every morning, the regular owl came to deliver messages to the students. Harry was surprised to see a piece of paper tied to Hedwig's leg. It fluttered its wings and landed between the jam and sugar jars. Harry quickly took off the paper and took a look.

"Ron, Hector, Hagrid invited me to his cabin. Would you like to come with me?

Ron nodded. Hector had long wanted to take Hermione, who had been pestering him to learn spells, out for a walk and some fresh air, so he did not refuse Harry's request.

"Can I bring someone with me? Hector knew that Ron had always been very critical of Hermione, and that Harry also had some issues with Hermione, so he asked politely.

"Hermione? Sure, right?"Harry wanted to refuse, but seeing as Hector generously shared his Transfiguration essay last night, Harry agreed.

After breakfast, they walked to the basement, where the Potions classroom was located. The Potions classroom was much colder than the main building of the castle. Glass jars were lined along the walls, in which were soaked various animal corpses, many of which Hector couldn't even name. There were many long tables in the middle of the classroom, and many crucibles were placed on the long tables.

Hermione left a seat for her study partner as usual, and Hector rushed over and sat next to Hermione.

After a while, a tall figure pushed open the door and walked in with precise timing.

Snape was all black, including his deep and empty eyes. There was no expression on his face, not now, and probably never in the future, which made him exude a cold aura all over his body.

He looked around the classroom and soon noticed Harry who was staring at him.

""Oh, yes," he said softly,"Harry Potter, a very famous person."

Malfoy and his two followers Crabbe and Goyle covered their mouths with their hands and laughed. Hector had already lowered his head, trying to avoid Snape's eyes.

Of course, the result was the opposite of what he wanted. Snape quickly continued,

"I almost forgot, there is also a Dumbledore," Snape looked at Hector with his black eyes,"Gryffindor is really full of talents this year."

Hector didn't dare to breathe, he could only lower his head to avoid eye contact with those cold, emotionless eyes.

"You are here to learn the precise science and strict craftsmanship of potion preparation." His voice was low and not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly. The whole class was shocked by Snape's momentum and dared not even breathe.

"I don't want to see anyone here waving their wands foolishly and chanting some insignificant spells." Snape paused,"Of course, I don't expect many of you to understand the profound, wonderful and precise craftsmanship of making potions. For the few outstanding people among you, I can teach you how to control the liquid that flows into people's blood vessels, how to control the kind of magical power that makes people excited and confused."

"I can teach you how to improve your reputation, forge glory, and even prevent death."

Snape stopped his brief opening remarks, and the whole classroom was silent, forming a strange pause.

""Potter!" Snape suddenly asked,"What will I get if I add powdered narcissus roots to wormwood infusion?"

Harry was really confused by the question. What root? What grass? Ron, who was bewildered beside him, obviously couldn't give him any effective hints. Hermione next to Hector raised her hand high, but Snape seemed to see nothing. He curled his lips in contempt, with only Harry in his eyes.

"It seems that reputation is not everything."

He then asked,

"Let's try this again, Potter. If I asked you to find me a bezoar, where would you find it?"

"I don't know, sir."

"So what is the difference between Aconitum naviculatum and Aconitum damicornis?"

Hermione raised her hands and was about to stand up anxiously, which made Hector, who was sitting next to her and trying to reduce his presence as much as possible, very uncomfortable.

"I don't know, sir." Harry whispered,"But I think Hermione knows the answer, why don't you ask her?"

This sentence startled Hector, and he even felt that the temperature in the classroom dropped a few degrees

"Well, well, I guess you haven't read any books before school starts." Snape's voice became even lower, a little louder than a whisper.

"So, Mr. Dumbledore, can you answer my question?"

Snape did not continue to target Harry, but turned to look at Hector who was silently staring at his finger.

Hector could only stand up reluctantly, not understanding at all. His great resentment towards Harry could be attributed to the fact that Harry looked very much like Snape's former rival James Potter. His resentment towards Hector was really unreasonable. It couldn't be said that Hector also looked like James Potter, so he just had a problem with old Dumbledore.

Hector decided to find an opportunity to sue Snape in front of his grandfather.

"Narcissus root powder and wormwood can be combined to make water of life and death, a very powerful sleeping pill.

Coprolite is a kind of stone taken out from the stomach of a goat, which has a strong detoxification ability.

As for Aconitum wolfsbane and Aconitum naviculatum, they are collectively called Aconitum, which is the same plant.

"Although Hector had no interest in potions, he was forced by Snape's reputation to take a look at the content of the potion class in advance in his spare time from practicing spells and transfiguration.

"Well, it's correct, but just knowing the contents of the book is not enough," Snape looked at Hector with no expression on his face.

"Why don't you write all this down? Or have you memorized all of this?"

The young wizards immediately lowered their heads and hurriedly wrote down the knowledge points that had just been discussed. For a moment, the only sound in the classroom was the friction between the quills and the parchment.

"Hector, congratulations, at least you have proved that you are not a fool."Snape's voice sounded faintly."One point for Gryffindor."

Before the little lion of Gryffindor could be happy, Snape continued in his cold voice,"As for Potter, Gryffindor will be deducted five points for talking back to the teacher."

Next, Snape divided them into groups of two.

Today's lesson was to mix and prepare a simple potion to treat scabies.

In Snape's words, it was an extremely simple potion that even Muggles could make.

It was indeed very simple, but Snape was always walking around in the classroom, and from time to time he would stop behind a lucky guy and add a little ice debuff to him.

The little wizard who was stared at by him from behind would always be forced to make some low-level mistakes, and then he or she would enjoy Snape's sarcasm.

"I can find eighteen faults with the way you weigh the dried nettles." Snape seemed to be particularly fond of finding faults with Harry, and he criticized Harry so many times that Hector felt very sympathetic towards him.

"Potter, I asked you to break the snake's fang, don't you understand? I think it doesn't need such a complete fang to be broken."

Just as Harry was enduring Snape's crazy output, Neville next to him had successfully burned through the crucible. Seamus, who was in the same group with him, wanted to make some compensation. The moment Hector saw him take out his wand, he directly pulled Hermione to hide under the table.

With a bang, the red-hot crucible exploded directly, and the whole pot of boiling potion instantly scattered like flowers from the sky. Snape, who was standing next to Harry, was the first to be hit. Hector swore that he had never seen Snape react so quickly. Almost at the first moment the crucible exploded, he took out his wand and gave himself an armor protection. Only a few drops fell on his robe.

""Idiot!" Snape roared, waving his wand to clean up the potion on the table. He looked at a large number of little wizards who were affected and quickly developed scabies on the skin surface that was touched by the potion. As for the two perpetrators, they even had red and swollen scabies on their faces.

"Did I say no to your stupid wand and your ridiculous spells?" Snape stared at Seamus.

"And you, did you put the porcupine quills in the cauldron without removing it from the fire?"

""Send them to the hospital wing," Snape said sternly, looking at the unharmed Hector and Hermione."Just the two of them will do."

Hector stood up, and Hermione followed behind him. They climbed out of the dungeon, one supporting the other. As they approached the door, Hector could still hear Snape's angry voice.

"Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add porcupine quills? Do you think you can show your goodness just because he made a mistake? Gryffindor lost another five points because of you."

Hector could see that Hermione's face was obviously red because of anger. Neville and Seamus didn't even dare to raise their heads and walked silently.

"Why is Snape targeting Harry so much? This is so unfair!"Hermione was very confused about Snape's actions, and Hector couldn't explain it to her.

How to say it? Snape had a crush on Harry's mother for so many years, and Harry and his rival looked like they were cast in the same mold? If Harry looked like Lily, this story might be about Snape defeating Voldemort alone.

"Who knows? It's good to breathe some fresh air."Hector walked out of the dungeon, breathing the fresh air, and felt much more comfortable.

Life is still wonderful, and it would be even better if there were no Potions class.