Hogwarts Raven's Claw

Chapter 457 Winner
Hermione frequently looked back to observe the actions of Mike and Harry, while rotating the spoon in her hand clockwise at a specific frequency.

She had noticed it when the first trace of blue steam rose from Mike's desk just now. This change made her very anxious because it meant that Mike's progress had now surpassed hers, which Hermione could not tolerate.

There are many people who noticed this, such as Slughorn and Draco.

However, the former only chuckled and did not disturb him, while the latter became anxious. He looked at Slughorn who was patrolling near the Slytherin table and said:

"Sir, I assume you know my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?"

Hearing this, Slughorn turned his head and looked at Draco, whose face was faintly anxious, and the solution in his crucible that was only just okay. Slughorn understood his thoughts almost instantly.

If it were normal, Slughorn might have given Draco some help as Draco wished, after all, he was the eldest son of the Malfoy family.

But the situation is different now. Voldemort is rampant in the Kingdom of Ying. Slughorn has no good feelings towards him and the Death Eaters, and is unwilling to have anything to do with them.

So, he raised his eyebrows and said in a very regretful tone:

"Of course, but I heard that he died, which is a pity. But it makes sense, after all, he was 80 years old and still got dragon genital sores."

As soon as these words were spoken, Draco's face suddenly turned gloomy, while Mike in the distance burst out laughing.

Dragon's vaginal sores are a sexual disease that occurs in dragons. This disease is extremely scary and can be spread across races through sexual activity, and it has a very high mortality rate for humans.

This is not to say that Draco's grandfather did something unspeakable with the dragon. After all, the size difference between humans and dragons is too big.

And what’s interesting is that after humans are infected with Dragon’s Vagina, this terrible infectious disease will lose its contagiousness, which is the direct reason why the Ministry of Magic did not take this disease too seriously.

But this also means that Grandpa Draco's taste must be very unique and strong as he ages, which is why he could be infected with this disease at the age of 80.

This was a very obscure bit of trivia. Apart from Mike and Draco, only Slughorn and Hermione knew it. At this moment, Slughorn, who heard the laughter, turned around, raised his eyebrows and smiled at Mike.

It was obvious that he was very happy that his words were understood.

Mike also smiled and nodded, then he looked down at his crucible again.

It would be fine if he didn't look, but when he did, he was shocked and his face turned dark.

Because at this moment, the boiling liquid in his crucible has changed from its original light brown to dark brown.

"Ah! What a pity! I didn't control the heat well and it was a little overcooked."

Slughorn, who had swam nearby, also saw the scene in Mike's cauldron and sighed.

Mike also shook his head. He was so focused on laughing at Draco that he forgot to continue stirring the cauldron.

Glancing at the hourglass on the podium, there were less than twenty minutes left before the get out of class was over, and it was too late to make another one. Seeing this, Mike no longer hesitated and simply used the overcooked medicine to start the next preparation.

Seeing this, Slughorn hesitated to speak and finally walked away.

Soon Mike's Water of Life and Death was completed, but compared with the perfect version recorded in the book, the color of his finished product was obviously a little too dark.

Shaking his head helplessly, Mike had no intention of packing up the defective products. Instead, he turned to look at other people in the classroom.

Franklin's crucible was already a mess, and the pitch-black color easily reminded people of poison.

But he still did not give up. He was still desperately stirring the viscous liquid in the crucible, and adding some mugwort water from time to time. His expression was ferocious and his movements were rough, and he seemed a little exasperated.

Draco seemed to have given up the fight for the prize. At this moment, he was chattering with Parkinson beside him with a sullen face. Mike guessed that he must be saying something bad about Slughorn.

As for Harry, the 'Half-Blood Prince's Textbook' had obviously given him a great surprise. At this moment, he was stirring the crucible with great interest, stirring it clockwise for a few times, then stirring it counterclockwise for a few times. Judging from his excited expression, the progress should be very good.

"Okay! Time's up! Please stop what you are doing!"

Slughorn's words made everyone stop, and then he began to wander between the tables, checking everyone's cauldrons one by one.

The first to be affected was the Ravenclaw table. When he saw the dark liquid in Mike's cauldron, a look of regret appeared on his face.

"What a pity!" Slughorn leaned forward a little, whispering a little guiltily, "This is all my fault. If I hadn't told that joke, this wouldn't have happened."

"It's okay, Professor."

Slughorn patted Mac on the shoulder and walked away.

As for Franklin's crucible, he didn't even look at it, because it was emitting a disgusting and nauseating smell, which was obviously not the smell that a qualified water of life and death could emit.

Professor Slughorn kept walking around the classroom, checking each student's cauldron with his eyes, and occasionally bending down to smell it with his nose.

As he passed by Hermione, he nodded approvingly at her but said nothing. Ron, who was standing next to her, enjoyed the same treatment as Franklin, because his work was even better than Franklin's. The liquid medicine in the crucible had almost been refined into tar.

But when he saw the liquid in Harry's cauldron, his eyes suddenly widened.

"Merlin! This is simply outstanding!" Slughorn spoke excitedly at an extremely fast speed, his two walrus beards almost flying up, "You obviously inherited your mother's talent in potions! Harry! You are the well-deserved champion!"

As he spoke, Slughorn pulled out the glass bottle from his arms and stuffed it into Harry's arms.

"Here, here you go. I'm going to keep my word and give you a bottle of Fuling Potion. I hope you can make good use of it!"

Harry was holding the Felicia Felix, looking confused, and obviously hadn't figured out what was going on.

There was silence over at Slytherin, and Draco and the others looked at Harry with eyes that seemed almost to burst into anger.

Ron, who was beside Harry, let out a strange cry, then threw himself on Harry and cheered. As for Hermione, she lowered her head and looked at her cauldron without saying a word.

At this point, Slughorn finally announced the end of get out of class.

People from other colleges quickly left the classroom. Having lost their prizes, they no longer wanted to stay in this sad place.

The Gryffindors gathered around Harry as quickly as possible, eagerly examining his precious bottle of Felicity Potion.

Seeing this, Mike's mouth curled up. He glanced at the textbook that Harry had carefully put away, then put everything in his pocket and prepared to leave.

At this moment, Sleghorn stood in front of him and said in a kind tone:

"Mike, can I talk to you alone?"

Franklin looked at Mike when he heard that. He nodded and then said goodbye and left the classroom.

"What do you want from me?"

Mike asked with a smile. "It's like this." Slughorn pulled Mike to a secluded corner, and then handed a letter to Mike. "This is a letter, written by me. You can open it and take a look first."

Mike looked at Slughorn as if he were a fool before opening the letter.

Excellent Mr. Mike Townley
Here, I sincerely invite you to join the 'Slug Club' and become one of the countless wizards who advocate justice and knowledge.

If you wish, please come to the Charms Professor's meeting next Saturday evening.

Founder of 'Slug Club'
Senior Member of the Association of Extraordinary Pharmacists

Senior Councillor of the International Confederation of Wizards

Horace Slughorn

"As you can see, this is an invitation letter." Slughorn said after Mike finished reading it, "Originally, this letter should have been delivered to your dormitory tonight like everyone else's, but I think you are different, so I delivered it to you personally."

"So, Mr. Townley, would you like to join the 'Slug Club'?"

Looking at Slughorn's expectant look, Mike's smile grew even brighter.

"Of course! Professor, it's my pleasure."

"Oh! This is simply fantastic!" Slughorn slapped his thigh excitedly, "Then Mike, don't forget to come to the Potions classroom next Saturday."

"Okay, Professor."

After saying that, Mike turned and left, but halfway through, Slughorn caught up with him again, panting and stuffing a small bottle of Felixir into Mike's arms.

"This is compensation for you, Mike." Slughorn said, "Don't refuse! I know that if it weren't for me, the quality of your potion would definitely be better than Harry's! That's it, I'm leaving!"

Slughorn left as fast as he could after he finished speaking, leaving Mike standing there, looking at the small bottle of Felix Felicis and smiling:
"Is this a sugar-coated bullet? It's really sweet!"

……

"Harry, could you give me some of your Felicis Felicis?"

In the corridor, Ron, who was returning to the common room, suddenly spoke to Harry beside him.

"I mean, if Professor Slughorn is not lying, that bottle of Felicis should be able to create twelve hours of luck. So I thought, maybe you might be willing to give me an hour. I also want to feel the feeling of having your wish come true..."

Ron's voice became softer and softer, until finally even Harry, who was so close to him, could no longer hear it.

"Well, of course I am willing to do it." Harry said, "It's just that I don't know the ratio of the dosage and the effective time of the potion yet. I don't know how to divide it."

"Ha! That's great! As for the division of potions, we can leave it to Hermione. She will definitely understand it!"

Ron spoke excitedly, but Harry looked unnatural when he heard the word Hermione.

Just now when Slughorn announced him as the winner, he clearly felt that Hermione was a little angry. He didn't know how Hermione was feeling now.

As Harry was thinking about this, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

He turned his head in horror and saw Hermione, who was gasping for breath, staring at him with her red eyes.

"how did you do it!"

Hermione demanded.

Harry knew what she was asking, but he said deliberately:
"Uh, what are you talking about, I'm not..."

"Don't play dumb, how did you make the Water of Life and Death better than me!"

"me……"

"Don't tell me you've prepared for the exam. I've been your classmate for five years. I know exactly how good your Potions skills are! So! Tell me the truth!"

"Okay, okay!" Harry shook his head helplessly, and took out the Half-Blood Prince's textbook with a red face. "Remember this book Mike gave me? I simply followed the steps in it to make the Water of Life and Death, but the original steps have been covered up, so I referred to the newly added steps."

"This is impossible!"

Hermione screamed, then snatched the book from Harry's hand and started reading.

Then, Harry and Ron heard Hermione shouting "Impossible" from time to time. It was obvious that the content of the book violated her understanding of the world.

"This is not science! It's not magic! I won't believe it even if you kill me. Do you want me to believe that a formula written casually in an old book is more correct than Professor Slughorn's authoritative textbook?"

Hermione roared, and Harry finally got angry. He snatched the old book back and said angrily:
"So what you mean is that I cheated! I'm telling you clearly now that everything I said is true. Maybe you can ask Professor Slughorn for some truth serum, so that you can believe me!"

After saying that, Harry turned around and was about to leave, while Hermione was so angry that she was speechless.

Ron on the side was anxious. He grabbed Harry's robe and said:
"Hey, Harry, don't be angry, we are all friends, don't be angry!"

Harry was angry and said nothing, but he stopped.

"But I still have a question." Ron continued, "If what you said is true, then it means that Mike should have memorized everything in the book a long time ago. If that's the case, why didn't he win?"

Harry was stunned when he heard this. Indeed, what Ron said made sense, and even he himself couldn't explain it.

Hermione on the side blushed.

She also heard Mike's laughter during class just now, so she probably guessed the reason why Mike failed.

However, she really couldn't say such an embarrassing reason!

For a moment, the atmosphere in the corridor became a little awkward. Looking at the silent Harry and Hermione, Ron sighed and suggested:
"Why don't I go ask Mike? Since he gave me the book, he must know something."

"good idea!"

"Going right now!"

Hermione and Harry said at the same time.

"I think we'd better go back first." Ron continued, "I looked at the schedule. Mike has a Defense Against the Dark Arts class soon. It will probably take a long time."

(End of this chapter)