This is what Ravenclaw looks like..

Chapter 524 I'm Thinking

Potions are art.

Yes, there is no doubt that potions are an art - Professor Snape said so in the first class of Potions.

It is magic in another sense, a spell sealed in liquid, another peculiar means of casting spells, rather than a decoction made from herbs as commonly understood.

Although Herbology and Alchemy have many similarities, they have real essential differences.

Andrew, who had been burning potion ingredients for nearly a year, strongly supported the theory proposed by Professor Snape when he entered school - potions were not something that could be made simply by stirring, but were actually a rare relic of the ritual magic of the old wizarding era.

The more complicated the potion, the more ritual it requires. Time, heat, ingredients, steps... none of them can be missing.

But this was only the initial understanding. After he began to use Transfiguration to explore the characteristics of the potion ingredients and began to substitute these characteristics into a series of steps when brewing the potion, Andrew gradually built up the concept of substitution in his mind - to be precise, this was still an expansion of the field of Transfiguration, but it was already in line with the concept of potion.

But he was not sure if his thinking was correct until Professor Snape gave him a positive answer.

"So, I'll start now?"

Andrew suppressed his inner excitement and asked in a low voice.

“Yes, but you have to prepare the materials yourself.”

Professor Snape nodded - this reaction was a little beyond Andrew's expectations.

However, he had not originally planned to count on the professor in front of him. Getting an answer from Professor Snape was already beyond the expectations of many students. With the extremely expensive raw materials on his list, even Slytherin students did not dare to dream of the professor providing the materials.

So Andrew quickly ran back to his laboratory and got all the materials and crucibles - after a little hesitation, he prepared another one.

After everything was ready, Andrew ran down to Professor Snape's office with his things.

"What a luxurious configuration. How much does your new formula cost?"

Professor Snape glanced at the first piece of material Andrew laid out, and his tone returned to the sarcastic tone he had in class before.

"Five times the price? I'm not sure. The supplier gave me a discount when I bought it..."

Andrew responded quietly, patiently pre-processing the materials.

There was no other way. It was his first change, so to be on the safe side, he directly used materials with better effects as substitutes. Naturally, they were much more expensive than the universal versions. Not to mention that his main intention was to shorten the cooking time, which would cost even more money.

If he didn't spend a lot of money, Professor Snape would be crazy to allow him to brew the potion in his office for nearly a month - Polyjuice Potion was not a short-term potion.

"But it's not a big problem. I have mastered the art of human body transformation. Although I just learned it by boiling books in the forbidden section of the library, the feeling should be the same."

Combined with his knowledge of Transfiguration, this complex potion was actually the one he understood best, and he did not choose it randomly.

Light a fire and boil water.

Andrew took a deep breath and stopped thinking about anything else - shortening a potion that originally took a month to less than two hours was definitely no joke, which meant that the stage of adding the replacement was the most demanding.

The first is the lacewings, which take the longest time to boil. In the potion ceremony, it takes 21 days to boil, which means it takes 21 days to transform from an egg to an adult.

It sounds strange, but it is true - potions are an art and a magical ritual. Its essential effect is to add this power of change to the liquid spell, which Andrew determined after frantically exploring the ingredients of the potion and bringing them into the ritual.

Lacewings are not valuable and are not even considered herbs. This thing is so luxurious that it can be given to students for free because it is so common.

'The main ingredient is...'

He carefully stuffed the crystal worm in his hand into the pot - this thing cost thirty Galleons a pair, and it was smuggled!
The power similar to Transfiguration was quickly decomposed, but it was sealed tightly by the crucible, and even Andrew could only sense a little bit.

'And then there's the vampire blood...'

...

Andrew stuffed potion after potion, each priced in Galleons, into the cauldron. He stared at his cauldron, not wanting to miss any change.

Condensing a month into two hours costs more than just Galleons!
He didn't even have the time to sort out the thoughts that emerged with the steam. He just kept judging the condition of the potion and adding ingredients when appropriate.

"I have to thank those failed cases for giving me inspiration. If it weren't for the different quality potions from my classmates..."

"cough!"

Professor Snape's cough interrupted Andrew's suddenly divergent thoughts. He just took a look and immediately added another material he had prepared.

Black smoke instantly boiled out of the pot, and the expensive medicine turned into a pile of mud.

But a look of surprise appeared on Andrew's face. He directly poked the potion with the stirring copper rod, then touched the copper rod with his left hand, made a simple gesture, and the Transfiguration was instantly activated.

"Don't use gestures to cast spells."

Professor Snape reminded him with an unfriendly expression, but there was not much unhappiness in his tone, "No need to test, the potion is successful."

The professor's judgment was correct. The feedback from Andrew's Transfiguration was exactly the same as when he boiled the Polyjuice Potion in the laboratory.

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Professor."

Andrew put away the stirring stick, then carefully extinguished the flame, cleaned up the potion ingredients at hand and sealed them again, then turned around and sincerely thanked Professor Snape.

"Nothing, just the normal basics of potions. Although I always encounter stupid people, I am still willing to teach something when I occasionally encounter students who can understand." Professor Snape glanced at Andrew's potion, "It's just that this is the first time I have encountered such an extravagant change."

He shook his head and looked at another package of potion ingredients that Andrew brought. "What's that over there?"

Andrew carefully unfolded the package and displayed the ingredients one by one.

"that's it?"

Professor Snape glanced at it, thought about it again, and raised his voice, "Or is it Polyjuice Potion? That's all?"

"I have just tested this, Professor. If nothing unexpected happens, these cheap ingredients, combined with special restrictions, are enough to form the elements of a potion ritual."

The high price is of course to ensure success, but the product has no meaning other than showing off. He has improved more than just one ingredient!

(End of this chapter)