Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 32 32. Blessing Spirit and My Preference for You~
"Potions, this is a subject that mediocre people cannot get into even if they try their best." Snape's words echoed in the classroom, "I can say responsibly that most of you will not be able to enter my advanced potions class in your senior year."

"It is difficult for me to show you the mystery and beauty of potions with simple words, but fortunately... Harry?" Snape suddenly stopped, took out a small bottle of potion from his pocket and displayed it in the air so that everyone could see it, "Tell me its name."

The golden liquid was shaking in the bottle, dotted with stars, like melted gold. In addition, it had to be precious and wonderful. There were actually only a few that met the conditions in the entire collection of potions.

"It's the Luck Potion, Professor." Harry stared at the bottle of potion that was said to bring people luck. To be honest, he wanted to try it the first time he saw the description of this potion in the book before school started, but it was too difficult.

Not only are the materials needed for the preparation extremely expensive, many of them are not sold directly in Diagon Alley, and the production process is also extremely cumbersome. It takes a full six months to simmer, and there cannot be any mistakes in the middle, otherwise it will fail completely and turn into poison.

Only a true potion master can brew this kind of potion.

"Yes, Felicis Felix, two points for Gryffindor," Snape said softly, "This small bottle is enough to keep you going for the whole day - I think, for those of you with such poor brains, it may help you understand a little bit about the magic of potions."

"When today's class is over, I will give this bottle of Felicis as a reward to the person who brews the scabies potion most perfectly."

Harry had the feeling that Snape was watching him as he finished speaking.

The bottle of golden elixir floated in the air in the middle of the classroom, and the little wizards were all working as hard as they could, even grinding the materials faster.

In this enthusiastic learning atmosphere, Snape began to patrol around the classroom.

And this time, all the little wizards are blessed.

"Foolish! Is your head a troll? Or has the soul of a troll entered your body? Grinding snake teeth - I think even your brain, which is not much bigger than a walnut kernel, should understand what grinding is."

"Understood, understood." Ron's hands were shaking, and he said tremblingly.

"Understand? If you do, then please tell me why you smashed it? Was it to show off your troll-like strength? Two points from Gryffindor for your arrogance."

After leaving these words, Snape threw his robe and left.

"...I was almost scared to death." Ron couldn't help wiping his sweat and whispered to Neville next to him. The two of them were in a group, "Merlin's stockings, I feel like my underwear is a little wet with sweat now."

"Don't, don't talk, Ron." Neville's nerves were obviously stretched to the limit, his hands were shaking, and he was fiddling with the slugs on the plate. "If you get caught, you'll lose points again."

After half of the class had passed, the Gryffindor students clearly understood one thing - Harry is Harry, and they are them.

To be honest, they were still confused when Professor Snape gave Gryffindor 20 extra points at the beginning of the course, because it didn't match the story told by the senior students yesterday.

According to senior students, getting Snape to give Gryffindor extra points was more difficult than killing him.

As a result, as soon as the class started today, Snape gave Gryffindor extra points - and he was still alive.

This made many Gryffindor students breathe a sigh of relief, and they lamented that they were really scaring themselves... Snape was not as scary as the seniors said.

This was a simple understanding until Snape began his stormy verbal attack - to be honest, before hearing it with their own ears, it was hard for these Gryffindor students to imagine that someone could say so many sarcastic words in a roundabout way.

No, even the Slytherin students did not escape this disaster and were still scolded by Snape for their mistakes.

He didn't even use a single curse word! But he easily made a student's eyes turn red and his mind explode, and he was about to cry.

The Felicis Felix was like a carrot tied in front of a donkey, forcing a room full of students to rush forward with red eyes and gritting their teeth, even though Snape brought them a lot of pressure.

Except for one person--only one person!!
"Wait! Harry?!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, "Why did you cut off the slug's tentacles? We should have steamed these four slugs directly!"

"Don't worry, Hermione," Harry comforted, "there won't be any problems with the medicine."

"How could there not be problems!" Hermione suddenly became even more anxious, "You didn't even do what the book said! We're screwed now, we're going to be scolded to death!"

Hermione was so anxious that she was about to jump up and down. She really wanted to prove that she was not the kind of fool that Snape said who could not understand the secrets of potions, and she really wanted to get the bottle of Felicis Felix.

"Oh? Didn't you follow the instructions in the book?" Noticing the movement here, Snape walked over quickly, stood behind Harry and said without comment: "Tell me what you understand, Harry."

"I'm sorry, Professor, I think we still have time to make a new pot now," Hermione said nervously, but Snape ignored her.

"I have read the book 'Analysis of the Properties of Magical Materials' written by Mr. Phyllida Spohr, and she mentioned this kind of slug with tentacles in that book," Harry said after thinking for a while.

Phyllida Spohr is also the author of the first-grade textbook, Thousands of Wonderful Herbs and Fungi.

"According to him, the only part of this slug's body that can be used as medicine is its antennae. However, because slugs are too small and the antennae need to be kept active, the antennae are not sold separately when they are sold. Instead, they are handled by the potion maker himself. In other words, the slug itself is actually an impurity."

"I think in alchemy... in the process of making potions, the fewer impurities means the higher the quality of the final product, so the materials should be refined as much as possible to ensure the medicinal properties to the greatest extent."

"Very good, very good," Snape said with satisfaction, "The medicinal properties, yes, the medicinal properties - even many senior students cannot analyze the origin of a bottle of potion from the perspective of medicinal properties. Gryffindor deserves another ten points!"

"I think you should all come and see how Mr. Harry Potter does it. I don't expect you to be able to do it as perfectly as he does, but at least it will prevent you from getting slug slime all over your face."

"Yes, as I said at the beginning of this class, while you are still foolishly following the contents of the textbook, those who are truly talented have already started thinking - they have their own understanding."

"...Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry couldn't help but show some concern for the little girl. After all, Hermione looked... uh, really bad.

Like a piece of wood struck by lightning, Hermione shuddered all over, especially when she heard Snape's words "a truly talented person".

"...I'm fine, Harry," Hermione said to Harry in a hoarse voice, "Let's continue, the potion is not ready yet." She obviously wanted to show a smile to prove that she was fine, but to be honest, Hermione's expression looked more like crying, which made Harry numb.

No, he really wasn't bullying the little girl.

The entire class was carried out with Snape bombarding everywhere, interspersed with occasional compliments on Harry's techniques and the progress of the potion.

I can say responsibly that throughout the entire class, except for Harry, both Gryffindor and Slytherin received the baptism of equality.

Well, actually it's not quite equal. Gryffindor got scolded more and was deducted points, while Slytherin at least didn't get any points deducted.

Especially the group of Ron and Neville. Under Snape's continuous high pressure, Ron even felt like he was about to explode.

Then it really exploded.

The bottom of the cauldron in front of Ron and Neville was burned through, and the green potion splashed out - but fortunately no one was injured.

Even Ron and Neville, who were closest to them, were spared because Harry instinctively exhaled a wind shield to block them.

It’s a pity that there is no way to escape Snape.

"Idiot! Idiot! You have to remove the crucible from the fire before adding the porcupine quills! How can you make mistakes even if you follow the steps in the book!"

"Are your heads full of monsters?"

Just like two small boats swaying in a storm, Neville and Ron stood by the wall, shrinking their heads and wishing they could crawl into the floor.

"…As for you, Harry, it was a very timely magic because you protected your classmates - ten points for Gryffindor," Snape turned his head and said with relief.

There was not enough time left to make it again, so Ron and Neville stood pitifully against the wall of the classroom, and Snape would snort coldly when he passed by them, asking them to lower their heads even lower.

The agonizing Potions class finally came to an end. Snape was checking the potions made by each group one by one, and now it was finally Harry and Hermione's turn.

"Very good." Staring at the liquid in the bottle, Snape said softly: "As I said, Harry, you are indeed very talented in this field... You have lived up to your mother's expectations... This is very good."

"As agreed, this bottle of Felicis is yours, Harry." Reaching out his hand to summon the bottle of golden potion, Snape placed it in Harry's hand, "Use it with caution."

"Thank you, I will, Professor" Harry nodded.

As a magic potion, Felicis Folliculum certainly has side effects. Excessive use can make people become reckless and arrogant, and cause mental abnormalities.

"I'll find a bottle and give you half when we get back." After Snape left, Harry shook the Felicia Felix in his hand and said to Hermione, "After all, we are a team, and this pot of potion is the result of our joint efforts."

"No need!" Hermione's voice was a little choked, but she still said with all her strength: "That's what you deserve. I didn't help at all!"

Without waiting for Harry to reply, Hermione rushed out of the classroom with her books in her arms - blending into the crowd that was fleeing the Potions classroom as if they were fleeing for their lives.

This kid... Harry sighed.

His competitive spirit is a bit too strong - to be honest, Harry thinks it would be better if Ron and Hermione's personalities could be slightly balanced, so that one would not be so competitive, and the other would not always say "You are worthy of you, Harry".

Harry looked at Snape, only to find that Snape was also looking at him. The professor seemed to have something to say, but it seemed to be just Harry's illusion.

There were only two of them left in the classroom.

"...Honestly, Professor, I'm afraid it's not good for you to favor me like this." After thinking for a while, Harry walked over to Snape and said, "Other students will have opinions. This is not a good thing for either you or me."

"Li...your mother...your mother asked me to take good care of you, Harry." Snape's eyes became empty, and his voice was erratic. "I swore to her, you saw it with your own eyes."

Maybe it was because of my past experiences? Or maybe it was because I met someone I thought I would never see again?
In short, Harry found that there was something wrong with Professor Snape, or that there was something wrong with his understanding of love - in Snape's eyes, so-called care and concern was favoritism.

It is favoritism without reason, it is a preference that is reckless and does not need to be hidden, and it does not care about what others think.

In Snape's world, there are only two kinds of people: those who care and those who don't, and he doesn't care about the latter at all.

In the past, this kind of favoritism meant unscrupulous favoritism towards Slytherin students, and the wanton addition and subtraction of points without caring about other people's gossip, but now it has all shifted to Harry.

Snape only understood this kind of love, his experience taught him this.

It was so clumsy that he couldn't say it even if he wanted to - at least Harry was sure that what Snape wanted to say to him most right now was not these, but whether he could see his mother's soul again.

But Snape showed no such desire, as if nothing had happened.

"This kind of care is really bringing me too much hatred," Harry couldn't help but complained, "Besides, I made it very clear that day, Professor, I have a complete plan for my future, and I don't need someone to tell me what to do as an elder, even in the name of care."

Looking at Harry's face, Snape's eyebrows twitched. He seemed to want to say something - maybe the arrogant Potter or something like that, but he finally held back.

He had witnessed that, unlike his incompetent father, Lily's child possessed powers far beyond those of ordinary wizards.

"That's not meddling," Snape whispered, "even Dumbledore can't protect every student at Hogwarts at the same time... and not all professors are trustworthy, especially some... professors with abnormal behavior."

Harry raised his eyebrows. Was Snape implying that there was something wrong with Quirrell?
(End of this chapter)