Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 97, Section 96: The Pilgrim

[You have successfully prepared a potion to reduce swelling using your expert skills. Proficiency +50]

He had mastered the basics of anti-swelling medication, and although he was still exhausted, he was incredibly excited.

He stepped onto the stairs built by Master Libashe Polach and took another step into the realm of potion-making magic.

But when he turned around, he met Professor Snape's furious gaze.

……

The consequences of his unauthorized innovation were that, in addition to being scolded by Professor Snape, starting from Thursday, he also had to help Professor Snape organize and handle the materials in the cellar three days a week, and go to Professor Snape's office at certain times.

For example, today:
"Laceworms, leeches, horns of two-horned beasts, two-eared grass, sap grass, and the skin of African tree snakes are all placed in the leftmost row. If your reckless and foolish brain can still think, you'll know what kind of potion they can make when combined!"

Professor Snape sneered and then instructed Sheehan to place the daisy roots, wrinkled figs, caterpillars, mouse bile, and a small amount of leech juice in one area.

Clearly, the first document contains all the ingredients for the compound drug, while the second document contains the raw materials for the shrinking drug.

In the process of organizing, Sheen gradually became proficient in many potion recipes, and also became familiar with the state of the materials required for the potions—such as chopping, peeling, and slicing.

“Sheen Green,”

Before Sheen finished tidying up and silently left the cellar with his notes, Professor Snape spoke with a chilling, venomous tongue like a viper's hiss.

"If I ever see you brewing potions anywhere other than in the cellar... you'd better pray that Merlin really will come to your rescue..."

Sheen nodded silently.

Brewing potions outside the cellar? Putting aside the danger, he'd need a cauldron first.

The boiling cauldron had long since calmed down, and the potion in the crystal bottle made Professor Snape's gaze gradually freeze.

His previous furious rant had dissipated, and his words such as "Do you think you can surpass the formula created by Zygmunt Bach in the 16th century?", "Or do you think you have surpassed all the great apothecaries of all time?", and "Ignorance!" had vanished without a trace.

She left no impression on Sheen's memory, nor was she noticed by Professor Snape.

It has always been this way, and it has always been this way.

While things were calm, Sheen quietly tidied up everything in the cellar, after casting the last cleansing spell.

He whispered, "Goodbye, Professor," and prepared to leave the cellar.

But Professor Snape, who was usually silent, suddenly spoke, his voice unusually heavy and with a barely perceptible tremor:
"Okay, Sheen Green,"

Let me tell you a principle—

Never succumb to mediocrity.
Don't be like 90% of the wizards in the world.

If you are content with mediocrity,
This is a tremendous harm to both the world and yourself.

Sheen was somewhat stunned.

This statement almost completely overturned everything that Professor Snape had previously hurled at him.

The professor's gaze was icy, as if he were whispering in a chilling tone: "If I ever see you content with mediocrity and stagnant, I'll make you pay."

"I see, Professor."

Sheehan nodded silently and slowly walked out of the cellar under Professor Snape's long gaze.

In the corridor, Sheen noticed that the book "Advanced Potion Making" in his bag was trembling slightly.
Sheen silently took it out, waiting expectantly for Master Libashi Pollack to flick out his note.

But this time, there was nothing.

Only the slightly trembling "Advanced Potion Making" remained, and some words slowly emerged under the cold moonlight:
When Zygmunt Bach was on the remote island of Hemetra, keeping company with rats,

When Libashe Polach painstakingly inscribed the trajectory of the potion.

Life is insignificant compared to truth.

I bet you're wondering why we absolutely must study the mysteries of the potion realm.

Because...it's right there.

Sheen watched as the handwriting slowly heated up, revealing a portrait.

In the portrait, those cloudy and weary eyes held a deep, almost imperceptible joy:

I... saw your eyes.

child.

Like a dark dawn, carrying with it the ancient yesterday.

I saw everything I could not comprehend; I felt the truth flowing between your eyes and mine.

Libashe Polach's greatest achievement was no longer discovering potion rituals and will-guiding techniques.

Instead, it continued the trajectory of truth, passing it intact to its successor.

Sheehan Green.

We are believers in the darkness, and only the eternal light of truth can dispel the numbness of ignorance.

Remember this arduous journey to reach the stars.

Sheen felt his heart pounding, like a drumbeat against his chest.

The portrait of Master Libashi Pollach slowly disappeared, while the slip of paper tucked between Sheen's notebooks slowly grew hot.

A golden name was imprinted on it, making Sheen's eyes widen—Sheen Green—the third pilgrim of the greatest realm of potions.

In "Advanced Potion Making," many of the handwritings undergo unexpected changes, revealing unfinished potion-making rituals and unverified potion-making techniques to Sheen.

What he held was no longer a book with a purple cover, but the insights and explorations of the Potions Master Ribashy Pollach throughout his life.

Just like the Half-Blood Prince's Notebook that Harry received, the life experience of a top potions master was clearly presented to him.

He quietly put the books away.

The moonlight from Hogwarts Castle was refracted through the windowpanes and sparsely sprinkled on the stone floor.

A faint creaking sound came from afar; it was the ever-moving staircase changing direction on its own.

Sheen kept examining the changed handwriting and instantly realized that there was much room for improvement in his previous potion-making process.

This excitement lasted until Friday.

……

"Mr. Green, you want to learn how to use Curse Stop?"

Professor Flitwick had grown accustomed to Sheehan's presence.

If it weren't for being so busy...
To spend a day discussing spells with the most diligent, humble, and talented child in Ravenclaw—oh, he couldn't imagine how wonderful that would be.

Just like that amazing silent spell last time, and the Dark Lord...

Um... that doesn't count.

Unfortunately, the heavy workload at Hogwarts meant that his diligent little eagle could only be found in the staff lounge.

Faculty and staff lounge.

This is a large house with wooden planks on all sides. Two talking stone beasts stand at the entrance, and the interior is filled with black wooden chairs. There is also an ugly wardrobe, piled high with the robes that teachers wear to class.

It is said that the elderly Professor Binns once rested here. One day, he stood up to go to class, but accidentally left his body in an armchair in front of the fireplace in the faculty lounge, thus becoming the only ghost professor at Hogwarts.

(End of this chapter)