The Rune Mage Starting at Hogwarts

So should he go and look through the old books in the Potions classroom lockers beforehand to see if he can find a complete set of textbooks that Snape used back then?

Ryze pondered this in his mind, and then, strictly following the content written in the textbook and some minor details that Snape had quickly mentioned, he and Terry successfully completed the preparation of the scab removal agent.

From the perspective of chemical experiments, this process is not actually complicated.

But sitting here are a group of 11-year-old little wizards who have had virtually no exposure to modern chemistry education.

Moreover, her first encounter with potions was under the watchful eye of her gloomy teacher, and she would be severely scolded if anything went wrong.

Only about one-third of people can successfully concoct a potion in one go.

Most of the problems arose in the details that Snape only briefly mentioned.

As pink smoke rose from the crucible, Snape walked over with a nonchalant expression, glanced at it, and then gave his evaluation of Ryze's group of potions.

"Barely passable, but anyone who isn't a freak should at least be able to do this much."

The tone was harsh, but Reese was pleased with the assessment.

He's not the type to be ambitious or eager to run; he's barely learned to walk before he's thinking about running.

His talent in potions was definitely not as great as Snape's.

For a course like potion making that requires a lot of theoretical knowledge, as well as meticulous attention to detail and skill, it's already quite an achievement if you can just follow the textbook and manage to concoct a passable potion at the beginning.

Reese, who has some experience in cooking, knows exactly what he should be doing now.

"When you first encounter a recipe, it's best to follow the recipe exactly once. Once you have a good grasp of it, then you can consider making modifications to suit your own taste."

This is the experience he gained after several crashes.

The potion-making process should have ended there, but Ryze, still under Terry's horrified gaze, asked Snape again if there were any other better methods to improve the potion's quality.

Snape frowned, not giving a direct answer: "Don't think about those crooked shortcuts. When your methods for handling materials and your skill in brewing potions aren't as clumsy as they are now, you'll naturally be able to brew better potions. Don't waste my time on such foolish questions!"

Rizzi understood; it wasn't that the formula hadn't been improved.

Rather, his foundation was insufficient; even if he knew those improved formulas now, they would be useless to him.

But he still asked if he could continue to work with the other students to make potions and increase his potion-making skills.

Snape finally realized that Black, who had grown up in an orphanage, had no fear of his deliberate harassment and treated him simply as an ordinary teacher.

The other person's mental maturity is so great that it's hard to believe they are an 11-year-old. Most adult wizards probably don't have such a stable mindset.

Thinking about this made Snape even more unhappy.

He snorted loudly, almost startling the little wizard beside him so much that he accidentally threw the materials into the crucible prematurely.

"You idiot who can't even handle materials properly, watch out! If you fail again, I'll shove your head into a crucible!"

He shouted angrily, then turned to look at Ryze again.

"Don't disrupt the class or interfere directly. Just stand aside and guide them. If there are any problems with the potions they make, I'll hold you responsible!"

After saying that, Snape turned to check the other young wizards' potions.

From then until the end of Potions class, Snape ignored Rhett Butler.

Chapter 31: Potions and Magic

When Snape, with a sour face, told Terry about the longest homework assignment of the week and announced the end of class, Terry still kept a tense expression and dared not breathe.

Only after walking back up from the underground classroom and breathing in the fresh air of the castle did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and begin to complain to his roommates about his experience of being in the same group as Ryze.

"That's terrifying!"

"Did you see the look on Snape's face when he kept questioning Ryze when class started? If Ryze showed even the slightest resistance, he would definitely lose points!"

"Then Snape didn't tell Reese to sit down and went up to the podium to give the lecture. Reese didn't say a word and just stood there listening to the lecture and taking notes. I felt a little suffocated watching him."

"And later, when Ryze and I started making the potion, Snape would suddenly appear behind us every now and then and hum a little. I almost messed up several times."

He was now completely convinced of Reese's abilities: "It can only be said that Reese's inner strength is too great. He clearly knew that Snape disliked him and was constantly looking for problems to deduct points from his score, yet he still dared to ask Snape questions. He even offered to clean up the dregs of the failed potion after class. Now there are only two people in the basement. I hope that Snape won't take this opportunity to poison Reese."

Anthony waved his hand: "It's not that bad. Snape is a professor at Hogwarts, after all. Even if he were targeting students, he wouldn't use that method. But Snape is indeed extremely biased. Rizz's potion looks very close to the illustration in the textbook. Not only did Snape not give it any extra points, but he only gave it a barely passing grade. I heard that this morning, Malfoy just treated the slug normally, and Snape gave Slytherin two extra points."

He was also a little confused: "So what is Rhett thinking? Everyone knows that Snape has never given a good face to students outside of Slytherin. The chances of trying to please Snape are probably lower than my chances of winning the Daily Prophet prize."

Michael thought so too: "It's true, at least someone actually wins the lottery every year in the Daily Prophet, but Snape has been the Potions Professor for ten years, and I heard he hasn't given any extra points to students from other houses. Is Ryze trying to be the exception?"

The three of them exchanged glances and all felt that Ryze had no chance.

However, after discussion, everyone felt that this might be Ryze's way of yielding to Snape.

After all, if Snape continues to target Ryze like this in future lessons, even if Ryze has a strong mentality, he will eventually break down.

If we show more respect to Snape now, at least we can attend classes peacefully in the future.

While several people were analyzing Rez's state of mind, Snape was actually observing Rez in the classroom.

He wanted to see what this brat Black was up to.

Snape had already prepared a sarcastic remark for the slightest movement from the other party.

Snape watched as Ryze diligently cleaned up the potion residue and tidied the classroom, then reported to him and left the Potions classroom.

Snape watched Ryze's light steps as he left, and even without using Legilimency, he could sense the other's cheerful mood.

It's unbelievable! After cleaning up the medicine residue for almost an hour, this brat can still laugh.

Snape's brow furrowed immediately.

So what exactly is this kid Black thinking?

......

After leaving the Potions classroom, Ryze happily analyzed what he had learned in the class.

He not only absorbed the curse energy from the potion residue, but also seemed to have grasped some of the essence of potion making.

"The dregs left behind after the little wizard's failed potion-making indeed contained a small amount of curse energy. Although the curse in a single dreg was very subtle, when combined with the portion from this morning, the accumulated amount was still considerable... Indeed, potions are a kind of magic, just not as intuitive as spells."

Although the potion-making process may seem unrelated to magic, it gives the impression that as long as the recipe and raw materials are taken to the Muggle world, high-level potions can be mass-produced using modern machines.

However, without the interference of magic, it's difficult to explain why some seemingly insignificant material processing techniques could have such a significant impact on the outcome of potion making—

For example, the final step in preparing a scab removal agent is to sprinkle porcupine quills into the crucible after removing it from the flame.

The waiting time after removing it from the flame is not long, only half a minute.

Once successful, the potion will emit pink smoke that can be used to treat boils.

However, if this step is forgotten and porcupine quills are directly sprinkled into the fire, the medicine will emit an extremely pungent odor and be highly corrosive. It can not only melt crucibles, but also cause large boils to grow on people if it falls on them.

Rizz was certain that it was the effect of magic, rather than some chemical reaction he couldn't understand.

That was because he clearly saw significant changes in his magic bar during the process of preparing the potion ingredients and adding the porcupine quills, indicating that the potion did indeed contain a small amount of his magic power.

I wonder if the wizard's emotions will also affect the potion-making process.

Ryze felt that the fear and anxiety people felt when making potions might have affected the quality of the finished product.

After all, he didn't feel that his technique was much more skilled than others, but his potion was indeed the best-looking product from this class.

It's even possible that spell power plays a role in this.

But this requires further practice to verify.

Through this potions class, Ryze realized that his previous understanding of potions was too superficial, so he decided to take a good look at the potions tutorials he had bought earlier this weekend and consolidate his potions basics.

Don't think that Snape's mere targeting will make him give up exploring the mysteries of potions.

As the first week of the course came to an end, Riz also sorted out the channels of curse energy that he could now access.

Library Restricted Section > Dark Magic Defense > Ancient Runes > Potions ≈ Hagrid's Hut > Herbs > = Ravenclaw College Library

Ryze hasn't actually been inside the Forbidden Forest yet, so he doesn't know what it's like inside and won't include it for now.

But the curse energy from the giant spider wouldn't be too low. Once Ryze is ready, he'll definitely go and take a look at the giant spider venom that's rumored to be worth 100 Galleons per pint (0.568 liters).

As for Ravenclaw's college library, since it's located in the common lounge area that everyone uses every day, it's impossible to put any dangerous books there. However, Reese learned from Penelope that each college also has an antiquarian artifact room that stores all sorts of things from students over the past thousand years.

The Ravenclaw Antiquities Room is located on the ground floor of the Ravenclaw Tower and is not usually open to the public, but Penelope said this weekend that she could take him there to see it.

Ryze is very much looking forward to this.

Chapter 32: Ravenclaw's Antiquities Room

"Actually, every year when the new young wizards first hear the name of the Antique Room, they become very interested in this place, thinking that there are some amazing treasures hidden inside."

On the morning of their first Saturday at Hogwarts, after breakfast, Reese and his roommates found Penelope in the common room.

Seeing the curiosity and anticipation in their eyes as they looked at the antique room, Penelope shook her head helplessly and explained to Rez and the others.

"But in reality, once you've been there, you'll know that the antique room is actually just a storeroom. It's only because it's been there for so long that fewer people use it in recent decades, which is why it's called an antique room. Do you really think you would put truly valuable things in a storeroom?"

That makes sense, but since they hadn't seen the real thing in the ancient artifact room yet, they still harbored some wishful thinking: what if they really found some treasures buried for many years in the ancient artifact room?

"But that's perfect timing. We usually clean and tidy the ancient artifacts room at the beginning of each semester. Since you want to come, bring your brooms and rags and help me out. Oh, and you should go back and change into your protective gowns and wear dragon-skin gloves in case of any accidents."

Anthony found this rather strange: "Is going to the antiquities room that dangerous? And if it's just cleaning, wouldn't it be easier to use cleaning magic?"

Penelope nodded in approval.

"You're right, it's indeed very convenient to use magic to help clean up under normal circumstances."

"But many items there have been cursed with all sorts of random permanent spells, including some that can't be cleaned off. This has caused the magic inside the antiquities room to be quite chaotic, making the cleansing magic ineffective and potentially even triggering some of the items' counter-spells."

"During my first two years at university, a senior student didn't believe in this superstition and used a cleaning agent on the antiquities room to clean it completely. As a result, he had to stay in the school hospital for half a month before he could come out."

"So you newly enrolled wizards should obediently follow my instructions, or don't blame me for not warning you beforehand if anything goes wrong."

At Penelope's prompting, the four young wizards obediently returned to their bedroom and changed into a full set of protective gear. Only then, led by Penelope, did they follow the tower's long spiral staircase all the way to the bottom floor.

"I thought the stairs I walked up and down to class every day were long enough, but I didn't expect there to be such a long way down the towers. Doesn't Hogwarts ever consider renovating these tower stairs... like the escalators for Muggles?" Terry muttered to himself as he walked down the stairs with a broom and dustpan in hand.

Penelope, being a Muggle-born witch herself, naturally understood Terry's meaning. She chuckled and nodded at Terry: "Your idea is good, but Hogwarts Castle has powerful and ancient protective magic inside. The fact that all those messy things in the Antiquities Room have been in Hogwarts Castle for so many years without any accidents shows how powerful this protective magic is."

"If you want to change the layout of the castle's interior, I'm afraid only Principal Dumbledore can do it personally. You can try writing to Principal Dumbledore and asking him to consider renovating the stairs in Ravenclaw Tower. I think, given the principal's personality, he will definitely write you a reply."

Terry quickly waved his hand, he dared not write to the principal: "Then forget it, I was just saying. The spiral staircase in Ravenclaw Tower is quite unique. Other colleges probably wouldn't be able to experience this feeling of climbing stairs every day."

“No, Gryffindor’s common room is also in the tower, it’s just that the stairs aren’t as long as ours,” Michael quickly objected, and suggested, “How about I go and persuade the Gryffindor students to write a letter to Principal Dumbledore to test the waters?”

“Good idea, but don’t reveal our names if anything goes wrong,” Terry said, preemptively distancing himself from the situation.

Penelope chuckled beside her: "You guys really shouldn't take the principal so seriously. Have you forgotten his behavior at the opening banquet? I've heard Professor McGonagall say more than once that Principal Dumbledore ignores her and Mrs. Pomfrey's medical advice and secretly eats candy behind their backs all day."

The young wizards couldn't help but have some doubts when they heard Penelope's words, after all, the image of Dumbledore, the most powerful white wizard of the time, was still very strong in their minds.

It's normal for such an important person to have some eccentricities, but... secretly eating candy behind someone's back?

Why does that sound so awkward?

With the young wizard still somewhat skeptical, the group finally arrived at the entrance to the antiquities room.

The simple and unadorned gate does indeed give people a mysterious feeling.

But as Penelope took out the key and opened the door, a foul smell immediately assaulted the noses of the young wizards.

Ryze's curse energy also began to steadily increase.

Very good, this place did not disappoint him either. It seems to be a better curse absorption location than the ancient magic script classroom.

"What are these smells? They're even more pungent than the smell of a failed potion!" They quickly cast a nasal congestion spell on themselves and put on goggles before they felt a little better.

This is not a bad smell, but a pungent odor that is completely indescribable, formed by a mixture of several or even a dozen different smells.

“After all, the last time I came to tidy up was six months ago at Easter, so you know how the basement is ventilated,” Penelope said, clearly having been prepared, and therefore showed no unusual reaction when she opened the door.

She generously spread her hands towards the antique room: "Alright, this is the antique room you've all been looking forward to. You can take a good look around first, and then we'll start cleaning."

The young wizards exchanged glances, and then Ryze was the first to go in.

Compared to the rustic atmosphere outside, the antique artifact room was indeed quite disappointing.

It was just an old storeroom.

It's not very big, only the size of two bedrooms.

Bookshelves, shelves, and lockers were crammed with all sorts of random things.

A school uniform from hundreds of years ago, the college trophy that Ravenclaw won at the beginning of this century, and a pile of old textbooks covered in thick dust.

Compared to items whose effects were unclear, the young wizard Ravenclaw first focused his attention on the teaching materials and equipment used by his predecessors.

Anthony took a rag and carefully wiped the dust off the books.