Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 43 I Have a Date with the Potions Professor

Loren suspected that the next level wasn't ready yet, and that Dumbledore was testing the waters.

In the original work, the levels were designed based on the strengths of each of Harry, Hermione, and Ron, but now it seems that the difficulty may be increased.

Who cares? I'll just shrug it off and not participate in this instance at all," Loren chuckled to himself.

Harry, who was standing nearby, didn't say much, his eyes constantly fixed on the Mirror of Erised. Before, when he couldn't see the mirror, he felt he had let go of the past. Now that the mirror was right next to him, Harry couldn't help but glance at the corner of the wall.

Dumbledore noticed this and said gently, "Harry, it is of no benefit to indulge in illusory dreams and forget about real life."

He spoke at a steady pace, but every word seemed to penetrate Harry's heart.

The strange atmosphere made everyone fall silent, and Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for them to think.

Only Loren put the hazelnut chocolate in his mouth and kept making chewing sounds.

After a while, Dumbledore chuckled and said, "Alright, I think you should head back now. Otherwise, Neville might bring Minerva to cause me trouble later."

Goodbye, Headmaster Dumbledore.

The group hurriedly stood up and walked back to their dormitory in a daze.

"Is Headmaster Dumbledore criticizing me?" Harry thought he had disappointed Dumbledore by constantly looking at the Magic Mirror.

Loren yawned. "Don't overthink it. I'll just say what I think is right."

Harry didn't speak; his mind was racing, constantly overthinking.

Simon snapped out of his daze. "Is this what night tours are like? That was exciting. Don't call me next time."

First, he was startled by the ghost, then he went to see Cerberus and encountered Dumbledore. It was truly thrilling, and he almost got expelled. Neville was definitely farsighted.

The most crucial thing is that you can't tell anyone or brag about it, which is the most painful part.

"We still don't know what Cerberus is guarding." Ron discovered a blind spot; their original purpose for the nighttime outing had not been achieved.

Loren boldly declared, "It's alright! There's still a chance!"

Loren didn't say the rest; you'll have to do it yourselves next time.

……

Friday mornings are followed by a potions class, and then it's a free weekend.

In the afternoon, Loren took Hermione to the Room of Requirement to practice the Iron Man Charm.

"Honestly, I think we should wait until we're older to learn this spell. You're wasting your time right now," Hermione said, frowning as Loren pulled her away.

"It won't happen this time, I've improved a lot!" Loren thought of the 22-0 scoreline from last time, and this explanation was hardly convincing.

Hermione, recalling her previous experience, smiled happily: "Alright then, whatever you say, Mr. 22-0."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Mr. 22-0, Mr. 22-0..."

Even after the Room of Requirement was built, Hermione still found the name amusing.

Both sides stood still.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

The sound echoed repeatedly in the duel room.

Hermione could clearly sense Loren's progress; he could almost consistently cast a magical barrier, though most of the time it would cancel out Hermione's spells, and occasionally it would twist in random directions.

Throughout the afternoon, Hermione repeated the process of casting, casting, casting, and breaking the spell. If Hermione had more skill, her Binding Charm would definitely have leveled up several times.

"Petrify them all!" Hermione casually waved her wand.

This time, Loren suddenly had a strange intuition. He pressed his wand down slightly: "[Armor Protection]".

Hermione's linear white light struck the tip of Loren's wand as if hitting an invisible shield. The shield flickered, and the linear white light bounced back in the direction it came from, hitting Hermione.

Hermione tensed up instantly, her hands gripping her trousers, her face turning pale, and she fell straight down.

"My Ironclad Spell can deflect now!!!" Loren cheered.

But there was something more important to do. Loren sat cross-legged next to Hermione, looking into her eyes. "Ahem, Miss Granger, Loren Morgan has something to discuss with you. If you'd like, move your eyes."

Hermione's eyes flashed with intense anger, conveying a clear message: If the curse isn't broken, you're dead!

Loren pretended to wait a moment before replying, "Okay, Miss Granger has agreed to talk to me. We'll make a pact: if you never mention the 22-0 score again, I'll lift the curse for you."

After Hermione considered for a moment, Loren continued, "If you agree, then move your eyes."

This time, Loren didn't pause and quickly replied, "Then, it's a deal."

Loren unilaterally agreed to the deal.

So what is the price?

He was beaten by Hermione all the way back to the restaurant.

……

In the basement, Loren arrived for his weekly Friday appointment with Snape, fully prepared for close encounters with their respective toads, snakes, and lizards.

Upon entering the office, Snape was still grading assignments.

Hearing Loren enter, Snape didn't even look up: "Answer me, what is the role of the two-eared herb in the compound decoction?"

This was from the reading list Snape had assigned, and Loren replied, "To make contact with another person."

What magical creature corresponds to the habits of a two-horned beast?

"Skinny beef."

The next few questions were all from the first few books on the reading list, which Loren remembered quite clearly.

Loren answered all the questions, and Snape's tone became less aggressive.

"Loren Morgan, you're a cunning kid. I just casually gave you a reading list, and you took it as an opportunity to get close to me." Snape leaned back in his chair, as if he were talking about something trivial.

Loren didn't refute anything; at this moment, silence is always the best answer.

"You are well-suited for Slytherin; your full potential can be realized here."

"I come from a Muggle family, sir," Loren said neither servilely nor arrogantly, "and Gryffindor is a nice place too."

Snape didn't pursue the topic further: "Your information is quite up-to-date; the wolfsbane potion was developed relatively recently. Similarly, it's extremely expensive."

After a pause, Snape stood up and led Loren to the storeroom: "I want you to learn some potions from me. The potions you concoct for a long time will be used to pay off debts."

Loren felt that he actually benefited from this, as the personal guidance of a potion master was far more valuable than the wolfsbane potion.

"I understand, Professor," Loren replied readily.

"The preparation of the wolfsbane potion will take some time. Before that, I will write to my friend Damocles Belby, who has the finished potion. These expenses will also be charged to you."

"I understand, Professor."

Snape dragged over two more boxes, and Loren felt his legs go weak.

This time, however, the box contained flowers. Snape took out a pair of tweezers with extremely fine tips: "Tonight, you need to separate the stamens from these sap-producing flowers."

Loren looked at the small flowers in the box, which looked like clusters of baby's breath. There seemed to be more than a dozen clusters, with each cluster containing nearly a hundred flowers.

Do we need to use tweezers to carefully remove the flower stamens little by little?

You'll go blind!

"Professor, isn't there any special magic?" Loren tried to struggle.

Snape didn't mention the magic, but simply said, "The Sap Flower is sensitive and fragile; even the slightest unsuitable fluctuation of magic will cause it to lose its medicinal properties."

Loren sighed, sat down, and began to remove the flower stamens: "This is not as good as getting the venom from a green-striped viper."

Snape ignored him and walked away. "Don't worry, you'll have another chance to encounter the Green-striped Viper."

Loren: I really want to slap myself twice!

(End of this chapter)