Hogwarts: A little lion in the skin of the Eagle School

The next day, it was the weekend again, and today was the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

Titus and the others all went to watch the game, except for John.

He is doing something of paramount importance.

That means solitary confinement.

Yes, he was spotted by Filch yesterday while he was out at night; he ran all the way there.

In a desperate attempt to shake off Filch, John ran haphazardly to the basement.

With a casual wave of his wand, he used the unlocking charm he had learned from Hermione to open a heavy wooden door.

Then, without even looking, he hid inside.

When he closed the door, he discovered that it was actually Professor Snape's private studio.

He was at a crucial moment in the potion-making process when John's sudden intrusion interrupted him, causing him to miss the optimal time to combine the potion ingredients and ruin the entire potion.

Professor Snape's face darkened immediately, and he almost had John hung up as a public spectacle.

If it weren't for Headmaster Dumbledore's intervention, John would probably have hung up his hat at the Great Hall entrance for a whole week.

Even so, John was still forced to sign the contract of servitude.

For the rest of the semester, all his weekends would be Professor Snape's personal plaything, at his beck and call.

This Saturday will be his first weekend fulfilling his "contract".

John sat miserably on a small wooden stool in the corner of Snape's studio, staring blankly at the spider web on the wall.

Snape was facing away from him, intently stirring a potion that emitted eerie purple smoke, muttering something under his breath.

At this time.

"Prepare 20 grams of 'Sunflower' root powder and wormwood infusion."

"what?"

"immediately!"

"oh."

Professor Snape's sudden words snapped John out of his daze, and he quickly got up and ran to the shelves in the studio to find the materials the other old men had mentioned.

We found the wormwood infusion and the root of the angelica, but what about the powder?

You're not going to make me grind it myself, are you?

He asked cautiously, "Professor, does the root of this *Orchidonia semperflorens* need to be ground into powder?"

"If there's nothing wrong with your hearing, the answer should be obvious."

Professor Snape did not turn around, but said very coldly.

"..."

John silently picked up a small knife and cut off a small section of the root.

Then he walked over to Professor Snape's workbench, casually picked up a mortar and pestle, and prepared to start grinding.

Professor Snape, however, looked at him as if he were an idiot when he saw the small piece of root in his hand.

"How much powder do you think you can grind from this piece of root? Less than a gram!"

"Huh? No way, this amount is at least 20 grams."

John was taken aback by Professor Snape's reprimand and weighed the root in his hand.

Professor Snape closed his eyes, as if he were enduring great pain.

After a long pause, he took a deep breath, turned around, pulled a book from the shelf, and threw it in front of John.

Page 96!

John glanced at Professor Snape, then at the cover of the book, "The Guide to Making Potions".

Turn the page and find page 96.

This is the correct way to handle the roots of the Radiata orchid.

After watching for a while, John realized that the powder from the roots of the sage orchid was not obtained by directly grinding the roots.

Instead, you need to first scrape off the outer skin of the rootstock with a silver knife, then bake the scraped skin at high temperature until it is dry, and finally grind it into powder.

In other words, the small piece of skin that John had scraped off weighed less than a gram.

Professor Snape gave him a cold glance, his tone icy: "I remember saying that for any material made from plant roots and stems, the best method is always to grind the outer skin."

John looked slightly embarrassed; it seemed the old man had actually said something like that...

Having no other choice, he had to select a whole root of the orchid and carefully scrape off the outer skin with a silver knife.

Then place it on an iron plate and bake it over a fire until the skin turns dark brown and emits a slightly bitter aroma.

After the outer layer cooled, John put it into a mortar and pestle and slowly ground it until the powder was as fine as dust.

The powder was finally ready, and John placed the prepared materials in front of Professor Snape.

Professor Snape picked up a small pinch of powder with his fingers, rubbed it slightly, and sniffed it lightly. His brow relaxed almost imperceptibly.

However, he didn't say anything, but continued to stare at the crucible in front of him.

John was bored again.

However, Professor Snape didn't send him away, so he simply watched from the side.

But after a long while, Professor Snape made no further move, just quietly watching the bubbling cauldron. So he simply started studying the book that Professor Snape had just given him.

Time flew by, and John was engrossed in his book.

Even Professor Snape didn't know that he had already finished making the potion.

Until a large hand suddenly snatched the book away.

"I ordered you to come here, not for a vacation."

Professor Snape coldly closed the book and tossed it away, sending it flying back onto the shelf.

"Clean the studio thoroughly, and do not use magic."

"Also, wipe those jars behind you clean, and put on gloves."

"Finally, process all the materials in that box in the corner, put them into these jars behind you, and label them properly."

John paused for a moment as he listened to the orders being issued, then quickly nodded in agreement.

"Yes, sir!"

Professor Snape ignored John's antics and turned to leave the studio.

John shrugged, said nothing more, and began to silently carry out the orders.

First, I started cleaning the jars, then I dealt with the box of materials.

Some of the better ones are people he doesn't know.

If the materials hadn't been labeled with detailed information, and if he hadn't taken out a book to compare and identify them, it probably would have been really difficult to handle.

By the time we finished, it was completely dark.

Finally, he dragged his tired body and cleaned the studio one last time, tidying up the mess on the floor.

Only then were all of Professor Snape's tasks completed.

He lay on the ground, too exhausted to move.

Just then, the studio door was pushed open again, and Professor Snape walked in, holding a bottle of potion.

He glanced briefly at the neatly arranged jars, then gave John a disdainful look at him on the ground, before placing the bottle of green potion on the table.

"Drink it."

After saying that, the old man left again, unwilling to say another word.

John struggled to his feet and looked at the potion on the table. The dark green liquid swirled slowly in the bottle, trembling slightly as if it were alive.

Never mind, let's do it.

John swallowed the potion in one gulp.

A burning sensation spread from his throat all the way to his stomach, and then his blood seemed to boil. John couldn't help but gasp.

Strangely, the burning sensation did not cause pain; instead, it made him feel much lighter and his fatigue disappeared.

yeah?

That old bat still has some human compassion, huh?

This must be an invigorating potion, right?

This is good stuff; I'll secretly learn it from him another day.

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P.S.: Chapter 92 has also been significantly revised. It was revised at 9 PM on September 11th. This won't affect readers who read it afterward.