Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 122 The Potions Master's Secret

Hogsmeade reopened in early February.

The young wizards weren't as excited this time, especially the fifth and seventh graders. The approaching OWLs and NEWTs exams calmed their previously restless hearts.

This concerns the future, and no one dares to slack off.

This time, Ike didn't act alone, but instead accompanied Stuart and the others on a thorough shopping spree at Honey Duke. After all, the consumption of cockroach piles is quite high, and having just made a fortune a few months ago, achieving cockroach pile freedom should be relatively easy.

"These Dementors are really annoying." As Terry emerged from Honeyduke and looked at the dark shadows circling in the sky, his tone was full of disgust.

"There's nothing we can do about it; they still haven't caught Sirius," Ike said, chewing on a pile of cockroaches.

"It's possible that, as Morati and the others said, Sirius Black has mastered some kind of transformation magic, allowing him to turn into plants or something. Otherwise, how could there be no trace of him until now?"

Ike was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He really wanted to say, "Young man, you guessed right. He can indeed turn into a black dog."

If he hadn't been overwhelmed by the pleasure of the cumshot, Ike swear he would have said it.

After killing some more time at Joko's joke shop, Ike and the others returned to the castle.

As soon as they got back, Stewart and Anthony were taken away by Roger for training. The match against Gryffindor was next week, and the latest news was that Firebolt would definitely be making his appearance. Roger was so worried that he kept scratching his head and even started to go bald.

The good news is that Qiu has finally been discharged from the hospital, but the impact is still there, and the outlook remains bleak.

Indeed, Cho was helpless against Harry. The Firebolt's advantages were simply too great. Its straight-line acceleration and turning agility were unmatched by the Nimbus 2000. Gryffindor ultimately won the match thanks to Harry's performance, keeping their hopes alive.

Roger was disappointed after the game and stayed on the field alone.

He's quite similar to Wood; after Gryffindor's defeat by Hufflepuff, Wood acted the same way. The only difference is that last time Wood wanted to drown in the rain, while this time Roger wants to be baked alive by the sun.

This is perhaps the most unpredictable Quidditch match ever, with all four teams taking a point in the first round. In terms of net points, the order is Eagle, Lion, Badger, and Snake, but the difference is only 10-30 points.

It's easy to imagine that the second round of the competition will be a fierce and bloody battle.

Leaving aside the ups and downs of Quidditch, and since he had little connection with Ike, he didn't care about any of that and was completely immersed in the pleasure of petting the cat.

He had no further ambitions. After most of his magic and subjects reached level 6, and alchemy, runes, and Ravenclaw manuscripts hit a bottleneck, Ike became indifferent.

Even now, he hasn't found a specific way to reach LV7, he only has a vague idea.

I still remember the string of level 7 magic I saw when I was controlled by Comrade Voldemort's Soul-Stealing Curse. It's clear that Comrade Voldemort must have a way to upgrade.

Dumbledore certainly has one too, but Ike is now somewhat reluctant to have contact with him.

That old geezer is really wicked.

By now, Ike had largely achieved the goals he set last summer, and his research on Dementors had reached a bottleneck. After being tormented by Ike for the past few months, Test Subject Two finally succumbed and followed in its predecessor's footsteps.

Until there is a chance to obtain new test subjects, we can only put it on hold for the time being. If there is an opportunity later, we may be able to study the "Dementor resurrection" project.

It still has great potential.

Nowadays, Ike prefers to consult Professor Snape about potions, especially rare ones, such as the life-extending potion that Voldemort brewed last year. Ike has a general grasp of its secrets, but hasn't tried making it yet.

After all, the ingredients are too precious for Snape to provide, and with Ike's assets, he can only afford the cost of two brewings.

Galon truly regretted not having enough when he needed it most.

There were gains, though. Ike successfully brewed the vast majority of potions in "Powerful Potions" under Snape's guidance, which greatly improved his potion-making skills. More importantly, Ike learned Snape's ability to make potions taste worse without reducing their effectiveness. It was only after truly mastering this skill that Ike realized just how terrifying a potions master could be.

Snape's knowledge of potion ingredients was beyond his imagination. Minor improvements were just child's play. He would use the reaction of several ingredients as a basis, and then use other ingredients to neutralize it. There were just too many things to consider, and it was impossible to memorize them all by rote.

For example, the wolfsbane potion he brewed for Lupin, the unadulterated version would only make the werewolf feel somewhat tired and weak, and their constitution would be able to ignore it completely. But after Snape's addition, Lupin would experience severe cold symptoms after drinking it, along with vomiting and diarrhea, and would remain weak for a period of time even after the full moon.

This kind of operation can already be called an art.

It was during this period of interaction that Ike discovered Snape's qualities as a qualified professor. He never refused a student's question, and it's no exaggeration to say that he could answer almost any question.

Of course, if you ask a stupid question, Snape won't hold back his venomous words, and might even drive you crazy. But if your question is novel, you'll discover his incredibly patient side.

The only thing to be careful about is not asking the same question twice, or the consequences could be very serious.

When that time comes, "troll" and "dung beetle" will be considered very gentle terms.

Ike understood this deeply...

In March, with the OWLs and NEWTs exams approaching, all the professors focused their main energy on the fifth and seventh graders, taking up almost all of their free time. Snape's temper had reached its worst, and he kicked Ike out of his office, only throwing him a notebook and explicitly forbidding Ike from coming to his office to use his materials again.

Now, those in fifth and seventh grade need more practice.

Third grade? Go somewhere cool!

Ike didn't care. With Snape's potions notes, what more could he want?

Just think about how Harry, whose potions were already pretty bad, reacted after getting Snape's old school textbooks, and you'll know just how valuable these things really are.

A golden legend!

It can be said that Snape's thoughts and improvements on potions over the past decade are all contained in this notebook, which is like a huge experience pack, allowing Ike's potion-making skills to achieve another leap forward.

Therefore, Ike set another goal that was very much in line with his current potion-making skills:

Before the end of the semester, I successfully brewed a bottle of Felix Felicis.

(End of this chapter)