Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 332, Section 326: Vivian's Decoction

4 Privet Road, Little Huigkin, Surrey.

"Open your mouth. Ah, Lily, be good."

Snape, holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other, forced a slightly awkward smile from his stiff face as he coaxed little Lily softly, "Be good, Lily, say... ah... eating these things will be good for you."

He was feeding Lily.

Little Lily is over one year old and can eat some simple foods, mostly liquids.

It's hard to imagine that the Potions teacher, who is always serious in class and seems to have lost the ability to laugh, would do something like this for a child.

However, little Lily was unmoved and refused to eat a single bite no matter how Snape coaxed her.

The bowl was filled with some dark, sticky soup, and it was impossible to tell what it was, but it had a strange, indescribable smell that even adults, let alone children, disliked.

"Stop feeding my daughter those weird things."

Vernon, hands on his hips, angrily yelled at Snape, "Insects, snakes, and those strange plants mixed together—are you trying to kill her?"

"What do you know?"

Snape replied indifferently, without even looking up, his attention completely focused on little Lily, and he showed no intention of explaining anything.

He was friendly to Penny because they were childhood neighbors, but his attitude towards Vernon was noticeably worse. Although anyone familiar with Snape would know that he was actually being very polite, he wouldn't have responded to anyone else.

Who is he?

He is one of the most renowned potions masters in the wizarding world, and the line of people wanting his potions could stretch all over this street.

Our Potions Master is quite arrogant, but the problem is Vernon doesn't know that.

"She doesn't like it!"

Vernon roared angrily, so loudly that the whole house could hear him.

"These things are good for her! I'm doing this for her own good!"

Snape was starting to get a little angry too.

The main problem was that little Lily wouldn't open her mouth no matter what he did, and he couldn't bear to force her.

Vernon snatched little Lily from Snape's arms, holding her close and staring at Snape warily: "So what? She doesn't like it, do you understand? She doesn't like it."

Compared to Vernon's massive 300-pound frame (most of which is now muscle), Snape's weight was like that of a skinny little monkey.

There is a fundamental difference in strength.

It's easy to understand why Vernon was so nervous.

Imagine you suddenly discover that your wife's former neighbor is secretly feeding your daughter a suspicious herbal concoction. How would you react?

"I am her godfather!"

"I am her father!"

The two grown men glared at each other, both panting heavily, their faces flushed red, neither willing to back down an inch.

Although Vernon had a great fondness for Snape because of Sirius Black, that fondness vanished not long after Snape became Lily's godfather.

Even brothers, spouses, and parents and children can disagree on issues concerning the next generation, let alone fathers and godfathers.

Fortunately, both of them were very restrained. Vernon refrained from punching the other's gloomy face, and Snape refrained from casting a spell on him.

"My God, what are you doing?"

At the crucial moment, it was Penny who was able to persuade the two of them to stay together; she rushed out of the room.

They picked up little Lily from Vernon's arms. The little girl seemed frightened by the two of them, her little mouth pouting and her eyes full of tears.

"Get out of here, you two rude guys! Look how scared Lily is!"

Penny shooed the two back to the living room. The two sitting on the sofa turned their heads in unison and let out a cold snort.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if they had rehearsed it hundreds of times.

"What happened?" Dudley came downstairs wearing a small vest for training. Behind him followed Harry, who was yawning and rubbing his eyes, looking like he hadn't woken up yet. Dudley had moved Harry's room upstairs a long time ago, when he learned the Unseen Stretch Charm.

"I smell a potion."

A faint scent of potion lingered in the room, which did not escape Dudley's keen sense of smell.

"It's also a very strong tonic."

Harry yawned widely and added that he had been woken up by Vernon's roar.

As a top student in the potions class, although he couldn't smell the specific potion, he could still distinguish its type.

"let me see."

Dudley walked up to the bowl of potions, sniffed it a few times, and his eyes lit up: "There are phoenix tears in it?"

Harry, who was drowsy, became much more awake after hearing the word "phoenix".

As is widely known, Phoenix Tears is an extremely precious potion ingredient. It not only has a powerful ability to dispel curses, but it is also a very potent healing potion that can neutralize almost all biological toxins.

It exists on the black market but is never actually sold.

Even without any processing, Phoenix Tears can be used directly as a potion. Potions that can use Phoenix Tears must be the most top-tier ones.

Harry stared at the bowl of dark potion for a long time but couldn't recognize what it was.

"This couldn't possibly be Fox's, could it? Professor Snape, what did you do to it?"

Dudley had reason to suspect that Snape got the tears from Fawkes.

Even in the Forbidden Forest, which is known as a zoo of magical creatures, there is no phoenix. Apart from Fox, there has been no news of phoenixes for hundreds of years. Moreover, although this creature is far less aggressive towards humans than those 5X-level magical creatures, it is extremely difficult to tame. You can't even see it, let alone get its tears.

Snape didn't answer, but judging from the micro-expressions on his face, Dudley was probably right.

"What kind of magic potion is this?"

Not to mention Harry, even Dudley couldn't immediately identify what kind of potion it was.

"Didn't you think your potion-making skills surpassed mine? You can try and see if you can tell, Dursley, um. Mr. Dursley."

"I think it's very simple; any normal wizard could see that."

Harry listened with a blank expression, unable to figure out what kind of potion it was. So, he wasn't a normal wizard?

Snape meant to test Dudley, but what he said sounded more like sarcasm.

Don't expect Snape to speak politely; it's been a habit for decades.

While smelling the potion, Dudley picked up the bowl of potions and examined it carefully. After a while, he gently dipped a little into his mouth with his little finger.

His eyes widened instantly, and he turned sharply to Snape.

"Could this be Vivian's potion?!"

(End of this chapter)