Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 49. Dursley stays; everyone else may leave. (Fifth update)

"Potter, where did you learn this from? I don't recall it being mentioned in the book."

Snape's tense expression relaxed slightly.

"At least it wasn't completely as stupid as that."

"Dudley told me," Harry answered very honestly.

Snape nodded thoughtfully, his gaze unusually shifting from Harry to Dudley.

"So, Dursley, do you have anything to add to what Potter said? Please answer the first two questions."

"Narcissus root powder and mugwort can be combined to make a very potent sleeping pill, also known as 'life-saving water.' Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a cow and has extremely strong detoxifying properties."

These problems are child's play for Dali.

"Very good, Slytherin gets two points."

Snape seemed to be in a good mood.

Hermione almost jumped up. She had raised her hand for ages but Snape hadn't asked her to answer, giving Dudley two points for nothing.

Now the gap is even wider.

"In pairs, the first lesson will cover something very simple: how to prepare a scabies treatment solution."

To be honest, the scabies treatment potion is not simple at all. It would be considered a somewhat difficult potion in a first-grade textbook. Of course, this difficulty is for the average young wizard. According to the book, the first lesson should only be a simple introduction to the subject of potions.

However, Snape clearly did not think so; he did not want to teach his students only theoretical knowledge.

The best way to learn is to do it yourself.

After giving a simple demonstration on stage, he moved back and forth between the two-person groups, occasionally guiding the young wizards as they operated, watching them weigh nettles, crush snake fangs, and pointing out their mistakes.

To be fair, Snape was a very responsible teacher. He could always accurately point out the mistakes of the young wizards. As long as they followed his instructions, they could always successfully complete the potion making.

"You're all brawn and no brains. Even the goblin next door is much smarter than you."

"How many times have I told you to use porcupine quills first? Is your brain filled with dung like a troll's?"

"If I were you, I would dig a hole in the ground and bury my head in it, so that no one would know he was empty."

The premise is that you can tolerate his "venom," especially when he instructs you to repeat what he says a second time. Snape's sarcastic remarks are incredibly witty and his insults are so sophisticated that they opened Dudley's eyes. Many young wizards were driven to despair by his insults. Almost all students have been criticized, with only a few escaping unscathed.

Hermione is one of them.

Hermione's potion-making talent was quite formidable. In Dudley's words, Hermione was the second most skilled potion-making wizard he had ever seen, although he hadn't seen many wizards brew potions before.

However, this does not negate Hermione's skill level; she only finished the production half a beat slower than Dudley.

Snape glanced at the potion Hermione had made, neither praising nor belittling it, and simply said "acceptable" before walking away.

This infuriated Hermione, who was hoping to earn points.

In fact, the fact that Snape didn't criticize Hermione already shows that she did a good job, just not good enough.

Simply completing the potion-making process is not enough to earn praise from Potions Master Snape.

Snape then approached Dudley, picked up the potion that had already been prepared on the table, and examined it closely.

"Scabies Treatment Solution (Perfect)"

This was Dudley's first time creating a potion of perfect quality, and it was an unfamiliar potion at that. Partly because the potion was relatively simple for Dudley, and partly thanks to Snape's guidance. Even learning just a little bit of a Potions Master's experience is incredibly beneficial.

Of course, the Data Eye also deserves credit. With Data Eye activated, Dali is like having a cheat code, achieving an almost perfect grasp of the timing and temperature.

It made the potion perfectly transparent.

Snape stared at the potion in the bottle, lost in thought. How many years had it been since he had seen such a perfect potion?

The last time I saw it was through Lily; it was something he and Lily did together.

This was also one of the few happy memories in Snape's life.

She had originally hoped that Lily's child would be created, but it turned out to be someone else, even though they were also related to Lily.

Lily's sister's child. Penny's child.

Snape knew Penny; he and the Evans family had been neighbors, and Evans was Penny and Lily's surname before they got married.

Stroking the small crystal bottle in his hand, Snape felt a mix of emotions, a slight ripple appearing in his empty, lifeless eyes.

In a daze, he seemed to see Granger, the little girl from Gryffindor, secretly baring her teeth at Petunia's child. And Petunia's child even secretly pinched Granger's cheek.

Looking at them, it felt as if time had turned back twenty years. This moment was just like that moment back then, with the little wizard and the little witch, and myself and Lily.

But everything is irreversible.

If either Dudley or Hermione had emerald green eyes, it would have been a fatal blow to Snape. However, Dudley inherited Petunia's blue-green eyes, while Hermione's were pure brown.

Moved by the sight, Snape stood there for a full three minutes, holding the potion made by Dudley.

The young wizards were very curious: Could it be that the potion made by Dursley was so good that even the professor couldn't bear to part with it?

Or was it that he did such a terrible job that the professor was thinking about how to scold him?

If there were any older people in Slytherin, they would definitely find their headmaster acting unusually strange today.

He didn't curse Gryffindor for a full three minutes.

A sudden explosion shattered the tranquility of the classroom, followed by plumes of acidic green smoke, accompanied by a pungent odor and hissing sound.

It was Seamus. This guy must have added something to the cauldron, causing an explosion during the potion-making process. The entire cauldron was burned and deformed, and countless highly corrosive liquids were spilled everywhere. Many young wizards' clothes and shoes were burned with holes. Neville was the worst off, getting sprayed all over and covered in red, swollen scabies, screaming in pain. Seeing that things were going badly, Seamus ran away.

"Are you a brainless goblin?" Snape, now fully awake, discreetly put away the potion, then swept away the spilled potion with a flick of his wand, roaring angrily at Siegfried.

"Not only did you add porcupine quills beforehand, but you also didn't pay attention to the temperature of the flames. How many times have I told you this today? I really want to pry open your brain and see if it's filled with dung and stones."

"And you, Potter. Why didn't you remind him? For that, Gryffindor loses a point."

"You guys are the worst class I've ever taught."

Just then, the Potions class ended.

"Today's assignment is to write a paper about four inches of scabies treatment solution. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer in the next class."

Snape didn't forget to assign homework at the end, then paused.

"Dressy, you'll stay here. Everyone else, you can leave."

Personally, I think it's better to leave Lily and Snape's problems to Harry.

(End of this chapter)