Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 50. Want to learn potion making? (Sixth update)

"Yay!"

Malfoy almost burst out laughing when he heard that.

"It seems the potion wasn't made too well, but rather too badly. Just wait, Professor Snape will definitely teach him a lesson."

Hermione and Harry were somewhat worried about Dudley, but they had no choice but to leave the classroom due to Snape's intimidation.

After everyone else had left, only Snape and Dudley remained in the classroom.

To be honest, being alone with Snape was quite stressful, especially in this classroom full of potion ingredients; it was torture.

After a brief silence, Snape spoke first.

"Have you done this before?"

Snape pulled out the perfect-grade scabies treatment.

"No." Dudley shook his head: "This is the first time I've ever brewed this kind of potion."

Dudley was referring to this potion, not the first time he made one, a detail that Snape astutely noticed.

"Have you brewed other potions before?"

"That's right." Dudley nodded, answering very honestly: "Minor mana boosting potion, slowing potion, enhancement potion, bone-regenerating essence, white cinnamon essence, and blood-replenishing potion."

As Dudley rattled off the names of various potions like a menu, Snape's expression gradually shifted from calm to complex.

"show me."

Snape stretched out a hand toward Dudley.

Dudley didn't say much, but slowly took out a series of potions from his pouch, neatly arranging the various finished potions in front of Snape.

"Without your guidance, their skill level would be quite limited."

Snape picked up one at random and brought it closer to examine it.

"It's really terrible, only slightly better than the goblins in the sweet potato field."

The blunt evaluation made Dali choke up slightly.

Although these were all made in front of the Data Magic Eye, I am still quite satisfied with the overall result. Saying that my skill level is limited is just being modest.

Do you understand humility?

Little did Snape know that although his face was full of contempt, he was actually quite shocked inside.

In terms of potion-making skills, he is far inferior to both Lily and himself.

However, in terms of variety, he and Lily combined didn't know as many types as Dudley did in first grade.

Snape's evaluation standard was based on the time he and Lily finished their first year, while Dudley had only just started school, and his potions were clearly self-taught.

He has a great talent for potions or brewing, just like his mother.

"Just a little worse than Lily."

Snape was one of the few Potions Masters in the entire wizarding world, and he could see at a glance where Dudley possessed talent.

This reminded him of the few times he had visited Evans's house before and tasted Penny's cooking, which was really delicious.

In a sense, potions are actually quite similar to cooking.

"Your cooking method is very similar to your mother's," Snape suddenly said.

"Do you know my mother?" Dali asked.

Snape looked somewhat awkward: "We have some history; we used to be neighbors."

Because she couldn't go to Hogwarts, Penny wasn't very friendly to her wizard friends who visited Lily's house. She even called one of them a freak and said that their friendship was only because of Lily. After that incident in fifth year, they completely lost contact.

He never expected that Penny's son would come to Hogwarts, and that he would have such outstanding Potions talent. He had thought that her whole family were born Muggles.

"Could you be Mr. Severus, the one my mother once mentioned?"

Hogwarts professors don't have the custom of introducing themselves. In the first class, they would tell the young wizards their surname and given name. Even Snape wouldn't do that. So the young wizards only know the professors' surnames, and they have no idea what their given names are.

"You've mentioned me?"

Snape paused noticeably; he hadn't expected Penny to mention him to Dudley.

"In the time before coming to Hogwarts, my mother told Harry and me a lot about the wizarding world, including some people and things from her and Aunt Lily's childhood."

"Actually, she longed to be here and cherished Aunt Lily's friends."

Petunia has completely resolved her inner conflict. In order to help Dudley and Harry get used to life at Hogwarts, she shared a lot of information she had learned from Lily.

Although many of these are from twenty years ago, the wizarding world hasn't actually changed much over the years.

Dudley clearly sensed a slight tremor in Snape's body when his Aunt Lily was mentioned.

Suddenly, Snape thought of something and abruptly raised his head, his empty, lifeless eyes staring intently at Dudley until Dudley felt a little uneasy.

"I understand now. Penny's child must have inherited Lily's talent to be so outstanding."

In fact, from a scientific point of view, it is possible to explain why Dudley inherited Lily's talent, but that involves genetics.

If we compare potion-making talent to a latent gene X, both Penny and Lily possess this latent gene X. However, Penny doesn't meet the requirements to become a wizard, so this latent gene X remains unactivated. Dudley, on the other hand, becomes a wizard, and this latent gene X is activated.

Of course, Dudley prefers to believe that this is a change he brought about by his own arrival into the world, and has little to do with genetics.

However, Dudley thought it didn't matter what it was; Snape's opinion was all that mattered.

He stubbornly believed that Lily was guiding him.

Look at him, he inherited Lily's excellent potion-making talent, and the childhood relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin is exactly the same as his relationship with Lily back then. What a coincidence!

Of course, he is stronger than me.

Professor Snape was relatively thin and weak when he was in school.

What do these wizards say? They don't believe in science, they believe in fate and prophecy.

Even powerful figures like Voldemort and Dumbledore were very superstitious about fate. Voldemort even killed the Potters because of a prophecy, and he was indeed killed just as the prophecy foretold.

Dudley was different from them; he didn't believe in prophecy, he believed in muscle.

"You—" Snape stared intently at Dudley, drawing out his words. Just as Dudley was about to punch him, he continued, "Want to learn potions from me?"

Snape had long intended to pass on all the knowledge he had acquired throughout his life, but he had never found the right opportunity.

His pride as a Potions Master made him exceptionally discerning and picky. Anyone who wanted to learn potions from him had to possess at least half of Lily's potions talent, which he considered limitless. Half of that limitless talent was still limitless.

He now believes he said this because he was guided by Lily, and if one day he no longer feels this way, or if Dudley refuses or does not agree, then he will never have such an opportunity again.

Moreover, this is just an opportunity; if Dudley lacks the ability to seize it, he will still be abandoned.

There's no tradition of taking on disciples in the wizarding world where "once a teacher, always a father."

"Of course, it's my honor, Professor Snape."

(End of this chapter)