As Snape walked into the classroom, the entire room fell silent.
"As far as I know, you're here to learn a subject that involves precise science and rigorous craftsmanship." He walked to the podium and spoke slowly, his voice low but clear and resonant. "There's no foolish waving of wands here, so some of you may not believe it's magic."
"I don't expect you to truly appreciate the beauty of a simmering cauldron, white smoke rising and emitting wafts of fragrant aroma... I can teach you how to enhance your reputation, brew glory, and even prevent death."
"But before that, I'm afraid you'll have to eliminate some foolish things — for example, inappropriate cheering."
His eyes swept over the young wizards below, lingering briefly on Ryan and Harry, and he snorted coldly. "Mr. Potter," he said suddenly. Harry looked up in surprise and stood up subconsciously.
"You are a celebrity, even more famous than some people who don't know how to respect professors." Snape's lips barely moved, his eyes sharp as he looked at Harry. "So, can you tell me... what would you get if you added powdered narcissus root to an infusion of wormwood?"
The answer was the Water of Life and Death — Ryan immediately recalled it.
The Water of Life and Death, a powerful sleeping potion that, upon consumption, induces a deep, death-like sleep. Hence, it was also known as the 'Potion of the Living Hell,' and was common in the wizarding world millennia ago. Brewing this potion was not simple. Ryan had looked through the books at Flourish and Blotts and found in Advanced Potion-Making that it was a potion only sixth-year wizards could learn to make.
In other words, this was a question clearly beyond the scope of the curriculum — Snape was targeting Harry.
But...
"Why Harry?" Ryan was a little confused. Even if Snape was angry about the Slytherin incident, it should have been Harry who caused it. Furthermore, Ryan noticed that Snape's gaze had lingered on Harry's face and eyes for a moment. He clearly couldn't be jealous of Harry's looks — Ryan felt that the most handsome young wizard in the classroom was someone else.
So...
"Maybe he knew Harry's parents? And they had conflicts in the past?" This was one of the reasonable explanations Ryan could think of. Besides this explanation, there was another one that was equally plausible. "Harry's most unique identity is 'The Boy Who Lived.' Perhaps Snape had a connection with the Dark Lord? Considering the time, it's indeed possible..." Ryan speculated in his mind.
But he tended to think this possibility was relatively small — because if Snape was related to the Dark Lord, there would be no reason for him to still be teaching at Hogwarts. While he was pondering, Harry was being tortured by Snape. Of course, he couldn't answer Snape's questions, and the latter asked him two more in succession.
"It's obvious that fame has nothing to do with knowledge."
"Mr. Potter doesn't know the effects of bezoar, nor does he know that there's no difference between Aconitum naviculatum and Aconitum davidianum," Snape said sarcastically. "Of course, if Mr. Potter had any wizarding wisdom left, he should have taken note of my next answer instead of standing there like a troll."
When Harry couldn't help but object, Snape took the opportunity to deduct a point from Gryffindor. "For contradicting the professor, I must point out that Mr. Potter clearly lacks etiquette." Harry practically gnashed his teeth as Snape turned to leave. He could almost hear the low laughter of the young Slytherins behind him.
So, even though this Potions class had only been going on for less than three minutes, Harry was already certain that Snape would surpass Professor Quirrell's status as his most hated professor, bar none!
Soon, the Gryffindor students discovered that Professor Snape was even more disgusting than the rumors had suggested.
"Mr. Longbottom, you've probably forgotten far more steps than your brain can handle, which is why even the simplest scabies potion turned into a pot of toad vomit. I told you to stir it three times before adding the dried nettles, and you've clearly got it all wrong."
"Mr. Weasley, don't stare at your professor like that, unless you want to prove that your upbringing is as poor as your potion-making skills."
He roamed among the students, spewing venom at them. This made the usually good-tempered Neville blush furiously — the last time he was this angry was when Malfoy insulted his parents. Soon, the only two people in the Gryffindor common room who hadn't been humiliated by Snape were Ryan and Hermione.
In fact, these two, the recognized masters of the class, quickly and smoothly brewed their masterpiece — a pot of acceptable scabies potion.
But...
"The color isn't transparent enough. Apparently, at least half an extra portion of snake tooth powder was added... Miss Granger, if this potion satisfies you, then perhaps you could become a potion-brewing leprechaun in Diagon Alley." Snape had proven with his actions that nitpicking can lead to flaws.
However, when he reached Ryan's cauldron...
"..."
Snape's mood shifted for a moment as he looked at the potion in front of Ryan. Even with his potion-making skills, he had to admit that Ryan's scabies potion was impeccably brewed. But upon seeing Ryan's smiling face, Snape sneered, "It seems our genius is quite proud of his potion-making prowess." He snorted, his eyes sharp. "Perhaps you could tell me what the dark gray potion is that is produced by combining belladonna essence, lemon juice, fire ash snake eggs, and acromantula venom with a pure gold stirring rod?"
At this point, even the young wizards, who knew little about potions, understood — just like Harry, this was definitely Snape deliberately trying to embarrass Ryan.
Even Hermione hadn't heard of most of the ingredients. But Ryan simply smiled.
"It's Felix Felicis, Professor."
"But Professor, you deliberately misrepresented one part — this is only the first stage of the Felix Felicis brewing process, and the stirring rod must be made of wood. The finished product should be a bright orange."
He not only answered but also elegantly pointed out several traps Snape had deliberately left in place. This made Snape frown. He looked at Ryan, his eyes sharpening.
"So, about the Dreamless Sleeping Potion..." he continued his cold questioning.
Ryan continued to answer calmly. "The amount of wormwood? Of course it should be one-third, otherwise it will explode..."
"The boiling time of echo water? Four minutes is certainly good, but the time I saw in the family potion book is four and a half minutes — that's a better time."
They asked and answered one after another, and the difficulty of the questions made the young wizards almost feel like they were listening to incomprehensible books. And every time Ryan answered a question, Snape would mock him and pose a more difficult one.
Finally...
"How to brew the prototype of the dream tracing potion?"
Hearing the last question asked by Snape, Ryan still answered without hesitation. "Branches and leaves of the two-headed sun tree, combined with a little dew from the mandrake, and boiled during a full moon."
Then, he saw an imperceptible arc at the corner of Snape's mouth.
"Oh..."
He stretched out his voice, like a snake catching its prey. "It seems our genius's knowledge of potions is limited to memorizing books — yes, the family's inherited magic book... how correct, yet so ignorant." He indulged his gift for venomous speech. "He's completely unaware that the magical plant, the two-headed sunwood, became extinct three hundred years ago, and that the ingredient in this potion has been changed to the hair of a moon-crazed beast — slightly less effective, but easier to find."
Clearly, he was very pleased to have finally caught Ryan's mistake.
But...
"Oh, sorry, Professor." Ryan nodded after a brief moment of surprise. "I truly didn't know the two-headed sunwood was extinct... In fact, in the vault I inherited, there are some branches and leaves of the two-headed sunwood you mentioned as extinct. So I guess the ignorant person might be someone else, right?"
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Author's note
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