For the next hour, Alan simply conducted, as he had previously put it, a "lecture," recalling the lessons of his teachers on Alchemy, and, strangely enough, he was able to attract the attention of three examiners at the same time, who were listening to him very attentively, especially the old man who stood out among them, who only nodded sullenly, while with difficulty hiding the amazement on his face.
"...Also, during my research, I noticed several additional properties in the leaves of Alichocia, primarily used to make laughter potions: for example, if mixed with white vine root, you can create a powder that, when inhaled, instantly improves your mood, not to mention treating depression or other similar negative conditions, all without the side effects of uncontrollable laughter; or, if mixed with owl's eye, lyre root, and moonstone powder, you can create a potion of night vision, the effects of which are doubled..."
"That's enough, young man, you've passed," the old man said with an encouraging smile, stroking his long beard. "Slughorn is raising a worthy replacement for himself..."
"Do you know Professor Slughorn...?"
"How could I not know him, if before him, right up until 1920, it was I who taught Potions at Hogwarts? And it was I who introduced him—a simple youth and the last of the Slughorn line—to the world of potions."
"And don't hold it against us, it's our job to put pressure on the candidates," the two men sitting to the right and left of the old man looked at him with embarrassment.
"It was clear from the very beginning, even though you tried to look like villains, your eyes gave you away."
"Okay, that's enough, we have a few more candidates," the elderly wizard raised his hand and squinted slyly, looking toward the exit. "Congratulations, you've passed. Say hello to Slughorn from the 'stupid old fart.'"
The two men coughed at the same time, and Alan only nodded, slightly lifting the corners of his lips and saying goodbye, he left the office, and at the exit he was met by a slightly agitated Slughorn, although he was trying to pretend that everything was completely different.
"Everything is fine, now I am a 'Master'."
"And I shouldn't have expected anything less," Slughorn laughed, raising his chin proudly and clapping Alan on the shoulder.
"I'm surprised, congratulations, Mr. Snape," Andrew nodded, smiling calmly.
"Thank you. By the way, Professor."
"Yes?"
"They asked me to convey greetings to you from the 'stupid old man'," the joy vanished from the Potions Master's face in an instant, and was replaced by pallor.
"H-he's still alive?!"
"Aren't you happy?!" a cheerful elderly voice rang out from the room, causing the poor professor to flinch. Without a second thought, he fled, under the slightly shocked gaze of his former student and several dozen people on the floor.
"Well, since we're done here, follow me to get your license..." Andrew muttered slowly.
"Yeah..."
After completing his registration and entering it into the database, Alan received a sheet of paper with the Ministry's seal confirming his rank, as well as a gold badge with a silver cauldron from a slightly shocked employee. However, Alan didn't have time to talk to him, and after saying goodbye, he went down to the first floor. As he passed a small fountain, he saw Slughorn peeking out from behind the fireplace and looking around warily.
"Professor, are you alright...?" Snape asked him, still a little surprised by such a reaction.
"Oh! Severus, of course everything's fine! Let's leave this place quickly!" Slughorn babbled, grabbing his hand and throwing a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace. The flames flared up, and they both stepped into it and disappeared...
Hogsmeade. The Wizarding Trinket Shop.
Finding himself back in that same room, Slughorn finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Professor, why did you run away from that old man?" Alan decided to ask, slightly intrigued by their story.
"The less you know, the better you sleep, come on, show me!"
With a tired sigh, he pulled the badge out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Slughorn.
"Although I don't understand why when I..." But, noticing the frozen Potions Master, whose face was written in genuine shock, he raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. "Professor, are you feeling unwell? Perhaps you should go to St. Mungo's? If you like, I'll go with you."
"This badge... sixteen years and a silver cauldron..."
"Maybe I should give you some mandrake root tincture?"
"Huh? Why would I need a laxative...?" Slughorn blinked in bewilderment, staring at Alan.
"Oh! You've come to your senses, by the way, here's the tincture," a glass vial containing an unpleasant-looking brown liquid appeared in his hand.
"STOP! Take it away, stop shoving it in my face, and why do you need it anyway?! Damn it! Not that! That's a silver cauldron!"
Alan put on a serious face and began to peer at the badge.
"Hmm... that's right."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"There is a little."
"Stop this! I am your teacher!"
"You're making fun of me, can you explain normally what's wrong?"
"This is a silver cauldron!"
And Alan again began to peer thoughtfully at the badge, under Slughorn's twitching eye.
"There are four ranks of badges: bronze, silver, gold, and black," he began to explain with a weary sigh. "There's only one person in our country with a black badge, and that's my teacher—the old man who administered the exam. There are only three gold badges, one of which is mine. I don't know about silver badges, but they're not awarded until after thirty. I only got mine at twenty-six. Usually, everyone starts with bronze badges, but you..." Slughorn grabbed Alan by the shoulders in surprise, his blazing eyes boring into his face. "A genius! If my teacher, known for his strictness, rated you for the silver cauldron, then his assessment can't be wrong! You're a true GENIUS!"
"Professor, I understand everything, of course, but let's not get too close..." Pushing Slughorn's worried face away from him, he opened the door and finally left the small room.
"Severus! From now on, you will come to me every evening after school for extra lessons! I will make you a Gold-ranked Master before you graduate from Hogwarts, and you will fulfill my dream and surpass that stupid old man! Knock him off his pedestal!"
Listening to Slughorn's mad laughter, Alan closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, climbing the stairs and thinking about a cure for the dementia that had crept up on him so imperceptibly...
"What's wrong with him...?" Mark asked him in bewilderment, looking towards the basement.
"Senile dementia... call St. Mungo's quickly, he needs help," Alan said with a very serious face.
"Who's the one with senile dementia here?! And what does this 'call' of yours even mean?"
"Oh, a miracle! The professor has recovered, and this is just a Muggle thing, don't pay any attention to it."
"Severus, come with me into this basement, I'll show you something very interesting..." Slughorn purred, clenching his fist tightly and pointing behind him with a warm smile.
"I have to refuse: the starved Nagini is waiting for me, let's do it on Monday, oh and right, Professor, I have a favor to ask of you," turning to him, he took the badge he offered.
"What's happened?"
"Can you give me permission to leave Hogwarts this evening? I need to find a competent manager for the shop, and finish some business in Diagon Alley. I'll be back tomorrow evening, too."
"Hmm... usually things like that aren't allowed without parental permission..." Slughorn muttered sullenly, but after a few seconds he nodded with a smile. "Okay, I'll talk to Albus, and thanks to this badge, you're officially recognized as an adult, and you won't have to wait until you're seventeen anymore. But even though you received this badge along with the official papers, they won't go into effect until Monday; that's the rule."
"Thank you, Professor."
"No need, but I'll be expecting you on Monday after classes: I still intend to hammer into your head everything I know myself."
"Certainly..."
At the same time, the owner of the shop, who was watching the departing pair, only came to his senses and smiled after they left.
"After the incident with Tom, I haven't seen him in such a good mood for a long time... I can only hope that it doesn't end the same way..."
Alan, however, did not put on the badge, as he did not want to attract too much attention to himself, and, having parted with Slughorn, he returned to his room, where he was met by Nagini... a rather snoring Nagini.
You're killing me, lazy... He decided to keep the last word to himself and, throwing her around his neck, left the room in order to quickly take care of his business. Besides, Bella was supposed to come to see him today, and he simply couldn't miss this meeting.
But Alan didn't have time to go down, because his path was blocked by a very angry Black.
"Haven't you forgotten anything?!"
"Morning, Regulus. Sorry, but I don't have time to talk now, let's do it Monday evening."
"You said this the day before yesterday, but you never came!"
"Professor Slughorn detained me, what could I do?"
Although Black tried to be indignant once again, he couldn't find the words, because Snape was right, and even now, having thought about everything more rationally, he realized that he had acted too unwisely.
"I... I'm sorry..."
"I'm glad you understand. I would, of course, discuss magic with you today, but I can't: I need to get home urgently, and I won't be back until Sunday, around seven or eight."
"I see, I just remembered one incident concerning Cousin Bella, but once..." But Regulus didn't even have time to finish speaking, as Alan's hand was already on his shoulder.
"You should have told me that right away," Alan said with a beaming smile, dragging the young man along with him. "I'll definitely have an hour to spare today..."
"Idiot..."