Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 658 Antidote

On the second Wednesday after Christmas, Harry soon had another Potions class taught by Horace Lugghorn.

This gave Harry a little bit of anticipation, because he might finally have the chance to bring up the matter of asking Horace Slughorn to give him a private lesson in Occlumency once again.

Perhaps it was something he had discussed with Tierra, or perhaps it was just a whim or a sudden idea of ​​his own, Horace Slughorn also decided to give a pop quiz after Christmas.

Horace Lagerhorn announced the news last Wednesday, the first class after Christmas, and said that there would be a short quiz during that class.

The pop quiz was already on everyone's desk the moment they stepped into the classroom—

Two people work in a group, and each group has a glass bottle containing different colored medicines on their workbench.

Their task today is to spend one class period brewing an antidote to neutralize the poison on the table.

This unrestrained, free, and unscrupulous testing method greatly troubled Harry. He uncapped the bottle of poison on his and Ron's experimental table. The bottle, which was the color of a tacky pink fruit juice, was poured into a cauldron and lit a fire underneath.

He had no idea what to do next. He glanced at Ron, who was standing there mimicking everything Harry did, looking even more clumsy.

“Are you sure the prince didn’t give any hints?” Ron whispered to Harry.

Harry pulled out his most trusted old copy of *Advanced Potions Making* and turned to the chapter on antidotes. It was all Groppet's third rule, just as Hermione had memorized; the prince hadn't written a single word to suggest that it had no different interpretation.

“There’s nothing there,” Harry said dejectedly.

Hermione was frantically casting a spell on her cauldron.

Unfortunately, they cannot imitate her spells because she is now very good at silent spells; she doesn't need to say them out loud.

However, a Hefpact girl, Elnos, muttered loudly to her cauldron, "A special kind of boiling!"

It sounded so impressive that Harry and Ron quickly started imitating her.

Five minutes later, Harry realized that the voice calling him the best potion maker in his class was ringing in his ears.

When Slag first circled the underground classroom, he looked hopefully into his crucible, ready to let out his usual joyful exclamation, but he quickly turned away and coughed, for there was no trace of triumph in him.

He hated that he couldn't complete the task in every Potions class.

Hermione is filling ten different vials with the ingredients of her mysterious potion, and she seems to be getting the hang of it.

To avoid witnessing this infuriating scene again, Harry took out the Half-Blood Prince book and pointlessly flipped through a few more pages.

Below a long list of antidotes, some words were written in haste:

"Just force the bezoar down their throats."

Harry stared at the words for a while.

Had he ever heard of something called bezoar before?

ah! correct!

Harry suddenly remembered the stack of notebooks Tyrell had given him before Potions class in his first year, and there seemed to be a sentence in one of them—

“A stone taken from a cow’s stomach can cure most poisons.” This wasn’t an answer to Grobout’s question; Harry wouldn’t have dared to do this if Snape were still their teacher, but now was the time to use any means necessary.

He needs to gain Horace Slughorn's favor—

At least for this class, it should be like this.

Harry looked around helplessly—

He did not see Tyella in today's Potions class.

To be precise, he hadn't seen Tyella in any class other than Dark Arts class since Christmas.

If Professor Tyrell hadn't been routinely having breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Harry would have thought she had completely left Hogwarts.

But now was not the time for Harry to ponder where Tierra had gone. The time for this little test was fast approaching, so Harry hurriedly went to the storage cabinet and rummaged through it, pushing aside the unicorn horn and the messy herbs, until he found a cardboard box at the very back with the word "bezoar" scrawled on it.

"Time's up!" Horace Lugghorn exclaimed cheerfully. "Alright, students, let's see what you've accomplished! Balas... what did you make?"

Horace Slughorn slowly moved around the room, examining the various antidotes.

No one finished the job, although Hermione tried to add some more ingredients to the bottle before Slug arrived.

Ron gave up completely, and he simply avoided breathing in the strong, rotten smell emanating from his crucible.

Harry stood there waiting, clutching the bezoar tightly in his hand.

Horace Slaghorn finally reached their table.

He dismissed Elnos's potion and showed a pained expression as he passed Ron.

He didn't linger by Ron's cauldron for even a second, turning his back to him and quickly leaving, looking as if he were disgusted.

“So, Harry,” he said, “what will you show me?”

Harry held out his hand, the bezoar in his palm.

Horace Slaghorn stared at it for ten seconds.

Harry was awaiting Horace Slughorn's criticism, but soon—

He turned his head and laughed loudly.

“Child, very good, very good! You have great courage!” Horace Slughorn announced loudly, holding up the bezoar for the whole class to see. “Oh, you are just like your mother… I can’t blame you… the bezoar really can be used as an antidote for these potions!”

Hermione looked ashen-faced, her face covered in sweat, and her nose smudged with soot.

She finished half of the antidote, using fifty-two materials including some of her own hair, and watched Harry intently from behind Slug.

"You, you completely came up with the idea of ​​using bezoar on your own, didn't you, Harry?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.

“That’s the personal touch a true potions maker needs!” Horace Lugghorn said gleefully before Harry could answer. “Like her mother, she has the same ideas and instincts when it comes to potions, no doubt he inherited it from Lily… Yes, Harry, yes, if you have bezoar, that’s a trick, of course… But they don’t work for everything, and they’re rare, so you still need to learn how to mix antidotes…”

(End of this chapter)