Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 58 The Phantom Manifestation Lesson

"Listen up, students!" Professor Slughorn said to everyone after introducing Gobalot's Third Law.

"Everyone come to the podium and take a small bottle. You must prepare the antidote from the contents of the bottle before the end of get out of class. Good luck, and don't forget to wear protective gloves!"

The students all stood up and rushed towards the podium.

Snape took a small bottle from the podium, uncorked it, and poured the bright blue-purple poison into the cauldron. Then, with a flick of his wand, blue flames roared to life beneath the cauldron.

He first silently recited Scarpin's Revealing Spell. As the spell took effect, the shadows of various components slowly emerged from the poison. Then, he carefully observed the potion's reaction, and through a precise procedure and rigorous process, quickly identified the hidden additional ingredients.

When Slughorn first came to Snape's place, he glanced at Snape's cauldron with a look of amazement, but immediately composed himself and walked away with his hands behind his back.

"You've fallen out of favor?" Abbott had already emptied the murky liquid in his cauldron that reeked of rotten eggs, and was now looking around listlessly. "Why isn't that old snotty-nosed man praising you anymore?"

“Have some consideration for the old man’s fragile heart, Abbott.” Snape didn’t even look up, continuing to wave his wand above the cauldron. “If you were him, it would be quite an achievement for you to still be here teaching us.”

As the mixture simmered slowly over a low flame, wisps of white smoke rose from the crucible, releasing a delightful aroma. The preparation of Snape's antidote was nearing completion.

"Do you want to get a grade for this class?" He turned to Abbott. "Go to the storage cabinet and get a dung bead. Old Slug will give you one."

"Dungstone?" Abbot looked bewildered and asked, "What's that for?"

“No, buddy?” Snape asked, somewhat surprised, as he carefully placed the antidote containing eighty-one ingredients into a crystal bottle. “Don’t you read books often? Dung stones are stones taken from the stomachs of goats, and they’re a powerful, universal antidote.”

"You mean the Book of Potions and Advanced Rune Translation?" Abbott scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and said, "That's just the cover; inside is Play Wizard, which I bought from the school's black market."

"What?" Snape's face contorted in pain. "Such a good thing, and you secretly looked at it all by yourself? How could you do this to me?"

"Two minutes left, everyone!" Professor Slughorn's loud voice rang out again.

"I'll share it with you when we get back," Abbot said, then rushed to the storage cabinet. He frantically rummaged through it, pushing piles of dried herbs aside, and finally found a small cardboard box in the innermost corner.

Inside were clumps of brownish, kidney-shaped dung stones. Abbot took one, then hurriedly put the box back in the cabinet and quickly walked back to his seat.

"Time's up—"

"Oh!"

A loud bang interrupted Slughorn's voice.

Pandora's cauldron exploded.

The liquid in the crucible splashed everywhere like fireworks, and the scalding liquid splashed onto the students, causing them to scream in pain.

"Quiet!" Slughorn shouted at the top of his lungs, hastily waving his wand.

A flash of white light swept away the medicine that had been spilled on the ground and on the students.

"Ravenclaw, 20 points deducted! Prefect! Get the injured student to the school hospital immediately! Class is now adjourned!"

Slughorn and the prefect helped the injured student away hastily. Snape, Abbott, and Pandora then emerged unharmed from under the table.

"My score!" Abbot shouted unwillingly as he watched the old snotty man's departing figure.

“That was terrifying,” Pandora said, still shaken. “Luckily, I reacted quickly and hid as soon as I saw something was wrong.”

“Luckily, when we saw you hiding, we immediately realized something was wrong and hid too.” Snape looked at the remaining fragments of the cauldron and asked, “Where did you buy this cauldron?”

“This is an imported product,” Pandora explained. “Although its base is a bit thin, it’s much cheaper than the domestically made ones.”

“These imported crucibles are of such poor quality,” Snape said, picking up his bag and heading out of the classroom. “But you’ll have to endure the dangers of their thin, fragile bottoms. No wizard is willing to write a thick report examining the thickness of the crucible bottoms yet…”

Days passed by, and before we knew it, it was February.

Hogwarts Castle awakens in winter; the surrounding snow has melted, replaced by tender green grass shoots.

White clouds floated high above the castle, sometimes rolling in and sometimes drifting away. The pleasant weather made the grounds dry and comfortable.

The sixth-grade students' long-awaited first Apparition lesson took place in the field in front of the castle. This lesson was scheduled for Saturday morning to avoid disrupting regular classes.

The students arrived at the meadow early in the morning and gathered in a large circle enclosed by white ropes.

Apart from the seventh graders, almost all the students from other grades stood around the circle, whispering excitedly to each other.

After a while, the castle gates opened, and four heads of the house and a short wizard emerged. The unfamiliar wizard must be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry of Magic.

Once they arrived, everyone immediately separated by college and gathered in front of Professors McGonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, and Sprout.

The teacher's skin was frighteningly pale, his eyelashes were almost transparent, and his hair was as thin as silk threads, giving him an unreal appearance, as if a gentle breeze could sweep him away.

"Is his body so weak because he uses teleportation and transformation so often?" a Gryffindor boy whispered to his companion.

"Perhaps such a slender figure is naturally suited for apparition," his companion said, adjusting his glasses.

"Good morning," the wizard from the Ministry of Magic said after the students lined up and the four heads of the house asked everyone to be quiet. "My name is Wicky Tykros."

"Over the next twelve weeks, I will be your Apparition instructor, and I hope to help you prepare for this important Apparition exam."

"I sincerely hope that by then, many of you will be able to take this exam."

"As everyone should know, you can't Apparate or Teleport at Hogwarts normally."

Tecros paused briefly, then continued, "However, in order to allow you to practice properly, the headmaster has specially lifted the spell, removing this restriction for one hour. Of course, only within this large circle."

“I must emphasize that no one is allowed to apparate outside this white circle. Anyone who tries to do so should go see a doctor in St. Mungo’s.”

　Thank you to the following for your monthly tickets: 恰逢年少_初相识, 书友33021205975088, and 此山水不相逢.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)