The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 123 Snape's Little Lesson

Slytherin.

At 8 a.m., the common room was rather deserted, with only first- and second-year students present. It was quite rare for students not to have classes so early in the morning.

In a corner of the common room, Ino sat quietly on the sofa, with two old books and a money bag bearing the Gringotts logo beside him.

These two books were borrowed from Pansy before; one was about the Freezing Charm and the other about the Snow Charm, while the purse contained melted gold.

Today's purpose is to settle the mortgage payment for Pansy and return the books.

Let's leave aside the times when we were broke, because there was really no other way. But now that we have half a bag of gold coins left by Jacob, it would be really immoral not to pay him back.

As for the books on freezing spells and snow spells, he skimmed through them and found that the content was very superficial, without any in-depth explanation of the principles of magic, and mostly just some application of small techniques.

What he has in abundance right now is the skill to master ice and snow. For example, like swimming, humans need to learn swimming techniques, but what about fish in the water? Swimming is an innate instinct.

Therefore, he plans to return both books together to avoid a repeat of the last incident where he borrowed them for several months only to have them forgotten, which was quite embarrassing.

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin girls' dormitory.

After hearing a first-year girl come in to deliver a message, Panxi immediately changed into a robe and headed out of the dormitory.

"Don't you ever wear makeup?" Lying in bed, Daphne looked at Pansy with a hint of helplessness. She just felt that some people were simply clueless.

"No need! I'm not that Muggle witch from Gryffindor. Compared to a pretty face, I think Ino values ​​a capable girl more."

Despite saying that, as she passed the dressing table, Pansy casually picked up the perfume next to her and calmly sprayed it on herself a few times.

……

Public lounge.

"Good morning! Sorry to disturb your rest." Ino stood up and looked at Pansy apologetically.

Upon hearing this, Pan Xi smiled faintly and said, "It's okay. Besides, I usually don't sleep in late in the morning, and I'm just idling in the dorm anyway."

"Alright! I have something to tell you so early, and I was afraid I'd forgotten again." Ino said, placing the purse and books on the small table in the lounge.

"There are about three pounds of gold here, which I used to pay off the mortgage I owed. The rest is my interest payment."

Three pounds of gold, compared to the price he exchanged at Gringotts before, which was 145 gallons per ounce, came to a little over six thousand but less than seven thousand gallons. The extra amount could be considered interest for the favor, since very few people would sell Hogsmeade property through legitimate channels.

On the other hand, contrary to his expectations, Pansy accepted the money bag without any hesitation.

"I'll accept the money, but you can come to me anytime you need it in the future."

"Haha, okay!" Ino agreed with a smile, and then smoothly changed the subject: "I've finished reading these two books, so I'm returning them to you now. Thank you."

……

The two events took less than fifteen minutes from start to finish.

On the sofa, Ino watched Pansy's departing figure and felt more and more that this girl was easy to get along with. She was not only efficient in doing things, but also never procrastinated, and she was not superficially reserved or polite.

He even noticed that Pansy inexplicably resembled Professor McGonagall in some ways, being decisive and efficient in her actions.

Of course, Pansy's demeanor seemed much gentler than Professor McGonagall's. Although he knew it was a facade of composure and restraint, at least he was easy to get along with.

"Pansy's book is returned, now it's Professor Snape's turn..." Ino looked up at the clock in the lounge. It was 8:30 in the morning, half an hour before the first class.

This was just enough time for him to have breakfast in the Great Hall, and when he came back, the Potions class was over, and he could return the Half-Blood Prince's notes to him.

……

Potions classroom.

After the class ended and the young wizards filed out, the classroom fell into a brief silence.

"Knock! Knock knock!"

Although the classroom door was open, Ino still chose to knock first.

Snape looked towards the door expressionlessly, but after recognizing who it was, his tone suddenly shifted to one of mockery:

"Ha! Finally, you're willing to spare a little energy for Potions? Has Transfiguration fallen out of favor with you, Mr. Svenburn, winner of the Best Newcomer Award?"

"Uh..." Ino suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed. Professor McGonagall must have said something, although she never said it in front of her students.

But judging from Snape's tone, Professor McGonagall must have said it in the faculty lounge.

"Professor... I actually came to return a book."

After much hesitation, Ino decided to tell the truth. She returned the notebook early to avoid forgetting it, because forgetting to return something you borrowed is incredibly embarrassing.

"Ha! I take back what I said before. It seems someone isn't going to waste a single point. That's fine, they can study Transfiguration properly." Snape's tone became increasingly sarcastic.

Although it was sarcastic, it was a good thing. Given Snape's personality, the fact that he was willing to say so much nonsense was actually a silent attitude.

Similarly, Ino noticed that Snape's face had become more lively in recent days. However, now was clearly not the time to think about that; the immediate priority was to return the book and, incidentally, dispel Snape's prejudice.

"Professor, you've misunderstood! I copied everything out of my notes. I even made a special trip to Hogsmeade to buy 'Advanced Potions Making'."

Upon hearing this explanation, Snape, unusually, refrained from further mockery. He pointed to the lectern table and said, "Put it here! If there's nothing else, you can leave."

Upon hearing this, Ino put down his notebook, but he did not leave.

"Professor! I want to learn how to brew Felix Felicis; it would be very useful to me."

"Felix Felicis?" Snape was about to make a sarcastic remark, but after seeing Ino's serious expression, he fell into a brief silence.

"Go learn how to process medicinal herbs first," Snape said calmly.

"Distillation, extraction, slicing, fermentation, purification, calcination, simmering... When you can master all of these, come back to me to learn Felix Felicis."

"Yes, Professor!" Ino nodded seriously.

He knew very well that this was not a perfunctory gesture, but the real transmission of skills.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard Snape's voice again.

"Every Tuesday evening from 7 PM to 9 PM, I have a lot of medicinal herbs that need to be processed!"

"I will be on time!" Ino turned around, bowed slightly to Snape, and gave him a proper bow.

That's how it is; we should remember the kindness others have shown us, and he did so willingly.

Private lessons from contemporary potion masters are something many people crave but cannot obtain, even with money, because potion masters have no shortage of money.

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(End of this chapter)