The Bard of Hogwarts

Chapter 279 Snape's Potions Room

Even in the bustling metropolis of London, there are always some special places hidden away.

So special that they were forgotten by the gentlemen of Downing Street, and these forgotten places became synonymous with old and dirty.

……

19 Spider's End Lane.

Inside a small, brown wooden building, Harry quietly looked around.

Everything here seems to be from the last century.

Old furniture, yellowed newspapers, dusty photos, and the standing clocks that you can only see in antique shops.

The living room on the first floor.

As Harry looked around, Snape's gaze inadvertently drifted into Harry's eyes.

In just a moment, he felt his thoughts sprouting up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

My biggest dream used to be to invite another girl with the exact same emerald green eyes to visit me here.

Unfortunately, due to various factors, the invitation was never sent out.

While Snape remained silent, Harry also felt a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or reflection).

After entering Hogwarts and finishing his first Potions class, he never imagined that one day he would be able to visit Snape's house.

Moreover, this is not just a casual visit; they intend to stay here for half a month.

Thinking of this, Harry recalled Professor Dumbledore's instructions. Regardless of whether he had learned the material or not, he had to return to Aunt Petunia's house on Privet Drive within two weeks and stay there until the start of the new school term.

As the two remained silent, a green flame lit up in the fireplace.

"Sorry I'm late."

As Ino spoke, his gaze swept quickly across the living room.

Unlike Snape's calm demeanor, Harry stood up and greeted him with a smile.

"How can it be considered late if there was no agreed-upon time!"

"That's hard to say, after all, you're all waiting for me." Ino looked around again.

Although the place was a bit old, the overall space was still quite ample. But what puzzled him was that Snape shouldn't have let Harry sleep in the downstairs living room.

"Come with me!" Snape stood up and walked toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

The wooden stairs creaked slightly underfoot, and the group followed Snape to the second-floor room.

The moment the door was pushed open.

Ino admitted that he had underestimated his own dean. It was supposed to be a room similar to the one downstairs, but its actual size was more than ten times larger.

That seamless extension spell was truly brilliant, which is probably the source of the Potions Master's confidence; he completely disregards the Ministry of Magic's regulations.

The room was filled with all sorts of bottles and jars, brass crucibles, and mountains of brand-new glass bottles.

Of course, there are also various potion ingredients, including countless herbal roots and stems, magical animal organs, and even many specimens whose names I don't know.

This was clearly where Snape brewed his potions on a daily basis.

……

"Professor, you're letting Harry stay here?"

Ino was a little unsure. Although it looked much more spacious than downstairs, the smell of so many potion ingredients piled together was unimaginable.

Although Harry didn't speak, he also looked at Snape with a questioning gaze.

"It's very safe here," Snape explained, a rare occurrence for him.

"Okay, you're right." Ino shrugged indifferently. When it comes to safety, where you live doesn't really matter.

Moreover, the place where Snape brewed potions and stored materials should be quite safe.

Under Harry's astonished gaze, a crystal house slowly rose from the second-floor room, which resembled a small square.

The house wasn't big, only about ten square meters, but its shape and color reminded him of the mushroom house described in fairy tales from his childhood.

Unlike Harry, who watched the spectacle with interest, Snape squinted and carefully examined the small room in front of him.

Without a staff or a sound, it uses elemental transformation magic to conjure a house in one go.

All of this combined made Snape feel a sense of absurdity. The student who had pretended to be mature had grown to this extent in just three years.

"Harry, your new house is finished, it's a steal!" Ino said half-jokingly, pointing to the mushroom house in front of him.

"If you feel cold, you can light the fireplace inside to warm up! My snow won't melt so easily, so you can rest assured about that."

The igloo, or rather the insulation and protection of ice and snow, was essentially just to allow Harry to get a good night's sleep.

Especially when Harry says he dreamt he was a snake, the connection between the Horcrux and his main soul in his unconscious state may be the key factor that gradually influenced him.

Dumbledore knew that Ino had also guessed this.

That's why he also felt that Harry was sometimes really stubborn. If he had spoken up earlier about his first headache or his first dream, things would probably have been much better.

But since things have come to this point, there's no point in pursuing accountability anymore.

……

In a small square filled with potions and herbs.

A semi-circular mushroom-shaped house, about five or six meters in diameter and about three meters high, stands in the middle.

As Harry pushed open the small roll-up door, he felt a chill, especially since he was wearing a summer short-sleeved shirt.

"Flames are raging!"

Seeing Harry's discomfort, Ino snapped his fingers, and a floating flame rose in the snow-covered mushroom house.

As the flames appeared, the temperature in the room immediately rose significantly. The interplay of ice and fire—perhaps only magic could allow them to coexist perfectly.

"If you need any more furniture, just use your transformation magic to make it yourself. After all, you're not staying here permanently, so this will be fine!"

Ino took a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans out of his pocket and handed it to Harry, then walked out of the Mushroom House.

In the room, Harry looked down at the candy in his hand; he knew what the bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans was for.

But... turning tiny candies into furniture?

For a fleeting moment, Harry wanted to call out to Ino and seriously tell him that he had indeed copied all his Transfiguration assignments without thinking.

……

After leaving the mushroom house, Ino went to Snape's side.

"Professor! I've done all I can! If you need anything else, please write to me anytime."

"Alright!" Snape nodded slightly, then took out a bottle of dazzling potion from his pocket.

The golden, dazzling color of Felix Felicis is unique among all potions.

Seeing the familiar potion, Ino couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

For a time, he was obsessed with Felix Felicis, and even went to the Potions Department office every week to process the herbs, all in the hope that one day he would be able to brew this magical potion himself.

However, after starting his third year, with the Ravenclaw crown and the Ancient Rune elective, his pursuit of potions seemed to be put on hold.

Seeing those past pursuits again now evokes a sense of things having changed.

"Professor! I don't need Felix Felicis right now." Looking at the precious potion, Ino shook her head and refused.

Although the items were good, he had no reason to accept them, because Snape was never supposed to pay for them in the first place.

Although the potion he offered was rejected, Snape seemed to remember something else, and a smile suddenly flashed across his calm face.

(End of this chapter)