Ancient Wizards Return to Hogwarts...

Chapter 214 I Know Swelling Potion Too Well

Malfoy, who lost that Quidditch match, harbored a deep grudge against Harry.

In his direct confrontation with Harry Potter, he was completely reduced to a clown, and Harry made him look like a spoiled brat who got into the team through back channels.

Malfoy was extremely aggrieved: he was selected for the Slytherin team first, and then he bought brooms for his teammates! So why did it become a rumor that his father bought every member of the team a Nimbus 2001 before getting him on the team? The order is reversed!

There's no way around it; in competitive sports, being bad is the original sin. If he had won the Snitch match against Gryffindor, even if he really got into the team through bribery and backdoors, he would have received countless praises. Unfortunately, he lost, and lost two matches in a row! This completely ruined his reputation.

Young Draco Malfoy didn't understand this principle; he simply transferred his hatred onto Potter. In his view, Potter bore the vast majority of the responsibility for his current predicament.

Ultimately, he decided to "prank" Harry once during Potions class.

Stirring up trouble in Potions class is obviously suicidal, but Malfoy has that confidence, not for any other reason than that he is Lucius's son! His father and Professor Snape have a very close relationship.

The Potions classroom, which was like a den of monsters to ordinary students, felt like home to him. Although Malfoy didn't particularly like the atmosphere there, he knew Snape was exceptionally lenient with him.

While Ron and Harry were distracted, Malfoy furtively pulled out a string of tumbler fireworks. Interestingly, he had asked someone to "buy" them for him from Fred.

After quickly tapping the firework with his wand, the thumb-sized device began to hiss and spark. Malfoy took a deep breath and used a levitation charm to steadily send the firework into Ron's cauldron, barely splashing any water.

Harry and Ron, engrossed in watching the drama unfold, were completely unaware of Malfoy's subtle actions. By the time they realized something was wrong, Ron's cauldron had already exploded.

The swelling solution, almost ready to be completed, sprayed out of the crucible like a small fountain.

Snape whirled around, lifting his robes to cover the potion rushing towards him with his sleeves. Rhys also drew his wand, casting a freezing spell that turned most of the splashed potion into small ice balls.

After freezing the sprayed liquid, Rice conjured a dome above Ron's crucible, trapping the "aftershocks" inside.

Because Rice acted extremely quickly, the potion boiling over didn't harm many people. Only Harry and Ron, who were closest to the cauldron, were affected, while the other students were almost unharmed.

"Fool!" Snape's voice was full of anger. He quickly cleaned the potion off his body and rushed to Harry and Ron's table.

Harry reacted quickly. He took out the anti-swelling potion he had prepared earlier, first applied it to Ron, whose head and color already resembled a pumpkin, and then poured it on his own arm, which was swollen like a winter melon.

Harry has a talent for potions, and his anti-swelling potion is very effective. The effect is almost instantaneous when applied to the affected area. When Snape's anger erupted, Harry and Ron had even returned to normal.

Snape waved his wand, sweeping away the spilled potion on Ron's table, and even the ice beads disappeared along with it.

He stared intently into Ron's eyes, as if trying to see into his soul. Malfoy, sitting diagonally behind Ron, was somewhat disappointed by Rhys and the others' swift and efficient handling of the trouble, but seeing Ron being targeted by Professor Snape made him happy again.

However, Malfoy's happiness did not last long. Snape glanced at Ron for a few seconds, then turned and walked away with a flick of his robe.

"Gryffindor loses five points for not taking good care of your cauldron." Snape's icy voice echoed in the Potions classroom. "Slytherin gains ten points. In the future, if you encounter a potion boiling over, learn from Mr. Lint. A timely Freezing Charm can solve most problems."

Malfoy frowned: Was it Rice's behavior that made Professor Snape so happy?

His feeling was correct; Snape's heart had gone cold the instant Ron's cauldron exploded, but Rhys's spell had made his heart beat again.

In all his years of teaching, this was the first time Snape had encountered a student who could protect him—other trolls were considered excellent students if they didn't blow up their own cauldrons.

"Sharing a room with twenty trolls"—that was the reality of Snape's classes. This torment continued until the fifth year, when the OWLs (Potentially Ending Levels) exams filtered out those unsuitable for Potions. Teaching sixth and seventh year students was much easier; Snape required that only students who received an "excellent" certificate in Potions on the OWLs exams could continue his studies, as these students were unlikely to make careless mistakes.

What made Ras Lint exceptional wasn't his potion-making skills—which were certainly impressive, but Snape had encountered many such students in his decades-long teaching career. Ras's uniqueness lay in his timely and appropriate use of spells in the face of unexpected incidents, his demeanor as practiced as if he had handled hundreds or even thousands of cases.

This surprised Snape. He couldn't help but recall the first day he taught Rice. That day, they were making boil medicine, and an accident had occurred again. Rice's actions were also extremely efficient.

Perhaps he really has the talent to be a professor of potions.

Even the proud Snape had to admit that Rice possessed the most outstanding talent he had ever seen.

Snape intended to let the matter drop, but Rice was not so sure.

He knows swelling potions like the back of his hand. This potion might be diluted too much, might "blurry" during the concentration process, or might fail to meet the customer's performance requirements due to poor raw material processing, but it will never explode.

As long as the type of material is correct, it is almost impossible to make it explode.

The raw materials were provided by Snape, so there couldn't be any problems. Rice had also examined Ron's table, and the materials on it were all fine. Even the leftover scraps suggested that Ron's handling methods were correct. The most crucial piece of evidence was Ron's head, swollen like a pumpkin.

This indicates that his swelling potion was successfully made.

That means someone is up to no good.

Rice stood up, walked straight to Ron's cauldron, and found a clump of black ash inside.

When Rice stood up from his seat, he drew the attention of the entire classroom. After he retrieved the suspicious object, the large Potions classroom fell silent.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(*￣3￣)Yaoyaoda

The next update will be served shortly~

Today's illustration: Daphne's character art (she seems inexplicably skilled in grass-attribute magic).

(End of this chapter)