The days at Hogwarts

Luna and Ginny sat together in the back row of the audience. The two little girls held banners in their hands to cheer for Harry and watched intently as the Gryffindor players gathered together. Captain Wood was explaining the tactics of this game.

Wood put his hands on the twins' shoulders and looked at the youngest Seeker in the team: "Harry, the most difficult Cedric is now in your hands. Just don't let him catch the Golden Snitch first, and leave the rest to us!"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded vigorously.

He is no longer the rookie player from last year. He is no longer so nervous that he cannot even eat bread before the game. Now his heart is full of rising fighting spirit.

George smiled and said, "Don't worry, we are acquainted with Cedric, and we will definitely help you entertain him well!"

Fred's mind suddenly came up with something else, and he smacked his lips with regret. "It's a pity that the basilisk has been dealt with, otherwise they would be too scared to stop you, because if they get too close you'll turn them to stone."

This caused laughter in the team.

The Gryffindor players are in a relaxed state of mind. The Hufflepuff players are not as strong as them. The only troublesome point is finding a player named Cedric who has more game experience than Harry, but Nimbus 2001 will make up for this gap.

Planning to use the Hufflepuff Quidditch team for training, Wood finally adopted the idea of ​​the non-staff coach Ron against all odds and let the goalkeeper use a Nimbus 2000.

Well, goalkeeper Wood said it was purely tactical and had nothing to do with his captaincy.

With Madam Hooch's loud whistle, fourteen brooms soared into the sky and flew into the air above the stadium.

Chaser Angelina took the lead with the ball using her Nimbus 2000. The other two Gryffindor Chasers, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, followed her in an arrow formation and broke through the Hufflepuff's defense.

George and Fred coordinated their attack and scored the goal very neatly.

In contrast, Hufflepuff found it difficult to organize an effective attack when they had the ball. It was common for their passes to be intercepted, and only a few times did they seize the opportunity when the opponent switched defenses and pass through the midfield to shoot in front of the scoring circle.

But the interception speed of Wood riding on the Nimbus 2000 was even more despairing. In just over ten minutes, the score difference approached 150 at an unprecedented speed.

Seeker Cedric was hovering over the court, his brows furrowed, his breathing gradually quickening, his eyes anxiously darting around.

The Golden Snitch is only worth 150 points. If the score difference exceeds 150, it will be too late even if he catches the Golden Snitch.

Harry, who was not far away, stared at Cedric with a serious expression. Only as a fellow Seeker could one appreciate Cedric's excellence.

Even though Gryffindor had the advantage, and even though his Nimbus 2001 was faster, Harry still couldn't get rid of Cedric.

Occasionally, he would use the excellent straight-line acceleration performance of the Nimbus 2001 to create distance, and Cedric would use a series of fake moves to confuse him, making him suspect that the Golden Snitch was near Cedric, forcing him to reverse the direction of his broom and fly back.

It's not just about flying skills, but also about competition experience and psychological warfare... Harry truly realized that there was still a huge gap between him and this senior.

……

After the game, in the Hufflepuff locker room, the other players had already left. Although they lost the game, they were not very depressed. Cedric stayed behind to put the team's broom back to the storage room.

Just then, George and Fred, wearing bright red Quidditch robes, walked into the next locker room with a proud look on their faces.

"How is it? Our Eagle Head attack formation is powerful, right?" George put his arm around Cedric's shoulder, his tone full of pride unable to conceal.

Fred put his arm around his shoulders from the other side, "I was planning on using this tactic against the Slytherins, but you guys caught up."

Cedric had a helpless smile on his face. He pushed the hands of the two rogues away, changed out of Hufflepuff's canary yellow team robes, and searched for magic robes in the closet: "Slytherin... the whole team is Nimbus 2001, your eagle head... the effect of the offensive formation, um... it won't be as good as it is today."

The tone of his voice was odd, and some of the inflections were not right.

George and Fred looked at each other. George's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "You're not still holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth, are you?"

Fred was equally shocked: "How did you train with a blade in your mouth?"

After putting on the magic robe, Cedric spread his hands and said, "I'm a seeker. I don't really participate in tactical discussions. I don't need to speak loudly on the court."

As he said this, he suddenly remembered the pranks played by the twins, which had already failed more than half of the class members. He became alert and quickly stepped back, keeping a vigilant eye on the two.

George tried to make his smile look friendly: "Don't worry, we won't tease you even if we tease anyone else."

Cedric didn't believe a word they said and continued to stare at the two of them warily.

Fred pulled him over and whispered, "We have something else to talk to you about..."

"Answers to summer homework?! Other grades need them too, and we haven't even had our summer break yet!"

"You guys are still saving money. Are you really planning to open a magic joke shop?"

"Okay, but I want an extra 2001%. I'm going to save up to buy a Nimbus ."

……

At night, the corridor in the basement of Hogwarts Castle was silent. Only the sound of wood crackling could be heard from the torches on both sides of the wall from time to time, and sporadic sparks fell on the torch stands, making the basement even quieter.

With brisk footsteps, Loren arrived at the door of the Potions Office.

bang bang-

There were two knocks on the door, and Snape's voice came through the wooden door, becoming a little dull and distorted: "Come in."

Pushing open the door, Loren found the space behind the desk empty. He closed the door skillfully and strode into the storage room.

After mastering the basics of medicinal material processing, knowledge of medicinal properties and the principles of drug action, he came to this office to study alchemy less frequently than before, but he gained as much as before.

Snape, dressed in a black robe, was bent over the operating table, and the crucible in front of him was boiling.

Loren smelled an unpleasant, nauseating, yet vaguely familiar smell in the air and blurted out, "Wolfsbane Potion!?"

Snape glanced at him with a hint of approval in his eyes, but he quickly put it away and said lightly: "I had a plan before you came. If you can't remember what potion this is, I will ask you to drink the whole pot."

Sniffing the smell of fermented rotten eggs in the air, Loren shook his head quickly with a chill: "Such a unique potion, it's hard to forget it."

As he spoke, Loren's nose moved again, and he noticed something different from what he remembered. He hesitated and said, "In addition to the smell of fermented rotten eggs, there is also the stench of giant calla lilies. Is there any improvement in the formula?"

Snape's approval became more obvious, and his facial expression softened: "After submitting the formula to the Ministry of Magic, Belby made some improvements on the original basis.

The giant calla lily has been added. The duration of the new wolf poison potion has been shortened, but the potency is milder. This change will make the werewolves less painful when taking the potion. "

"Does this mean that the new formula will require a larger dosage to achieve the same effect?" Loren peered at the crucible.

The pain is weakened, the medicine is milder, the dosage is increased, but it becomes more painful to drink the medicine. So the weaker the pain, the stronger the pain.

Snape did not answer the question about the dosage. He held the stirring spoon and stirred the potion in the crucible clockwise. "The main ingredient of the wolfsbane potion is aconite, which is extremely poisonous. One of its many mechanisms of action is to use extreme pain to specifically stimulate a certain part of the brain and soul to stimulate clear reason and seal the werewolf's instinctive animality."

"After discussing with Belby, I came up with a hypothesis - the more intense the pain caused by the drug, the more obvious the effect and the longer the duration of the effect."

Snape handed Loren a parchment list and said, "Try to add these herbs to the formula without interfering with the original properties of the wolfsbane potion. There is no need to determine the detailed dosage. Just provide me with an idea for improving the formula every week."

Loren was very receptive to the Potions Professor's unconventional teaching methods. He took the list and began to check it out:

Rafflesia, a fleshy parasitic herb, is a saprophyte known for its large flowers and foul odor...

The leopard flower, also known as the stinking meat flower, attracts flies for pollination through its foul odor…

African egret flower...

Thinking of the giant calla lily (also known as the corpse flower) in the latest formula... Loren wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead. He always felt that Snape's purpose of improving the formula was not to teach, nor to optimize the wolfsbane potion.

"Professor, does it have to be these things?"

"If you know of any herbs with better effects, you can add them in." Snape said calmly.

"No."

"Notify the members of the Potions Club to gather in the Potions classroom tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay professor!"

……

The bell for the Potions Club rang, and Professor Snape walked into the Potions classroom on the basement floor on time. When the bell ended, he was standing right in the middle of the podium.

The dim basement classroom was very quiet. The few club members sat scattered around, making the classroom seem even more empty.

Ever since the large-scale rue production task was completed, the Potions Club's activities had been limited to small-scale potion brewing. Although it was not limited to elementary potions, it was still a small-scale activity, and Professor Snape did not give formal lectures to everyone.

This club activity was a bit sudden, and the members had no idea what the professor was going to talk about.

Chapter 254 School Finances

In the vast dim classroom, Snape's substantial gaze swept over the young wizards at an even speed without stopping, only pausing for a moment when it swept over Harry.

Loren sat on the right side of the classroom, sitting next to Hermione, and Harry sat behind them. Most of the Gryffindor members of the Potions Club were concentrated in this area.

The pages of the book spread out on the desk contained the parchment list from last night, and some testable ideas were displayed on the right side of the African egret flower. Not only did he add these painful herbs, he also tried to make the wolfsbane potion more...palatable without affecting the medicinal properties.

Putting down the quill, Loren temporarily cleared his head of the various methods of dealing with potions that were filling up his mind, and escaped from deep thinking. He recalled the scene in the Potions Office last night.

Last night was the first time he had been alone with Professor Snape since Sirius left Hogwarts at the end of the Easter holidays, and the professor hadn't mentioned a single word about Sirius.

Doesn’t the professor know about the grudge between him and Sirius?

Loren doesn't think so.

Due to his hostility towards Sirius, Professor Snape would certainly not turn a blind eye to his sudden departure and would definitely ask Dumbledore the reason.

According to Dumbledore's habits, he should tell Snape the reason and remind Snape to pay attention to his thoughts and mentality at all times.

But Snape didn't mention it at all and completely ignored it. Loren even felt that the somewhat ridiculous task of improving the wolfsbane potion was to some extent a consolation to divert his attention. This made Loren feel a sense of comfort from being cared for.

Snape made a round and confirmed that all members were present before saying, "Does anyone know Damocles Belby?"

Damocles Belby was awarded the Second Class Order of Merlin for his work on the Wolfsbane Potion. The Daily Prophet reported his awarding ceremony a few days ago. Celebrities from all walks of life in the British wizarding world attended the ceremony. He was the most popular cover character after Lockhart.

Werewolf disease has the characteristics of wide spread, large number of infected people, strong concealment, and difficult to contain the source of infection. Because of the influence of werewolf disease, wolfsbane potion caused a sensation in many countries once it was made public.

Especially in America, which is an immigrant country, a large number of werewolves who could not survive in their original places fled to the United States in the past few centuries. The large-scale werewolf communities that gathered together once caused great unrest and almost exposed the existence of the magical world.

One of the twelve Auror founders of the Magical Congress of the United States of America fell under the siege of werewolves.

In addition to government officials, many magic schools have invited Damocles Belby to teach, including Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang...

Hermione recalled the exaggerated photo in the middle of the Daily Prophet. Damocles Belby stood in the middle with a medal in his hand, and on both sides were officials from other countries who attended the awarding ceremony. The Magical Congress of the United States, the German Ministry of Magic, the French Ministry of Magic... wizard governments of many countries sent high-level officials to attend the awarding ceremony, and the one present at the British Ministry of Magic was Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

Belby was a British, and the awarding ceremony took place in Britain. According to convention, the person who was awarded the award should be Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. In any case, Fudge should have been present. But Fudge was absent, and Umbridge, the senior deputy minister who should have taken his place, was also absent.

Given Barty Crouch's position, his attendance at the ceremony was more for communication with other Ministries of Magic, so it seemed that they did not want to congratulate Mr. Belby.

Thinking of the recently enacted Anti-Werewolf Act, the Ministry of Magic's attitude became subtle and gloomy.

What should happen to the werewolves in Britain? Many inexplicable thoughts flashed through Hermione's mind, but she could not come up with an answer.

Most of the members of the Potions Club raised their hands. They were students with expertise in potions, and many of them aspired to develop in the field. They followed the latest developments in the potion community closely, and were no strangers to the potion master who had recently won the Second Class Medal of the Order of Merlin for his wolfsbane potion.

Except for Harry, he was stunned, looking around at the students who raised their hands with a confused expression.

Snape glanced at him expressionlessly, then quickly passed by: "Mr. Belby graduated from Hogwarts. After completing his studies, he worked on improving the formula of classical potions. In the mid-1970s, about 20 years ago, he saw the ritual of ancient Egyptian wizards taming werewolves in a damaged history book. Inspired by the mysterious ritual, he came up with the idea of ​​developing the wolfsbane potion."

Hearing this, Loren looked thoughtful.

Snape once said that the essence of potions and spells is magical rituals, but the performance methods are different. Mr. Belby's behavior of developing formulas from rituals just confirms this statement.

"It wasn't until this year that the formula of the wolfsbane potion was finalized." Snape's voice was low and his words seemed to float into the hearts of the young wizards. "Many people hope to gain honor, prestige, wealth and even power from potion learning. Now Bellby is what you want to be.

But I want to warn you, apart from Belby, most of the practitioners of potion science are unknown, and the long and boring life will wear down the ambitions of most people, and in the end they can only seek food and clothing. "

After hearing the above, Loren thought that Snape was worrying too much. As a skilled worker, a potion maker would never be too poor no matter how he made it.

Some of the young wizards in the audience listened to Snape's lecture silently. In fact, the last large-scale production task of rue essence had made many people realize the cruelty of this industry. Those who had experienced setbacks but had not given up the idea of ​​working in the industry did not care about these words.

Snape looked at the group of young wizards, among whom were several senior students who had approached him privately and begged him to help write some letters of recommendation.

The young wizards listened attentively, without any embarrassment on their faces. Snape pursed his lips and said, "Purchasing raw materials, making and developing potions, preserving, and selling... After understanding the bleak reality, if you still want to work in the above industries, you can go to Professor McGonagall to register. She will arrange some internships for you during the summer vacation."

The students in the audience suddenly widened their eyes. Before they could start discussing, Snape interrupted them neatly, "The class is now officially starting. Today we will talk about the influence of the moon on the properties of potions..."

While listening to the class, Loren took some time to think about this matter. Snape had mentioned this matter as early as the Christmas holiday when dealing with the basilisk corpse. Hogwarts' potion business was going to expand, so Professor McGonagall wanted to recruit a group of people.

What's the point of arranging internships? I'm afraid it's just using cheap labor.

……

Dinner time, auditorium.

Sitting on the right side of the guest of honor table, Snape took a piece of buckwheat bread from his plate and said, "Minerva, the matter has been notified. Someone should come to register with you soon."

"Got it. I'll arrange someone as soon as possible."

"Oh..." Professor Flitwick praised the delicious red cabbage and beef soup, puffed his beard and sighed, "I didn't expect the business to expand so fast. A year ago, we applied to the school board for additional funding for Pomona's rare seeds."

Sprout put down his knife and fork and explained seriously, "Actually, it doesn't matter if I give out the seeds for free for teaching. Minerva insisted that it be counted as the school's purchase from me, or calculated at the market price."

Professor McGonagall smiled faintly, "That's as it should be. I have another plan. When the school is able to become completely independent, I can pay the school staff in proportion, and even give some to the students."

"Great!" Professor Flitwick thought of many things in an instant, "With the school's original scholarship fund, they don't need to use second-hand magic books anymore."

"The school's broomsticks can also be replaced..."

"And those cauldrons with holes in them."

Due to the control of the Board of Directors, the school's funds are not tight, but they are not abundant either. Many teaching tools are older than the students, and some are even older than the professors. If the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts class did not often receive a salary, and if there were no donations from alumni, many broken things would not be replaced.