Ted seized the time to delve into magic and experiment with the potion he developed.
His days were packed from morning to night. Even Hermione commented that he was busier than a Golden Snitch at tryouts. He barely spent time with anyone after class.
Aside from Ted, Ron hadn't been himself either. Ever since the last time the monkey escaped and ran wild through the Forbidden Forest, Ron's mood had taken a sharp dive.
He'd become unusually withdrawn, often looking like he just wanted to lie around and wait for the end of term.
Thankfully, Jerry and Neville stuck by him, helping with homework and dragging him through classes.
Without them, Ron probably wouldn't have turned in anything at all.
I've got to find a way to lift his spirits... Maybe his sister Ginny could help?
After nearly three weeks of experiments, Ted had gone through 22 magical herbs from the greenhouse.
Finally, he achieved the effect he was after.
He stopped stirring, setting down his wand and glass rod. In the crucible in front of him, a bubbling, thick white potion hissed and popped.
Ted smiled with satisfaction.
In the abandoned classroom, torchlight flickered against the walls, casting long shadows.
A large black raven preened itself on a dusty perch nearby, while a strange, red-striped amethyst spider with too many legs and two glowing eyes stared intently at an open alchemy book.
It looked straight out of a horror film.
Especially to the long-tailed monkey trembling in the corner cage.
Its face had been shaved clean by Ted's "Depilare!" spell, turning it into a rather tragic version of something you might find in a wizarding comic.
It received the same treatment as the white lab mice—smooth backs, no hair.
Ted floated a ladle of the thick potion into a small glass vial with a wave of his finger.
He removed his [Apothecary's Gloves (Blue)], which had shielded him from side effects and sped up the brewing process.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he cast toward the monkey, who'd inched too close to the cage's edge.
Its face froze in a look of pure terror. Not dead—just very, very still.
"Let's test this out," Ted muttered, pulling a bottle of swampy green potion from his bag.
He used a Muggle-style dropper to place a single drop on one of the mice's hairless backs.
Within seconds, the mouse squeaked and squirmed as red, swollen bumps bubbled up on its skin.
Perfect. This was Ted's knock-off version of "Neville's Botched Scabies Balm," weaker and intentionally flawed.
He then dabbed a bit of the white ointment onto the mouse's back using a clean cotton swab.
After half a minute, the swelling faded, the skin smoothing over nicely.
"Yes! Just as I hoped. Let's keep going~"
Now came the primate test.
The monkey, still hairless and frozen in place, watched in horror as Ted approached. Its eyes shimmered with dread.
A few minutes later, the monkey's condition stabilized—the potion worked. Success!
Next step... human trials.
Malfoy? No. Even Ted wouldn't go that far.
Sometimes, he understood why good-aligned alchemists struggled with ethics.
No way around it—he'd have to test it on himself.
"Hisss~" he winced.
The pimple potion didn't sting much, but it did feel hot.
Then came the itching. Ted touched his face—yep, raised bumps forming.
He glanced in the mirror.
Yikes. His face looked like it was trying to cosplay a tomato.
"My poor, beautiful face... I've never abused it like this before," he groaned.
Anzu, the raven, flapped down to the table, took one look, and cackled.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!" before hopping away in glee.
Parker, a floating spirit with glowing eyes and no visible mouth, simply said, "My dear master... why do you torment yourself so?"
Ted ignored them and began applying the new ointment.
No dramatic sensation—just a gradual relief from the itch.
In a few moments, the swelling faded. He looked in the mirror again: nearly clear.
He checked his character stats through his magical interface—everything was normal.
"It worked! Three weeks of testing weren't wasted!"
Of course, he wanted to continue research and maybe start making more potions. But he had a problem: galleons.
He still had a small stash of gold transmuted this month with his False Philosopher's gold convertion, but he couldn't risk going to Gringotts too often.
Goblins noticed things.
It wasn't a long-term plan.
He needed a proper income.
So he gave the potion a name—"Acne Relief."
A magical skin balm to soothe acne, dullness, bumps, and even potion-caused skin disasters.
A true wizard's beauty product!
Thanks to Hogwarts' grand library, its greenhouse full of ingredients, and the occasional foray into the Forbidden Forest, Ted managed to develop this within a month.
No small feat.
And of course, none of it would've been possible without that other world knowledge he exchanged last term: [Sulei's Alchemical Compendium (Green)].
Although only a few of the ancient potion formulas had been recovered so far, they'd already made a huge impact on the way Ted thought about brewing.
They weren't just recipes—they were blueprints.
Big-picture stuff.
They gave Ted a framework, a strategy, not just instructions.
Meanwhile, the current state of potion education at Hogwarts was still... primitive.
Students were slowly sorted, trained, and tested over the years, and only the talented ones got further opportunities.
It was all about slowly teasing out potential.
It followed the old apprentice-master tradition. Nothing modern, nothing scalable.
Sure, it worked—but only for a few.
For the rest?
Well, give it a few years after graduation, and they probably couldn't even brew a basic Essence of Dittany.
That night, Ted sent a letter to Mr. Jiggers.
He asked if he could reach out to Madam Primpernelle again—the skilled witch who ran the beauty salon in Diagon Alley.
They'd teamed up before to develop a magical hair dye, and it went pretty well.
This time, he wasn't looking for a full-on collaboration—just a slice of the action.
The new potion—Acne Relief—had way more market potential.
Skin care was huge, even among witches.
Clean, glowing skin?
Always in demand.
Anzu made trip after trip between Hogwarts and Diagon Alley.
Back and forth. Letters. Updates. Planning.
After a few days, everything was sorted.
Mr. Jiggers began collecting the necessary ingredients, and Madam Primpernelle was ready to launch the skincare treatment at her salon.
All that was left was to count the Galleons.
Ted also asked Mr. Jiggers to help track down some rare alchemy components.
He had experiments to run—lots of them.
Before they could launch the potion to the public, October arrived.
And with it—a system notification.
-----
Ding~ Talent [Knowledge of Other Worlds (Gold)] activated.
New discovery: [Druid Shapeshifting Research (Blue)].
[Druid Shapeshifting Research (Blue)]: Contains the shapeshifting spell theories and experience logs of a night elf druid. Requires 540 XP to unlock.
-----
"Yes! Finally!" Ted practically jumped out of bed.
It had been months since anything new had dropped, and now he had access to this? Druid shapeshifting magic?!
In the wizarding world, animal transformation was considered top-tier transfiguration.
Animagus was the crown jewel—a high-level ritual spell that, once mastered, allowed a wizard to shift into their animal form freely, no wand required.
That kind of power was rare.
There was also general Body Transfiguration.
That one let you transform yourself—or others—into various animals. But it wasn't as smooth or safe.
Definitely not something you wanted to mess up.
Remember when fake Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret?
That's what we're talking about.
And the side effects? Yikes.
Spending too long in animal form could mess with your mind. You could lose your sense of self.
Pick up weird habits. Start thinking like a beast.
Some transformations left permanent marks—mentally or physically.
That's why Hogwarts barely touched that stuff.
It was in the textbooks, sure—but only in the "do not try this at home" kind of way.
The really good information? That was locked up by pure-blood families.
Ted had heard of Animagus forms and body transformation, but had never found anything detailed.
The kind of info Sirius Black or the Potters might've had? Totally off the grid.
But Ted wasn't jealous. Why?
"Because I've got something better," he muttered with a grin.
He spent the experience points without hesitation, downloading the druid knowledge directly into his mind.
This wasn't just any druid either—this one was a senior member of the Cenarion Circle.
A true shapeshifting master. They had unlocked five powerful forms: the giant bear, the night leopard, the moonkin, the treant, and the storm raven.
Ted felt his brain buzz as the knowledge integrated.
New patterns. New magic. New ideas.
Then another ding.
-----
Ding! You've successfully absorbed Druid Shapeshifting knowledge. Transfiguration skill +1 level."
-----
"Nice!" Ted laughed.
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Word count: 1455
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