Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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"It makes no difference to anyone, Miss Prince,"
Snape said, his expression unchanged, his brow furrowed. "While irregular cuts might improve the effect, it's just a boil potion. Doing so is a complete waste of time.
But considering your dedication... five points to Hufflepuff."
Every student looked over in shock, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Some young Hufflepuff wizards slapped their ears, briefly wondering if their hearing was impaired.
Though only half a class had passed, they had already fully experienced the Potions professor's awful nature.
Just as the prefects had said, in his class, only Slytherin received extra points. The other three houses could only deduct as few points as possible.
Just like those two young Slytherin wizards who nearly blew up the Potions classroom.
Even though an enraged Snape had given them detention, in the dungeons, they hadn't lost any house points.
But what had they just heard?
Snape actually gave Kanna five extra points!
Oh my god, this is going to rock the whole Hogwarts!
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If the Hufflepuffs were shocked, the Slytherins were inconsolable. They looked at their Head of House with resentment, almost crying.
Why? Extra points were a privilege reserved for them, not Hufflepuffs...
The Head of House had changed; he wasn't like that before.
However, none of this had anything to do with Snape. He put down his quills and said calmly, "Don't do such unnecessary things next time."
"Okay, okay... Professor," Kanna said timidly.
"Yeah."
Snape nodded, then glanced at Kyle, his expression instantly turning to disdain. "Look at the others, then at you. You've taken so long to cut so little, and you can't even do such a trivial thing. Do you have a troll brain?
You're wasting your time! Five points off Hufflepuff!"
Kyle: "..."
What the hell? What had he done to anyone? He just cut a little slowly? Five points off for that?
Are there any school rules left? Is there any humanity left?
With professors so hypocritical, is there no one at Hogwarts to take care of things?
In fact, no one really cares.
Even the young wizards in the classroom rarely paid any attention to Kyle's feelings. They all breathed a sigh of relief, and the Slytherin snakes hugged each other and cried tears of joy. They're back, all back.
This is the real Snape. The one just now must have been an imposter.
Maybe Headmaster Dumbledore didn't want Slytherin to win the House Cup for the sixth consecutive year, so he secretly used the Imperius Curse on him.
That damn old man!
The snakes consoled themselves.
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After that, Snape rarely came to Kyle's side again.
Until the end of class, he began his usual routine of checking the potions brewed by the young wizards.
As expected, Kyle and Kanna's boil potion was a complete success.
Pink smoke slowly rose from the cauldron, and even Snape couldn't find a single flaw.
"Five points to Hufflepuff!"
Snape glanced at Kyle and walked away in disgust.
This was the second time Snape had awarded Hufflepuff extra points. Although he deducted the five points back a second later, the news had spread throughout Hogwarts before dinner.
Kanna was once again the center of attention.
Unlike the few new students who had attended Transfiguration class last time, this time, nearly the entire Hogwarts student body was curious about the identity of this first-year witch, someone who even the notorious Snape regarded with a different eye.
"Thank goodness, Kyle, you're finally out of that damned common room."
At dinner, Fred and George, risking double detention, rejoined the Hufflepuff table.
They looked far from well, though. Not only were they both wearing dark circles under their eyes, but they could barely hold their knives and forks, nearly slicing a perfectly good pork chop into dumpling filling.
"What's wrong with you?" Kyle looked at the sickly twins and said earnestly, "Although you are still young, you must be self-disciplined. Your body won't be able to bear it if you continue like this."
"Yeah, but there's nothing we can do." George sighed, "This confinement is terrible. Do you know how thick that book is?"
"It's a full fifteen inches long. It's taller than a wand when it lies there. Professor McGonagall actually asked us to copy it within a week. Does she want to kill us?"
"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Fred patted his brother's shoulder and said, "At least Professor McGonagall will definitely not watch us die of exhaustion before we finish copying that damn book."
Not before copying it, but what about after copying it... The twins didn't say anything, and Kyle was tactful enough not to ask.
"Really? You interrupted me and I almost forgot about the important matter."
George suddenly slapped his head, looked around the dining table and said,
"Who is that hero named Kanna? Please introduce her to us. I'm waiting for her autograph."
"Yes, yes." Fred nodded repeatedly and said, "It's a miracle that a Hufflepuff can get ten points from Snape."
George echoed, "Dumbledore should give her a special contribution award because she cured Snape's partiality."
"This honor is much more glorious than what is recorded in that crappy book."
"Looking for Kanna? You will probably be disappointed." Kyle shrugged and said, "She didn't come to the hall for dinner today."
According to Kanna's roommate, she went into the dormitory shortly after the Potions class ended and refused to see anyone.
"Not coming?" George asked in surprise. "So she's not having dinner?"
"She's just not coming to the Great Hall." Kyle gave him a strange look. "Don't forget our common room is right next to the kitchen. You can always grab something to eat."
"Oh, yeah, how could I forget that?" George slapped his forehead. "Damn, my head is full of names right now. This feeling is terrible."
"Looks like we won't get an autograph today," Fred said regretfully. "It's a shame we have detention tonight. Otherwise, waiting in the kitchen would have been a good option."
Kyle opened his mouth, figuring Kanna didn't want to sign for them.
Unable to get the result they wanted, Fred and George hurriedly ate a few bites of dinner and left.
Before leaving, they filled a bag with baked potatoes, saying they were saving them for after detention.
Kyle asked them why they didn't go to the kitchen to get something hot, but the twins rolled their eyes.
"Two in the morning..." Fred said indignantly. "It's a relief to even make it back to the dorm alive!"
[End of the chapter]