"Found it!" Maca couldn't help but feel pleased with himself for quickly finding the information he was looking for.
He read the contents of the book line by line, silently reading to himself: "Fairy, Magical Classification Level: XX, Fairies all hold a wand that looks like a twig…"
That afternoon, Maca eagerly opened one of the books he had ordered, a potionology textbook called the Book of Potions. This was an ancient book published in the 16th century. If he hadn't seen it on a used book list from Flourish and Blotts, he probably would have missed it.
In this potion book, Maca saw a very interesting ingredient—fairy wings.
This was a rather rare potion ingredient. Although fairies wouldn't die from losing their wings, they were naturally vain and would never want someone to take their wings away.
"…Fairy wings have unique magical properties. They can make fairies dazzling when they need to show off, and they can also allow fairies to conceal their whereabouts when they need to hide."
"If I could use these wings as the main ingredient for a potion, I might be able to concoct a very special Invisibility Potion," Maca couldn't help but speculate.
How to make someone invisible is a fascinating question. Aside from the complex craft of invisibility cloaks and the difficult Disillusionment Charm, only a few potions can achieve the effect of concealing an adult wizard's figure relatively perfectly. And these magical potions are, without exception, very expensive – some of their ingredients are quite difficult to find.
This led Maca to the seemingly unrealistic idea of "why not research a new invisibility potion myself?"
Although Maca knew he might not succeed, he saw this as an opportunity to challenge himself.
Opportunities must be created – Maca had always believed this.
"Excuse me, do you know where the books on 'how to cultivate Valerian' are?" Just as Maca was about to put the book back on the shelf, he suddenly heard a soft voice behind him.
Because the voice was so soft, Maca couldn't help but feel as if he had misheard. To verify this thought, he turned around to confirm.
"Uh, what did you say?"
Behind Maca, a girl covered in a wide Slytherin robe was standing quietly. On her head, she wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat, which covered most of her face, leaving Maca only able to see a pair of pink, delicate lips.
"Excuse me, do you know where the books about 'how to cultivate Valerian' are located?"
The petite girl repeated her question, word for word, in a monotone voice that reminded Maca of Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic.
"Uh, um, the Herbology books should be over there." Maca instinctively pointed to the bookshelf area not far away, across the room.
As soon as he finished speaking, the mysterious Slytherin girl immediately turned and walked in that direction, without even a "thank you."
"What's going on?" Maca stared blankly at the girl's back, feeling ignored.
It was as if, in that girl's eyes, Maca was just like a tree by the side of the road, something that didn't need to be noticed.
He tilted his head and pondered for a moment. At least, in his memory, he hadn't encountered this enigmatic Slytherin girl before.
"Well, never mind. I'll ask if I get the chance. Looks like she's a new student this year, too, right?" Maca shook his head, then walked towards the Potions section.
Perhaps he would need to come to the library often in the future. He discovered that the collection here was truly astonishing, and if he searched carefully, he would definitely find considerable treasures.
In the following days, besides attending classes with his classmates, Maca spent most of his free time in the library on the fifth floor.
Most of the time, students in the library could see this scene:
Near the reading table close to the potions and herbology shelves, one seat was always buried under a mountain of books. These books varied in size and thickness, but most of them were theoretical books that only upperclassmen or even teachers would borrow.
And Madam Pince, the librarian, usually stared at this seat from nearby, as if the person sitting there was trying to harm her child, her gaze sharp and angry.
If you wanted to know who was sitting there, you had to go around to the back to get a clear view, because the front was completely blocked by the piled-up books.
Unknowingly, Maca had become a topic of conversation among the students of Hogwarts.
This was not only because of his conspicuous behavior in the library, but also because he was the only non-Slytherin student who could have a few words with Snape without being coldly ridiculed.
Even the know-it-all Miss, who excelled in Potions, couldn't do it.
"That's just because Hermione is a Gryffindor," Maca said, shaking his head when Ernie mentioned the rumor to him.
As a student, Miss Granger was undoubtedly outstanding, and Maca had to acknowledge the great effort she put in. But still, he didn't think this indiscriminate learning method was a suitable choice, especially for a wizard.
During this time, the more he studied, the more certain he became of this – magical knowledge was simply too vast and profound. Deeply researching just the subject of Potions might consume his entire lifetime.
When a person is immersed in something, time flies by. Without realizing it, a week had passed quickly.
During this time, Maca hadn't met the mysterious Slytherin girl again, but his understanding of Potions had advanced rapidly.
Maca had already completely mastered the Potions books he had ordered, and he had made significant breakthroughs regarding the "new Invisibility Potion."
Regarding the research on "how Fairy wings achieve the effect of invisibility," Maca had already reached a conclusion. This was a new type of invisibility, different from "optical invisibility" like the Invisibility Cloak and the Disillusionment Charm, as well as "environmental integration invisibility" from several ancient potion recipes – "Perception Blocking Invisibility."
This was undoubtedly a very effective method of concealment. Although you objectively remained unchanged, others couldn't "sense" your presence.
"But this thing is really expensive!" Maca slumped onto the table, sighing heavily.
He had discovered during his calculations that if a wizard wanted to completely conceal their presence, the dosage of wings in the recipe had to reach a very high number.
"'Fairy wings' cost 8 Galleons each, three portions would be 24 Galleons; plus other ingredients and catalysts, the cost of a finished bottle would be a full 43 Galleons..." Calculating to this point, Maca sighed again, "It's practically robbery!"
"...Wait! Why am I worrying about this!" Suddenly, Maca was like he'd discovered a new continent and stood up abruptly.
"Silence in the library!" Madam Pince shrieked hysterically.
"...She doesn't care about her own noise, does she?" Not far away, a few Ravenclaw girls were whispering.
Maca apologized profusely to Madam Pince, looking quite embarrassed, and then plopped back down into the pile of books.
Undoubtedly, what did a practical new potion mean? It meant wealth!
Compared to the few existing invisibility potions, which were rare and expensive, Maca's potion was considered quite cheap. In the entire wizarding world, the prices of rare potions were always high. Potions masters like Snape, who had created and improved several effective and precious potion formulas, were highly sought after.
If Snape hadn't been involved in so many stories and hadn't had other ambitions, he would probably have been working as an exclusive consultant for some potion manufacturer or noble family long ago.
What did it matter if he had no money? Since ancient times, which potions master was truly lacking in money? As long as he carefully chose his sales channels, the Galleons would, to say the least, come rolling in, and would certainly be more than enough to support his continued research. Speaking of trades, this was what Maca was best at.
The next morning, he had Marfa send out a shopping list. He wanted to start trying to prepare this potion immediately. Before that, there were a few practical problems that he would encounter during the preparation that needed to be solved first.
"Knock, knock, knock."
During lunch break, Maca knocked on the door of Professor Snape's potions classroom office for the first time, a door that almost nobody would actively knock on.
"Who is it?" The same gloomy and cold tone made the visitor feel unwelcome.
"Professor Snape, it's me, Maca Maclean."
"...Come in." The voice inside paused before answering.
Maca turned the doorknob and opened the gloomy, dim room, then quickly walked in.
"Professor Snape, I have a few questions about Potions I'd like to ask you. I hope I haven't disturbed you," Maca said carefully, trying to be as polite as possible.
Snape looked at him without expression, then said with a hint of impatience, "Ask."
"Actually, I've encountered a few questions while studying potion books. For example, regarding Hister's Second Law, how should the demon-repelling reaction that occurs during the actual preparation process be handled to allow the original potion to maintain a stable magical form?" Maca nodded and quickly posed the question.
"Hmph." Snape frowned and snorted coldly upon hearing this.
....
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