"Potion-making is not cooking!"
Snape's roar was deafening.
But it failed to strike a chord.
The little wizards were only silenced out of intimidation, not out of genuine submission.
"Look at what you've done!"
Snape already regretted letting Ian get involved. Some things are better learned without hands-on practice. Why did he let this guy lead others astray?
Seeing Ian's final product.
Although Snape was still dissatisfied with Ian's attitude and annoyed by his influence on the little wizards, he ultimately acknowledged Ian's completed work.
"It's alright, but it lacks the soul of a potion, and there's no respect for it."
Snape gritted his teeth in evaluation, but his furrowed brows finally relaxed, and his gloomy face returned to a blank expression.
The old bat was angry.
But seemed to breathe a sigh of relief secretly.
Feeling a sense of release.
Ian wondered if it was just his imagination.
"I don't want to see you this lazy in the next class, nor hear your foolish ideas. Only meticulously made potions can achieve maximum efficacy." Snape gave a light scolding and snatched the potion Ian hadn't cooled yet, taking Ian's hard-earned product to the podium.
"I'm very disappointed in you. Even the simplest potion is difficult for some to complete. I even saw little wizards make their potion look like crap in an orange-yellow hue."
Snape glanced around, then raised Ian's potion.
"Although this is just rigid and rote following the textbook, it still has a higher completion rate than most fools' works. I hope you take a good look at the color a Boil-Cure Potion should be!"
"Don't let me see those multicolored things again, especially you!" Snape's gaze was viciously directed towards the Slytherin students' area.
"Not even as good as a lazy bum! You're definitely the worst batch of students I've had in decades. Slytherin's glory and excellence are utterly lost on you!"
Sharp criticism.
Made the Slytherin little wizards lower their heads.
And at that moment.
A smell somewhat like rotten eggs, mixed with a pungent odor, wafted from the Slytherin area, causing many little wizards to wrinkle their noses.
Snape did too.
His face suddenly changed.
"Damn!"
Before he could rush off the podium.
"Boom!"
The potion went airborne.
From a Slytherin little wizard's table, the cauldron's potion shot towards the ceiling like a fountain, and Snape swiftly drew his magic wand to cast a spell into the air.
It was the Floating Curse.
Countless liquids floated high.
A void of potion rain from the Magic Potion Class indoors was prevented.
"Giggs! Singe! What the hell did you two idiots do!" Snape's expression was full of anger and lingering fear, and his hand holding the wand was trembling slightly.
Clearly, if this potion rain had fallen on the students' heads, the disastrous outcome would be unthinkable, maybe he'd have no choice but to pack up and open a shop in Diagon Alley.
"We... we wanted to innovate a bit, professor. I have some ancestral potion notes at home." One afro-haired boy stammered in response to Snape's question.
"The textbook isn't enough for you to study? My lessons can't satisfy you?" Snape cleaned up all the suspended liquid.
Just like an angry... giant serpent? Anyway, menacing.
"I... I just heard you say, don't be rigid, don't just follow the book monotonously, so I had a sudden inspiration." Another bald little wizard wore a grimace.
"..."
Snape was hit by a boomerang, speechless.
But there was always a difference between him, Professor McGonagall, and other professors.
"Now, immediately, pack your things and get to Gryffindor!" Snape yelled furiously, causing all the little wizards to instinctively shrink their necks.
"I..."
"No, no..."
The two little snakes blushed and shook their heads frantically. How should I put it, Snape certainly didn't have the authority to transfer anyone, his bluster and intimidation were probably just a way to switch topics.
"Remember today's lesson; if anyone dares to cause such a stir again, I'll have them pack up and roll out, never setting foot in my class again."
This warning, however, was serious.
Snape was far more cautious after that, starting to closely supervise the brewing by the last batch of poor students.
"Color is off! Dump it and start over!"
"Look at this potion's color, fools!"
"Didn't you watch when Prince brewed potions earlier? Redo it!"
"This bottle barely passes muster; practice more so it's at least at this level when you get home."
...
Snape patrolled with Ian's potion around the long tables of the two houses until the last group of little wizards produced a potion that was barely acceptable.
"It's obvious none of you possess real talent as wizards, letting this soulless potion take first place, and Slytherin's performance left me very disappointed."
Snape held up Ian's potion with disdain, then walked back to Ian and Aurora's table, placing the potion back in front of Ian.
"This prize belongs to you, Mr. Prince. Originally it was meant for the outstanding, but in the end, it went to a fool with no awe or respect for potions."
Snape pulled out a pouch and placed it in front of Ian.
"Furthermore, five points to Ravenclaw, although I'm not pleased about it, I always respect the system of reward and punishment." He seemed to unintentionally untie the pouch's string.
Some little wizards leaned in to look.
"It's a Blessing Potion! My dad has a bottle!" a voice of disbelief exclaimed.
The classroom instantly became noisy.
"Yes, the Blessing Potion, in the realm of potions, it measures whether one qualifies to step into a master's threshold. However, perhaps none of you will have the chance to experience the sensations during its brewing."
Snape scanned the classroom, his expression full of arrogance. He glanced at the delighted Ian holding the pouch and walked towards the podium without looking back.
"Class dismissed!"
Already feeling somewhat stifled and heavily scolded, the little wizards immediately began packing up to leave. Snape prepared to return to his office to take a breather after tidying up his teaching materials.
However.
Just as he walked out of the classroom door.
He saw Ian and Aurora still standing in the corridor.
"As promised, I was going to give you a return gift. Originally, I wanted to create a super Big Killer after learning alchemy, but this is a good item too, a result of my painstaking efforts!"
Ian selected the largest of the five or six bottles of Blessing Potion obviously divided in the pouch and handed it to the German girl.
"??????"
Not far away.
At the classroom doorway.
Snape, having just overheard Ian's words, nearly burst a vein on his forehead.
Your painstaking efforts?
I brewed that for half a year, damn it!
Could you be any more shameless!
This year, Hogwarts truly went to the dogs!!
"I don't want this; I want the super Big Killer. Is it really super?"
Aurora was like a curious baby.
Yet.
Her act of handing back the Blessing Potion.
Might have become the final straw for Snape.
"Hahaha, turns out there are two dogs!"