The potion-feeding process went unusually smoothly this time.
Without a word, Mikel, upon seeing the numbered magic potion bottle, instinctively took it and drank it all down with a "gulp gulp gulp."
From his gradually twisted expression, it was clear that the potion tasted as indescribable as ever, but Mikel didn't waste a drop.
He even smacked his lips after drinking and exclaimed, "Good stuff."
Of course, it would have been better if his expression appeared more natural when he said that.
Instead of, as now, his face a mix of blue and black, his features scrunched together; coupled with that "good stuff" comment of his, one might think he was some poison connoisseur.
No matter what, Kael found it hard to understand his thoughts; perhaps this was what it meant to enjoy the pain.
...
As the weather gradually warmed, the Quidditch match season was already halfway through.
Currently, Gryffindor was in first place in terms of victories and points, closely followed by Hufflepuff, with very little gap between them.
Slytherin, after their faces were plastered with specially made dungbombs last time, felt nauseous just seeing a broomstick for a while, hence their lower score, placing them third.
But after the Christmas break, they gradually got back on track and frantically accumulated points in recent matches, trying to close the gap with the top two.
As part of Slytherin's regular antics, there was no shortage of dirty tricks during the matches.
In a recent game, Gryffindor's Chaser, Angelina, was knocked off her broom by them.
"This isn't over, Rosier." Charlie said grimly as he took Angelina off the field, "We'll see about that."
But Rosier merely gave Charlie a defiant look, as if it didn't bother him.
However, during dinner that evening, more than twenty broomstick-shaped parcels were dropped onto the Slytherin table by owls.
Rosier's face turned green right then and there.
The Gryffindors made no attempt to hide their actions, and under the leadership of Fred and George, they loudly urged Rosier to open the package and see the surprise they'd carefully prepared.
The incident quickly caught Professor Snape's attention. After hearing the report from a little Slytherin, he came storming in, cloak billowing.
"Dungbombs? I have no idea what you're talking about, professor."
Charlie innocently said, "Those are just fireworks we specially ordered to celebrate Slytherin's win in today's match."
"Just fireworks?" Snape was clearly skeptical.
"Of course, Rosier is a worthy opponent; he won beautifully, so I must congratulate him."
Charlie grinned, "What's wrong, does Rosier not like the gift?"
He's graduating to Romania next year, so facing Snape didn't make him as nervous as others.
Snape appeared somewhat grim as he pulled out his wand and, in front of everyone, opened the packages.
Just as Charlie said, they were indeed fireworks. Once the packaging was undone, the gold and red fireworks shot up to the ceiling and exploded with a "boom," forming the word "Victory" in large letters in the air.
However, Snape still deducted ten points from Gryffindor.
The reason being for making noise in the auditorium and disrespecting a professor.
But the Gryffindors didn't care.
Anyway, their house points were nearly down to single digits, and unless they could somehow gain five hundred points at the end of the term, the House Cup was pretty much out of reach.
So the Gryffindor students collectively decided—let it be!
After all, there's a certain joy in giving up; the more you give up, the happier you are.
The Gryffindors suddenly found life at Hogwarts quite delightful.
Like right now, even having ten points deducted by Snape for such an absurd reason didn't faze them at all.
George even recklessly commented, "I think disrespecting a professor is a very serious fault; you should deduct thirty points from us."
His thinking was simple: if you can't be first, then why not aim for the lowest score?
Black and red are still colors.
...
Snape's expression grew even darker.
He really wanted to grant George's wish, but unfortunately, Gryffindor's hourglass only had a thin layer left, around twenty points.
He couldn't very well deduct all the points.
Professor McGonagall's face still needed some saving.
Besides, he still needed the Deputy Headmistress's signature for the potion material purchase form; he had to think about his personal storage room.
"You're right, Mr. Weasley." Snape said, giving George a sinister look: "But there's no need for point reduction, straight to detention."
"Tonight, you'll go to the Magic Potion Classroom and clean all the old cauldrons."
"Remember, do it all by hand, no wand use allowed, Filch will keep an eye on you."
George's smile froze.
Even after Snape left the auditorium, he was still in a state of shock.
"Merlin's flowery socks, detention? For what!"
"Because he's the professor." Fred said sympathetically, patting George on the shoulder, "Look on the bright side, one night will pass quickly."
"You'll help me, right?" George asked hopefully.
Fred was silent; clearly, he was unwilling.
"Percy?"
"..."
"Charlie!"
"..."
No one responded to him.
In the face of detention, years of brotherhood seemed fragile.
George was on the verge of tears, feeling as if the world had suddenly turned gray.
"Ahem, ahem..."
Just as George was getting more into his act, Charlie irritably smacked him on the head.
"Alright, stop acting, don't think I don't know about the automatic cleaning kit you and Fred secretly stashed."
The tears that were almost flowing down George's cheeks vanished instantly, and a familiar smile appeared on his face, with no trace of sadness.
"You're no fun, Charlie."
Being the ones who got detention the most, Fred and George naturally didn't come unprepared.
The automatic cleaning kit was their preparation specifically for dealing with detention tasks like "cleaning stuff."
Cauldrons were, of course, included.
"But seriously, that trick of yours really worked." Charlie said, looking at the packaging fragments, "Who would've thought Rosier would get so scared he'd throw away his plate, why is that?"
"That's a secret."
George and Fred simultaneously winked, not revealing much.
Fortunately, Charlie wasn't one for excessive curiosity. Seeing the twins didn't want to elaborate, he didn't press further.
As long as this trick could deal with Slytherin, that was enough.