Snape turned his head toward Draco.
"Tell me, Malfoy. Regarding what this Weasley just said, do you have anything to add?"
Draco smiled. "Of course, Head of House. It's true that Harry and I failed, but we remembered your instructions.
We immediately extinguished the cauldron and cleaned it thoroughly."
"After that, we prepared a fresh stalk of Ironthorn Grass for another attempt. We also recorded the reason for the failure just now."
As he spoke, Draco handed over a notebook.
Snape looked down.
The notebook clearly recorded the problems Harry and Draco encountered while refining Ironthorn Grass, including precise notes on heat control, timing, and changes.
It was extremely detailed.
Draco cast a faintly mocking glance at Ron.
Ron was completely stunned. Wait… this is how you're supposed to play it?
After following Karmit for so long, Draco was still considered rather foolish in Karmit's eyes.
But even so, it had to be admitted that the young master who loved invoking his father's name had truly improved.
Snape nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Very serious work. Because of your diligence, Slytherin gains five points."
Then Snape abruptly turned his head.
"As for you, Ron Weasley. Belittling your classmates. Gryffindor, five points deducted."
Ron jumped to his feet. "Why?"
Instead of getting angry, Snape actually smiled.
"Questioning a professor. Gryffindor, another five points deducted."
Ron opened his mouth to argue again.
But his seatmate grabbed him and yanked him back down. "Shut up, Weasley. How many more points do you want Gryffindor to lose?"
Ron's seatmate shouted angrily.
Ron tried to explain, but when he turned his head, he saw every Gryffindor glaring at him.
He immediately fell silent.
A trace of disappointment flashed through Snape's eyes.
Half of the Potions class passed. The remaining half was filled with oppressive pressure.
Along with what felt like a single line being played on repeat.
"Gryffindor, five points deducted."
The Gryffindor students all looked grim.
Yet there was nothing they could do. Every reason Snape used was technically flawless.
Meanwhile, the Slytherins wore smiles for the entire lesson.
Harry was in a particularly good mood. What had happened earlier with Snape had already vanished from his mind.
Right now, he had only one thought.
Their professor was really nice.
Whether it was Draco's influence or Ron's performance being too unbearable, Harry had completely lost any fondness for Gryffindor.
A Savior who belonged to Slytherin was slowly taking shape.
By the time class ended, Gryffindor had earned fifty points.
Negative fifty.
Slytherin, on the other hand, had gained thirty points.
Aside from contributions by Karmit and Draco, their beloved Professor Snape had added points for reasons that looked reasonable on the surface, but absolutely were not.
To be fair, Snape was still relatively restrained.
If that authority were in Karmit's hands, he could probably fill the hourglasses to the brim in minutes.
When Potions class finally ended, every Gryffindor student let out a sigh of relief.
The torment was over.
The Slytherins, however, felt a bit unsatisfied.
"Gryffindor, five points deducted" was such a beautiful sentence.
Some of the little snakes even wondered if it could replace the school song. That would truly be perfect.
In the Great Hall, the students gathered once more.
Dinner time had arrived.
At the Gryffindor table, Ron's deeds had already spread far and wide. The little lions spoke with nothing but resentment.
Ron had once again become the universally disliked figure.
Dinner itself was uneventful.
After the meal, Harry said goodbye to Draco.
He had to go to Snape's office.
Every step Harry took felt heavy.
Draco looked worried and turned to Karmit. "Cousin, do you think Harry will come back?"
Karmit rolled his eyes. "If you're that worried, you can go with him."
Draco shuddered instinctively.
"I think… I'll just trust Harry." With that, Draco hurried off toward the common room.
Karmit rolled his eyes again. As expected, birds of a feather scatter when disaster strikes.
Wait. That saying doesn't quite fit here.
Ah, whatever. Just a detail. No need to dwell on it. Cradling Fanny in his arms, Karmit did not return to the dormitory.
Instead, he went to the fourth floor of the castle, searching along the corridor.
Soon, a strangely shaped statue appeared before him.
A one-eyed witch.
Karmit recalled the plot.
"This should be it." He raised his wand and lightly tapped the statue.
°Dissendium°
As the words fell, the statue split cleanly down the middle.
A passageway appeared before him.
Karmit's lips curled upward. Seems his memory hadn't failed him.
He stepped straight into the passage. White light shone from his wand, illuminating the path ahead.
Before long, he saw faint light at the end of the tunnel.
Karmit's figure gradually faded from sight. The Disillusionment Charm activated.
He exited the passage, pushed open a door, and arrived in Hogsmeade. Without stopping, Karmit Disapparated from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already at Belinda's base in Knockturn Alley.
Karmit's sudden appearance startled her. She instinctively reached for her wand.
"Who's there?"
When she saw Karmit's face, she immediately dropped to one knee.
"My apologies, Master. I didn't realize it was you."
Karmit waved his hand. "It's fine. Not important. Go capture two people for me. I need to conduct an experiment."
Belinda nodded and turned to leave.
Not long after, she returned, dragging two unconscious Dark Wizards with her.
In the underground chamber of the base, Belinda threw the two men onto the floor and stood silently to the side.
Karmit drew his wand and pointed it at one of them.
Whoosh!
A beam of green so dark it was nearly black shot from his wand.
The Dark Wizard died peacefully, without the slightest trace of pain.
Then Karmit aimed his wand at the second man. This time, he adjusted his state of mind.
'I want to kill him.'
After fixing that thought firmly in his mind, he cast the Killing Curse again.
Karmit carefully sensed the difference.
The power was indeed stronger. But that was not the point. He hadn't come all this way to test spell strength.
What he was testing was mindset.
After all, everyone knew that using the Killing Curse too often affected one's mentality.
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