The Potion Class at Hogwarts made Lia feel particularly uncomfortable.
The spiral staircase leading to the Dungeon Classroom was cold and long, with damp moisture seeping through the walls.
Lia followed behind Hermione, and with every step, she felt as if she were walking back into the dark basement that had once imprisoned her.
Many large glass jars hung on the walls, containing various animal specimens that took on eerie, distorted shapes in the dim candlelight.
Lia's Danger Intuition was alarming wildly; it wasn't targeting a specific threat, but the entire environment made her uneasy. She couldn't help but grab the corner of Hermione's robes.
In the classroom, Professor Snape glided in like a giant black bat.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class," he said, his low voice echoing in the Dungeon with a chill that seemed to penetrate to the bone. "As such, I don't expect many of you to truly appreciate the rigorous science and exact art of Potion-making."
His gaze swept across the room, finally landing on Harry.
"Mr. Potter," Snape suddenly asked, "what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry looked blank.
Snape did not let him off, throwing out several tricky questions in a row, none of which Harry could answer.
Beside him, Hermione was so anxious to answer that her hand ached from being raised, but Snape ignored her.
Finally, Snape ended Harry's public execution with the remark, "It seems that fame isn't everything."
Lia shrunk her neck; the oppressive feeling this black-robed Professor gave her almost reminded her of that other Wizard who also wore black robes.
"Now, begin brewing your Cure for Boils."
Lia and Hermione were paired together. Hermione immediately acted like an experienced chef, methodically opening the textbook, checking the ingredients, and setting up the cauldron.
Lia couldn't help at all; she was full of wariness toward the contents of those jars and bottles.
She could only rest her head on the table, watching from the side as Hermione skillfully processed various plant roots and stems.
Under the lick of the flames, the liquid in the cauldron began to sprout colorful bubbles, accompanied by a faint, pungent herbal scent.
A green bubble rose slowly, wobbling in the air, followed by a yellow one that was slightly larger than the green one.
Lia's blue eyes followed the bubbles as they drifted around; the gloom of the Dungeon and the Professor's pressure were completely forgotten at this moment.
Her Feline curiosity and hunting instinct were thoroughly piqued by these drifting 'prey.'
Hermione was focusing intently on cutting a certain plant root with a small silver knife, muttering to herself, "They must be cut to the exact same size, otherwise it will affect the Potion's properties..."
Lia wasn't listening.
Her entire attention was on those bubbles.
She quietly extended a finger, and in an instant, her fingertip became sharp, revealing a small but sharp cat claw.
She carefully aimed at the nearest, slowly rising blue bubble.
"Pop."
The bubble burst with a faint, almost inaudible sound.
Lia's ears twitched with excitement; she found this game incredibly fun.
"Pop." Another one.
Lia was having a great time, completely failing to notice a large, unstable-looking purple bubble drifting slowly toward the front of the classroom, where a black figure was patrolling.
By the time Lia noticed the bubble, it was already very close to Snape.
Almost instinctively, she reached out her claws, trying to intercept it in mid-air.
"Pop!"
This time the sound was a bit louder, a burst with a hint of viscosity.
The purple bubble burst, and instead of disappearing, the liquid inside splattered into a cloud of purple mist. A few drops landed precisely on Snape's black robes.
"Sizzle—"
The clear sound of fabric being corroded by strong acid rang out, accompanied by a scorched, foul smell.
The entire classroom fell into an instant, deathly silence.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
The schadenfreude on Draco Malfoy's face froze before it could fully bloom.
The stirrer in Ron's hand fell into the cauldron with a 'clang,' and Harry's eyes widened in horror.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the small, expanding hole emitting white smoke on Professor Snape's robes, and on the white-haired cat-eared girl who was completely frozen in place, still in her claw-swiping pose.
Lia's body was completely rigid, her cat ears drooping flat against her scalp, and her tail stiffened instantly, her fur seemingly about to puff out.
Oh no! I've... I've caused a huge disaster.
"Miss Granger's... pet."
Snape's voice was three degrees colder than the stones of the Dungeon.
"It seems... you have... quite the objection... to my class."
He turned around and walked toward their table step by step, each step feeling like it was treading on everyone's hearts.
Hermione looked at the hole in Snape's robes in shock, then at Lia, who had caused such a massive disaster and was now frozen like a statue; her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her throat.
Lia was terrified; she instinctively looked up, her sky-blue eyes filled with the purest terror and helplessness, crashing directly and defenselessly into Snape's bottomless black eyes.
The moment he saw those eyes, Snape's body visibly paused.
Those eyes... were so similar.
They were exactly like the girl deep in his memories, the one with red hair and emerald-green eyes.
That same clarity, that same purity without any impurities.
Snape stared at Lia for a full ten seconds.
Not a single student in the classroom dared to even breathe.
Hermione's heart was in her throat; she had already imagined the worst possible outcome—Lia being expelled from Hogwarts and Gryffindor being docked an astronomical number of points.
Finally, Snape squeezed a sentence out from between his teeth.
"Control your 'cat', Miss Granger."
"If there is a next time, Gryffindor can expect to lose fifty points."
With that, he turned abruptly and left, his black robes cutting an angry arc through the air, severing both that momentary lapse and the memories along with it.
He left behind a classroom of students shocked into silence, and Hermione, who could finally breathe again, her legs so weak she could hardly stand.
Everyone spent the rest of this agonizing lesson in a state of high tension.
The afternoon Flying Class was a minor disaster for Lia.
The caution inherent in her Feline nature gave her an instinctive resistance to the idea of her feet leaving the ground.
No matter how she chanted the incantation, the broom just lay on the ground without any reaction.
Fortunately, chaos soon descended. A heated conflict broke out between Harry and that blonde boy, Draco, drawing everyone's attention away.
Lia took the opportunity to cling to Hermione like a koala, burying her face in Hermione's robes and safely 'hanging' there for the rest of the class.
The Flying Class ended in chaos; Harry was taken away by Professor McGonagall for flying without permission, and everyone thought he was going to be expelled, which left Ron deeply worried.
Hermione, however, had no time to worry about that; her mind was occupied with something else.
In Potion Class, while trying to soothe Lia, who had been startled into puffing out her fur, she had missed almost all of Snape's key explanations on the brewing techniques for the Cure for Boils.
Then in the afternoon Flying Class, she had served as Lia's human cat tree the whole time and hadn't heard Madam Hooch's instructions clearly.
She was falling behind in the curriculum.
For Hermione Granger, this realization was even more unbearable than having fifty points docked by Snape.
While soothingly patting Lia, who was still clinging to her, she rapidly planned in her mind: she had to go to the library tonight, re-read the First-Year Flying Handbook and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, and catch up on her Potion Class notes... Oh heavens, there simply wasn't enough time!
---------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 30 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon.
patreon.com/TLScarlet
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!