Potions Lesson

Harry agreed, but he couldn't help but comment when he saw Ivan feeding Scabbers the beans.

"Ivan, Scabbers is going to die if you keep feeding him."

At Harry's words, Hermione's attention was drawn to Scabbers in Ron's hand.

The rat, which was originally thin and had a lot of hair, had changed.

When Scabbers's dorm room was covered in dust, Ron used a brush to clean him up, and Scabbers had gained a lot of weight after being fed for the past few days.

"How can that be? This amount of food is normal. Scabbers used to be so hungry that he lost weight. He should eat more!" Ivan insisted and placed another piece of All-Taste Beans in front of Scabbers's mouth.

"Besides, it's an apology," Yvonne added.

Scabbers, on the other hand, did not appreciate this at all. He glared at Ivan and arrogantly pushed his hand away.

It was only when Scabbers realised that his little paw was no match for Ivan's strength that he bit into the succulent bean.

After all, it was already at the tip of her tongue. No matter how angry she was, she had to eat, right?

I can't resist anyway…

Hmm… actually, if you try it carefully, it's quite tasty apart from some other tastes…

Noticing Scabbers's weakened resistance, Ivan could not help but sigh at how Peter Pettigrew had managed to survive for so many years.

A few nights ago, he was being hunted by his worst fears, but after one night, he was able to eat again.

Even though the hunt was in a dream…

However, this also meant that Peter Pettigrew did not know about the lesser-known dark spell, the Fear Charm, and perhaps thought that Ivan had magically turned his beautiful dreams into nightmares…

After all, there was no reason for a young wizard like Ivan to know what happened eleven years ago, let alone that Sirius's Animagus was a black dog.

"What if they get too fat?" Ron asked, looking worried at Ivan's "special care".

"It's all right, Scabbers doesn't have to deliver letters, and gaining weight saves him from running around," Ivan assured her.

If not for Peter Pettigrew, Ivan thought, Voldemort's plan would not have worked so easily.

Ivan wanted to see if Scabbers could still run when Crookshanks and Sirius came after him.

They chatted as they walked towards the basement where Potions was.

By the time they entered the classroom, Harry and Ron were more convinced that Snape was a Dark Wizard.

The classroom was not large, but the atmosphere was eerie and eerie. There were glass bottles around the classroom that were filled with a greenish-blue liquid.

Given that the classroom was built underground, Ivan would have thought it was some Dark Wizard's secret laboratory if he hadn't known it was Hogwarts.

"Get to your seats, we need to be careful with this class!" Ron said.

Ron, no longer suspicious of George's earlier words, pulled Ivan, Harry, and Hermione to their seats so as not to give Snape a reason to deduct points.

Ivan, however, knew in his heart that even if they stayed put throughout the lesson, Snape would find a reason to pick a fight.

Bang!

When the young wizards of the two Houses were seated, the gloomy door was suddenly flung open, and the sound of the door hitting the wall echoed throughout the classroom.

A short time later, a thin figure with sallow skin under a long black cloak entered through the front door, his cold eyes sweeping over the young wizards and witches until they met Harry's eyes.

Snape walked all the way to the front of the classroom, waving his wand in his right hand and causing the curtains to close automatically. Without the sunlight shining through the windows into the basement, the classroom immediately became much darker.

As the light faded, Ivan became aware that Snape's tense expression had relaxed slightly.

When he was done, the Potions Master held up the roll call book and looked around at the wizards who had been subdued by his aura.

"I'm going to make a name for myself. I hope no one dares to try and disappear in my class!"

Snape's deep voice began to echo throughout the classroom, and the usually mischievous young wizards fell silent. Only Draco Malfoy of Slytherin was laughing.

"Neville Longbottom."

"Ivan Harls…"

…

"Harry Potter…"

When Harry's name was read, Snape's flat tone wavered,

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot." Snape's face was expressionless, but there seemed to be a hint of sarcasm in his words. "There's a new celebrity at our school!"

All the young wizards turned to look at Harry, and Draco and his two henchmen snickered to themselves.

Harry was not used to being targeted for no reason, but unbeknownst to him, this was only the beginning.

Snape turned his head away from Harry and looked at everyone.

"You have come here to learn the subtlety of potion-making."

"Since there is no foolish wand-waving, many of you do not believe this is magic. I do not expect you to truly understand the beauty of potion-making."

Snape paused for a moment and then spoke with an intoxicated taste.

"Think of it, brewing in a cauldron, the potion slowly boiling, the white smoke rising in spirals … and the fluid flowing through your veins, that fluid of such exquisite power … it could intoxicate your heart and all your senses … I could show you how to jar fame, how to brew glory, even … stop death … as long as you don't turn out to be as stupid as the idiots I used to teach."

Snape finished a long speech and then spoke again.

"Potter, what would happen if you added powdered narcissus to the juice of wormwood?"

Harry looked blank.

What is a narcissus? What is wormwood?

Harry looked to Ron for help, who was equally confused. Hermione raised her right hand high, but Snape pretended not to see it.

Ivan was further away, so he could only open his mouth and silently spit out the words "life-ending water" and "sleeping pills".

Harry was eager, but Snape's compelling gaze prevented him from looking at Ivan any further, and he was naturally unable to guess what Ivan was saying.

"I don't know, Professor!"

Ivan put a hand to his forehead in frustration. He had done his best.

It would have been useless even if he had told Harry in advance, and unless Harry could have memorized all the books on potions, Snape would have had plenty of ways to get at him.