Chapter 182: Stealing Potions Ingredients

On Monday morning, Andy welcomed the family owl.

The package contained a thick letter in addition to a vial of potion to get rid of the odour.

Kyle simply nagged Andy about his life at school, mentioning the latest news from the magic world in the process.

Helen was similarly concerned about Andy's school life, but she didn't ask Andy what exactly he wanted to do with the potion to get rid of the odour, she was just prepared for Andy to be expelled from school.

Helen said that Andy could now support himself just by making potions.

As for Isabel, the little girl reminded Andy quite bluntly not to forget to buy her snacks from the Honeydukes Candy Shop, or else she would think she was an only child.

Andy raised an eyebrow and put the letter in his pocket to store it away.

As for the vial of potion, Andy hadn't let anyone see it, not even Hermione.

"What classes do we have this morning?" Andy asked casually after breakfast.

"Two Potions classes back to back, with Hufflepuff."

Hermione said, "In the afternoon there's a History of Magic class, with Slytherin."

Potions class, ah ...

"I'm going back to my dormitory to get some things, remember to secure me a seat in the front row," Andy said hurriedly, and without waiting for Hermione to respond, he got up and ran out of the Great Hall.

The potion was still in his pocket, Andy didn't dare to go to Snape's class with it in his pocket.

Ever since Snape had seen through the Disillusionment Charm last term, Andy had been wary of Snape. What's more, Snape was also the potion genius that Helen talked about.

By the time Andy arrived at the Potions classroom, it was almost time for class to begin.

Sitting next to Hermione, Andy casually flipped through the second-year Potions textbook.

Helen makes potions as her business, Andy helped Helen with potion materials from when he was very young and often watched the process of Helen making potions.

So Andy's grades in potions class were always good.

The second-year Potions class ... is also quite simple.

When class time approached, Snape stepped into the classroom.

By the time Snape walked to the podium, the classroom was silent.

"We're reviewing what we learned in the first year today."

Snape swept his gaze over the group of young wizards and said in a slow, controlled tone, "I've heard many of the professors mention that after a summer's holiday, your brains may be only a little better than a troll's."

Andy disagreed somewhat.

On what grounds was a troll worthy of such an insult?

Snape seemed like he was being insensitive, but he was actually very attentive.

He first spent an hour re-telling the highlights of what they had learned in the first year, then picked a moderately difficult potion and had the young wizards prepare it in groups.

To be fair, Andy felt that Snape had spoken very elaborately.

Although, he only talked about each knowledge point once, and did not allow the young wizards to ask questions. But as long as one listened carefully, it was enough to recall what they had learned last term.

Until ...

Bang!!!

Andy turned his head to look, it turned out that it was Justin from Hufflepuff who blew up the cauldron.

Two periods of Potions class were passed amidst Snape's venomous tongue.

By the time the History of Magic class was over, the Ravenclaw was done for the day.

***

Early Night.

After waiting for his roommates to fall asleep, Andy changed his clothes, took the Marauder's Map, and sneaked out of the dormitory.

Based on the Marauder's Map, Snape was still busy in his office at the moment.

Just as Andy was about to go to the Room of Requirement to copy a book and stay up until the latter part of the night before initiating the operation, Snape's entire presence suddenly disappeared from the map.

"Huh?" Andy looked puzzled.

Snape had left the castle?

Or had Snape discovered something and this was just his plan to lure the snake out of its hole?

'Let's go check it out first.' Andy made up his mind.

You couldn't do great things with indecision.   

With the Marauder's Map in one hand and his wand in the other, Andy made his way towards the underground floor of the castle.

"Hey! Don't turn on the light in the middle of the night!"

A rough voice suddenly rang out, startling Andy.

Andy hastily looked around ... and there was no one.

"I am talking to you, quickly turn off the lights!"

Andy looked in the direction where the voice came from, only to see a portrait blocking his eyes with his hand, his face looked very dissatisfied.

Andy: "..."

"Sorry!"

Andy responded, speeding up his pace and hurrying away.

Avoiding Filch, Andy walked to the ground floor of the castle before stopping at the entrance to the underground floor.

"Wait!"

Andy grimaced, 'The portrait knows I'm on a night out tonight!'

In other words, once Snape's potion materials were stolen tonight, Dumbledore would guess that it was Andy's doing.

'Careless!' Andy was deeply frustrated.

After deliberating for a moment, Andy decided to go back.

Before going back, Andy also made a special trip to the kitchen and asked for a late-night snack from the Hogwarts house elves.

The next night, Andy learned from last night's lesson and copied books in the Room of Requirement until a little after midnight, staying up until Snape went back to bed, which was when he resumed his potion-stealing operation, under the power of the Disillusionment Charm.

After a thrilling walk down to the underground floor, Andy pressed his excitement and went to the front of Snape's office door.

Taking out his wand, he pointed it at the lock of the office door.

Clatter!

With a soft click, the lock on Snape's office door was opened.

"Whew..."

Andy let out a long breath.

'Looks like I was right in my prediction, Snape's office doesn't have any trap mechanisms.'

Hogwarts was never short of naughty little wizards, and Snape's personal image was terrible.

This made it hard to guarantee that there wouldn't be some naughty little wizards who would break into Snape's office in the middle of the night to mess things up.

To protect the safety of the young wizards, Snape would definitely not set up too dangerous magic traps in his office.

'But still, I have to be careful.' Andy thought in his heart.

Slowing down his steps, Andy walked into Snape's office step by step. In the quiet interior, Andy could even hear his heartbeat.

Walking up to the shelf where the potion materials were placed, Andy quickly swept a glance. After taking some of the ingredients for making the Veritaserum, Andy casually took a bit of other materials to confuse the scene.

During the entire process, there was no abnormal reaction in the office.

"Whew..."

Taking a long breath, Andy slowly exited Snape's office.

After travelling up to the seventh floor and entering the Room of Requirement, Andy still felt a little disbelief.

His operation had gone so smoothly.

Not to mention the magic traps, not even a single abnormal thing happened.

"Too outrageous!" Andy muttered out.

"But there is another possibility ..."

Snape had been comfortable at Hogwarts for too long and had lost his proper vigilance. Plus, Snape's prestige was so strong that no one dared to go to his office to mess things up.

After all, Hogwarts was the safest place in the wizarding world...well!

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