Chapter 705: The Half-Blood Prince (Edited)

After finding out that the textbook in his hand, which had been helping him so much, actually belonged to Snape, Harry immediately felt conflicted. He didn't care who the original owner was as long as he could acquire new knowledge without danger.

Hermione, on the other hand, didn't care who the original owner was either, as long as she could acquire new knowledge without danger. And since she was Fish's girlfriend, Snape rarely bothered her.

"What's wrong with that?" Hermione said to Harry, rolling her eyes as she struggled to identify the handwriting in the old book, copying it into her notebook. "You've been learning potions from Professor Snape for five years. What's the problem with studying his notes again?"

"... You're right." Harry scratched his head, feeling that his current conflict was a bit ridiculous.

Not to mention the fact that Snape had taught him about potions for the past five years, that he was still attending Snape's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and that last term, Snape had individually trained him in Occlumency...

As bad as those experiences were, the knowledge he had gained from Snape couldn't be denied.

"But of course, Snape calls himself 'The Half-Blood Prince'," Harry retorted, his attention immediately drawn to the nickname Snape had written in his book. "And he has the audacity to call me arrogant!"

Hermione glared at him and continued scribbling Snape's notes, not bothering to hit him for the sake of her friendship with Harry... although deep down, she agreed with Snape's assessment of Harry.

Although Hermione said nothing, Harry felt no shame at all because his best friend Ron, who also held a grudge against Snape, never missed a chance to make fun of him.

The two of them charged ahead, attacking the nickname "The Half-Blood Prince" from all angles, forgetting what they had said the first time they saw it.

Meanwhile, Fish wasn't too interested in the matter. After all, nicknames were just something Fish had played with as a child.

"Harry, Harry, can Fish look at the bottle of Felix Felicis you won?"

Fish tugged at Harry's sleeve and asked with interest.

Harry froze. If Fish was interested in the potion and asked for it, it was impossible for him to refuse, but he was somewhat reluctant to give it away...

But Harry hesitated for less than a second before rushing back to the dormitory to retrieve the vial he had tucked in his sock and hidden deep within the box.

Fish would have to drink a little less.

With that in mind, Harry brought the potion back to the common room.

"Here." He handed the crystal vial, which was about half the size of a Golden Snitch, to Fish.

The potion shimmered hypnotically in the glass vial, and the others in the common room were drawn to it, crowding around Fish and Harry with questions.

"Is that the potion you won in Potions class, Harry? It's so pretty." Romilda Vane, who was now in her fourth year and one of the second members of the Order of the Cat, stared at the bottle in Fish's hand and exclaimed, "I've heard that a bottle of Felix Felicis costs enough to buy a decent broomstick."

"What?! Is it that expensive?!"

∑(ΦДΦ)

Fish, who had just uncorked it and was about to smell it, startled and almost spilled the liquid from the bottle.

Fish had looked at the prices of broomsticks to buy a birthday gift for Professor McGonagall. Not to mention that professional-grade broomsticks, like the Firebolt, even the Nimbus series used by Harry and Ron, and the top models from the Cleansweep series, were not cheap at all.

Fish, who had intended to ask Harry for some, sniffed the bottle, recorked it, and handed it back to Harry.

Even after seventh-year Katie Bell corrected Romilda by saying that by "bottle" she meant a standard-sized potion bottle about three times larger than this small glass bottle, Fish didn't ask Harry for the potion.

Fish was already planning to ask Professor Snape to make it for him. Fish often brought potion ingredients from the Forbidden Forest to Snape, so requesting a bottle of Felix Felicis or any other potion was a given.

Not that Fish hadn't done it before.

At the same time, Fish finally realized something he had ignored before...

"The materials Fish used to find for you, weren't they all worth a lot of money?"

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

After curfew, Fish sneaked into Snape's office with Hermione, and once he regained his human form, he was the first to ask.

"Ahem..." Snape replied, slightly turning his head to avoid Fish's gaze. "Some of them do have some value."

He thought Fish was here to hold him accountable for taking advantage of the situation.

Although, in reality, it was Fish who had taken advantage of his help with the potion and the recipe...

How could Fish consider his assistance as money?

However, just as he was about to propose a compensation package to Fish, he heard Fish suddenly cheering.

"Great! Now Fish knows how to make money after graduation if he can't find a job! Now Minerva can't ask Fish to work! Nyahahaha!!"

(≧▽≦)

Fish burst into laughter.

Snape looked confused.

Oh no, did I just say something I shouldn't have?

When he heard Fish mention Professor McGonagall, Snape's heart suddenly raced, and unconsciously he turned to Hermione, who was laughing, to get more precise information from her.

Hermione didn't catch the meaning of Snape's gaze and was startled by his stern and deadly expression. Even more terrifying was the fact that Snape continued to stare at her intently, which made Hermione's emotions extremely tense.

Driven by this nervousness, Hermione's head began to spin, and then she asked the question that confused Snape's mind: "Professor Snape, are you the 'Half-Blood Prince'?"

Snape: (_)!!!

Suddenly, the air grew calm.

There was no change in Snape's expression, but Hermione felt his gaze turning cold, and this gaze successfully "calmed" her...

Then she realized the enormity of what she had just done...

Hermione: (°°)!!!

And Fish was fully aware that something was not quite right in the scene, and why it wasn't right escaped his understanding.

Fish: (?ω?)???