It is the Responsibility of the Professor to Answer the Students' Questions!

"Why do you ask?" Snape's eyes narrowed.

"I was researching how to improve a potion, and it occurred to me, so I was curious," Ivan said after a moment's hesitation.

"It would seem that our illustrious Mr. Harls believes himself to be at a level beyond that of any potion master," Snape said with a sardonic expression.

Yvonne's brow furrowed, but she didn't seem offended. "I've always felt that many of these recipes were made in the last century or more, and there's still room for improvement."

"And how do you know it won't work if you don't try? I think potion masters might have the same idea when they were my age." Ivan looked at him seriously.

Snape was visibly moved. He looked at Ivan for a moment, then said stiffly, "No one would think of such a stupid question. Potions are not for the dead!"

Yvonne did not give up. "And if I wanted to improve the stability of a potion, what should I do?"

"I think adding blackstone powder might do the trick. How about weeding? I mean potions like Polyjuice Potion." Yvonne tried out several modified versions of the potion.

"If you're planning on developing a poison, Blackstone Powder would be a good choice…" Snape said coldly and walked past Ivan towards his office.

Ivan rubbed his chin, muttering to himself. "So adding the black stone powder turns it into poison, but the valerian might work?"

With this in mind, Ivan caught up with Snape again.

"Professor, are there any ingredients in the Polyjuice Potion that conflict with thistles? What are the ingredients that have to do with potion stability…"

"These are questions you should be thinking about, not asking me! If you continue to harass me, I will have to give Gryffindor ten points!"

"It is the duty of a professor to answer the students' questions… Professor Snape!"

"If I remember correctly, that was a question in a textbook!"

…

After a series of harassing questions, Ivan finally figured out most of the problems that could not be solved by looking up information. He had a general idea of the final modification of the Polyjuice Potion. All that was left was to brew it and test it on a "white mouse".

Yvonne considered her options as she made her way to the Potions classroom, where Hermione was waiting with her next class's books.

"Ivan, did you just go to Professor Snape?" Hermione immediately guessed, having seen Ivan chasing after Snape as soon as the class was over.

"Well, I asked him some questions about Potions." Ivan nodded, impressed that Snape was so much better at Potions than he was!

From the looks of it, Snape's Potions level, when converted to level, was not the level he had expected, but level seven!

Ivan did not dwell on the matter, but urged Hermione to use the Time-Turner, as he wanted to finish his lesson quickly and then test the effectiveness of his improved plan.

During the next Muggle Studies class, Ivan was absent-minded, spending the rest of the time on a piece of parchment, wondering if he had missed anything.

Hermione watched in silence, occasionally whispering to Ivan about the properties of several potion ingredients.

Ivan had been impressed with Hermione over the past few days. The little witch was like a walking encyclopedia, and she was able to answer almost any conventional question, saving Ivan a lot of time looking for information.

Hermione, however, was of little help on the key issues of the improved plan,

The only book she had ever read about potion-making was the copy of Advanced Potion-Making left by the Half-Blood Prince.

"By the way, Ivan, do you know who the Half-Blood Prince is?" Hermione asked curiously.

She had a bad impression of the Half-Blood Prince when she read the book, as it was full of scribbles, which Hermione found difficult to accept.

Not to mention the fact that the Half-Blood Prince arrogantly altered the book's potion-making content to refute some of its theories.

However, given her trust in Ivan, Hermione decided to give it a try herself, and discovered that brewing a potion with the method taught to her by the Half-Blood Prince was much more effective than it had originally been!

This made Hermione curious about the Half-Blood Prince.

"If you think about it, you should be able to guess…" said Ivan, glancing at Hermione.

Hermione frowned for a moment. If Ivan said so, then the chances were good that the Half-Blood Prince was someone she knew, and someone with extraordinary accomplishments in Potions.

In her mind, there were only two people who fit the bill.

One was Ivan himself, but given how old Advanced Potion-Making was, that seemed unlikely, and the other was…

"You mean Snape?! He's the Half-Blood Prince?" Hermione was shocked, her beautiful brown eyes widening.

"Right!" Ivan nodded. He knew Hermione was smart enough to figure it out. "So don't mess with the spells you learn from them, or Snape will come after you!"

Hermione stuck out her tongue, which she wouldn't have used without Ivan's permission.

The charm called Obscurus was so powerful that it could cut through wooden tables and chairs with a gentle flick of a wand.

This was the first time Hermione had ever seen a charm with such penetrating power.

Then the little witch suddenly thought of something and asked with a strange expression, "So you were the one who cast the Shadowless Blade in Lockhart's office last year?"

"He tried to cast a Memory Charm on me, so I had to give him a little warning!" Ivan added.

Hermione rolls her eyes at Ivan, implying that he knew Lockhart was a liar, and saw how foolishly she admired him…

"Mr. Harls, and Miss Granger! If you have anything to whisper to each other, I suggest you do it after class…"

Just as Hermione was about to say something, Professor Charity Burbage's voice came from the stage.

The young witches and wizards turned to look at her, but Ivan continued to scribble on the parchment, his expression unchanged. Hermione blushed and turned back to her textbook…