Chapter 34

For the next hour, Severus  was simply conducting, as he had previously put it, a "lecture", recalling the lessons of his teachers in Alchemy, and, oddly enough, he was able to attract the attention of three examiners at the same time. 

All three of them were listening very carefully to him, the old man who only gloomily stood out among them, nodded, barely hiding the astonishment on his face.

"... Also, during my research, I noticed several additional properties in the leaves of Alichotium, mainly used to make a potion of laughter: for example, if mixed with the root of a white vine, you can get a powder, inhaling which, you will immediately improve your mood, this not to mention the treatment of depression or other similar negative conditions, all without the side effects of uncontrollable laughter; or, when mixed with owl's eye, lyre root, and moonstone powder,...."

"Enough, young man, you have passed," the old man said with a reassuring smile, stroking his long beard. "Slughorn is raising a worthy replacement for himself…"

"Do you know Professor Slughorn…?" Severus asked with interest.

"How can I not know him, after all, before him, until 1920, it was I who taught Potions at Hogwarts" The elderly man answered. "And it was I who taught him, a simple young man and the last of the Slughorn family - the world of potions."

"And don't hold a grudge against us, it's our job to put pressure on applicants," The old man continued and the two men sitting to the right and left of the old man looked at him in embarrassment.

"It was clear from the very beginning, although you tried to look like villains, but your eyes betrayed you." 

"Okay, that's enough, we have a few more applicants," raising his palm, the elderly wizard narrowed his eyes slyly, looking towards the exit.

"Congratulations, you passed, say hello to Slughorn from the 'stupid old fart'." 

The two men coughed at the same time, and Severus  only nodded, slightly raising the edges of his lips and saying goodbye, he left the office, and at the exit he was met by a slightly agitated Slughorn. Although he was trying to pretend that everything was okay.

"It's okay, now I'm a Master."

"And you shouldn't have expected any less," Slughorn laughed proudly, patting Severus  on the shoulder. 

"I'm surprised, congratulations, Mr. Snape," Andrew nodded with a calm smile. 

"Thanks. By the way, professor." Severus said to Andrew and then turned towards Slughorn.

"Yes?" Slughorn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was asked to say hello to you from the 'stupid old fart,'" for a moment the joy disappeared from the face of the potion master, and pallor came to replace it. "Oh, is he still alive?!" 

"Ohh, you aren't happy hearing that?" a cheerful elderly voice sounded from the room, making the poor professor shudder, and he, and without hesitation for a second ... fled, under the slightly shocked gaze of the former student and several dozen people on the floor. "Well, since we're done here, follow me to get your licence…" Andrew muttered sluggishly.

"Yeah…" Severus said in daze.

—-----------------

After registering and entering the database, Severus received a sheet with the seal of the Ministry confirming the rank, as well as a gold badge with a silver cauldron from a slightly shocked worker, but the Wizard did not have time to communicate with him, and after saying goodbye, he went down to the first floor, and as he passed a small fountain, he saw Slughorn peeping out from behind the fireplace, looking around warily. 

"Professor, are you all right…?" Snape asked him, still a little surprised by this reaction.

"Oh! Severus, of course, everything is fine! Let's leave this place quickly!" said Slughorn excitedly, seizing Severus by the arm and throwing a handful of gunpowder into the fireplace.

The flames flared up sharply, and they both went into it and disappeared ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

[Hogsmeade Shop "Magic trinkets".]

Once again in the same room, the man finally breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Professor, why were you running away from that old man?"Severus at this moment decided to ask Slughorn, he was after all a little interested in their history.

"The less you know, the better it is for you, come on now, show me!" With a weary sigh, Severus took the badge out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Slughorn.

"Although I don't understand why when I…" But, drawing attention to the frozen Potions Master, whose face was covered with real shock, Severus raised an eyebrow in bewilderment. 

"Professor, are you sick? Maybe you should visit St. Mungo? If you want, I will go with you." 

"This badge ... sixteen years and a silver cauldron …" Slughorn kept muttering.

"Maybe I should take him to St Mungo by myself." Severus looked at a dazed professor as he said this. 

Coming closer to the professor, Severus took out his wand and poked Slughorn's face with it.

"SEVERUS! Stop, why are you poking me!" Slughorn came out of shock and glared at Severus.

"Then tell me why you were standing as if you were shocked just now."

"You got a silver cauldron badge." 

Severus peered at the silver cauldron and said "And…?"

"And? Are you seriously joking with me?" Slughorn looked at Severus with an incredulous expression.

"Can you please explain what it means and be done with it?" Severus massaged his forehead as he said this.

"It's a silver cauldron! Badge ranks are divided into four: bronze, silver, gold, and black," he began to explain with a weary sigh. "In our country, there is only one person with a black badge, and this is my teacher - that old man who conducted the exam - there are only three gold ones, one of which is I; I don't know any silver ones but no one gets this badge before thirty, I myself received it only at twenty-six, usually everyone starts with bronze, but you…" Grasping Severus  by the shoulders in surprise, Slughorn glared at his face with burning eyes. 

"Genius! Since my teacher, known for his strictness, rated you for a silver cauldron, then his assessment cannot be wrong! You are a real GENIUS!"

"Professor, of course I understand everything, but let's not get so close…" Pushing the man's worried face away from him, Severus opened the door and finally left the small room.

"Severus! From now on, you will come to me every evening after class for extra classes! I will make you a Master of the Gold Rank before you graduate from Hogwarts, and you will fulfill my dream and surpass that stupid old fart! Get him off his pedestal!" Listening to Slughorn's insane laughter, Severus covered his eyes with a heavy sigh, climbing the stairs and thinking about a cure for dementia that crept up so unnoticed.… 

"What is it with him ...?" Mark asked him in bewilderment, looking towards the basement. " He's gone senile… call St Mungo as soon as possible, he needs help," Severus  said with a very serious face.

"Who's gone senile here?! And what do you mean by "call St Mungo"?

"OHH, Miracle! The professor recovered."

"Severus, come with me to this basement, I'll show you something very interesting…" Slughorn murmured, clenching his fist tightly and pointing behind him with a warm smile. "I have to refuse: Nagini is waiting for me, let's start on monday, and professor, I have a request for you," turning to Slughorn, he took the outstretched badge.

"What?" Slughorn asked in confusion.

"Can you give me permission to leave Hogwarts tonight: I need to find a smart manager for the store, and finish some business in Diagon Alley. I'll be back tomorrow evening."

"Um... usually it's forbidden to do this without parental permission..." Slughorn muttered gloomily, but he nodded after a few seconds. "Okay, I'll talk to Albus, and with this badge, you're officially recognized as an adult, and you won't have to wait till you're seventeen anymore. But, although you received this badge with official papers, they will only come into force on Monday, such are the rules."

"Thank you, professor."

"Don't worry about that, but I'm waiting for you on Monday after class: I still intend to hammer into your head everything that I know myself." 

"Of course" 

At the same time, the owner of the shop, looking after the departing couple, came to his senses only after they left and smiled.

***

Severus still didn't put on the badge, because he didn't want to attract special attention to himself, and, having separated from Slughorn, he returned to his room, in which he was met by Nagini.

"Here you are." wrapping her around his neck, he left the room in order to quickly go about his business, and today Bella should come to him, and he simply could not miss this meeting. 

But the young man did not have time to go down, because one very angry Black blocked his way."Have you forgotten something?" 

"Morning, Regulus. I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk right now, come to me on Monday night."

"You said this the day before yesterday, but you never came!"

"Professor Slughorn held me up, what could I do?" Even though Black tried to protest once more, he could not find words, because Snape was right, and even now, having thought things over more rationally, he realised that he had acted too unreasonably. "I… I'm sorry…" 

"I'm glad you understand. Of course, I would discuss magic with you today, but I can't: I need to urgently return home, and I will only be back on Sunday."

"I see, I just remembered one incident concerning Cousin Bella, but since…" But Regulus didn't even have time to finish, as Severus 's hands were already on his shoulder.

"You should have said that from the start," Severus said with a radiant smile, dragging the young man along with him.

"I'll definitely find an hour today for you...."