The water in the cauldron quickly steamed, and Wade added snake fangs powder, then nettles. He stirred two times clockwise, then three times counter-clockwise, and the crumbled nettles melted as quickly as ice.
At that moment, a startled cry suddenly erupted in the classroom, and a thick green smoke hissed out. A student whose skin had been corroded by a failed potion screamed in pain. Theo jumped, "What's going on?"
"Don't get distracted!" Wade didn't even look over, silently counted to ten in his head, and added the slugs.
"Theo, take the cauldron off."
Theo immediately complied (he was still wearing dragon-hide gloves), while Wade waited a moment longer, adding two porcupine quills, then stirring five times clockwise.
The potion immediately underwent a visible change. The nauseating brownish-green liquid quickly transformed into a vibrant, jelly-like green—exactly the color described in the book for a successfully brewed potion.
Theo looked at the potion in surprise, then at the book, exclaiming, "It worked! Wade, you did it on your first try!"
At the other end of the classroom, Snape, who had just dealt with a potion accident and incidentally made several students cry, heard the commotion and strode over. He bent down and examined it meticulously. Finally, under Theo's nervous gaze, he reluctantly said, "Not bad, it meets the standard. One point added—for each of you."
...
"—Professor Snape rarely gives points to houses other than Slytherin, they say. I mean, it's great to get those lost points back." On the way after class, Theo excitedly told his friend Ryan, "And once our potion is done, we can use the rest of the time to preview the Cough Potion for the next class. The next time Professor Snape asks a question, I definitely won't be speechless!"
Ryan was happy for him and added, "Our group's potion always misses the mark—it has a strange smell. I wonder if we're brewing it for too short a time..."
"Hey, Wade!" A voice called from behind. Michael quickly caught up to Wade and said, "I wanted to ask, how do you get that light green color? I followed Professor Snape's steps exactly too, but for some reason, the color is a bit dark."
"If there were no errors in the steps, it should be a difference in material preparation." Wade looked at his partner, Theo. "Theo prepared the ingredients perfectly; our final product has almost no impurities."
Michael looked at the Hufflepuff in surprise.
Theo seemed unaccustomed to being praised, his face reddening slightly. He quickly changed the subject. "Oh, do you guys have class this afternoon? Want to go to the library together to do homework?"
Before class ended, Snape had assigned them an essay on Pimple-Curing Potion, at least six inches (about 15 centimeters) long.
"No need to rush, right?" Michael was somewhat reluctant. "It's not due tomorrow; there are still several days until Friday!"
He naturally included himself, even though Theo had initially only asked Wade and Ryan.
"I'm going to the library," Wade said. "It's only six inches; I'll finish it quickly. No point in constantly worrying about it."
Ryan also nodded. "Library."
Michael probably had a bit of procrastination. He dawdled, looking longingly at the classmates who were discussing going on a castle adventure or strolling by the Black Lake. Two girls giggled and invited Michael to check out the Quidditch pitch, but for some reason, Michael hesitated for a moment and finally jogged to join Wade's group of three.
"Not going to play?" Wade asked him.
Michael sighed. "If everyone else is going to play, of course I want to too. But since some people are going to get a head start on their homework, I'd feel guilty playing."
...
The Hogwarts library was on the west side of the castle. The space inside was far larger than it appeared from the outside; Wade was sure some kind of space-expanding magic was used here. The library had several levels, with staircases moving between them. Intersecting bookshelves stood silently, packed with thousands of books, and between the shelves were rows of brownish-red desks.
On the first day of term, there were few students in the library. When the four young wizards stood at the entrance, marveling at the countless books, Madam Pince, the librarian, immediately noticed them.
She walked over quickly, looking down at the four, and asked, "First years?"
Theo, who was standing closest, nodded.
"No tearing, ripping, folding, dirtying, damaging, or throwing books! No shouting! No eating in the library! Understood?" Madam Pince said sternly.
Theo quickly nodded, as if hallucinating Professor Snape.
"No going into the Restricted Section! You may browse books in the general section, but no scribbling on them! If you want to take a book out of the library, you must have my permission. Remember that?"
Everyone nodded in unison again.
Madam Pince then asked, "What books are you looking for?"
"Uh... Pimple-Curing Potion... books related to potions," Michael said.
Madam Pince waved her wand in a circle, and a dozen books flew from several bookshelves.
"These should be enough. Go study," Madam Pince said, a very faint smile on her face.
The group, clutching their books, found a spot by the window and sat down. Michael flipped through them, noting that perhaps because there were four of them, there were two copies of each book, and even the thinnest one was an inch thick—how long would it take to read all this?
He randomly flipped through a few, feeling like he hadn't absorbed a single word. He was pondering whether he could first copy a hundred or two words from the textbook, then find a random book to excerpt a few sentences to meet the length requirement, when he heard the scratch-scratch-scratch of a quill on parchment beside him.
"Wade?" Michael asked in surprise. "You already know how to write it so quickly?"
"Hm?" Wade didn't even look up. "It's not that hard."
Several books were spread open in front of him, and in a moment, he had written four or five lines, his handwriting not particularly large.
Not only were Michael and Theo dumbfounded, but even Ryan, who usually didn't talk much, couldn't help but look at what Wade was writing.
Wade looked at their expressions and realized he had momentarily overlooked something—the children in front of him were all eleven years old, not his university classmates who could casually churn out a thousand-word essay. If these children came from wizarding families, they might not even have received systematic schooling. Even if they had attended Muggle primary school, they might not have written many essays.
He didn't mind sharing his essay-writing experience with them.
"Writing an essay is actually very simple," Wade said softly, pulling out a blank piece of parchment and writing on it as he spoke. "Just build a simple framework and fill it with appropriate content. First, a brief introduction to Pimple-Curing Potion; second, the history of this potion, such as who invented it, who improved it, and so on; third, describe the brewing process and precautions; fourth, analyze why a potion might not meet standards, what accidents can occur if brewed improperly, how to deal with those accidents, etc.; fifth, you can analyze in detail the effects of several ingredients and their interactions—you can find this in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and Introduction to Common Potion Ingredients; sixth, describe the symptoms Pimple-Curing Potion treats, the causes of the condition, symptoms, potion usage, past case studies, etc. You can also compare it with similar potions, for example, comparing their ingredients, brewing time, cost, efficacy, and so on. Finally, you can summarize simply and express your own thoughts. There's so much you can write about. Just pick two or three of these points, and you should be able to complete a decent essay."
The three were silent for a while, then suddenly pulled out parchment simultaneously and began to rapidly copy—not writing their own homework, but copying everything Wade had written.
"You're a genius! Wade!" Michael exclaimed in admiration as he copied. "This is practically an essay cheat sheet!"
Theo nodded. "Exactly! I feel like from now on, no matter what essay—never mind six inches, I could write six feet!"
Ryan's pen stopped. He thought for a moment and said seriously, "Six feet is too much! I can't write that much."
Wade and the other two couldn't help but laugh.
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