Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 31 Potions Class

Tuesday morning was Charms class, taught by a strangely small wizard named Professor Flitwick. He had to stand on a stack of books to reach the lectern.

When the first class began, he took out the roster and called roll. When he called Harry's name, Harry screamed excitedly, fell to the ground, and disappeared.

Every Wednesday night, they would use a telescope to observe the night sky, learning the names of different stars and the trajectories of planets.

Three times a week, they would be taken by a short, stout witch named Sprout to the greenhouse behind the castle to study herbalism, learn how to cultivate these strange plants and fungi, and understand their uses.

For some reason, this class made Tiera exceptionally excited.

Harry noticed that Tyrell would always chase after Professor Sprout with questions after each get out of class.

At first, Professor Sprout would answer with great delight, but gradually, Harry could sense a hint of helplessness in the kind, plump witch's tone.

The most tedious course was probably History of Magic, which was also the only course taught by a ghost. The story goes that Professor Binns fell asleep in front of the fireplace in the faculty lounge and forgot to bring his body with him when he went to class the next morning, which shows how old Professor Binns really was.

During class, Professor Binns lectured in a monotonous and tedious voice, while the students hastily jotted down names and dates, confusing the villain Murrick with the eccentric Yurik.

Even Tyrell wasn't as attentive in this class as she was in other subjects. Sitting next to Harry, Tyrell was engrossed in a book called "An Introduction to Alchemy," which left Harry feeling dizzy.

Because the lessons were so boring, Harry didn't bring any other books to read, and he couldn't understand the books Tyrell brought.

So Harry had no choice but to lie on his side on the table and stare at Tyella.

Tiera is very beautiful.

Harry had to admit that at an age when all children were either dirty or messy, Tyrell's hair was always neatly combed and her face was as clean as a beautiful porcelain doll.

He looks even more like it when he's reading, Harry thought.

Tiera usually has a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth, with a faint smile.

But when he is focused on reading, his face will instantly become expressionless, even a little stiff.

Harry then discovered Tyrell's peculiar habit when reading.

Besides staring at the book, Tierra's hands seemed to be tracing every line and every word.

“Since you’re so bored…” Tierra suddenly looked up, took out a dozen neatly folded parchments from her bag, spread them out, and placed them on Harry’s desk.

“Why don’t we memorize this potions notebook?” Tierra said. “It’s some common knowledge I’ve summarized over the course of a month this summer. We have potions class every Friday, and since we’ve never been exposed to magic before, we should work harder than others.”

"Bezoar? Beef stomach? What are these?"

Although Tiera's notes were concise and neatly written, with each point of knowledge on a separate line and large spaces between lines, different key points were marked with different colors of ink.

But Harry still felt dizzy and confused.

However, there are also interesting facts. For example, narcissus root powder and mugwort can be combined to make a very potent sleeping pill called "life-and-death water".

Harry was considering whether he should get his cousin Dudley a drink and then lie and say it was a bubble drink.

Friday was fast approaching, and Harry and Ron finally found their way to the dining hall for breakfast without getting lost on the moving stairs.

"What classes do we have today?" Harry asked Ron as he added sugar to his cereal.

“Two Potions lessons with the Slytherin students,” Ron said, his mouth full of grease. Tyella and Hermione were reading nearby. They would be happy to answer Harry and Ron’s academic questions, but not these kinds of questions.

“Snape is the Head of Slytherin, and everyone says he favors his own students. Now we’ll see if that’s true.” “Hopefully Professor McGonagall will favor us too,” Harry said. Professor McGonagall is the Head of Gryffindor, but she still gave them a ton of homework yesterday.

Just then, the email arrived.

Harry was used to it by now. But he was quite startled when a hundred or so owls suddenly flew into the dining room during breakfast on the first day.

The owls flew around the dining table until they found their owners and dropped letters or packages on their laps.

Tierra silently stuffed the remaining half of the fried egg on the plate into her mouth, while Hermione had already finished the glass of juice next to her the moment she heard the first owl call, to prevent the owl from hitting them.

So far, Hedwig has not brought Harry anything.

Sometimes it would fly in and peck at Harry's ear, begging for a small bite of toast, before flying back to the owlhouse to sleep with the other owls on campus.

But this morning, it fluttered its wings and landed between the jam dish and the sugar jar, placing a note on Harry's plate. Harry immediately opened the note.

It was written in very messy handwriting:

Dear Harry,
I know you don't have classes on Friday afternoon. Would you be willing to come over for tea with me around 3 PM? I'd like to know how your first week went. Please let Hedwig give me an answer.

Hagrid
Harry borrowed a quill from Ron and hastily wrote on the back of the note:

"Okay, I'd love to. See you in a bit."

Then Hedwig flew away.

Fortunately, Harry still had the hope of having tea with Hagrid, because Potions was the subject Harry hated the most after entering Hogwarts.

At the opening banquet, Harry sensed that Professor Snape didn't like him, so he was particularly well-behaved in class and arrived at the classroom ten minutes early.

Potions class was held in a dark classroom in the basement of Hogwarts.

It's cold and damp here, and rows of glass jars line the walls, each containing a specimen of an animal.

Like Flitwick, Snape would pick up the roster as soon as class started, and like Flitwick, he would always stop when Harry's name was called.

“Oh, yes,” Snape said quietly. “Harry Potter, this is our newest! A very famous person.”

Harry always felt there was something sarcastic or unsettling about Snape's tone.

“You have come here to learn the precise science and rigorous process of potion-making.” Snape’s voice was almost a whisper, but everyone heard every word he said.

Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape also possessed the power to effortlessly maintain order in the classroom.

"Since there are no fools waving wands here, many of you won't believe this is magic. I don't expect you to truly appreciate the beauty of that cauldron simmering slowly, steaming and emitting a wonderful aroma. You won't truly understand the wondrous power of the fluid flowing into people's veins, that makes people's hearts flutter and their minds wander... I can teach you how to increase your reputation, brew glory, and even stop death, but there's one condition: you must not be the kind of fools I often encounter."

After he finished his captivating opening remarks, the entire class fell silent.

Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows and exchanged a glance.

Hermione Granger practically moved to the edge of the chair, leaning forward as if eager to prove she wasn't a fool.

It seemed that only Tierra remained unmoved in the entire classroom, as calm as a porcelain doll with an expressionless face.

“Potter!” Snape exclaimed suddenly. “What would I get if I added narcissus root powder to wormwood infusion?”

Today's experiments were busy, but thankfully there are many things in the world that require waiting, so I'm taking advantage of a break to bring you this belated update~
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(End of this chapter)