Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

“Hello, my name is Theo, Theo Mancini. This is Ryan Caro.” The brown-haired Hufflepuff boy greeted Wade first: “And you are—?”

“Wade Gray”.

“Wade?” Theo Mancini asked curiously, “Do you know our professor for this class—”

The blond boy named Ryan suddenly said, "Theo, be quiet." He said, "The professor is here."

He had barely finished speaking when the classroom door was flung open, and a man in a black wizard's robe strode in. His face was cold and his aura menacing; many students instinctively shrank back, and the classroom fell silent.

Snape scanned the students in the classroom, took out the roster and began to call roll. Seeing that no one was late for the first class, his expression finally softened a little.

"Potion making is a very precise subject—" Snape said in a low, almost whispered voice, "It requires strict adherence to procedures and precise proportions. If anyone alters the potion recipe without authorization, or arbitrarily adds or subtracts ingredients, or foolishly waves their wand in an attempt to cover up a mistake—"

His cold gaze swept over the silent freshmen, focusing particularly on the Hufflepuff students wearing yellow and black striped ties—

"I will make him realize how terrible the consequences of using the wrong potion can be."

Theo nervously swallowed, as if Snape's words were spoken directly to him. Wade suddenly felt uneasy—he had chosen a corner to avoid distractions, but it seemed like there was a landmine buried right next to him.

Snape seemed to have radar in his head, immediately sensing the unease of a young badger. Without even looking at the roster, he said, "Theo Mancini!"

"Yes!" Theo hurriedly stood up, almost knocking over the crucible. "Yes, Professor."

"How do you deal with the slugs when you're making the scabies medicine?" Snape asked.

Seven or eight arms were raised in unison in the classroom, most of them Ravenclaw students.

Good news—Snape wasn't deliberately making things difficult for the students; the questions he asked were exactly what was in the first chapter of the textbook.

Bad news—Theo didn't preview the textbook.

The boy said tremblingly, "I—I don't know, sir."

"Sit down!" Snape said coldly. "One point deducted from Hufflepuff for not having previewed the text. Wade Grey!"

He casually picked Ravenclaw, who was sitting next to him.

Wade immediately stood up: "Cook for five minutes, sir."

“Correct answer.” Snape nodded, but instead of awarding Ravenclaw points, he immediately asked another question: “Michael Corner, what is the use of nettles?”

“Yes—it can treat inflammation, hair loss—and stop bleeding,” Michael stammered.

“Not bad.” Snape nodded, gesturing for him to sit down, then asked, “Hannah Abbott? When should Porcupine Thorn join?”

The blonde girl stood up with tears in her eyes, as if she would burst into tears if Snape said another word.

Snape looked away and called out another name: "Ryan Carroll?"

Ryan had already quickly flipped through the book when he started asking the question, and this particular question was specifically emphasized in the book.

"—After you turn off the engine, Professor," Ryan said, trying to remain calm.

Snape glanced down at the open textbook: "I hope you can memorize the knowledge beforehand, instead of cramming in class and praying for Merlin's favor!"

Ryan's lips were still tightly pressed together as he sat down, and Theo patted his arm reassuringly.

Snape wasn't targeting any one person in this lesson—he was targeting everyone. His barrage of questions gave everyone a rude awakening, and by the time the lesson officially began, Hufflepuff had lost thirteen points, and Ravenclaw had lost five.

In the ensuing silence, Snape began instructing the group on how to prepare the scabies potion. He divided them into pairs according to their seating arrangement, then with a wave of his wand, detailed steps appeared on the blackboard. The group quickly scribbled down their instructions. Wade noticed that the steps on the blackboard differed slightly from those in the book; following the instructions exactly wouldn't produce the desired effect for the professor.

"Sorry," Theo said softly, having been assigned to the same group as Wade according to seating arrangements. "I didn't preview the text beforehand, but I'll try my best not to hold you back."

His amber eyes were so sincere that Wade's initial frustration at being grouped with a "bad student" eased.

“It’s nothing,” Wade said. “Making scabies medicine is very simple. As long as you follow the steps, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”

Theo went to the shelf next to him to get the medicinal herbs. Wade weighed them on a scale and used a knife to push the snake's fangs to Theo: "You handle the ingredients, I'll take care of the decoction."

"it is good."

Theo responded, put on protective dragon-skin gloves, and then ground the snake fangs into powder in a mortar. Vader, meanwhile, disdainfully picked up four slugs with tweezers and placed them into a cauldron to steam, carefully controlling the heat with his wand.

A few minutes later, Wade removed the discolored slugs and set them aside. He changed the water and reheated it, reviewing the cooking process once again. Theo, who was nearby, had already processed the snake tooth powder and was now chopping up the dried nettles.

Wade was somewhat surprised to find that although the Hufflepuff student seemed a bit clumsy, he was very meticulous, and the powder he processed was fine and even, without any rough particles or impurities.

Perhaps this partner isn't so bad after all.

Wade thought to himself.

Chapter 10 Library

White steam quickly rose from the water in the crucible. Wade added snake tooth powder and nettles, stirring twice clockwise and three times counterclockwise. The nettle fragments melted rapidly, as if they were ice cubes.

Suddenly, screams erupted in the classroom, and a thick plume of green smoke hissed out. Students were screaming in pain as their skin was corroded by the failed potion. Theo was startled. "What's going on?"

"Don't get distracted!" Wade didn't even look over there, silently counted to ten in his mind, and added the slug to the list as well.

"Theo, open the crucible."

Theo immediately carried out the order (he was still wearing dragon-skin gloves), while Wade waited a moment before adding two porcupine quills and stirring five times clockwise.

The medicine immediately underwent a visible change; the disgusting brownish-green liquid quickly turned into a bright green, jelly-like color—exactly the color described in the book after the medicine was successfully prepared.

Theo looked at the potion in surprise, then at the book, and exclaimed, "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 incident and inadvertently made a few students cry, heard the noise and strode over. He lowered his head, carefully examined them, and finally, under Theo's tense gaze, reluctantly said, "Not bad, they meet the standard. Add one point—each person."

........................

"—I heard Professor Snape rarely gives extra points to houses other than Slytherin. I mean, it's great to be able to get those points back." On the way home from get out of class, Theo excitedly told his friend Ryan, "And after we finish our potion, we can use the remaining time to preview the cough syrup for the next class. Next time Professor Snape asks a question, I definitely won't be completely speechless!"

Ryan was happy for him too, and said, "Our group's potions have always been a little off—they have a strange smell. I wonder if it's because we haven't been brewing them long enough..."

"Hey, Wade!" a voice came from behind. Michael quickly caught up with Wade and said, "I wanted to ask how that pale green color was made? I followed Professor Snape's steps exactly, but for some reason, the color is a bit dark."

“If there were no mistakes in the steps, it must be a difference in the material handling.” Wade looked at his partner Theo: “Theo handled the materials perfectly, and our final product has almost no impurities.”

Michael looked at the Hufflepuff in surprise.

Theo seemed a little uncomfortable with being praised, his face flushing slightly. He quickly changed the subject: "By the way, do you guys have classes this afternoon? How about we go to the library to do our homework together?"

Before get out of class ended, Snape asked them to write a paper on scabies medicine, at least six inches (about 15 centimeters) long.

"Isn't there a need to rush?" Michael said, somewhat displeased. "It's not due tomorrow; there are still several days until Friday!"

He naturally included himself in the calculation, 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. It’ll save me from worrying about it.”

Ryan nodded: "The library."

Michael seemed to have a bit of a procrastination problem; he dawdled, looking longingly at his classmates who were discussing going on an adventure to the castle or a walk by the Black Lake. Two girls giggled and invited Michael to go check out the Quidditch pitch, but for some reason, Michael hesitated for a moment before finally jogging over to join Wade and his two friends.

"Aren't you going to play?" Wade asked him.

Michael sighed, "If everyone goes to play, of course I want to go too. But if someone goes to do their homework beforehand, I feel guilty when I play."

..............................

Hogwarts' library is located on the west side of the castle. The space inside is much larger than it appears from the outside, and Vader is certain that some kind of space-expanding magic has been used. The library has several floors, with several staircases moving through it. The crisscrossing bookshelves are silently arranged, holding thousands upon thousands of books, and between the bookshelves are rows of brown desks.

On the first day of school, there were very few students in the library. When four young wizards stood at the entrance, gazing in awe at the countless books, Mrs. Pince, the librarian, immediately noticed them.

She strode over, looked down at the four of them, and asked, "New students?"

Theo, who was standing at the front, nodded.

"No scratching, tearing, folding, soiling, damaging, or throwing books; no making noise; no eating in the library, understand?" Mrs. Pince said sternly.

Theo nodded quickly, as if he were hallucinating Professor Snape.

"No going to the restricted section. You can look at the books in the regular section, but you are not allowed to scribble or draw on them! If you want to take them out of the library, you must get my permission, understand?"

Everyone nodded in unison.

Mrs. Pince then asked, "What book are you looking for?"

“Uh… scabies potion… a book about potions,” Michael said.

Mrs. Pince waved her wand in a circle, and a dozen books flew over from several bookshelves.

“That should be enough. Go and study,” Mrs. Pince said with a very faint smile.

The group, carrying their books, found a seat by the window. Michael flipped through the books, perhaps considering there were four of them, and that they had two of each type of book, the thinnest of which was an inch thick—how long would it take to finish reading them?

He flipped through a few books at random, but felt like he hadn't absorbed a single word. He wondered if he could copy a hundred or two hundred words of the text first, and then find a book to copy a few sentences to make up the length. Just then, he heard the sound of a quill pen swishing across parchment next to him.

“Wade?” Michael asked in surprise, “You figured out how to write it so quickly?”

"Hmm?" Wade didn't even look up. "It's not that difficult."

He had several books spread out in front of him, and in a short while he wrote four or five lines, but the characters were not particularly large.

Not only were Michael and Theo speechless, but even Ryan, who was usually quiet, couldn't help but look at what Wade had written.

Looking at the expressions on everyone's faces, Wade realized he had momentarily overlooked something—the children in front of him were all eleven years old, unlike his college classmates who could easily cobble together papers of a thousand or eight hundred words. If these children came from wizarding families, they might not have even received a systematic school education, or even if they had attended a Muggle school for elementary education, they might not have written many papers.

He didn't mind sharing his thesis experience with a few people.

“Writing a paper is actually quite simple.” Wade pulled out a blank sheet of parchment and began writing on it while whispering, “Just create a simple framework and fill it with appropriate content. First, briefly introduce the scabies potion; second, the history of this potion, such as who invented it and who improved it; third, describe the preparation process and precautions; fourth, analyze why the potion might not meet the standards, what accidents might occur if it is improperly prepared, and how to handle such accidents; fifth, you can analyze in detail the effects of several ingredients and their interactions, you can refer to 'A Thousand Magical Herbs' and 'Introduction to Common Potion Ingredients' for this; sixth, describe the scabies potion’s corresponding symptoms, the causes of the disease, the symptoms, the potion’s usage, past cases, etc. You can also compare it with similar potions, such as comparing their ingredients, brewing time, cost, efficacy, etc. Finally, you can briefly summarize and write down your own thoughts. There are so many things you can write about, just choose two or three points and you should be able to complete a qualified paper.”

The three remained silent for a while, then suddenly pulled out parchment at the same time and began to copy quickly—not to do homework, but to copy down everything that Wade had written.

"You're a genius! Wade!" Michael exclaimed, clicking his tongue in admiration as he copied. "This is practically a secret manual for academic papers!"