The water in the cauldron quickly began to steam. Wade added the snake fang powder, then the nettles, stirring two turns clockwise and three counter-clockwise. The chopped nettles melted rapidly, as if they were ice.
At that moment, a shriek suddenly erupted from across the classroom, and a thick green smoke hissed out. Some students' skin was corroded by their failed potions, and they cried out in pain. Theo jumped, "What happened?"
"Don't get distracted!" Wade didn't even look over, silently counted ten seconds, and added the slugs.
"Theo, move the cauldron."
Theo immediately complied (he was still wearing his dragon-hide gloves). Wade waited a moment, then added two porcupine quills and stirred five more turns clockwise.
The potion instantly underwent a visible transformation. The brownish-green, disgusting liquid quickly turned into a gleaming green, jelly-like substance—precisely the color described in the book as the sign of a successful potion.
Theo looked at the potion in surprise, then at the book, exclaiming, "It worked! Wade, you did it on your first try!"
Across the classroom, Snape, who had just finished dealing with a potion accident and scolding several students until they cried, heard the exclamation and strode over. He bent down and examined the potion carefully. Finally, under Theo's nervous gaze, he grudgingly said, "Not bad. It meets the standard. One point—each."
"—They say Professor Snape rarely awards points to houses other than Slytherin. I mean, it's great that we got the deducted points back!" Theo said excitedly to his friend Ryan on the way out of class. "And after we finished our potion, we even had time to preview the Cough Potion for the next class. Next time Professor Snape asks a question, I won't be speechless!"
Ryan was happy for him and added, "Our group's potion was always just a bit off—it had a weird smell. I wonder if we brewed it for too short a time..."
"Hey, Wade!" A voice called from behind, and Michael quickly caught up to Wade, saying, "I wanted to ask, how did you get that pale green color? I followed Professor Snape's steps exactly, but for some reason, mine came out a bit dark."
"If there were no mistakes in the steps, it's probably a difference in material preparation," Wade said, looking at his partner Theo. "Theo prepared the materials perfectly; our final product had almost no impurities."
Michael looked at the Hufflepuff in surprise.
Theo seemed unaccustomed to being praised, his face reddening slightly, and he quickly changed the subject, "Right, do you guys have any more classes this afternoon? How about we go to the library together to do homework?"
Before class ended, Snape had assigned them an essay on the Boil Cure, at least six inches (about 15 centimeters) long.
"Do we have to rush it?" Michael was reluctant. "It's not due tomorrow; we have 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. That way, I won't have to keep thinking about it."
Ryan also nodded, "Library."
Michael, probably suffering from a bit of procrastination, shuffled his feet, looking longingly at the students who were discussing exploring the castle or taking a walk 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 before finally jogging to join Wade's trio.
"Aren't you going to play?" Wade asked him.
Michael sighed, "If everyone else were playing, of course I'd want to. But since someone's going to do their homework early, I'd feel guilty if I played."
Hogwarts' library was located on the west side of the castle. Its interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside; Wade was sure some kind of space-expanding charm had been used here. The library had several levels, with moving staircases crisscrossing between them. Thousands upon thousands of books were silently arranged on towering shelves, with rows of brownish-black desks placed between them.
On the first day of term, there were few students in the library. As the four young wizards stood at the entrance, gazing in awe at the countless books, the librarian, Madam Pince, immediately noticed them.
She quickly walked over, looking down at the four of them, and asked, "First-years?"
Theo, standing at the front, nodded.
"No tearing, ripping, folding, dirtying, damaging, or throwing books! No shouting! No eating in the library, understand?" Madam Pince said sternly.
Theo quickly nodded, as if hallucinating Professor Snape.
"Do not go into the Restricted Section. Books in the general section can be browsed, but do not write or draw in them! If you wish to take a book out of the library, you must have my permission, understood?"
The group all nodded again.
Madam Pince then asked, "What books are you looking for?"
"Uh... Boil Cure... books related to Potions," Michael said.
Madam Pince waved her wand in a circle, and over a dozen books flew from several shelves.
"These should be enough. Go study," Madam Pince said, a faint smile appearing on her face.
The few of them, clutching their books, found a seat by a window. Michael flipped through them. Perhaps considering 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 idly flipped through a few, feeling like he wasn't absorbing a single word. He was just wondering if he could copy a hundred or two words from the textbook and then casually pick a book to extract a few sentences to meet the length requirement when he heard the scratching sound of a quill moving across parchment beside him.
"Wade?" Michael asked in surprise, "You already know how to write it?"
"Hm?" Wade didn't even look up. "It's not that hard."
Several books were spread open in front of him, and in just a moment, he had already 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 lean over to see what Wade was writing.
Wade looked at their expressions and realized he had momentarily overlooked something—these children were all eleven years old; they weren't like his university classmates who could churn out essays of a thousand words or more with ease. If these children came from wizarding families, they might not even have received any formal schooling, and even if they had attended Muggle primary schools, they might not have written many essays.
He didn't mind sharing his essay-writing experience with them.
"Writing an essay is actually quite simple," Wade said softly, pulling out a blank piece of parchment and writing as he spoke. "You just need to build a simple framework and fill it with appropriate content. First, a brief introduction to the Boil Cure; second, the history of this potion, such as who invented it, who improved it, and so on; third, the brewing process and precautions; fourth, analyze the reasons if the potion doesn't meet standards, what accidents can occur if brewed improperly, how to handle those accidents, etc.; fifth, you can analyze in detail the uses of several ingredients and their interactions—you can find this in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and A Guide to Common Potion Ingredients; sixth, discuss the ailments the Boil Cure treats, the causes of the condition, its symptoms, how to use the potion, past cases, and you can also compare it with similar potions, such as their ingredients, brewing time, cost, and effectiveness. Finally, you can summarize briefly and write your own thoughts. There's so much you can write about. You just choose two or three points, and you should be able to complete a satisfactory essay."
The three of them were silent for a while, then suddenly pulled out parchment at the same time and began to quickly copy—not their assignments, but everything Wade had written down.
"You're a genius, Wade!" Michael exclaimed, marveling as he copied. "This is practically an essay cheat sheet!"
Theo nodded, "Exactly! I feel like from now on, no matter what essay it is—forget six inches, I could write six feet!"
Ryan paused his pen. He thought for a moment, then seriously said, "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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