"Found it!" Marcel couldn't help but feel pleased at having quickly found the information he wanted.
He read the contents of the book line by line, silently reciting in his head: "Fairies. Ministry of Magic Classification: XX. Fairies carry a small, wand-like twig..."
That afternoon, Marcel had eagerly opened one of the books he had ordered, a Potions text called The Book of Potions. It was an ancient book published in the 16th century. If he hadn't seen it on an old book list at Flourish and Blotts, he probably would have missed it entirely.
In this potions book, Marcel had found a very interesting ingredient: Fairy wings.
This was a rather rare potion ingredient. Although fairies do not die from losing their wings, their vain nature means they would never willingly allow someone to take them.
"...Fairy wings possess unique magical properties. They can allow a fairy to shine dazzlingly when it needs to show off, and they can also conceal its tracks when it needs to hide."
"If I could use these wings as a primary ingredient, perhaps I could brew a very special kind of invisibility potion," Marcel couldn't help but speculate.
How to make a person invisible was a fascinating problem. Besides the complicated-to-craft Invisibility Cloak and the highly difficult Disillusionment Charm, only a few rare potions could achieve the effect of allowing an adult wizard to perfectly conceal themselves. And these magical potions were, without exception, extremely expensive, as some of their ingredients were incredibly hard to find.
This led Marcel to the seemingly impractical idea, "Why not research a new invisibility potion myself?"
Although Marcel knew he might not succeed, he saw it as an opportunity for a personal challenge.
Opportunities must be created by oneself. Marcel had always believed this.
"Excuse me, do you know where the books on 'how to cultivate valerian' are kept?" Just as Marcel was about to put the book back on the shelf, he suddenly heard a soft voice behind him.
The voice was so quiet that Marcel thought he might have misheard. To confirm, he turned his head.
"Er, what did you say?"
Behind Marcel, a girl completely enveloped in a large Slytherin robe stood quietly. She wore a wide-brimmed, pointed hat that hid most of her face. Marcel could only see a pair of small, delicate pink lips.
"Excuse me, do you know where the books on 'how to cultivate valerian' are kept?"
The petite girl repeated her words verbatim, her monotonous tone reminding Marcel of Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic.
"Er, um, Herbology books should be over there," Marcel subconsciously pointed to the shelf area across from them, not far away.
As soon as he finished speaking, the mysterious Slytherin girl immediately turned and walked away, without even a word of thanks.
"What was that about?" Marcel stared blankly at the girl's retreating back, feeling completely ignored.
It seemed that in that girl's eyes, Marcel was no different from a tree on the side of the road—an object not worthy of attention.
He tilted his head and thought for a moment. At least in his memory, he could find no trace of this enigmatic Slytherin girl.
"Well, whatever. I can ask about her if I get the chance. She looks like a first-year," Marcel shook his head and headed toward the Potions section of the library.
Perhaps he would have to come to the library more often in the future. He found the collection of books here to be truly astonishing. If he searched carefully, he was sure to make some significant discoveries.
In the days that followed, besides attending classes with his classmates, Marcel spent most of his free time in the fifth-floor library.
Most of the time, students coming to the library would see the same scene.
At a long reading table near the Potions and Herbology shelves, one spot was always buried under a mountain of books. The books were of all sizes and thicknesses, but the vast majority were theoretical texts that only upper-year students or even teachers would borrow.
And the librarian, Madam Pince, was usually not far away, staring daggers at this spot as if the person sitting there were trying to violate her children, her gaze sharp and furious.
If you wanted to see who was sitting there, you had to circle around to the back, because the front was completely blocked by a wall of books.
Inadvertently, Marcel had become a topic of conversation among the Hogwarts students.
This was not only due to his conspicuous behavior in the library, but more so because he was the only non-Slytherin student who could exchange a few words with Snape without being met with cold sarcasm.
Even the know-it-all Miss Granger, who excelled in Potions, couldn't manage that.
"That's just because Hermione is a Gryffindor," Marcel said with a shake of his head when Ernie told him about this rumor.
As a student, Miss Granger was undoubtedly outstanding, and Marcel had to acknowledge the tremendous effort she put in. But again, he didn't think her all-encompassing learning method was a good choice, especially for a wizard.
During this time, the more he studied, the more certain he became of this point: magical knowledge was simply too vast and profound. A deep study of just one subject, like Potions, could potentially take up his entire life.
…
When a person is immersed in something, time passes very quickly. In the blink of an eye, a week had gone by.
During this time, Marcel did not encounter the mysterious Slytherin girl again, but his understanding of Potions had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Marcel had already completely absorbed the potions books he had ordered, and he had made several major breakthroughs regarding his "new invisibility potion."
Marcel had reached a conclusion in his research on how fairy wings achieve their concealing effect. It was a new category, different from the "optical invisibility" of Invisibility Cloaks and the Disillusionment Charm, and the "environmental blending invisibility" of several ancient potion formulas. This was "perception-blocking invisibility."
This was undoubtedly a very effective method of invisibility. Although you objectively remained unchanged, others were simply unable to "perceive" your existence.
"But this stuff is so expensive!" Marcel slumped onto the table with a heavy sigh.
He had calculated that for a wizard to completely conceal their presence, the amount of wings required in the formula would have to reach a very high number.
"One portion of 'Fairy Wings' is 8 Galleons, so three portions are 24 Galleons. Add in the other ingredients and catalysts, and the cost of one finished bottle is a full 43 Galleons..." At this point in his calculation, Marcel sighed again. "This is highway robbery!"
"...Wait! Why am I even worrying about this!" Suddenly, as if he had discovered a new continent, Marcel shot to his feet.
"Silence in the library!" Madam Pince shrieked hysterically.
"...She doesn't seem to care about her own noise," a few Ravenclaw girls whispered not far away.
Marcel apologized profusely to Madam Pince with an embarrassed look, then sat back down in his pile of books.
Without a doubt, what did a new, effective potion mean? It meant wealth!
Compared to the rarity and expense of the few existing invisibility potions, Marcel's potion was already cheap enough. In the entire wizarding world, the price of rare potions had always remained high. Potions Masters like Snape, who had created and improved several significantly effective and valuable potion formulas, were in high demand.
If Snape hadn't been entangled in so many other stories, thus lacking the ambition for it, he would have long since become an exclusive consultant for some potion manufacturer or noble family.
So what if he had no money? Since ancient times, what Potions Master has ever truly been poor? As long as he carefully chose his sales channels, the Galleons might not come rolling in, but it would certainly be more than enough to support his continued research. And when it came to deals, that was what Marcel was best at.
Early the next morning, he had Malfa send out a shopping list for him. He wanted to start brewing this potion immediately. But before that, there were a few practical preparation problems that needed to be solved.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
During the lunch break, Marcel knocked for the first time on the door that almost no one would dare to knock on: the door to Professor Snape's Potions office.
"Who is it?" The same gloomy and indifferent tone, making the visitor feel completely unwelcome.
"Professor Snape, it's me, Marcel Maclean."
"...Come in," the voice inside paused before answering.
Marcel turned the handle, opened the door to the gloomy, dark room, and walked in quickly.
"Professor Snape, I have a few questions about Potions I'd like to ask you. I hope I'm not disturbing you," Marcel chose his words carefully, trying to be as polite as possible.
Snape glanced at him without expression, then said with a hint of impatience, "Ask."
"In fact, I encountered a few questions while studying Potions books. For example, regarding Hister's Second Law, how should one handle the anti-magic reaction that occurs during the actual brewing process to allow the original solution to maintain a stable magical state?" Marcel nodded and quickly presented his question.
"Hmph," Snape snorted coldly, his brows furrowing.