"Time's up."
The moment the thirty minutes were over, Professor Snape stood and walked to the front of the classroom, facing all the young wizards.
Immediately, the room filled with the rustling of students putting things away before everyone turned toward Snape.
"Pair up. Two per group."
Adam, who was sitting next to Luke, leaned over. "You stay put. I'll go grab the ingredients."
Luke nodded. After practicing in the Room of Requirement last night—plus barely sleeping—he was completely out of it today.
While Adam went to collect the ingredients, Luke slipped into a quick round of deep meditation.
"Luke, got everything."
Luke came out of meditation and got up to help Adam as they divided the work.
The entire classroom fell into a tense kind of busyness—cauldrons softly bubbling, ingredients being chopped and ground with quiet scrapes, plus the occasional anxious clang of someone knocking over a bottle.
Snape, as usual, prowled up and down the aisles.
"Tsk. What exactly are you carving there? Don't tell me that's how you think potion ingredients are prepared. Even a troll wouldn't touch that mess. Ravenclaw, minus two points."
"Sloppy ingredient prep leads directly to unstable potion effects. Or are you hoping to forget how to breathe?"
Snape suddenly stopped next to Luke—but the target of his disdain was Theo.
Theo stared at the crooked, unevenly cut roots in his hands and looked up at Snape. "Professor… how should I cut them?"
Adam snapped his head up, staring at Luke in disbelief, silently mouthing, This makes no sense!
Luke signaled for Adam to calm down, then turned to look.
Snape ignored the staring students, his voice smooth but sharp. "Ah… a question so basic it's almost funny, and yet most of you—"
His gaze swept across the room.
"—tragically overlook it. How to cut. Do you think this is like slicing potatoes?"
Theo kept watching him, waiting for the answer.
Snape pressed his lips together, picked up an untouched root, and held it up to the light.
"Observe. The root is dry. Fibers run lengthwise. Its interior contains volatile, unstable interferon."
"What you must do is not cut it apart, but separate the fibers—maximize the exposed surface area while preventing the remaining moisture from oxidizing too soon."
Snape glanced at Theo's cutting board, then turned to Luke's station. He placed the root down, pinning both ends firmly despite his seemingly gentle touch.
"Hold the knife. Keep the blade perpendicular as you slice."
Before he even finished speaking, he'd already sliced off a paper-thin, perfectly even translucent piece.
"The thickness should be like this. Smooth edges, fibers intact, patterns clean."
Tack—
He set the small knife on Luke's table.
"Now throw away the pitiful scraps you two were working on. Start over. I'm not repeating myself."
"Ravenclaw, minus one point for a messy workstation."
With that, Snape resumed patrolling.
Theo dumped his mutilated root pieces into the waste bin and started over.
Luke turned back, noticing Adam still frozen with that same stunned expression.
"Snap out of it. If you've got questions, ask after class."
By the time the lesson was nearly over, an absurd amount of roots had been consumed.
Because Snape demonstrated once, and then any slightest dissatisfaction—he made students redo their prep entirely.
Five minutes before the bell, only Luke and Adam had managed to finish brewing their potion.
Even then, Snape only gave them a barely-passing mark.
Walking out of Potions, Adam immediately asked Theo, "Dude, did you take some Courage Potion today?"
Theo rolled his eyes. "If that exists, teach me."
"Then why'd you…?" Adam rubbed his head. "You were acting weird. Not like yourself. Pretty unscientific, honestly."
"That was Snape, man."
"You didn't notice he was especially cranky today?" Theo glanced at Luke. "If I hadn't drawn some of the fire, Luke's condition today would've made him Snape's favorite target the entire class."
"Honestly, man," Theo slung an arm around Luke's shoulder, "did you take a Brain Booster or something?"
"Huh?" Luke blinked. Brain Boosters were used to stay mentally sharp.
But with deep meditation, he had no need for such potions.
"Come on. You're acting just like my aunt when she overdoses on her focus potion. Empty-headed, right?" Theo inspected Luke closely. "My aunt takes it when she's stuck writing articles. But if she takes too much—"
"You end up like this."
"Theo's not wrong," Adam added, worried. "You really didn't seem like yourself today. You okay, Luke?"
Luke jumped in place to show he was fine. "I just didn't sleep well last night."
Theo gave him a long, suspicious look before nodding. "Okay… if you're sure."
"But today taught me something," Theo added with a grin.
"What thing?" Adam asked, completely lost at the sudden topic shift.
"If Snape's going to dock points anyway, why not just ask questions after he does it?" Theo said, chuckling as if he'd discovered a cheat code.
Adam gave him a big thumbs-up. "Respect. Snape's basically a final boss for first-years, and you single-handedly found a loophole."
Luke, however, was thoughtful. Snape had answered Theo's question—still sarcastic, but he didn't refuse.
That was something Luke could take advantage of later.
Some potions still weren't up to his standards.
The three headed toward the Great Hall and ran into Nearly Headless Nick along the way. Adam stiffly greeted him, then dragged Luke and Theo away as fast as possible.
Sir Nicholas stayed behind, watching them go with a wistful sigh. "Such polite boys. Haven't seen that in a long time."
Luke looked at Adam—still walking stiffly and awkwardly—and laughed. "You still haven't gotten over it, huh?"
"Gotten over it? My dad literally got me a protective charm for this!"
"Look, the others don't bother me as much. But the Bloody Baron and that guy missing half his head? You can't tell me they're not terrifying!"