Snape looked at the list, then at Charlie.
"Are you sure you know the uses for these ingredients?"
"Of course." Charlie nodded.
"Moonstone powder can enhance the stability of the Potion, Mandrake root has restorative effects..."
Snape waved his hand, cutting him off.
"Alright, since you're so confident, go get them yourself."
He pointed to the back of the storeroom, his tone clearly impatient.
"I don't have time to pick them out one by one for you."
Charlie blinked.
"I can just take whatever I want?"
"Take what you need." Snape didn't even look at Charlie.
Anyway, Charlie said he'd pay, so let him take it. How much could he possibly take?
As soon as he finished speaking, an irrepressible smile appeared on Charlie's face.
He quickly lowered his head, pretending to be earnestly searching for ingredients.
In reality, his lips were almost grinning to his ears.
Professor Snape, oh Professor Snape, you're digging your own grave.
Charlie searched through the storeroom.
Moonstone powder, found it.
Three large jars, all taken.
Mandrake root, also found it.
An entire box, unceremoniously carried away.
Toad brains, these were a bit disgusting, but good stuff nonetheless.
Snape actually had over a dozen of them here; Charlie's eyes lit up.
"[Your Majesty is insatiably greedy, tyrant points +5]"
Charlie ignored the system, and as he put things into his bag, he exclaimed,
"Professor Snape is truly generous."
"Don't worry, I won't let you suffer a loss. I'll definitely pay you market price."
Snape heard the commotion and looked up.
That glance almost gave him a heart attack.
On the storeroom shelves, the neatly arranged bottles and jars now had a large empty space.
Snape's eyelid began to twitch frantically.
Charlie was even still frantically stocking up.
"Mr. White." He gritted his teeth.
"Isn't taking this much enough?"
This was an hint for Charlie to stop, not to go too far.
Charlie, however, either genuinely didn't understand or pretended not to, nodding repeatedly.
"Enough, enough, this is definitely enough."
"You don't need to restock for me. I must say, Professor Snape, you are truly too generous!"
Snape:???
When did I say I would restock for you?
I was hinting for you to stop taking things!
But the words were already out, and he couldn't take them back.
Snape could only watch helplessly as Charlie continued to ransack the storeroom.
Dragon's blood, taken.
Phoenix tears, also taken.
With each item he took, Charlie would exclaim:
"Professor Snape, you are truly too kind!"
Snape's face grew increasingly grim.
He now wished he could slap himself twice.
The last time he felt such a strong urge to slap himself was the last time.
Why did he say 'take whatever you want'?
Now, the entire storeroom was almost empty.
Charlie finally picked out all the ingredients on the list, then stopped, satisfied.
The once abundant shelves in the storeroom were now empty, looking particularly desolate.
"Alright, that's all." Charlie clapped his hands.
"Professor Snape, I will never forget your generosity."
Without waiting for Snape to speak, Charlie pulled out a large chunk of gold, as big as a fist, from his robes.
"This should be enough, right?" Charlie placed the gold on the table.
At the current exchange rate, one gram of gold could be exchanged for two Galleons.
This large chunk of gold was more than enough, with plenty left over.
(Galleons are not pure gold. The original text did not specify the exchange rate between gold and Galleons. Based on the price of gold in 1992, approximately $12.5 per gram, and a pound being worth more than a dollar, with Rowling stating five pounds equals one Galleon, it works out to about two Galleons per gram of gold.)
Snape looked at the gold on the table, his emotions complex.
The money was indeed enough.
But the problem was, he wasn't short on money at all.
What he lacked were these precious ingredients.
Some ingredients required special channels to obtain, while others required a long wait.
It would take at least a month to replenish these ingredients.
"Then I'll take my leave, Professor Snape."
"Thank you so much today. Your generosity deeply moves me."
"If I get the chance in the future, I will definitely repay you well."
Charlie quickly packed his things and ran off, afraid that Snape would change his mind.
After Charlie had gone far, Snape slowly turned to look at his storeroom.
The empty shelves looked particularly glaring in his eyes.
He took a deep breath and silently swore to himself.
From now on, this storeroom is off-limits to Charlie and Trolls!
Charlie returned to his undetectable extension trunk and organized the ingredients he had acquired from Snape.
Judy and Norbert were napping on a pile of gold; the two creatures were getting along quite well.
Seeing Charlie enter, they both ran up to him, fawning over their 'big daddy'.
Charlie shooed away the Dragon and the Niffler, found an empty spot, and set up his Potion-making equipment.
The recipe for the healing potion appeared in his mind.
Brewing the healing potion would take a full month, during which ingredients had to be added regularly, without the slightest error.
Fortunately, with the undetectable extension trunk providing an independent space, there was no need to worry about being disturbed.
Charlie set up the cauldron, lit the fire, and added the prepared ingredients one by one.
He also slowly injected his magic into the liquid, as required by the recipe.
His Level 9 Potion talent came into play, and this step proceeded quite smoothly.
His magic perfectly blended with the liquid, without any rejection reaction.
"It seems the talent points were well spent."
Charlie nodded with satisfaction.
If it had been with his previous Level 6 Potion talent, this step would definitely not have been so easy.
Now, he just had to wait a month and add some other ingredients midway through.
However, this step wasn't difficult; even Neville could do it well... A few more days passed, and it was the last day of detention for Charlie, Harry, and the others.
Hagrid seemed to be in a good mood, immediately asking about Norbert's condition upon seeing them.
"Charlie, how's Norbert doing these days? Is he alright?"
"Norbert is very well." Charlie replied with a smile.
"He loves life in the trunk. Besides eating and sleeping, he occasionally flies around in the small forest."
"Really?" Hagrid's beard trembled with excitement.
"He can fly?"
"He can fly. Although he doesn't fly high, he can indeed leave the ground."
Harry interjected from the side:
"Hagrid, you should go see him. Norbert is bigger than Fang now."
"And he listens to Charlie especially well." Ron added.
"It's like he's a different Dragon."
"You really should learn how to train Dragons from Charlie."
Hagrid beamed with joy, wishing he could run to see Norbert immediately.
Hermione, watching the group's picnic-like state, couldn't help but wonder, who still remembers that we're supposed to be in detention?
Hagrid, relieved to hear about Norbert's condition, then said,
"Alright, alright, we should start today's patrol."
Hagrid picked up his crossbow and led them deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
"Today's route is longer. We're going to check out another path."
The group followed behind Hagrid, chatting and laughing along the way.
After about half an hour, Hagrid suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
He frowned and crouched down to examine the ground.
"What's wrong?" Harry curiously leaned over.
Hagrid's expression instantly became serious.
At his feet, a pool of shimmering silver-white blood was faintly glowing.
"Something's terribly wrong."
Hagrid's voice became heavy, and the previous relaxed atmosphere vanished.
"This is Unicorn blood."
-------------------------------
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