Potions Classroom.
Located in the dungeon, it was cold and damp, the air thick with the smell of dried wormwood and sulfur. Glass jars lining the walls contained all manner of disgusting animal specimens, seemingly staring at every student.
Professor Snape swept through the desks like a giant black bat, his robes billowing, creating a chill wind in his wake.
"Today," Snape's voice was low and silky, yet carried a biting cold, "we will be brewing a simple cure for boils. Though simple, if you add the porcupine quills incorrectly, or take it off the fire a second too early, the person who drinks it will be rendered permanently mute."
He stopped at Harry Potter's desk without breaking stride, merely glancing coldly at the smoking cauldron. "Potter, if you add the bezoar without slicing it thinly first, you'll produce nothing but poison. Five points from Gryffindor."
Harry lowered his head in misery, while Ron frantically tried to help, only to set his own sleeve on fire.
Snape's lip curled into a cruel smile. Finally, he stopped at the desk in the furthest corner of the room.
Or rather, the solitary, isolated desk.
Because no one dared sit next to Ivan Potter.
Ivan was sitting there, quill in hand, scribbling on a piece of parchment, not even looking at his cauldron. His fire wasn't lit; the water inside was ice-cold.
"Potter." Snape's voice hung over Ivan's head like a suspended sword. "Do you plan to cook the ingredients with your gaze? Or does your noble status as Slytherin Prefect mean the potion will simply jump into the bottle for you?"
The surrounding Slytherins snickered quietly.
Draco Malfoy watched with schadenfreude, waiting for Snape to strip away all of Ivan's points.
Ivan paused, looked up, and met Snape's gaze calmly with his dark green eyes. "Professor, I am calculating."
"Calculating?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "Calculating how many points you will lose for Slytherin this lesson?"
"Calculating the error rate of the formula you just wrote on the blackboard."
Ivan's voice wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the classroom, it sounded like a thunderclap.
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
Neville Longbottom dropped his phial, smashing it on the floor and sending green liquid everywhere.
> [System Alert: Neville feels "Panic"! Emotion Value +50!]
> [System Alert: The entire class feels "Shock"! Emotion Value +100!]
Snape's face darkened instantly. He slowly bent down, his pale face inching closer until his nose almost touched Ivan's.
"What did you say?" Snape's voice was suppressed with barely contained rage. "Repeat that, Mr. Potter."
Ivan didn't flinch. He even reached out, picked up a sprig of wormwood from the desk, crushed it lightly between his fingers, and showed it to Snape.
"Third line on the blackboard, third step. You wrote 'Stir three times clockwise, once counter-clockwise'." Ivan's tone was like a teacher grading a failing paper. "That is incorrect. According to the addendum in Chapter 7 of Advanced Potion Making, the molecular structure of wormwood is unstable when it encounters dragon blood powder. If stirred according to your instructions, the resulting potion will turn into grey sludge upon cooling. It won't kill anyone, but it will cause full-body hives."
Snape's pupils contracted sharply.
He was the Half-Blood Prince! How could his modified formula be wrong?!
But... this useless Potter spoke with authority, and even used advanced terminology like "molecular structure"!
"You are speaking nonsense," Snape said coldly, but he didn't explode immediately. He stared into Ivan's eyes. "If you are so skilled, why not demonstrate it?"
"I was waiting for you to light the fire, Professor." Ivan pointed to the cold cauldron. "Also, my ingredients are different from what you provided."
Snape noticed then that Ivan's desk didn't hold the standard school supplies, but rare, faintly glowing materials.
He bought those in Knockturn Alley!
"Very well." Snape took a deep breath and slashed his wand through the air. "Incendio!"
Blue flames roared to life under Ivan's cauldron.
"Now, begin your performance, Mr. Prefect." Snape crossed his arms, looking like an executioner watching a prisoner walk to the block. "If you fail, or blow up my classroom... fifty points from Slytherin, and detention for a month."
"And if I succeed?" Ivan asked.
"Then I will admit you were right," Snape sneered. "Though that is impossible."
"No." Ivan wagged a finger, a wild, arrogant smile curling his lips. "If I succeed, I want you to admit in front of the whole class that your formula has flaws, and... award ten points to Slytherin."
Snape laughed in anger. "Fine! I agree! Begin!"
Ivan moved.
He didn't slice ingredients carefully with a silver knife like the others.
His hand moved in a blur, his ebony wand tapping the rim of the cauldron gently.
Ding!
A crisp sound rang out.
The ingredients on the table flew into the cauldron as if manipulated by invisible hands.
Wormwood, unicorn hair, Ashwinder eggs... they spun in the air with a strange rhythm before dropping into the boiling water.
"No need to chop; high heat extracts the essence instantly," Ivan narrated as he worked, speaking fast but clearly. "Step one: rapid boil to force out impurities. Step two—the step you got wrong—requires not stirring, but 'oscillation'."
With a flick of his wrist, black mist erupted from the tip of Ivan's wand, wrapping around the cauldron and vibrating it at a frequency of fifty times per second!
Zzzzzzz—
The liquid inside boiled instantly, but strangely, not a single drop splashed out.
The murky green liquid began to clear under the oscillation, transforming into a brilliant, transparent silver like liquid mercury!
A strange fragrance filled the classroom.
It wasn't a medicinal smell, but a cold, crisp scent that cleared the mind and seemed to wash the soul.
Snape's sneer froze.
He stared at the liquid, sniffing deeply, then took a step back as if he'd seen a ghost.
"This... this is..." Snape's voice trembled. "Perfect quality? No... this is 'Trans-Magical' quality?! How is this possible! You didn't use standard techniques!"
"Standards are for the mediocre to follow." Ivan said flatly, snapping his fingers.
The fire under the cauldron died.
The silver liquid levitated automatically, forming a perfect sphere in the air before dropping precisely into a crystal phial Ivan had ready.
The whole process took less than three minutes.
Everyone else hadn't even finished chopping their ingredients.
Ivan picked up the phial, spun it in his fingers, and tossed it casually to a dumbfounded Blaise Zabini. "For you. Drink it; it might make you smarter."
Then, he looked at Snape and spread his hands. "Professor, inspect the goods."
Snape felt his face burning.
Just moments ago, he was mocking this student, and now the boy had produced—in three minutes—a potion so perfect even Snape might struggle to replicate it!
He strode forward, dipped his wand into the residue left in the cauldron, and tasted it.
Instantly, Snape's eyes lit up.
A cooling sensation rushed to his brain. The headache from last night's Legilimency backlash vanished halfway instantly!
This potion... wasn't just perfect. It was specifically effective against mental trauma!
> [System Alert: Snape feels "Shock," "Jealousy," and "Admiration for Talent"!]
> [Emotion Value +500!]
> [Current Total: 3800 Points!]
Snape lowered his wand, his expression shifting rapidly as he looked at Ivan.
This little monster... how did he do it? Is he really only eleven?
"Professor?" Ivan reminded him. "A bet is a bet."
Snape took a deep breath and spun around to face the class.
"Silence!"
The room went dead quiet.
"Just now, Mr. Potter pointed out a... 'teaching trap' I left on the blackboard." Snape lied without blinking, his thick skin clearly also Master-level. "He passed the test successfully."
"However!" Snape pivoted, glaring at the class. "Do not think you can deviate like he did! Potter is... a special case!"
He gritted his teeth and squeezed the words out:
"Ten points to Slytherin."
> [System Alert: Snape Emotion Value +50 (Due to going against his will)!]
> [Draco Malfoy feels "Jealousy"! Emotion Value +80!]
> [Harry Potter feels "Worship"! Emotion Value +30!]
A suppressed cheer erupted from the Slytherin side of the room.
Meanwhile, groans came from the Gryffindors. Ron's cauldron exploded.
Boom!
Green smoke filled the air. Neville's cauldron melted, spilling potion everywhere and burning a hole in Hermione's sleeve.
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Snape found his outlet, roaring at the Gryffindors. "Longbottom! If you blow your brains out next, I'll mount you on the ceiling as a specimen! Five points from Gryffindor!"
After berating Neville, Snape turned back to Ivan, who was sitting down. His gaze was complicated.
"Potter."
"Yes, Professor?" Ivan looked back.
Snape hesitated, then pulled a small vial of black powder from his sleeve and slid it across the desk.
"Is this the formula for the 'oscillation' technique you just used?" Snape asked in a low voice, laced with a hint of pleading (for knowledge).
Ivan glanced at the powder. It was extremely precious Obsidian Dust.
"It's not free, Professor." Ivan revealed his merchant nature. "I want you to teach me the practical application of 'Occlumency'. Not textbook theory—the combat techniques you use against Dumbledore."
Snape's eyes sharpened like knives. "What are you planning?"
"Self-defense." Ivan blinked innocently. "After all, I'm afraid someone might read my mind one day. For example... secrets about a certain Half-Blood Prince."
Snape stared at Ivan, trying to pierce his soul.
But all he saw was deep fog.
After a long moment, Snape huffed and pocketed the vial (which was actually just some residue Ivan had "leaked," but Snape treated it like treasure).
"Midnight tonight. My office." Snape whispered. "Don't be late. And polish that wretched wand of yours; don't embarrass Slytherin."
With that, Snape strode back to the podium to continue the lesson, though his voice was noticeably lighter—he didn't even mock Susan Bones from Hufflepuff.
Ivan sat back, feeling the Emotion Values skyrocketing in his mind, and smirked.
Done.
From today on, Snape isn't just my ATM, he's my private trainer.
He picked up his quill and wrote a new line on his parchment:
"Feasibility Report on Using Snape's Pride to Acquire Dark Magic Data — Approved."
Just then, the System chimed:
> [Ding! Detected Host successfully showed off in front of Snape and gained recognition. Triggered Hidden Achievement: "Potions Master (Fake)"]
> [Reward: Self-Created Spell Proficiency +1, Random Legendary Item Fragment x1]
> [Special Note: Due to Host unconsciously using "Mana Shaping" during brewing, System has unlocked a new feature—]
> [Feature: Word Soul · Micro-Control (Allows fine-tuning of magical effects through speech. E.g., making fire cold, making water hard)]
Ivan looked at the new feature, excitement flashing in his eyes.
Making water hard?
Does that mean I can stand on water? Or... make a blade out of water?
He looked at Neville, who was frantically putting out a fire, then at Snape on the podium.
"Life at Hogwarts," Ivan whispered to himself, "is getting more and more interesting."