The Room of Requirement.
Inside the massive room stood towering shelves: the right side held an array of alchemical products, while the left side was lined with various potions and common ingredients.
Each item was meticulously organized and labeled with a unique code, arranged neatly in its place.
These were all things William had made over the past two years during his spare time. Some were practice pieces, while others were items he intended to sell soon.
Since they were stored in the Room of Requirement, there was no need to worry about them being stolen, the room could fulfill any need a student had.
William had requested "a room that only the dashing Stark and the adorable Granger could enter," not a general storage room, so naturally, anyone else was kept outside.
At that moment, Hermione was busy in front of a cauldron.
Having metaphorically signed her "indenture contract," she was now being thoroughly overworked by William.
Every evening, she helped William brew potions or handle various material-processing tasks.
It was a rare and precious opportunity as potions-making was unlike other subjects. No matter how talented you were, you couldn't excel without extensive hands-on practice!
The saying "practice makes perfect" was especially true in the field of Potions.
But practice required resources, and Potioneering was an expensive hobby. Ingredients were costly, and not every student could afford to brew expensive potions daily.
During the time loops, William had fully exploited Professor Snape's storeroom, using the ingredients to practice relentlessly.
He had even used himself as a guinea pig to taste-test his concoctions.
That was how he had honed his skills to such an impressive degree.
Speaking of guinea pigs... William suddenly thought of Robert, the former prefect.
Ever since Robert graduated, William had lacked a stable, reliable test subject. He was now actively scouting for a replacement.
True to their nature of keeping benefits within the "family," the Weasley twins had once recommended their younger brother Ron as a candidate.
Ron was academically hopeless and lacked the knowledge to secure a better role, so he often took on low-paying odd jobs.
The most crucial point? Ron needed money!
But potion-testing subjects earned plenty. It was minimal work, and had decent pay. All the participant needed was... a healthy body.
Ron could easily take up the role. After a few years, he wouldn't need to ask his family for money anymore and might even graduate with a nice surplus.
What a great deal!
Sometimes, William wondered if the twins had found Ron in a dumpster and handed him over to Mr. Weasley.
Otherwise, why would they suggest such an idea?
Hermione, however, wasn't afraid of drinking William's potions as she trusted his brewing skills.
But William had refused to let her be his test subject. Hermione's role was that of an assistant and secretary.
Over time, regardless of her brewing prowess, Hermione's understanding had grown considerably. She had learned numerous material-handling techniques from working with William.
She wore a fitted sky-blue apron and dragon-hide gloves as she began processing Sopophorous Bean.
Sopophorous Bean were an essential ingredient in many advanced potions, such as Draught of Living Death, Calming Draught, and other potent sleep aids.
Right now, Hermione was brewing Calming Draught.
This potion could calm agitated patients, nourish the mind, and was particularly effective for wizards who had suffered from the Cruciatus Curse or Dementor attacks.
Using the flat side of a short silver knife, she pressed down on the Sopophorous Bean. The beans immediately oozed a substantial amount of sap, which she poured into the cauldron, turning the potion a leafy green.
"William, I compared the process and noticed that this step is different from what's written in the textbook," Hermione said, as though she were still in class and William was the teacher.
"Hermione, for a potioneer, there is no such thing as a 'textbook'. The steps in those books are simply one master's personal brewing habits.
"As time goes on, potion recipes and ingredient preparation methods evolve, it's perfectly normal for them to differ."
"But this method is obviously more efficient than the one in the book. Why hasn't it been updated?"
William pondered for a moment before replying, "The Ministry of Magic evaluates Hogwarts' curriculum once every seven years."
"The textbook won't be updated as long as there aren't any major issues with it," William said.
"For example, the method for processing Sopophorous Bean in the textbook isn't technically wrong, it's just that you're not familiar enough with it."
William walked over to Hermione and took the short knife from her hand.
He tapped the Sopophorous Bean lightly with his wand, casting a Binding Charm to hold them in place, then gripped the knife in his right hand, pointing the tip downward before making a swift stab.
The Sopophorous Bean split open effortlessly down the middle.
He began slicing patiently, the sharp blade gliding through the beans, each slice was uniformly thin, almost translucent.
This level of precision was something no ordinary student could achieve.
William himself had started by following the textbook's method for handling Sopophorous Bean, but it was unbearably difficult.
Later, in Snape's storeroom, William found extensive research notes and discovered that Snape used a special pressing technique that made extracting the juice much easier.
Snape's technique was vastly superior to simply cutting the beans with a knife.
But as William became more skilled, he realized that slicing the beans into thin pieces allowed for a significantly higher extraction efficiency.
It was a matter of trade-offs.
Take Professor Snape, for example. He had discovered the pressing method and used it during his early teaching years.
However, when teaching advanced Potions classes, Snape abandoned the pressing technique and reverted to the original slicing method.
In simpler terms, William explained, "You think you're on the second level, but you're assuming that others are stuck at the first level, when in reality, they're already at the fifth."
The author of the advanced Potions textbook, Libatius Borage, had written it with the assumption that its readers were already potion masters.
So the book's instructions weren't exactly beginner-friendly.
Of course, the book was also outdated in many ways, after all, it was ancient history by now. Snape had personally revised its methods at least dozens of times.
Half an hour later, Hermione finished bottling the Calming Draught in a large blue vial and carefully affixed a "Slugg & Jiggers Apothecary" label.
This batch of potion was meant to be sent to Diagon Alley.
Once everything was tidied up, Hermione sat at the bench with her chin resting on her hand, watching William as he fiddled with a bottle of Lockhart's shampoo.
"William, I want to use Polyjuice Potion," Hermione said suddenly.
"Who do you want to turn into?" William asked without looking up.
"Harry and Ron suspect that Malfoy opened the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione explained cautiousl, "Ron said, 'They've probably had the key to the Chamber for centuries, passed down from generation to generation...'"
"I think it's possible... Dobby is the Malfoys' house-elf, and he knew about the attacks in advance."
William nodded. Dobby's warning was indeed strange, it suggested that the Malfoy family was involved in the attacks.
"So you're planning to question him?"
Hermione nodded. "We're preparing to use Polyjuice Potion to probe him for information."
"I've got a batch of Polyjuice Potion already brewed. Do you need it?"
"No, I don't want to use yours!" Hermione shook her head firmly, "I want to brew it myself!"
William chuckled. "You're so stubborn."
Hermione sat cross-legged and rested her cheek against William's back, closing her eyes gently.
"It's not that..." she murmured softly, "If I practice more, I'll be able to help with the brewing... You won't have to do everything yourself."
William was silent.
"What are you working on now?" Hermione asked again, "Didn't you already extract the Occamy egg essence?"
William was carefully handling a water basin, filling it with clear water.
"No, not the Occamy eggs this time, I'm just experimenting with shampoo," he explained.
Hermione's frizzy hair was notoriously hard to manage. The smoothing agents sold in stores worked somewhat, but they required a lot of product to have any real effect. William was trying to create a more powerful shampoo.
Professor Lockhart was someone who cared about appearances. His magical skills might have been unimpressive, but he was very passionate about creating hair care products.
After all, his personal dream was to have his shampoos become a top-seller.
"This shampoo is incredibly effective, but there's an issue, it tends to explode. It's missing a neutralizing ingredient," William said.
"If I can find it, just a small amount will be enough to solve your hair problem."
Hermione let out a soft "hmm" and rested her head on William's shoulder.
She gazed at their blurred reflections in the water, the boy and the girl, side by side, indistinct yet familiar.
The ripples gradually stilled.
The blurred faces...
...finally became clear.
The girl smiled quietly, her eyes shimmering with the pure, refreshing sparkle of a mountain spring.