"Protego!"
Luke was prepared; the moment he threw in the porcupine quills, he immediately applied a protective barrier to the cauldron, enveloping the liquid inside to prevent it from splashing.
Only when the liquid in the cauldron had calmed down did Luke conjure a glass bottle and float the highly corrosive liquid into it for storage.
Looking at the iron cauldron again, it was already corroded beyond recognition, completely unusable.
Even if Luke tried to repair it with a mending charm, the iron cauldron couldn't be restored.
Seeing such a result, Luke was not surprised but rather delighted.
The Potion book had specifically warned that when making Scab Potion, one needed to extinguish the fire before adding porcupine quills, otherwise the Potion would dissolve the cauldron and turn into a highly corrosive liquid.
But Luke, upon seeing this, had a different idea. Although this failed Scab Potion could not be used on people, it possessed extremely strong corrosiveness, far more potent than sulfuric acid. If used on enemies, it would definitely be a sinister weapon.
Bilbo, who also witnessed this scene, looked at the green liquid in the bottle with awe, not daring to approach, fearing that getting even a drop on him would be fatal.
After completing the successful and failed versions of the Scab Potion, Luke began to attempt making another magical Potion—Shrinking Potion.
Shrinking Potion is a magic Potion that causes living creatures to shrink or revert to a younger state. It typically appears as a bright green acidic liquid. It can be used against large monsters with strong anti-magic abilities, or to transport livestock—shrinking entire herds of pigs, cattle, and sheep into a Wizard's pocket.
Similarly, if a Wizard drinks Shrinking Potion, their body will quickly shrink, and the stronger the Potion's effect, the smaller the individual becomes. It is often exploited by unscrupulous Wizards to shrink themselves and sneak into others' homes or vaults for theft.
The ingredients for Shrinking Potion are not overly complex, including Shrivelfig, Daisy Roots, Caterpillars, Wormwood, Leeches, Rat Spleens, and Scurvy-grass Essence.
Among these, Scurvy-grass Essence needs to be extracted from scurvy-grass, but Luke already had all the other ingredients.
Luke first set up a silver cauldron, then cut the scurvy-grass into pieces, ground them into a powder in a mortar, poured it into the cauldron to boil, and continuously stirred it with his magic wand, constantly adjusting and controlling the heat to ensure that the essence in the scurvy-grass could fully dissolve in the solvent.
"Finite Incantatem!" With a wave of his magic wand, the liquid and powdered residue in the cauldron automatically separated. The residue was filtered out and discarded, leaving only the Potion to continue boiling.
Eventually, the Potion boiled dry, leaving only a layer of grayish-white paste at the bottom of the cauldron. This was the Scurvy-grass Essence needed for making Shrinking Potion and other Potions.
With the Scurvy-grass Essence, Luke officially began making Shrinking Potion.
Shrinking Potion is a second-year Potion course content, more complex to make than Scab Potion, requiring the addition of Shrivelfig, Daisy Roots, Caterpillars, Wormwood, Leeches, Rat Spleens, and Scurvy-grass Essence, one by one, in precise measurements.
Moreover, the production time is longer, requiring more concentration and greater care.
Luke first squeezed the Shrivelfig, retaining the peel and pulp, and added the juice to the cauldron to simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.
Then, he added Daisy Roots and caterpillars, bringing the Potion to a boil. At this point, the Potion turned dark green. After simmering it down to half its original volume, he extinguished the fire and let it cool for 30 minutes.
Once the cooling time was up, he added 24 drops of wormwood infusion, one drop at a time, stirring with his magic wand in alternating directions after each drop. Before adding the last drop, he needed to stir vigorously to make the Potion foam until the surface of the Potion was covered with foam.
Luke stopped his actions and turned to other tasks.
Because the Potion needed to sit for 24 hours until all the foam disappeared before he could continue the process.
At the same time the next day, Luke reheated the settled Potion and added leech juice, then stirred carefully and slowly. The Potion's color began to lighten.
When the Potion turned light green, he added the Rat Spleen and Scurvy-grass Essence, heating it over high heat for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, the Potion transformed into a bright green, thick, syrupy consistency.
Looking at the Potion in the cauldron, Luke leaned in to observe it carefully, comparing it to the descriptions in the book.
"This should be a success, right?" he murmured, somewhat uncertainly.
To know the effect, he needed to test it. Luke took a drop from the cauldron, dripped it onto a carrot, and then went outside with the carrot.
A curious Bilbo followed closely behind.
Luke arrived outside Bag End and saw the pony grazing. He immediately waved the carrot in his hand at it, "Hey, Little Dummy, look here!"
The pony, Little Dummy, was a means of transport gifted by the Took family head when Luke was in Tuckborough. Although very obedient, it always seemed a bit foolish, so Luke called it Little Dummy.
However, after returning to Hobbiton, Little Dummy was mostly cared for by Bilbo. Compared to Luke, its irresponsible owner, Bilbo was more diligent and devoted, almost treating it as a third family member, and even personally built a simple stable for the pony, Little Dummy.
Seeing the carrot in Luke's hand, the pony, Little Dummy's eyes lit up. It immediately abandoned the fresh grass in its mouth and ran over with joyful steps, then bit into the carrot and began to chew.
Bilbo didn't have time to stop it and immediately looked at Little Dummy with a worried expression, condemning Luke, the bad owner, with his eyes for testing the Potion.
Luke guiltily rubbed his nose. There were only three living beings here. Could he not use Little Dummy but instead use him or Bilbo to test the Potion? Besides, he was very confident in his Potion; it definitely wouldn't poison Little Dummy.
At the same time, his attention remained focused on Little Dummy, observing its changes.
As the pony, Little Dummy, ate the carrot containing the Shrinking Potion, in less than two seconds, Little Dummy's body began to change.
"Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!" Little Dummy became panicked. In its eyes, everything around it, including its two masters, became enormous.
And in Luke and Bilbo's view, the pony, Little Dummy, was shrinking at a visible rate, eventually becoming a palm-sized miniature pony, looking like a living figurine.
Luke picked up Little Dummy in his hand, looking at the little pony frantically flapping its four tiny legs in his hand, with a look of wonder, "It seems the Potion works well. One drop can shrink it like this. If I add a few more drops, it should be able to get even smaller."
Bilbo looked at Little Dummy in Luke's hand, too shocked to speak. Although he had witnessed many of Luke's magic, such a miraculous Potion still left him profoundly amazed.
Seeing him staring blankly at Little Dummy, Luke handed Little Dummy to him.
Bilbo carefully took Little Dummy, holding him in both hands. Feeling the weight and body temperature, he realized this wasn't a dream. He stared blankly, then looked up at Luke and stammered, "L-Luke, will Little Dummy stay like this forever?"
Luke shook his head, "Of course not. Once the Potion wears off, he will return to his original state. So you need to be careful, don't let the Potion wear off and get crushed by the horse."
Upon hearing this, Bilbo quickly put Little Dummy on the ground. He certainly didn't want to experience the sensation of being crushed by hundreds of pounds of weight.
After about fifteen minutes, the shrinking effect on Little Dummy wore off, and he rapidly expanded back to his original size.