The efficacy might even increase instead of decrease.
"Who is the Half-blood Prince?" Aurora tilted her head in confusion.
"Just a relative of mine who's skilled in potion making." Ian might be a bit unpredictable at times, but he clearly understood revealing Snape's dark history wouldn't lead to a good outcome for him.
"Huh? Isn't your relative Snape?"
Aurora looked completely puzzled.
Her eyes with different colors reflected Ian's somewhat panicked face, glancing around nervously and then breathing a sigh of relief, as Ian's hand was already covering her mouth.
"Mmph mmph~"
Aurora made a bewildered sound.
"Keep it down, don't let him hear it. I saw him brewing potions during my night stroll yesterday, it smelled awful. I suspect it's a stench potion he plans to use against me."
Ian's voice carried a sense of discontent.
Snape had indeed threatened him with the possibility of feeding him the most horrible potion.
"You also sneak out at night?"
Aurora widened her eyes in surprise.
"Hmm? Are you doubting my ethics?" Ian now felt he was even worse than Aurora, extracting a pre-prepared Living Map from his pocket and handing it over.
"What is this?"
Aurora looked at the map displaying her name next to Ian's, along with other small dots showing names only near the classrooms.
For slightly further distances, only small dots appeared, and Hogwarts professors' names continued to be highlighted in special patterns while moving.
As if each professor corresponded to an animal icon. Snape was a bat, Professor McGonagall was a kitten, and Dumbledore was a bee wearing a nightcap.
The drawing was somewhat abstract.
But it was still recognizable.
"I did my best!"
Ian understood the odd look in Aurora's eyes.
He defended his artistic skills.
"Perhaps I could update these designs in the future." Ian had gained a Level 0 [Painting] skill and just needed to find time to practice to improve his craftsmanship.
Breaking away from Picasso, surpassing Li Zhengchu was definitely not a dream.
"Is this a souvenir?"
Aurora blinked.
It seemed she had been waiting for a gift from Ian.
"Of course not, this is my promotional item for you. You can keep it for yourself, but you need to promote it in Slytherin, saying it's a heritage from that Mysterious Man whose name cannot be mentioned." Ian whispered his little scheme, believing his deceptive marketing would definitely work well in Slytherin.
"Really? How did Voldemort's stuff end up with you?" Aurora became the first person to be fooled, possibly due to her trust in Ian.
"..."
Ian looked at the curious Aurora, momentarily unsure how to answer.
"You're really gullible, of course I'm tricking them to create a fake story for the product to facilitate sales... you know, I don't have a good reputation in Slytherin."
"Having no nose makes a difference. Although we don't like the noseless, his student-era legacy will definitely make those hidden pals in Slytherin eager to offer high prices!"
"The more you sell, the better. I'll give you a twenty percent cut... no, better make it ten percent, you're too young and I worry too much money might be hard for you to manage."
Ian spoke with a serious manner, and then added, "Qiu Zhang knows a lot of people from other houses at school, the commission I offer her is only two Silver Coins per map. This map took a lot of time, effort, and precious materials, so the base price should be no less than five Golden Galleons!"
Indeed.
Aurora wasn't Ian's first target, the real one was Miss Qiu Zhang from the same house. Actually, Senior Sister Penelope should know the most people in the entire school.
But asking a Prefect to sell contraband was genuinely risky. Yes, maybe Prefects are much smarter than Little Wizards, which was also why Ian didn't want to seek help from the senior students.
"I see, that's your cunning plan, time-consuming and costly... Ian, you've really been mischievous since you were little." Aurora seemed to suddenly realize. She didn't care about the sales commission mentioned by Ian; instead, she was excited about the prospect of deceiving people.
Her face blushed.
"Nonsense!"
Ian retorted, "I'm not grown up yet."
Seeing Ian's righteous indignation in front of her, Aurora seemed to suddenly recall something.
"Dumbledore sought me out yesterday."
She felt some things shouldn't be kept from her accomplice, "He said he hopes I can become his apprentice to take you down when you do bad things."
Textbook-level reading comprehension.
"What?!"
Ian, who had initially been ecstatic, was now dumbfounded.
"What the heck?"
Ian's brain was having trouble processing, wasn't he having a pleasant conversation with Dumbledore last night? What happened to being Dumbledore's favorite kid at Hogwarts?
"Dumbledore worries your exceptional talent will attract a large following, just like my grandfather, so he hopes I become his apprentice as a White Demon King to suppress you." Aurora seemed to always have her unique perspectives on certain matters, and her words made Ian feel a sense of familiarity.