The first class in the morning is Potion Class, attended by Hufflepuff and Gryffindor together.
From the very beginning, Gryffindor students were aggressively targeted.
Katie from the Quidditch team lost five points as soon as she entered the classroom for wearing a hat. And McCarthy MacLagan, due to a crease in his book, lost three points.
The reason why… well, everybody knew it in their hearts.
In third-year Defence Against Dark Arts class, when Neville faced a Boggart that turned into Snape, he transformed it into a rather striking grandma outfit.
Technically, this matter could be big or small, and even if Snape was mad, he would only make trouble for Neville.
But the problem was, some mischievous soul brought a camera to the classroom... and Snape's cross-dressing photos spread throughout Hogwarts.
Although this matter was quickly stopped, and all photos were forcibly confiscated... that was only on the surface.
There were quite a few still circulating secretly.
In order to find the instigator, Snape tried all kinds of methods, including threats and bribes, tracking and investigation... but to no avail.
This time, the students were unprecedentedly united, and everyone asked claimed they didn't know.
Even Professor Lupin himself had a face like… "I don't know, I didn't see anything," making Snape's teeth itch with anger.
So Gryffindor, who was first to spread the photos, got unlucky.
Let's put it this way, even if Kael was deducted one hundred points, Hufflepuff's house points were still far ahead of Gryffindor.
This was just Snape's victory for one day.
At the start of this year, Gryffindor was heading for a record low score.
Even Professor McGonagall couldn't say much, because she also saw the photo, and to be fair, it's really no wonder Snape was so upset.
"Vitality Potion!"
It wasn't until Gryffindor lost twenty points that Snape returned to the podium and, dragging his voice, said, "Lovage, ginger root, the Horn of the Unicorn Bull... Mr. MacLagan."
He suddenly asked, "How should one handle the Horn before making the Vitality Potion."
"Roast it, then grind it into powder, Professor," McCarthy MacLagan stood up, glanced at the blackboard, and said confidently.
"Ha, Snape miscalculated this time."
Kael heard someone whispering behind him: "Lucky, this content is all on the blackboard; just one glance and you know."
"Oh?"
On the stage, Snape raised his eyebrows, stepped over to block the blackboard, and continued to ask, "Then how long do you roast it?"
"Twenty minutes," MacLagan said without thinking, "then you must scrape off the surface layer before you can start grinding."
"You think you're clever…" Snape said sinisterly, "Remembering so much with just one glance."
"I didn't look at the blackboard, Professor!" MacLagan said earnestly, "I read it in advance, that's why I know."
"If you read it in advance, you should know that the Vitality Potion requires the Horn of the Horned Camel Beast, not the Unicorn Bull…" Snape sneered, "Gryffindor loses five points!"
MacLagan's expression froze, and he protested, "But on your blackboard, it says Unicorn Bull; I didn't get it wrong!"
"Oh, that… was a mistake I made." Snape turned around and erased that line.
"You said you didn't look at the blackboard?" he lazily said, "Deceiving the professor, Gryffindor loses another five points."
Next, they carried on dealing with the ingredients.
Lovage and ginger root were easy, but the Horn of the Horned Camel Beast was troublesome—the thing was too hard and very tough, just cutting it was a pain, let alone grinding it.
Pre-roasting was a step given by Snape; it wasn't in the book.
"Kael." Ryan leaned over, using a borrowing tone, whispered, "Did you see today's Daily Prophet?"
"No," Kael shook his head, "Did something happen?"
"Someone saw Sirius Black," Mikel whispered excitedly.
"Where…"
"In Croft County, just south of Hogsmeade," Mikel seemed very excited, "A Muggle saw him… of course, he didn't understand what was happening, just thought Black was an ordinary criminal, so he dialed a hotline.
By the time Ministry of Magic people arrived there, he had already disappeared."
"That's really not far, less than fifty miles from Hogsmeade," MacLagan joined in.
"Do you think he might come to Hogwarts?" Conna looked a bit nervous.
"That's impossible."
MacLagan confidently said, "Don't forget, there are Dementors at the school gate; coming here would be walking into a trap."
"But I still feel something's wrong," Mikel pondered, "There are so many places he could go, why did he happen to appear so close to Hogsmeade."
"Maybe he doesn't know there are Dementors here," MacLagan sneered lowly, "I'd actually like him to come quickly; once the Dementors find him, there's no way he can escape.
"After he's caught, the Dementors will leave the school. Honestly, as long as those monsters are at the gate, I feel uncomfortable, even the wind blowing feels chilly."
The group didn't dare say much more and discreetly separated before Snape turned around.
"Kael, do you think if Black comes to Hogwarts, the Dementors at the gate can really stop him?" Conna whispered.
"Hard to say." Kael shook his head, "They've let Black get away once already, and right at their base… not to mention there are only two Dementors now.
But you don't need to worry, nothing will happen, I promise."
Hearing Kael's words, Conna finally relaxed and began scraping the ginger root skin with a small knife.
By the time class was nearly over, Snape started inspecting everyone's potions.
Kael's and Conna's cauldrons contained a bright yellow color, which was normal and had no issues.
Snape didn't even look at them, just walked past.
But others weren't the same; there were all sorts of colors.
Especially Mikel's… Kael noticed his potion was a strange purple color, with brown smoke wafting above.
Even the ever-experienced Snape paused when he saw this cauldron of potion.
With other people's potions, he could at least tell what had gone wrong… like too much of some ingredient was added, or maybe it was under-stirred, but this one was different.
He couldn't see any problem.
Lovage, ginger root, and the Horn of the Horned Camel Beast… can this combination really result in such a brew?
What an eye-opener!
"Hufflepuff loses ten points."
Snape stared at that cauldron of potion, then looked at Mikel, "Plus detention, this Saturday morning at eight, in the underground classroom, until you learn to make the Vitality Potion."