Chapter 177: Professor Snape: "I'll Personally Watch Him Drink It"
Dylan spent the entire morning working on the Wolfsbane Potion. It wasn't until Ron and the others woke up that he finally finished brewing the potion Professor Lupin would need for September.
For Wolfsbane Potion to be effective, it cannot be consumed on the day of the full moon that would be completely useless. Instead, it needs to be taken for a full week leading up to the full moon to have any effect. This allows Lupin to maintain his sanity and willpower, preventing his mind from being consumed by savage thoughts when he transforms into a werewolf.
Now that classes were starting, Dylan had a lot on his plate. He wouldn't have time to brew potions for Lupin later. So, Lupin would just have to make do with this potion, specially "enhanced" by Harry, and incredibly bitter and astringent. When someone's brewing you a potion, what more do you want?
In truth, while Dylan didn't find Lupin particularly detestable, he didn't have much affection for him either. He was so close to Harry's father; although he always showed remorse to Professor Snape afterwards, why didn't he intervene when James and his friends were bullying Professor Snape?
Don't tell him he'd counsel James afterwards, saying it wasn't good. What's done is done.
However, Lupin himself never actually laid a hand on Professor Snape. Otherwise, Dylan wouldn't even need to dislike him; Professor Snape himself would have picked up his wand and gone directly after Lupin.
Of course, Professor Snape's chosen method might not be a direct fight with Lupin. It could be a subtle poisoning. Like a rapid diarrhea potion. Making Lupin perform a public display of diarrhea at the Start-of-Term Feast.
Dylan had no doubt Professor Snape was capable of such a thing.
"A special flavor potion brewed personally by little Potter for Lupin, I imagine Professor Snape will be quite pleased when he finds out." Dylan smacked his lips, glancing at the bottom of the cauldron. The tiny bit of Wolfsbane Potion left there refracted an eerie greenish glow in the sunlight, like a cursed lake.
Dylan cleaned the cauldron, leaving a slightly bitter scent on his fingertips.
"This potion..." As he turned the crystal vial, the condensation on its wall formed fleeting patterns in the morning light. Dylan tutted twice, then tidied up his small potion-making table. His pure gold and silver cauldrons were put away. The more valuable ingredients were also tucked into his pouch, to be carried with him.
...
After breakfast, Dylan, who was with Harry and the others in the Great Hall, naturally encountered the professors who were also having breakfast at the usual time. Dylan gave Professor Snape a knowing look, then went outside the hall to wait for him.
He didn't have to wait long. Professor Snape soon emerged, his steps steady, his black robes billowing, looking somewhat like a swirling black flame.
He's so cool, this old bat.
Professor Snape walked up to Dylan, tilted his head slightly, and looked down at him, his eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking about?"
Dylan snapped out of it and blinked: "Oh, nothing."
Professor Snape's eyes were practically slits: "Are you sure?"
Dylan chuckled, changing the subject: "This is the potion I brewed all night, Professor, would you like to take a look?"
Dylan took the potion bottle from his robe and handed it to Professor Snape. Snape took it, gently shook the bottle, and his eyebrow twitched as he observed the color of the liquid.
"I detect a certain bitterness."
Dylan awkwardly scratched his head: "My apologies, Professor. This morning, Harry, when he went to the bathroom, knocked over my ingredient bottles, and some hellebore fell into the cauldron I was brewing."
Professor Snape paused slightly, shifting his gaze from the potion back to Dylan. "Hellebore? How much?"
Dylan chuckled nervously: "Not much, just three to five strands, perhaps two or three grams."
Normally, even 0.5 grams would be enough to kill someone with bitterness.
Professor Snape held the bottle with his slender, bony fingers, lowering his head slightly, his gaze once again fixed on the potion.
"The scent of hellebore can cling to the soul," Snape's voice seemed to drift from a distance, his fingers unconsciously caressing the crystal vial as he spoke. The potion within rippled with his movements, faintly reflecting the moon's silhouette.
After a careful examination, a faint curve appeared on Professor Snape's thin lips beneath his prominent nose. "I see. It's only a few grams of hellebore; it won't affect the potion's function in fact, these herbs also have detoxifying properties."
Dylan nodded repeatedly: "You're right, and I thought so too, which is why I didn't waste another set of ingredients."
Professor Snape squinted at Dylan. Seeing the brat grinning at him, he pursed his lips slightly and said blandly: "Since you can succeed in one go, the remaining two sets of ingredients will serve for October and November."
"This bottle will stay with me. Before the full moon, I will find a time to personally watch the new professor drink the potion."
"What?"
As Professor Snape finished speaking, he turned and walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Dylan reaching out to try and stop him.
"Wait... Professor, don't leave those two sets of ingredients..."
Dylan stood rooted at the Great Hall entrance. Many students had already come out and witnessed this sorrowful scene. Professor Snape completely ignored Dylan's plea, instead swishing his black cloak and striding away quickly, leaving Dylan to lament alone.
"Dylan, what's wrong?" Just then, Harry and Ron finished their meal and came out of the Great Hall. Neville, seeing Dylan's sad expression, was startled and quickly scurried over, asking with concern.
Dylan shook his head: "No, nothing, I'm just... a little heartbroken."
"Huh? Does your chest hurt? What's going on? Should I ask for leave for you to see Madam Pomfrey?" Neville asked anxiously. He was worried that the Dementors had affected Dylan, but he didn't dare say it directly, lest a Dementor target him too.
"No, no need," Dylan shook his head again, then walked towards the classrooms. Neville quickly followed, asking repeatedly behind Dylan until he was sure Dylan was indeed alright. He then let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Our first class today is an elective, and it's Divination. I hope it won't be too hard." Neville, having worried about Dylan, now began to worry about himself.
Dylan offered a comforting smile: "Don't worry, Divination is actually quite simple. I think you might have some talent in it."
Neville blinked: "Really?"
"Fake news." Dylan walked ahead.
"Huh?"
....
The spiral staircase of the North Tower was like a sleeping giant python; each step was covered in thick dust, leaving a footprint with every step. When they reached the top of the North Tower, there was no Divination classroom. There was also no path to continue downwards.
The students who had already arrived gathered together and found a trapdoor in the ceiling. However, there were no stairs leading further up. Dylan knew this meant Professor Trelawney hadn't lowered the ladder yet.
Neville walked beside him, puzzled: "Is this the classroom?"
Dylan shook his head and walked to the base of the trapdoor. Just then, a silver ladder suddenly descended from the trapdoor.
"The classroom is still above," Dylan said. Then, he used a Levitation Charm to lift himself directly up. Neville paused, then quickly clambered up the ladder. The rest of the students followed suit.
Soon, the group ascended the stairs and entered their Divination classroom. Neville stood beside Dylan, staring blankly around. He had never seen such a small classroom! It didn't look like an ordinary classroom at all; it was clearly an "otherworldly space"!
The vaulted ceiling rose high, with crisscrossing wooden beams. Sunlight filtered through narrow, stained-glass windows, only to be blocked by the heavily drawn curtains inside, allowing only thin slits of light to pierce through, where dust motes danced freely in the air.
Inside the classroom, small round tables were scattered about, accompanied by floral-patterned armchairs. The patterns on them were intricate, yet somehow harmoniously pleasing to the eye. Next to the chairs, plump little cushions were strewn casually around.
In one corner of the classroom, an ancient fireplace blazed fiercely. On the mantelpiece, a gigantic copper teapot sat steadily, its body glowing red from the firelight. Steam occasionally puffed from its spout, making a faint hissing sound. The entire classroom was enveloped in a hazy red glow, so stuffy it was hard to breathe. Ron immediately felt hot enough to want to take off his robes.
Dylan saw that Neville looked like he was about to collapse, so he led him to a spot at the back, by the wall. Harry and the others followed suit, spreading out. The air here was a bit stale, but sitting by the wall was at least cooler.
The only problem was that old shelves lined the walls. And on these shelves were many broken things like quills that hadn't been washed in ten years, playing cards with torn corners and holes, small cups with broken handles, and various colored candles burned down to stubs...
Dylan scanned the room. "Why does it feel like this place has gotten so messy again since I last came to Professor Trelawney's class?" When he had come before, it was cluttered but still relatively clean. How did it become so disheveled in such a short time?
Dylan couldn't resist pointing his wand at the shelves. "Scourgify!"
Magic swept over, clearing away some of the cobwebs and dust from the shelves. As for the items on them... Dylan didn't touch them. He only needed to prevent dust and cobwebs from getting on himself. As for these old, dirty-looking items who knew if Professor Trelawney had arranged them intentionally?
He waved his wand again, and some ice crystals appeared around Dylan and Neville. Not only them, but other students also benefited, feeling the stuffy temperature around them drop significantly.
"Where's the professor?" Once he felt more comfortable, Neville finally had time to look around.
Dylan looked into the shadows. Just then, a voice suddenly echoed. The voice was soft and ethereal, yet somewhat indistinct.
"It gives me great pleasure to see you all in the material world such a delight."
In a dimly lit corner of the classroom, Professor Trelawney slowly emerged from the shadows and walked towards the fireplace's glow. She appeared quite thin, her eyes strikingly large behind black-rimmed spectacles. Unlike the appearance Dylan had seen before, this time Professor Trelawney was dressed quite extravagantly.
A thin shawl draped over her shoulders, adorned with tiny metal pieces that jingled faintly as she moved and glittered. Layers of necklaces and beads adorned her neck, while bracelets and rings covered her arms and fingers, clinking with every gesture. She truly looked the part of a Diviner.
Dylan blinked. It seemed Professor Trelawney took her classes quite seriously. At least now, she looked remarkably like a Gypsy fortune-teller. Sitting in the candlelight, manipulating crystal balls and tarot cards, her eyeglass chain shimmered like snake scales in the light. As she turned, the crystal balls hanging from the ceiling suddenly reflected an eerie purple glow simultaneously.
In one corner, a dust-covered prophecy orb flickered to life and then extinguished so quickly that one might have thought it a trick of the light. The human skull decoration on the mantelpiece suddenly gaped open, letting out a silent laugh.
This commotion made many students shrink back.
Pulling up a chair, Professor Trelawney smiled. "Do not be shy, my dears. Here, you will discover if you possess the Inner Eye! Before that, please take a seat."
Professor Trelawney's meticulously prepared entrance ceremony certainly awed many young witches and wizards experiencing Divination for the first time.
"I am delighted that you are here. Perhaps we have met before, but surely not often I prefer not to dwell in the noisy life of the school grounds; such clamor can taint my Inner Eye."
Professor Trelawney hadn't looked at Dylan since she appeared. Instead, she spoke arcane words to the other young wizards with exaggerated expressions and tones.
"You who have chosen Divination will come to understand the most profound branch of all magical arts! But..." Professor Trelawney paused, her expression solemn, her gaze slowly sweeping over each student, finally lingering briefly on Dylan. She smiled faintly, then continued: "I must be frank with you from the outset if you are not born with the ability to foresee the future, there is little I can teach you. In this art, books offer very limited assistance."
As she spoke, she elegantly adjusted the shawl on her shoulders. "Many wizards possess remarkable talents in making noise, brewing strange-smelling potions, and appearing and disappearing suddenly, but when faced with the mists of the future they are utterly clueless!"
"My dears, I must tell you, realistically, the ability to see into the future belongs only to a select few chosen by fate it cannot be mastered through effort."
Neville, sitting next to Dylan, looked enviously at him. "It's great that you learned Divination so early, Dylan. Whatever you do, your talent is so strong I wish I could be like you."
Dylan blinked: "Read more books. Actually, reading books can still be quite helpful in Divination."
Neville nodded, opening the copy of Unfogging the Future that lay on the table.
Meanwhile, after her opening remarks, Professor Trelawney began to demonstrate her divining skills. She stood at the front of the class, prophesying volubly. One moment, she cautioned a student to be especially wary of red-haired men. The next, she declared that another student's family would face trouble soon. She even predicted that the teaching schedule for next February would be interrupted by the flu.
This prediction was limited to the Divination class.
Dylan clearly heard that Professor Trelawney wasn't truly using her Divination abilities. But he understood. Professor Trelawney's prophecies only worked at crucial moments, and her divinations were mostly extremely important predictions. Unlike Dylan's. Dylan's Divination could accurately foresee certain events.
However, Professor Trelawney had clearly read many Divination books. She always initially provided Dylan with very important insights and experiences in certain areas. But later, as Dylan read more and more books, Professor Trelawney's help to him became less significant. Dylan also became increasingly busy, and in his second year, he hadn't even visited Professor Trelawney again.
"My dear, could you hand me the largest silver teacup?" Professor Trelawney saw the bewildered and panicked expressions on many students' faces, pleased with the mysterious atmosphere she had created. She looked at Lavender Brown, who was huddled on her chair and closest to her, and spoke softly.
Lavender nervously stood up, took a teacup from the shelf, and placed it on the table in front of Professor Trelawney. "Thank you. By the way, what you've been dreading will happen on Friday, October 16th." Professor Trelawney stared directly at Lavender, startling her again.
"Now, in pairs, I will teach you to divine by observing the shapes of tea leaves."
Dylan and Neville were already sitting together, so they naturally formed a pair. Following Professor Trelawney's instructions, after finishing their tea, they shook their teacups. After draining the tea, Dylan and Neville exchanged their teacups.
Neville looked at the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup and scratched his head. He flipped back and forth through his book, trying to discern something from the tea leaves that seemed to show no information at all.
"It looks like a tall hat, perhaps, Dylan... you could become an official? I mean, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic this hat is quite tall." Neville spoke with difficulty, clearly trying not to say anything unpleasant.
"Really? That sounds good too." Dylan chuckled, lowering his eyes to glance at the teacup in his hand. He didn't need to consult a book. Dylan immediately saw a certain future.
"Concentric knots, a ring." Dylan slightly turned the teacup, looking at the pattern at the bottom, and grinned. "Congratulations, you will surely find a fulfilling love, and that lady will be with you until the very end."
Dylan's words made Neville's cheeks flush instantly, his ears burning, red as if under a Color-Changing Charm looking like a ripe tomato. His hands unconsciously clutched at his robes, and he lowered his head slightly, looking embarrassed. "Re-really?" His eyes occasionally darted to the teacup in Dylan's hand. After much hesitation, he couldn't resist turning slightly to look at Dylan's cup.
However, Dylan turned the teacup again, and a new pattern appeared.
"Hmm, yarn? It seems your life will be filled with continuous troubles, perhaps a tangled mess you'll need to calmly untangle these threads, and then everything will run smoothly."
"And this one, a triangular cone, kind of like a wizard's hat Neville, it looks like you might go into education later. I think you might even stay and teach at Hogwarts."
"Ah?!" Neville's eyes widened. "This one cup of tea can show so many patterns?"
Dylan smiled and nodded: "Yes, tea leaves change, and so does fate."
....
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