Chapter 149: Severus's Potion Class
The warm sun of an early spring afternoon was quite pleasant.
Lockhart sat by the window, holding a glass of iced tea. A gentle breeze carried the cheers from the Quidditch pitch and the faint screams from further away, seemingly from the "Chamber of Secrets" at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Gilderoy, I don't know how to pursue goodness and happiness..."
Snape's voice was no longer deep, but had a very unique bass tone.
Lockhart looked at him with some confusion.
It was interesting; Snape's expression wasn't one of lifeless, lost despair, but rather a yearning confusion, like an ancient vampire emerging from a coffin or a stumbling toddler stepping out of their home for the first time.
He was a little excited.
"I mean, I gained a powerful spell from the potion. It's the Patronus Charm. Perhaps if I fully master it, I can definitely use it against the Dark Lord."
"But I need to find my own goodness and happiness to truly support its power. Lily... Lily can't bring that."
"I..."
Snape was silent for a moment, then finally looked yearningly at the sunlight outside the window. "Alright, to be honest, I actually do yearn for goodness and happiness."
Lockhart chuckled. "Hey, mate, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone yearns for goodness and happiness."
"What should I do?" Snape asked again.
"I don't know." Lockhart spread his hands.
"???" Snape froze for a moment, looking at him confusedly.
"Really." Lockhart sipped his iced drink, smiling as he looked out the window. "Everyone's life experience is different. If you ask me what makes me feel good, I'd say magic is wonderful. My magical creature companions also bring me joy, and I even find being with my students quite delightful."
"Harry's stubbornness is interesting, Draco's pride is interesting, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Blaise, George, Fred, Cedric..."
"Each of them is interesting. I actually quite enjoy being a professor. I can feel goodness and happiness from interacting with my students."
"But that's my experience."
"Your goodness and happiness in life should be found by you."
Snape nodded, falling into thought.
Lockhart didn't bother him further, lowering his head to sort out the final revisions. After half a year, Snape's "Severus's Potion Class" was finally complete.
According to the teaching progression of Hogwarts' Potions class, this work was clearly more suitable for third and fourth-year students. By this time, students would have studied Potions for two years, knowing some basic Herbology and Potions, and having two years of practical experience. They could finally begin a more comprehensive understanding of Potions and delve into deeper conceptual learning.
Building a solid foundation and master's concepts, this book would bring immense rewards to anyone aspiring to study Potions.
Lockhart himself had benefited from it.
He hadn't actually seriously researched the field of Potions, but simply by helping Snape organize this book, he naturally entered the mysterious hall of Potions. This was truly interesting.
In fact, Lockhart's and the original self's approach to writing books were different.
This stemmed from their differing perceptions and biases towards the world.
The original self cared more about shaping his own image, so he focused more on showing off his bravado in adventures. This led to the book's content, while substantive, always remaining superficial.
Lockhart was different. He cared more about the beauty of magic, so his writing style always preferred to describe the splendor and strangeness magic should possess with more precision and closeness. Everyone could feel his passion for magic from it.
Of course, he didn't write it as a dry, academic book. In fact, that would be impossible. In his philosophy, magic comes from life, from adventure; it simply cannot be narrated separately from life.
However, would this still be a bestseller?
Lockhart didn't know.
He didn't care either.
His Gringotts vault was already overflowing with Galleons, and his reputation was already worldwide. He didn't necessarily have to continue dominating the bestseller lists.
He just wanted to write about his own goodness and happiness.
Even the other manuscript he was about to finish, "Lord Voldemort, the Mystery: A Pure-Blood Supremacist with a Muggle Father?"
This was not simply a tabloid piece revealing Voldemort's private gossip.
As Lockhart delved deeper into discussions with Tom Riddle, he began to understand Voldemort's magical philosophy, and the perception of magic held by such a powerful wizard who pursued the mysteries of life.
Lockhart wrote all of this into the book.
Not only that, but he also included some of Dumbledore and Grindelwald's magical philosophies as a contrasting set, as well as some of his own humble opinions, hoping to present a more wondrous and complex magical world to readers.
It was so splendid; whether white, black, or grey, it was all so marvelous and interesting.
Writing a work like this, Lockhart felt he would be worthy of his transmigration mission and his fervent love for magic.
As for what Voldemort or Dumbledore might think then, well, that was none of his business.
Let them think what they want.
He was unwilling to change himself for the will of others, no matter how powerful these two great figures were.
"Done!"
He handed the sorted manuscript to Snape. "You check it one last time. If there are no issues, I'll have Rita contact the booksellers and prepare for release."
Snape took the manuscript, gently stroking the book cover.
Publishing a book...
This was an extremely unfamiliar experience for him. He had told Lockhart that magic was an expression of self-will. In fact, so were potions. Many of the potion brewing ideas in this book were undoubtedly an honest revelation of a part of his inner self, laid bare before countless readers.
This made him feel a little embarrassed, a little anxious, and eventually a hint of anticipation.
He opened the first page of the manuscript and saw Lockhart's recommendation written for him. He had actually seen a similar scene before in an uninteresting adventure.
In that scene, the master witch Lily had written the preface for his "Severus's Potion Class" as a good friend.
And in reality, the master wizard Lockhart had done the same as a good friend.
The former felt somewhat illusory, always causing him pain.
The latter was more real, so real that it felt wonderful.
He pursed his lips, turning page after page. The words within were light and flowing, Lockhart's unique writing style. The wisdom of Potions within was profound and weighty, his own life's embodiment.
"Actually, I once thought about how wizards and Muggles should interact."
Snape suddenly brought up this topic, surprising Lockhart a little.
"Potions!"
"I've imagined Muggles' craving for wizarding potions. Being needed would naturally bring recognition, status, resources, and everything else."
His eyes gazed adoringly at the words on the page, and an involuntary smile appeared on his face. "Antidotes with bezoars can treat many nerve toxin injuries that Muggles still find difficult to cure."
"Calming Draughts have significant effects on bipolar disorder and depression, and are actually more effective when combined appropriately with Wit-Sharpening Potions. The Draught of Living Death can calm the body's turmoil and induce the most soothing sleep..."
"And Skele-Gro, Blood-Replenishing Potion, Burn Healing Paste..."
"Muggle technological development is always limited, while potions are never limited. Theoretically, their efficacy can be infinite, as long as the potioneer is powerful enough, or legendary enough."
Snape looked up ahead, his gaze somewhat ethereal. "I actually discussed this with the Dark Lord once. He was the most powerful potioneer of all the wizards I've ever known, bar none."
"His potions always touched on life and death. At that time, I had no doubt that he could one day create an elixir of immortality, living for hundreds or even thousands of years like Nicolas Flamel."
"Once, I was assisting him in brewing a very magical potion called the Draught of Despair."
"This liquid, you cannot stretch your hand into it, cannot part it, scoop it out, or drain it. Nor can you vanish it with a Vanishing Charm, transfigure it with magic, or otherwise change its properties."
"People can only make this liquid disappear by drinking it."
"But the wizard who drinks it will definitely not feel good. It will continuously pull the wizard's mind towards despair, eventually leading to death."
"I once thought it was the most terrifying potion in the world."
"However, he said it was actually also a resurrection potion, only needing a slight change in one of its brewing steps."
"Life and death, the boundary was blurred just like that."
Snape exhaled a long breath, looking at the quietly listening Lockhart. "Wizards who become too powerful will eventually become arrogant. When the constraints of life and death no longer apply, the limitations on many things in the mind will be completely broken. He becomes more and more terrifying, eventually becoming a reckless fiend."
"He doesn't understand love," Lockhart said.
"Hmm?" Snape was startled.
"Dumbledore said it. Of course, I've done a little research too," Lockhart explained. "The journey of life is a process of self-struggle. When such pulling force is absent, he is not far from destruction, like an unbridled wild horse, eventually rushing into a bottomless abyss."
"I won't doubt that some of you who followed the Dark Lord back then had the ambition to change the world, but you followed the wrong person. In the Dark Lord's eyes, there was no world, only himself."
Not every magical field was good.
Lockhart had gained some memories from Corban Yaxley, whom he had captured. Among them was a teaching left by the ancestor of their family, known as "Time Explorers"—Obsession with the illusions of past time will only make you completely lose the reality of the present.
The Yaxley family had always been very cautious in using their bloodline power, which excelled at using Time-Turners, showing extreme restraint.
Understanding restraint, this was already a huge foundation for a pure-blood family.
Dumbledore was very restrained, as were Grindelwald and Nicolas Flamel. This was the difference between a magic master and a great fiend.
The topic of Voldemort ended there. In fact, Lockhart and Snape were both reluctant to mention him.
They focused more on the Muggles and potions they had just discussed.
This was clearly a good starting point.
Helping more people, realizing self-worth, and striving for more possibilities in the game between Muggles and wizards.
"Why didn't you stick to that philosophy back then?" Lockhart asked with some curiosity.
Snape looked down at the book, twitching the corner of his mouth. "Who knows?"
....
For advanced chapters:
Get early access to 90 advanced chapters before anyone else!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God