"What are you doing, Mr. Doom?" Snape's voice was low and menacing as he entered the Potions classroom, his gaze immediately falling on Ivy, who was flipping through the Grimoire of Destruction. Behind him, various potion ingredients floated in the air.
These included dead rats and various body parts—common ingredients for potion-making. The rats, ever the sacrificial creatures, seemed eager to contribute. Their tails were used to make Vertigo Potion, which made the drinker's hair stand upright. Their spleens were used for Shrinking Potions, essentially a longer version of the shrinking charm...
Some Flobberworms were suspended by invisible forces and spun around, flinging slime and leeches that had been squashed...
Along with the biological materials, there were also plants. Snape saw shredded daisy roots, ginger roots being peeled, dried nettles cut into pieces, and many other plant materials whose original forms were unrecognizable.
Snape's voice wasn't loud, but Ivy could sense his surprise, and for a moment, it seemed like his anger had dissipated. However, Ivy's sharp senses picked up on it immediately, so he closed the book and gave Snape an attentive look, signaling that he was ready to listen to his instructions.
"I believe I made myself clear... Use your hands to handle these materials. Do you want to extend your detention time, Mr. Doom?" Snape hissed, emphasizing the word "hands."
"Oh!" Ivy raised a finger. "My hands are controlling these materials."
Ivy snapped his fingers, and all the floating potion ingredients halted mid-air.
Then, ethereal blue magic appeared as ghostly hands formed in the air. These were the hands that had been performing the work in the Potions classroom.
That's right—Mage's Hand, the 0-level cantrip, had come to Ivy's aid.
Having successfully cast Mage's Hand through the Grimoire of Destruction, Ivy had unlocked the new class—Bookbinder Guild Mage. However, his Bookbinder Guild Mage class was still at level 0 on his character panel.
In order to level up this class, Ivy started experimenting with actions that might grant experience.
The first thing that came to mind, of course, was monster fighting.
But the teachers and students of Hogwarts were his peers, his friends, and how could he harm them?
So, after dinner, Ivy lingered in the Slytherin common room, hoping someone would come and provoke him so he could have a reason to "send" them to the hospital wing like he had done on the night of the feast.
But to his disappointment, while everyone in the common room stared at him, no one dared to approach him. Not a single person even made eye contact with him.
For a moment, Ivy wondered if he had gone too far.
But then, remembering that he hadn't used Avada Kedavra, Ivy dismissed his self-doubt.
Since Snape's detention period was nearly up, Ivy begrudgingly made his way to the Potions classroom.
However, while handling the potion materials, he noticed his experience points were gradually increasing—albeit very slowly, but it was still an increase.
To increase his efficiency in grinding for experience, Ivy began using Mage's Hand. But even with one hand, the efficiency increase was still minimal. Ivy decided to look for a solution in his feats.
And sure enough, he found one.
The first feat was Telekinesis.
It would boost Ivy's primary casting attribute and increase the duration and maximum output of Mage's Hand. Most importantly, it would grant Mage's Hand the ability to turn invisible and allow Ivy to move objects with his mind.
Next, there was another feat—Supermagic Mentor.
This feat allowed Ivy to consume spell points to add additional benefits to spells. The other supermagic feats in the Grimoire of Destruction had either harsh prerequisites or were less versatile.
In contrast, Supermagic Mentor only required the ability to cast spells, making it more practical and broadly applicable.
The Supermagic ability Ivy chose was Twin Spells and Extended Duration.
With Supermagic, Mage's Hand quickly proved invaluable, essentially giving Ivy another set of hands to handle potion materials.
But soon, Ivy found himself dissatisfied with the status quo. Since he could already use the Grimoire of Destruction to cast spells, why not modify this spell to fit better with the native magical system?
However, as expected, Ivy's brilliant efforts met with failure.
Without an arcane focus, Ivy couldn't cast DnD spells, even with Ancient Magic. The two systems were fundamentally different.
Still, Ivy didn't walk away empty-handed. He had found a way to prevent Mage's Hand from disappearing.
Normally, only one Mage's Hand could exist at a time, but with the added power of Supermagic Mentor, Ivy could take control of the hands with his magical energy.
So, Ivy cast Mage's Hand over and over, then took control of each one with his wizarding power. This repetitive process led to the scene Snape encountered.
"Stop immediately! And put them back in place!" Snape's voice cut through the room like a cold wind as he stormed toward Ivy, his fury palpable. "If I find out you've wasted even a little bit—"
"I'm afraid that's unavoidable," Ivy quickly interrupted, "For the progress of magic, a small price must be paid... However, the efficiency is now ten times better than before! So, I believe—"
"You think a little waste can be forgiven?" Snape seethed, picking up on Ivy's insubordination. "Those are the ingredients we need for tomorrow's class! Now put them all back in order. Do you expect me to give you extra points?"
Ivy shrugged and glanced at the nearly finished potion materials behind him. "If you don't mind... I only helped my classmates deal with the nettles and the snake fangs powder, just a trivial task... At least the slugs are still alive and well!"
Snape was utterly stunned by Ivy's boldness. He couldn't believe there was someone so shameless in the world! Not only had Ivy not shown a hint of regret in the face of Snape's scolding, but his behavior was a blatant provocation.
"Very well, Mr. Doom," Snape said, his tone suddenly calmer. "Since you've actively assisted your classmates with tomorrow's assignments, I'll award Slytherin five points. And as a reward, your detention time will be doubled."