"Woohoo! Finally done—copying... I mean, finishing it!" Ron dropped his quill, looking as if he had just won a great victory. "Ivy! Your quill is amazing! It's practically quoting sources! Now we can play wizard's chess in the common room until we're satisfied, right, Harry?"
However, neither Harry nor Ivy answered him, as all three of them were promptly thrown out of the library by Madam Pince, who had heard their conversation. She also threw in a threat: If she ever hears them making noise in the library again, she would bring their respective heads of houses to deal with them!
"Sorry…" Harry scratched his messy hair, looking at Ivy with an apologetic expression. "We got you kicked out too…"
"It's okay, it's almost dinner time anyway. I was going to head to the Great Hall," Ivy packed up his things and waved goodbye to the two of them. "See you at Potions class tomorrow."
"In tomorrow morning's Potions class, we're with Slytherin. I've heard that Professor Snape doesn't have the best reputation, so we should be mentally prepared," Ron said, always having extra sources of information from his three older brothers. "So, what now? Should we find a place to play wizard's chess or…"
The door to the library opened again, and a messy-haired young witch stepped out. Upon seeing Ron's face, she immediately began spitting insults at him. "Ivy's magic is so impressive, yet he's still studying seriously in the library. But you two? You had the nerve to copy his Transfiguration essay and got him kicked out of the library! As a Gryffindor, I'm ashamed of you both!"
"Hey! Ivy doesn't mind!" Ron, though he knew he was in the wrong, wasn't willing to back down. "Besides, we already apologized!"
"Well, Harry apologized!" Hermione was just looking to scold him, especially after Ron had made such a mess (referring to their loud talking in the library). "But you? Sorry, I don't see any guilt on your face."
With that, Hermione turned and stormed off, taking with her the little bit of good mood Ron had gotten from finishing his Transfiguration essay early. Ron responded by making a face behind her back.
Harry's mood also worsened.
The door to the library opened once more, and this time, Draco Malfoy and his two bodyguards walked out.
"Tsk, tsk… Looks like Gryffindor isn't very united, huh?" Malfoy said slowly in his usual tone. "Did you learn anything from that, Harry Potter? By the way, I'm looking forward to seeing how you do in Potions class tomorrow morning. Let's hope I don't end up in the hospital wing because I laugh so hard."
"Not your business," Harry shot back coldly. He realized that Slytherin, except for Ivy, was full of annoying people.
"Oh, is that so? But I don't think so…" Malfoy shook his head and walked toward the Great Hall, while Harry and Ron's bad mood lingered until the next morning.
At breakfast, Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig, delivered a scribbled note, inviting them to Hagrid's hut for tea.
This somewhat lifted Harry's spirits, and he quickly wrote a response in his not-so-neat handwriting, telling Hagrid he would come.
As Hedwig flew off with the note, Harry's gaze followed her, landing on Ivy's seat at the Slytherin table. As expected, Ivy was sitting at a table with empty seats on both sides. Strangely enough, a sleek black cat was standing on the table in front of him, and Ivy was amusing it with some fried fish.
But Harry didn't remember Ivy mentioning he had a pet cat on the train—maybe the cat belonged to Hogwarts?
"Harry Potter," that was Professor Snape calling roll. When he reached Harry's name, he stopped and stared at Harry with an uncomfortable look in his eyes. "Yes... our famous individual."
Fortunately, Snape didn't continue, or Harry's unease would have intensified.
Snape tossed the roll book aside and spoke in his usual deep voice. "Potions is a precise and rigorous discipline. I do not doubt that some of you, clumsy wizards, will manage to ruin everything in this classroom."
He scanned the room with his gaze. As the youngest head of house for Slytherin, his voice, barely above a whisper, reached everyone's ears. None of the students dared to breathe loudly.
"Since we aren't waving wands around foolishly, many of you might not believe this is real magic. I don't expect you to truly understand the subtle beauty of the simmering cauldron with its rising steam and fragrant aromas... or the magic flowing through the veins, enchanting and hypnotizing. I could teach you how to gain prestige, brew glory, or even stop death—but there's one condition: You can't be the kinds of idiots I often deal with."
Harry saw Ivy glance back at him, which made him feel uneasy.
"Potter!" The uneasy feeling proved accurate—Snape was calling his name!
Reluctantly, Harry stood up, and Snape continued, "If I add daffodil root powder to the wormwood infusion, what would happen?"
"I don't know, Professor," Harry said. What else could he say? He regretted not memorizing the Potions textbook.
Snape sneered. "Tsk—seems like fame doesn't solve everything."
After answering two more "I don't knows" and receiving two more mocking remarks, Harry felt Snape was finally satisfied.
Harry was almost certain that Snape was deliberately targeting Gryffindor. He had completely ignored Hermione's raised hand and deducted a point from Gryffindor for "not preparing in advance."
The Potions lesson continued, but nothing changed for the Gryffindor students.
When they were paired up and began following the steps on the board to prepare their potions, Harry was shocked to see Ivy handling potion ingredients without using his hands.
Snape noticed this too, but merely sneered in disgust.
"Keep an eye on your cauldron, Mr. Potter!" Despite the distance, Snape noticed Harry's distracted demeanor, and the ensuing remark was—
"Because Mr. Potter wasn't paying attention, Gryffindor loses a point!"