"I knew it was Hagrid causing trouble! He himself was expelled from school for breaking the rules, and now he's actually encouraging the little wizards here to break the rules just like him!"
Snape practically spat out the words through gritted teeth.
"Lower your voice, don't let Hagrid hear you, he'll be upset." Ian quickly raised his hand to cover Snape's mouth, but Snape, holding him, dodged away.
"That half-blood giant is not here."
Snape snorted with certainty.
His words made Ian feel a bit disappointed.
Snape clearly noticed this expression.
"I absolutely won't allow you to play games with a giant here. Don't get involved with those guys, you need to know that giants are among the most dangerous of the fantastic beasts."
"Not only Hagrid, any creature in the Forbidden Forest could kill you." Snape started to scare Ian harshly, but Ian's eyes suddenly lit up.
Indeed!
Good Uncle just thinks I'm not strong enough!
Rather than forbidding!
Just like with the magic potion before!
"I can certainly protect myself." Ian immediately planned to let Snape examine his results, he pulled out his magic wand and cast a magic spell at the distant tree.
"Sectemsempra!"
He knew better than to perform his improved version in front of the creator — the invisible blade slashed like a ghost, and, in response, a towering giant tree shattered into pieces.
"??????"
Snape shivered all over.
"Damn! How much time do you spend every day researching the Dark Arts!" His voice was filled with disbelief, as the magic power contained in the spell made his heart skip.
"I just love your invented magic!"
Ian immediately offered flattery.
However.
Snape showed no sign of being pleased, he grabbed Ian and swiftly headed towards the castle.
"Damn Sorting Hat! It ought to be thrown into a dung heap! Prince, you wicked Dark Wizard!" Snape, for some reason, started cursing the property of the school and insulted Ian.
Ian was about to defend himself, but noticed the bulging package full of odd-shaped magic potion materials at Snape's waist.
"Ssss~"
At that moment, Ian had another realization.
No wonder Snape was accustomed to others stealing his potion materials.
Turns out Snape himself is a habitual offender!
A lesson taught by example!
...
The weather has been getting colder, and over the past few days, the little wizards' robes have gradually transitioned to thicker versions, and even at Gryffindor, some wizards have started selling heaters.
It's not some very advanced alchemy creation, just a small flame sealed within a cheap bottle, providing a bit of warmth to those holding it and a stylish item from student days.
For the price of just a few Silver Sickles, one can enjoy a whole winter of comfort; it's a cost-effective choice, crippling the heated underwear market that Ian had under William's encouragement. Although William managed to sell fifteen or sixteen pairs as a distributor, the total profit was not even comparable to the earnings Ian made from a single Living Map.
"The twins are maliciously competing! It's a price war rejected by capital!"
The competition between two Golden Galleons and five Silver Sickles displayed the poverty of Hogwarts' little wizards, and demonstrated that William was truly unsuitable to be Ian's advisor for alchemy creations.
Ian even shamelessly asked Aurora to help persuade the Slytherin students, but it was clear that even Aurora's motivational power only managed to sell four or five pairs within Slytherin.
The results were even less effective than Ian's product placement advertisement in his small class; it turns out that even the Slytherin guys were not the type of foolishly rich benefactors.
Maybe it also has to do with Ian's heated underwear not being easily shown off anywhere and anytime?
Actually, in Ravenclaw College, the feedback on Ian's work was quite good, just most little warlocks worried due to their lack of understanding in alchemy that the heated underwear might burn their little warlock.
"It's all your fault! This is your Christmas gift now!" Realizing he was defeated in business by the twins, an irate Ian threw the remaining heated underwear all at William.
This might be what belongs to William's beautiful fantasy within his heart, he was overjoyed beyond compare, even printing several player images from sports teams onto them, although it's unknown why his family sent him some strange things, among which was an old printing machine capable of printing animated images.
"Aren't you afraid your little William will be poisoned!"
Ian was very skeptical about the quality of those old inks in the printing machine, he dared to use the Level 4 Alchemy he researched under Teacher Morgan, along with the dolls refined in the Room of Requirement, as a guarantee that the inks in the old printing machine were at least stored for decades.
"It's way more useful than Gryffindor's Pocket Fire." William's praise was absolutely heartfelt, because his love for the heated underwear had already been noticed all across Ravenclaw. This guy would wear a pair over his head for several days in class.
Of course, to avoid getting ridiculed by others, William would wear a knitted hat, but this disguise could fool other houses but couldn't deceive the little wizards in Ravenclaw. Michael always privately discusses with others, speculating whether William's big head is hotter or his smaller head is hotter.