Walking on the streets of Diagon Alley, Adrian looked around curiously.
A towering, solemn building resembling a castle came into view. People came and went. The shiny bronze gate opened inward, and several goblins in scarlet and gold uniforms guarded both sides, watching the surroundings vigilantly while bowing politely to guests.
If you didn't count the experiences in his memories, this was still his first time here, so naturally he was interested in everything.
Along the way, Adrian also saw the ancient Ollivanders wand shop and Flourish and Blotts bookstore.
But those weren't where they were going. Adrian just looked a few more times, then turned his head and stopped at Potage's Cauldron Shop.
"If you want a cauldron, I have some at home. No need to buy another one," Dougt said with a click of his tongue.
Adrian ignored him and walked straight in. Dougt sighed and could only follow.
Because it wasn't time for young wizards to start school yet, there weren't many customers in the cauldron shop. The manager, Mr. Potage, tried hard to sell them the pure gold cauldron that had been popular recently, but Adrian refused without hesitation.
"The pewter cauldron will do. Give me three... no, five!" Adrian took money from his wizard robe pocket and put it on the counter, using the payment Dougt had previously given him.
"Five... five cauldrons?" Store Manager Potage was also taken aback. It was the first time he'd seen a young wizard buy so many cauldrons. He turned his head and glanced at Dougt, thinking it was mostly just a child playing around.
"What do you need so many cauldrons for?" Dougt was equally confused.
"Of course to make potions faster," Adrian said, glancing at him sideways. He picked a few cauldrons in the store, and after paying, left directly for the apothecary not far away. After purchasing ingredients, there wasn't much left of the dozen Galleons he'd spent.
Dougt was still trying to persuade him, attempting to dismiss Adrian's idea of using five cauldrons to brew potions simultaneously.
"Making potions is a delicate task. You can't be distracted at all. I can tell you from years of experience that potions made from multiple cauldrons are doomed to fail."
Adrian ignored him. After returning home, he couldn't wait to enter the work area in the basement and found an empty place to start preparations.
Dougt gritted his teeth helplessly and decided that if there was something wrong with the potions Adrian made, he'd personally brew a batch and secretly replace what Adrian had made, just to avoid ruining his reputation.
Stepping into the work area, Adrian didn't immediately start brewing potions but picked up the carving knife to modify the newly bought cauldrons and potion tools.
Dougt watched, confused. He tried to interrupt and ask about the situation several times but didn't succeed.
Two hours later, under Dougt's surprised gaze, Adrian waved his wand like a conductor in a Muggle orchestra performance.
The potion ingredients that had been placed aside and sorted by type jumped into the cauldrons on their own.
Cutting and grinding tools appeared one after another, suspended in air, cutting the potion ingredients into suitable sizes, grinding them into powder, and stirring them together.
"This... this isn't..." Dougt's eyes widened, thinking of Irene's magical kitchen.
But making potions wasn't cooking—it required precise control.
Just as Dougt was about to speak, he noticed the potion ingredients in the five cauldrons were processed extremely accurately, without any mistakes.
'How is it possible for a single person to handle so many tasks at the same time?'
Dougt was confused.
In fact, he didn't know that Adrian was able to achieve such precise control by consuming grade points to activate the thinking acceleration mode of the experience card.
This was also thanks to Dumbledore's demonstration of how to control objects with magic when Adrian had been in the hospital wing, plus the inspiration from Irene's magical kitchen, which led to this semi-automated potion factory.
The originally cumbersome process of making potions became easy under Adrian's precise magical control. It was even quite artistic, like a bartender in a bar making cocktails, pleasing to watch.
Daisy roots, dried nettle powder, sunflower petals, and a sprig of peppermint.
Dougt quickly recognized that what Adrian was brewing was Elixir to Induce Euphoria. As a common potion, it had a wide range of uses and could make the drinker's mood very good for a period without side effects.
When he'd been treating the wounded in his own clinic, he'd liked to add diluted euphoria to some patients' drinking water.
This usually allowed the patient to walk out of the hospital with a smile after paying high medical expenses.
But what made Dougt frown was that he remembered peppermint wasn't a required ingredient for the euphoria formula, so he interrupted.
"What are you doing with peppermint? Did you remember the recipe wrong?"
"No, adding peppermint can improve the efficacy of the euphoria," Adrian shook his head and explained softly.
"Impossible. Why have I never heard of this? Where did you hear about it?" Dougt said in disbelief.
"I was taught by the Half-Blood Prince," Adrian said lightly, his wand moving gracefully. The ground potion was poured into reagent bottles that had been prepared.
After finishing, Adrian didn't want to stop at all and continued making the next batch of potions. This time it was Draught of Living Death.
The experience card mode that cost 100 grade points was only one hour, and he didn't want to waste a minute.
Only potions made in this state reached the highest level he could achieve.
In addition, when Adrian had read the original work in his previous life, he'd obtained some tips for making potions. The final products would have much higher potency than ordinary potions. Otherwise, how could they compete with regular potion shops?
Thinking of this, Adrian suddenly felt he'd miscalculated a little. Why had he forgotten to get Snape's old textbook when he was at Hogwarts?
Adrian vaguely remembered the thing seemed to be in the advanced Potions classroom for upper grades. In addition to the potion knowledge Snape had compiled, there were lots of advanced spells in it.
Seeing that Adrian was so absorbed in making potions and unable to stop, Dougt could only hold his doubts in his heart and set his eyes on the five bottles of euphoria on the table.
Dougt picked up one of the bottles, shook it, and found the color was lighter than normal euphoria.
Judging from his years of brewing experience, the quality of this potion wasn't bad. But he'd clearly seen Adrian add peppermint to it.
Logically, even if the potion didn't fail, its efficacy should be greatly reduced!