"Lethe River water, mistletoe berries, valerian root… standard ingredients, so it's the Forgetfulness Potion…"
Sean looked at the various ingredients laid out on the table in front of him and immediately guessed the subject of the Potions practical exam. At the same time, correctly identifying the potion to be brewed based on the provided materials was, in itself, the first hurdle of the practical exam. As long as one could make that initial determination, half of the exam was considered passed. After that, as long as the steps for using the ingredients during the brewing process were correct, a passing grade was guaranteed.
If one wanted an even higher score, the quality of the finished potion would have to speak for itself.
This exam wasn't too difficult for Sean, a member of the Potions Club. However, just as he was preparing to begin, Snape suddenly came to his side and said, his voice a low drawl, "Sean, let me see the results of your studies in the Potions Club. The standard brewing time for the Forgetfulness Potion is approximately forty-five minutes. I require you to shorten that time to half an hour."
Changing the time meant Sean had to modify the standard Forgetfulness Potion formula.
Hermione was not far from Sean at this time and naturally heard what Snape said to him. Shortening the standard brewing time by fifteen minutes… Hermione's first thought was that Sean had angered Snape and that the professor was deliberately making things difficult for him. But she quickly realized that Sean was Snape's favourite student, and Snape didn't seem angry at all. In other words, shortening the time was possible.
Hermione stared at Sean, wanting to see if he could do it. But at this moment, Snape's disapproving gaze shot over. He looked at Hermione coldly and said, "Miss Granger, perhaps I should remind you that everyone only has one hour for this exam. If you exceed the time limit, you will only receive a failing grade."
Failure was absolutely fatal to Hermione and what she feared most. Although she was somewhat unwilling, when she heard Snape's words, she immediately turned her head to look at the cauldron in front of her and began brewing the potion according to the standard Forgetfulness Potion formula. At most, in the gaps between brewing, she would occasionally glance over at Sean.
At this moment, Sean no longer cared whether Hermione was watching him. He was fully immersed in contemplating the standard Forgetfulness Potion formula.
What Snape had said to Hermione earlier was also directed at him.
The exam time was only one hour. In other words, Sean had at most half an hour to deduce the formula's optimisation. The actual time might be even less.
Of course, Sean could also choose to use the normal formula to complete the Forgetfulness Potion. Snape would not make things difficult for him because of this or refuse to give him a high score, but Sean would likely be unable to continue in the Potions Club next year. In fact, this was one of the reasons why Snape's Potions Club had so few members. At the end of each school year, he would conduct a temporary exam for the members to determine if they were still qualified.
Changing the formula at this moment was Snape's test for Sean.
Sean stood in front of his cauldron, his mind racing. Everything he had seen and learned in the Potions Club in the past, the content of all the potions books he had read, flowed through his mind one after another. Blaise's worry, Hermione's scrutiny, Malfoy's schadenfreude, and Marcellus's hidden malice did not cause him the slightest disturbance. He just stood in front of the cauldron, thinking quietly.
Snape watched Sean. He showed no sign of impatience, and his confidence in the boy did not wane with time. Snape was very clear about Sean's level of skill in potions, and precisely because of this, he knew that the question he had given—a challenge that the other members of the Potions Club would consider a difficult problem—would definitely not stump Sean.
As time passed, the young wizards who didn't know what was going on began to whisper about Sean's situation. On weekdays, Sean was always the absolute first in Potions, a lead that made them despair. Now, seeing his contemplative appearance, although they didn't know what had happened, many people were happy to see Sean, who stood at the pinnacle of first-year Potions, potentially fall from his pedestal.
Unfortunately, many things in this world do not change according to people's will. While they were brewing their own potions and watching the spectacle, Sean, who had been thinking for nearly twenty minutes, suddenly made a move.
"Professor, can I request some extra ingredients?"
Hearing Sean's words, Snape's expression didn't change, but he immediately replied, "Yes, but the ingredients are limited to three types."
"Three types are enough."
"Go get them yourself. The time will be counted towards your exam time."
"Alright."
The Potions classroom had a door leading to the storeroom. Sean darted out, pushed open the storeroom door, and ran inside. Since joining the Potions Club, he had occasionally helped Snape process some ingredients and was quite familiar with the storeroom. After finding the two types of ingredients he needed, Sean immediately returned to the classroom and began processing them rapidly.
He used other ingredients as catalysts to handle the fusion problem between the Lethe River water and valerian root and then used the second ingredient to create an extraction agent to extract the active components within the mistletoe berries. Both of these processing ideas came from chemistry in his previous life. Now, applied to potions, they had some miraculous effects.
The two processed extracts were then poured into the cauldron for brewing, and the potion was finally completed in the twenty-fifth minute.
Seeing that Sean had finished brewing the potion in just twenty-five minutes, Snape, looking slightly impatient, casually gave Neville a passing grade and then quickly walked over to Sean's side. He picked up the bottle containing the potion, smelled its contents, and then drew out his wand to extract a single drop, making it hover in front of him for careful examination.
"Very precise… quite extraordinary… extremely high quality…"
The three consecutive evaluations caused expressions of resentment to appear on the faces of Malfoy and Marcellus, who were still hoping to watch the spectacle. At this moment, Snape had no time to pay attention to anyone else. He was simply carefully examining and inspecting the potion in front of him and finally announced Sean's result for this exam.
"A very good potion. I am very pleased that someone has finally been able to achieve a perfect score in the Potions exam at the end of the term!"
***********
✨ 300 gems = 1 bonus chapter
✨ 500 gems = another bonus chapter
Get access to advanced chapters at my P@treon.
[email protected]/meowthtl