Chapter 456 Water of Life and Death

Professor Slughorn's indifferent tone made Ron look a little ugly, but Ron, who was used to being ignored when he was with Harry, said nothing. Instead, he lowered his head and ran to the locker to get the books and scales in silence.

Mike still admired Ron for this. You know, Ron's growing environment can be said to be terrible. He was almost ignored throughout his childhood and even most of his adolescence. In games or novels, this would be a template for a blackened villain.

But Ron relied on his big heart to bear it all, and not only was he not depressed, but he lived happily every day.

Mike really didn't know whether Ron had a good mentality or a problem with his brain.

At this time, Draco, who was sitting at the Slytherin table, burst into laughter. He deliberately said to the Slytherins beside him in a voice so loud that everyone in the classroom could hear him:

"See, this is the fine tradition of the Weasley family. They always use second-hand or even third-hand goods!"

Hearing this, the Slytherins also burst into laughter, and the whole classroom was soon filled with laughter.

Ron's fists were already clenched tightly together. If it wasn't class time, Mike dared to bet that Ron would go up and fight with Draco.

Harry and Hermione in their seats also glared at Draco angrily. Hermione turned her head from time to time to look at Slughorn's figure on the podium, which was hazy because of the steam.

It was a pity that Slughorn obviously didn't mean to offend Draco because of this little thing. You know, the Malfoy family is almost an open Death Eater. He didn't want to provoke them for a Weasley with mediocre talent.

But in order to stop the situation from going further, Slughorn still coughed twice and said loudly:

"Well, since everyone is ready, we will start the class."

After that, he deliberately glanced at the Slytherin table as if to warn, and this glance immediately made Draco and the others' laughter disappear.

Seeing this, Slughorn nodded with satisfaction, and straightened his chest, which was already clapping, and said after almost breaking a button:

"I prepared several potions to open your eyes. Of course, this is just out of interest. But after you finish the advanced class, you should be able to make these potions. So now, who can tell me what kind of potion this is?"

Slughorn pointed to the crucible in front of the Slytherin table, and at this moment, a ball of clear liquid like spring water was boiling in it.

In fact, from the placement of these cauldrons in the classroom, it can be seen that Slughorn wants to give extra points to each college, so that everyone can be satisfied. For example, the cauldron in front of the Slytherin table is obviously a free point for the Slytherins.

However, Draco and others obviously failed Slughorn's care. They stared at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what kind of potion it was.

Seeing this, Slughorn could only shake his head helplessly and turned to look at the pair of hands that had been raised high at the Gryffindor table.

He pointed at Hermione who raised her hand, and the latter said at a very fast speed:

"Veritaserum, a colorless and tasteless liquid, it can make the drinker tell the truth, usually used in torture!"

"Great!" Slughorn pointed to the cauldron in front of Mike again, "Then who can tell me what this is, Mike?"

Slughorn looked at Mike with expectant eyes, obviously hoping that Mike would answer this question.

However, Mike chuckled and turned his head to look at Hermione's hand raised early again on the Gryffindor side.

Seeing this, Slughorn understood and pointed at Hermione again.

"It's the Polyjuice Potion!"

"Oh! Great! Great!" Slughorn pointed to the cauldron on the Gryffindor side again, "Then this..."

"It's the love potion! It is the most effective love potion in the world! When it boils, it will produce spiraling steam, and its smell will automatically change to your favorite smell, just like I just smelled the freshly mowed lawn, brand new parchment and..."

Hermione suddenly stopped talking. Her face flushed, and she glanced in Mike's direction through the thick mist in the classroom, and then quickly lowered her head.

Professor Slughorn on the side was already stunned at this time.

You have to know that this knowledge about love potions is not in the textbooks. If you don't specifically read the relevant books or prepare and use the love potion yourself, others will never know these things.

He really didn't expect it. The girl in front of him was so knowledgeable.

"My dear, what's your name?"

Realizing that the girl in front of him was very likely a genius, Slughorn softened his voice instinctively.

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"Granger? Are you related to Hector Dagworth Granger, the founder of the Extraordinary Apothecary Association?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Sir, I'm a Muggle-born."

Hearing this, there was laughter from the Slytherin table again, but Slughorn ignored them. He looked at Hermione gently and smiled:

"Very good, very good, you remind me of a student of mine. She was also a Muggle-born, but she had an amazing talent that made people jealous. Uh, you know, this is very rare in Muggles. But I have met two in my life, I am so lucky!"

Professor Slughorn's words made Hermione's already red face even redder, while Harry and Ron on the side clapped and cheered desperately, and Mike in the distance was also smiling.

"Well, add the well-deserved 20 points to Miss Granger of Gryffindor!"

After saying that, Slughorn ignored the Gryffindors who were already laughing, walked back to the podium and said to everyone with a serious expression:

"Students, please remember that love potions cannot bring you true love! Love cannot be imitated, and love potions can only make people fall into crazy obsession or infatuation, which is wrong and dangerous.

Yes, I said dangerous. I think the most dangerous potion in this entire classroom is the love potion..."

Before Slughorn finished speaking, there was another burst of laughter from the Slytherin table.

Slughorn could no longer bear it, and he glared at the Slytherin angrily.

"You, that's you, the platinum-haired Malfoy!" He pointed at Draco who was looking around and said, "You were snickering just now. I don't remember that snickering when others are talking is one of the qualities of Slytherin, at least not when I was the head of Slytherin House. Maybe I should communicate with Severus to rectify the atmosphere in Slytherin!"

Draco's little face turned pale when he heard the four words Severus. Seeing this, Slughorn nodded with satisfaction, turned his head and said to everyone earnestly:

"Don't doubt it, classmates. If you are my age, you will know that people who are obsessed with love usually do a lot of terrible things. In fact, many tragedies are caused by this dangerous love potion."

"Okay, that's it, I think we should start class."

Slughorn spread out the textbook in front of him, but Hermione in the audience suddenly pointed to the crucible in front of the Hufflepuff table and said:

"Professor, you haven't told us what's in this cauldron yet."

Mike chuckled. It was obvious that Hermione wanted to get extra points.

But Slughorn was obviously optimistic about Hermione. He pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh!" Then he said,

"This is the Felicis Felix. I guess you know what it is used for, right, Miss Granger?"

"It can bring people luck!"

"Exactly! Ten points for Gryffindor!" Slughorn said loudly. "Felixir, a potion that is extremely complicated to make, can indeed bring people luck. The feeling of taking it is wonderful. How can I describe it... well... you will find that no matter what you do, you will succeed before its effect wears off!

Of course, you can't take it often. It's best to take a few months or even years apart, otherwise it will make you arrogant and reckless.

You know, no matter how good something is, it will be bad if you use it too much. Just like tomatoes and apples, both of them are very nutritious fruits, but in fact they contain natural toxins. If you eat too much, you will be poisoned!

Oh! Don't worry too much, Harry. To poison someone, you have to eat at least several meals of tomatoes and apples within a few hours. If someone really does this, then it would probably have been choked to death before being poisoned!

I gave this example just to make you understand two very important truths in potions. One is that even the best things will have side effects, and the other is that talking about toxicity without considering the dosage is nonsense!"

Hermione's eyes lit up and she asked:

"You have taken Felix Felix!"

"Of course, I have used it twice in my life, once when I was 26 and once when I was 57. I drank two spoonfuls for breakfast. Ah! Those two days were so perfect!"

Slughorn raised his head and smiled with longing and happiness.

This made almost everyone present interested in Felix Felix, except Mike, who had used it a long time ago. There was nothing special about this thing, just a little expensive. With Mike's current financial resources, he could just drink it like water.

After a few minutes, Slughorn finally woke up from his fantasy. He smiled at the pot of Felix Felix and finally said:

"Next, I will hold a small competition, and the prize is this."

Everyone in the classroom held their breath, even Mike was no exception.

You know, it was a full pot of Felix Felix! Even Mike was tempted by such a huge windfall!

But then Slughorn took out a teardrop-shaped bottle from his arms.

"A small bottle of Felix Felicis can provide about 12 hours of luck!"

The smile on Mike's face disappeared instantly, replaced by deep disgust. He really didn't expect Slughorn to be so stingy.

But even a bottle of Felix Felicis still made the students in the classroom very excited, especially Franklin, who was staring at the small bottle with his eyes almost popping out.

Needless to say, he must want to use this thing in Quidditch games.

But if he had read the 373-page prohibition regulations of Quidditch games carefully, he should know that Felix Felicis is prohibited from being used in Quidditch games.

"Next, please turn to page 10 of the Advanced Potion Making in your hands." Slughorn said, "We still have more than an hour, please use this time to make a potion of living hell. I know it is complicated, and I don't expect you to make it perfectly the first time, but the one who does it best and fastest will get our reward today. Okay, let's get started now!"

As soon as Slughorn finished speaking, Franklin took out his crucible and medicine bag and began to weigh various materials with a scale.

There were many people in the classroom who reacted as quickly as him. Nowadays, everyone's attention is highly concentrated. This is the first time Mike has seen such a scene of people concentrating on making potions. It seems that this Slughorn is still good at teaching students.

Mike also took out his own materials and tools and began to make potions.

The potion of living hell, also known as the water of life and death, is a powerful sedative. Just a small glass of wine can make people sleep for a week.

Mike had already memorized the method of making this potion, and what Mike wrote down was the improved version recorded in Snape's textbook, so Mike was not as anxious as other students, but was still thinking about other people's situation.

At this moment, Harry also opened the book that Mike gave him, and was frowning to check the method of making the water of life and death.

Seeing this, Mike's mouth corners rose.

What he handed to Harry was the famous "Half-Blood Prince's Textbook". The reason why Mike gave the textbook to Harry was not only to make the plot line return to the origin as much as possible, but also to see Snape's expression after he learned that his middle school history was in Mike's hands. That must be very interesting!

Thinking of this, Mike's smirk became more wanton, but his hands did not waver at all!

Squeeze the sleepy beans into pieces, grind the narcissus roots into powder, tear the wormwood into pieces and put them into water to make wormwood infusion...

Mike quickly processed the raw materials one by one and threw them into the crucible while cooking and turning them clockwise with a spoon.

Soon, light blue steam rose from the boiling crucible, and the liquid inside was slowly changing to light brown. Mike saw this and changed to flipping it counterclockwise. This was a method modified by Snape and it was said to increase the speed of the medicine maturation.

There is no doubt that Snape's improved formula is effective. This has enabled Mike to surpass Hermione and become the fastest person in the classroom even though he lost the first opportunity. It has also enabled Harry, a poor student of potions, to quickly and efficiently complete the processing of materials and enter the boiling stage.

However, the amazing speed of Mike and Harry made everyone else in the classroom anxious.