Right after Flying Class came Professor Snape's Magic Potion Class, and Ian, even if he didn't care about house points, had no choice but to go; otherwise, his life wouldn't be so comfortable in the days to come.
This time.
No one was late.
Plus, he teamed up with Aurora without a hitch.
Plenty of changes in the details.
But the only thing unchanged was Professor Snape's sharp, bitter nitpicking.
"Your potion is missing the most important things—focus and attention. The cockroach parts are way too coarse, so both color and efficacy are totally off."
"Mr. Prince, is it your arrogance that makes you think you can get away with anything in my class? Ha, I bet even…" Snape was just about to throw out some Knockturn Alley nonsense about how even shady merchants wouldn't touch this garbage.
"Here, this bottle's finely chopped."
Ian instantly handed over a second bottle, catching Snape a little off guard. His expression went a bit surprised, then immediately he tried to poke holes in Ian's second potion.
An entire round of critique.
Snape hadn't even reached the mocking stage when Ian passed him another potion, this one fixing all the flaws. Snape finally lost his composure, face as dark as thunder, and barked at Ian.
"Are you playing games with me?"
His spittle flew, but Ian nimbly dodged it.
"No, Professor, after brewing the first potion, I reflected on the issues you pointed out. Shouldn't you be delighted about that?"
Ian's voice was sincere, expression earnest, though his volume was a touch loud, drawing the attention of both Ravenclaw College and Slytherin College students nearby.
"..."
Snape opened his mouth.
He sensed the Little Wizard's slyness, but for a moment couldn't find words to refute him.
"Brew it again!"
In the end, between silently swallowing Ian's words and coming up with some other excuse, Professor of Potions Severus Snape chose the laziest, most unreasonable approach.
Let's just say—
This professor really does live up to his reputation.
"Sorry, Professor, I've used up all the ingredients." Ian shrugged, totally unbothered, and when his cloak was opened, it was stuffed full of all the potions needed for the whole lesson.
"Dammit! When did you brew these?" Snape's face changed completely as he rushed to the ingredients cabinet; he only ever opened it during class, and now, apparently, he'd been robbed.
"I didn't break any rules, I brewed them all during this lesson." Ian saw Snape rushing toward Aurora's direction, then, sharp-nosed as ever, he pulled a wooden box out from under the desk.
"Traceless Extension Charm…"
Snape's face was a masterpiece.
Inside the wooden box, he saw more than twenty crucibles propped up at once; the Little Wizard, to avoid being found out early, had even installed a mini air purifier on the outside of the box.
"Nothing to do with me!"
Aurora raised both hands without hesitation.
"..."
Snape's mood was truly complicated. Brewing so many potions at once, even if it wasn't a particularly complex formula, was still incredibly difficult.
Many potion masters couldn't pull off synchronized brewing with precise quality control, and yet a first-year Little Wizard had managed it.
He probably ought to be happy and proud about it.
But—
No matter how hard he tried, Snape's face could only squeeze out a clenched-jaw expression.
"Even if what you brewed isn't exactly a disgrace to potions, Hogwarts absolutely doesn't need this much Bone Healing Potion!" Snape slammed the desk so hard he was shaking with rage.
"But what if there's some big emergency? Nobody can say for sure, can they, Professor?" Aurora interjected, hand raised, and after Snape glanced at her, he didn't dare throw out any sarcasm or challenges.
Some things—
Maybe the Little Wizard wouldn't do.
But the Little Witch probably would.
He was Slytherin College's professor; how could he not know his own students? The big bat whipped his robes and left without further comment, going off to check the rest of the class's work.
"Epic assist! Well played!"
Ian slid back into the seat beside Aurora, giving the girl next to him a big thumbs-up.
"If you can brew flawless Bone Healing Potion, why make so many defective ones? Was it just to annoy your uncle?"
Aurora cocked her head, genuinely puzzled.
"Obviously because… Dumbledore said so." Ian would never admit to any petty revenge; he had the perfect excuse to explain his actions.
"Really?"
Aurora watched Ian nod earnestly, and seemed to ponder it thoughtfully. To be honest, Ian only took aim at Snape because he was sure Snape was about to target him next.
See?
Right after Magic Potion Class ended—
Snape, as expected, kept Ian back just like Ian remembered.
"I get it, you already reminded me not to use magic when cleaning toilets, so tonight I need to do it all over again," Ian beat Snape to the punch, stating his punishment first.
"????"
Snape's eyes held another surprise at having his lines stolen. Well, luckily he'd prepared more than just that, so he instantly started assigning tasks to Ian.
"Because of your sneaky magic use, the bathrooms are clean enough already, so you'll have to wax every single toilet. I added something inside to stop you from…"
Snape noticed he hadn't even raised his hand, but Ian had already dragged out his own big tub from under the lectern, and that weird feeling he'd had all lesson finally couldn't be held back anymore.