The snow was still falling.
Snape had risen early, his expression serious as he fiddled with a series of bottles and jars.
In the corner of the table sat a peculiar hourglass gifted by Professor Slughorn. Three small silver snakes climbed the surface of the hourglass as decorations, glinting with a cold light.
However, what attracted the most attention was undoubtedly the numerous magical materials, as well as the large quantity of finished potions arranged in order within the cabinet.
Snape took out materials one by one, carefully observing them for any spoilage or errors, and handily completing the tedious recording work.
If there were materials that needed replenishing, Snape would use Juliet to purchase them from specific shops, and the required Galleons would be sent along with the letter according to the pricing list.
Unfortunately, even so, there were still quite a few materials that Snape could not obtain for the time being.
He had to either choose to take certain risks and enter Knockturn Alley, or think of a way regarding the Forbidden Forest. If he could obtain a stable procurement point from there, Snape would not have to worry about material issues for a long time to come!
This point had just been written into Snape's plan, and after careful consideration, he believed the best partners would undoubtedly be the native Centaurs.
After the holidays were over, perhaps he should find a time to ask Hagrid.
Lost in thought, Snape's movements remained fast and precise, like a precision machine that had repeated the action countless times. He easily finished brewing several bottles of steaming Shrinking Solution in five minutes!
This type of potion belonged to the third-year curriculum. It was at a level that felt difficult for his current Level 8 Potion skill, yet could be completed with a bit of effort.
If placed in the Glory Blood Potion Shop, such a bottle of Shrinking Solution could be sold for more than 45 Galleons, which was more than three times the total cost!
He slightly shook the glass bottle, keeping the freshly brewed potion swirling inside to prevent sedimentation.
This was another small trick unique to the Half-Blood Prince, enough to elicit unreserved praise and gratification from Professor Slughorn.
Having warmed up his hands and found his rhythm, Snape immediately began brewing potions again. Only this time, the order in which he added magical materials did not follow any recipe in his memory.
...
He ground dried nettles into powder and added three small teaspoons.
Sixteen tentacles of a Slumberworm, paired with a little dew collected from a sun shower at noon, until the color appeared as a glowing pale purple.
Hmm... what to add next?
Porcupine quills or caterpillar juice? It couldn't be a Jumping Bulb, could it?
The originally smooth operation came to an abrupt halt. After hesitating for a long time, Snape tentatively poured in a small piece of frog brain.
As expected.
The liquid, which should have been harmonious, suddenly bubbled up with a large amount of gas. Following this was a dangerous drop in temperature; the surface of the glass bottle was even covered with a thin layer of frost!
Without hesitation, Snape decisively pulled out his wand and wrapped himself in a Shield Charm (Protego) with an incantation spoken so fast it was nearly inaudible!
The glass bottle suddenly exploded.
It covered most of the desk with a layer of snow-white frost, and even the hourglass on the side cracked slightly under this sudden impact!
Accustomed to this, after loudly responding to Eileen's worried inquiry from downstairs, Snape began to restore the messy scene to its original state.
It could only be said that the Mending Charm (Reparo) was simply too practical.
While the difficulty was low enough for little wizards who hadn't even enrolled in school to learn, it could solve many troubles in life, including Snape's current situation.
In just a moment, everything returned to how it looked before the brewing began.
This potion was still in Snape's conceptual phase.
Just like creating Levicorpus a few days ago, it required the groundwork of countless failures to be successfully created.
And the purpose of its birth was one and only one: to provide assistance for Snape in battle!
War was about to begin.
Snape didn't know when the Death Eaters, whose momentum was currently at its peak, would cross that boundary which was becoming increasingly virtually non-existent under Voldemort's leadership, and completely turn into a terrorist organization.
The only thing he knew was that the arrival of that day would definitely not be too far off!
He had to seize the time and become stronger!
Currently, he had successfully developed his first minor hex, which meant that the difficulty of creating subsequent minor hexes would be greatly reduced.
The difficult part was always going from zero to one.
Since everything was ready for harvesting experience and only the "east wind" was lacking, Snape naturally wanted to spend this surplus energy on secondary important plans.
Creating the combat potions in his concepts was the best choice. Snape had the talent and the financial resources; what was needed was nothing more than trial-and-error attempts.
And once successful, this meant Snape would have the qualifications to negotiate with Dumbledore!
There was no need to cherish it privately.
Only by bringing out the combat potion for trade could Snape logically have contact with Dumbledore, thereby obtaining the specialty information from this wizard who could be called the greatest in the world!
This would be his crucial first step toward possessing a voice in the wizarding world!
Secondly, it would also conveniently redeem his image in Dumbledore's heart. It would be best if he could join the Order of the Phoenix because of this.
Anyway, falling out with the Black Eye Society and even the Death Eaters was only a matter of time. If he could smoothly become a member of the Order of the Phoenix, which likely hadn't appeared yet, he might even be able to get some private goods out of Dumbledore.
He recorded this failed material combination in the cipher notebook gifted by Eileen.
After a brief contemplation, Snape began his second attempt. While being ready to protect himself at any time, he didn't forget to cast a charm in the room to isolate any unexpected noise.
Time passed bit by bit.
A crisp tapping sound on the window awakened the fully focused Snape, causing him to raise his head blankly.
He saw a snowy owl shivering in the cold outside, a letter held in its beak, staring at Snape impatiently wanting to rush into the warm room.
Slightly stunned, Snape opened the window and welcomed this dedicated snowy owl in, taking the letter it had delivered from thousands of miles away.
On the wooden stand nearby, the drowsy Juliet perked up, looking at the snowy owl with a gaze that revealed unkind cunning, eager to try something.
Ignoring the two little fellows making a scene, Snape glanced at the letter.
The first thing that came into view was Lavinia's name!