Chapter 19: Picking and Processing

By the time John finished, it was almost curfew.

Because he didn't have Professor Snape's technique of quickly draining the preservative moisture, he used a filter to drain the preservative and then used an absorbent cotton in the classroom to directly absorb the residual moisture.

As a result, his technique was poor, and he ruined many pufferfish eye materials.

Moreover, after sprinkling in the blue grit and smashing them, the final product's appearance was also very poor, with particles of uneven sizes.

But John didn't care; Professor Snape let a layman like him do this kind of work, so he should have expected the result long ago.

He now just wanted to return to his comfortable bed and have a good sleep.

Oh, by the way, before John left, he placed the school history book that Professor Snape had left at his house on the podium.

Whether it was polite or not, he didn't know, but could you say he hadn't returned it?

Hogwarts in the dead of night was exceptionally quiet; whether it was the ghosts that usually flew around or the murals hanging on the walls, they were all asleep.

One could only occasionally hear the cooing of some owls.

John looked up at the moon outside the window and discovered that under the moonlight, one could vaguely see some black shadows flying past; they should be the Dementors circling around the castle.

"These Dementors are truly spoiling the scenery."

John muttered to himself.

However, just as the words "Dementors" came out of his mouth, he heard a strange noise in the garden on one side of the corridor; perhaps it was just some mouse or something?

John shook his head, no longer paying attention, and turned to walk toward the Ravenclaw tower.

After he left, in the garden shrubbery that had made the strange noise, a black dog's head slowly poked out.

This black dog looked through the garden skylight toward the Dementors flying high in the sky, its eyes revealing a trace of fear and vigilance in a human-like way.

Then it hid back into the darkness again.

By the time John walked all the way back to Ravenclaw, it was already curfew, but he hadn't run into anyone on night patrol, so nothing happened.

Even the dormitory wasn't locked, or rather, there was no one guarding it.

How was this any different from encouraging students to go out for night walks?

John came to the bronze eagle door, subconsciously waiting for it to open automatically, when he suddenly remembered that he had returned by himself this time; previously, it was that guy Ryan who answered the bronze eagle door's questions, but now he had to use his own brain.

He walked to the bronze eagle, and as the eagle's eyes emitted light, its voice sounded.

"The clock tells me the present, the diviner predicts the future; if I believe in both, what punishment will time give me?"

Upon hearing the question, John scratched his head; what kind of question was this?

He didn't believe in divination, so how would he know what punishment he would receive...

Hm... let's reverse-engineer why he didn't believe in divination.

Because the result of believing in divination is letting oneself live in the shadow of the prophecy.

Then my answer is:

"It will make my future a cage of the present."

After John gave his answer, he didn't see any reaction from the bronze eagle, but just a few seconds later, with a *click*, the door opened.

Every time this door answered a question, it didn't give any positive feedback, and the questions it asked were all philosophical thinking questions without fixed answers; every time he finished answering, it would fall into a silence that made one anxious...

In the future, he would still let his mouthpiece open the door.

When John returned to his dormitory and opened the door, he found that Ryan and Ethan were not yet asleep.

They were both waiting for John to return; after all, it was already curfew.

They had originally thought that if he didn't return, they would go find a prefect or a professor.

Dementors circled the school castle all day long; who knew if some Dementor might have a brain cramp, suddenly run into the castle to wander around, and just happened to run into John?

Their worry wasn't unreasonable, but after John explained, they realized that the culprit was actually Professor Snape.

After explaining, John couldn't take it anymore and collapsed onto the bed to sleep.

In his dreams, he decided that before practicing the magic to block the sense of taste, he would first learn the Cleaning Spell, so he wouldn't have to take a bath, hehehe...

The next morning.

Because John was too tired last night, he slept in for five minutes, and Ryan and Ethan had set off first, so now he was walking alone on the way to the Great Hall.

"Good morning, John."

A familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

"Hm? Oh, good morning, Senior Neville."

John, who hadn't woken up yet, was stunned for a moment before responding after seeing who it was.

"Why do you look so listless?" Neville asked with concern, seeing that John's state wasn't right.

"Sigh, it's all because of yesterday's Potions class..."

John waved his hand to indicate he was fine and told Neville about yesterday's encounter.

After hearing it, Neville's expression was very interesting; first, it was a "so that's how it is" expression, then it was a "feeling the same" bitter smile, and finally, it was a "future unknown" worry.

Of course, John knew nothing of all this.

He only saw Senior Neville's final expression become as ugly as a bitter gourd.

"What's wrong with you? The one being punished is me, not you; you have that expression as if you were the one being punished."

"......"

Neville was silent for a while before slowly saying: "... To tell you the truth, I have to be punished almost every time after Potions class, and my first class today is Potions..."

"Is that so..." John was also silent for a while after hearing this.

Should he feel psychologically balanced? He wasn't the only one targeted by Professor Snape.

Or should he feel sympathy for a fellow sufferer? They were all people targeted by Professor Snape.

The two of them silently placed their hands on each other's shoulders and patted them, sighing at the same time.

By the time the two of them walked all the way to the entrance of the Great Hall, they happened to run into Harry Potter and his two friends.

However, before Neville could go up to greet them, he saw that their atmosphere didn't seem right.

"Ron, I've already said it, you don't need to believe in those illogical divinations; they are simply bluffing."

The girl with long, brown, slightly curly hair said impatiently to the red-haired boy known as Ron.

"How is that possible? If this kind of course can exist, it must have its reasons; it's just that you don't understand."

"Hermione, I think you've been number one for too long, and now that you can't be number one this time, you're psychologically unbalanced, right?"

Ron sneered at this remark from the one known as Hermione, retorting sarcastically.

"Ron!"

Regarding Ron's attitude, Hermione seemed very angry; after shouting, she walked away without looking back.

Ron looked at the departing Hermione, snorted, turned, and entered the Hall to eat.

Harry, who was following beside the two, watched his two good friends arguing, looking at the departing Hermione, and then looking at Ron eating in the Hall.

Finally, he sighed helplessly and followed Ron to the Hall to eat.

Seeing this scene, Neville actually really wanted to go up and chase Hermione to comfort her, because they were also friends.

In the past, when Neville was punished, the kind-hearted Hermione would often help him.

However, John felt it was nothing; young boys and girls were just at the age of showing their personalities during puberty, and it was normal for arguments to break out occasionally.

It would be fine in a few days. ===== CHAPTER 20 =====