Chapter 63: Potions Class Scandal

Since the first attack occurred on Wan Shengjie night, Harry felt his first half of November had been anything but idle. What frustrated him even more was that, looking back at everything he had been busy with, not a single thing had yielded any results.

During Wednesday's Potions class, Harry was searching for the ingredients he needed in the student supply cabinet; for some reason, there were hardly any leeches left in decent condition. Just as he was getting a headache over this, Ma Erfu sidled up to him.

"Harry, at the usual spot at seven this Sunday night, we're holding our second roundtable meeting," he whispered.

"Thanks for the reminder. I'll come to listen in invisibly," Harry nodded at him.

Just as Harry returned to his seat and prepared to process his ingredients to brew a Swelling Solution, he suddenly heard a series of popping sounds, which startled him into looking toward the source of the noise.

It was Ma Erfu's cauldron; for some reason, it had begun to boil over, splashing potion all over the classroom. The students screamed one after another, terrified of getting the Swelling Solution on themselves.

Ma Erfu's face turned ghastly, his nose beginning to swell like a balloon; Gao Er stumbled about everywhere, covering his eyes with his hands. Just as Snape was struggling to restore quiet and trying to see what had happened, Gao Er crashed into him. In the midst of the chaos, Harry saw Hermione sneak out the door.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Snape roared. "Those who were splashed, come here for the antidote. If I find out who did this..."

When Harry saw Ma Erfu running up in a hurry with his head hung low, his nose swollen like a melon, he almost couldn't help but laugh. More than half the class swarmed Snape's podium. Some had arms swollen like clubs, unable to lift them; others had lips so swollen they couldn't speak clearly. At this moment, Harry saw Hermione slip back in.

After everyone had drunk the antidote and taken the swelling-reduction medicine, Snape walked over to Ma Erfu's cauldron and picked up a black, charred lump left behind by the firecracker explosion. Suddenly, the room fell silent.

"If I find out who threw this," Snape said in a low voice, "I will certainly expel that person."

Just as Harry curiously craned his neck to see what it was, Snape said out of the blue, "Harry, stay behind after class."

After a distracted Potions class, Harry arrived at Snape's office with a hint of doubt.

"I want to know, Potter," he asked in a low voice, "what potion requires bicorn horn and boomslang skin as raw materials."

"As far as I know, only Polyjuice Potion, Professor," Harry said. "It's written in the book you let me borrow."

"Then I think you are far too bold," Snape said with a gloomy face. "Knowing full well that I was the one who let you borrow the book, you still come to my private supply cabinet to steal these two ingredients."

"It wasn't me, Professor," Harry defended himself. "I have always felt that stealing is not a good behavior."

"Is that so?" Snape squinted at him. "Then let me ask you, how is Polyjuice Potion prepared?"

"According to the steps in that book, we need three measures of lacewing flies stewed for twenty-one days..." Harry thought for a moment. Having read the book, he couldn't possibly not know these things; playing dumb in front of Snape really wasn't appropriate.

"Very good. Continue. Let me see how much you've remembered." Harry didn't notice that Snape's tone was even somewhat relaxed.

"The first step is to add three measures of lacewing flies and two bundles of fluxweed in sequence, stir three times clockwise, wave the wand, and let the potion brew for sixty minutes," Harry recalled the contents of the book. "The brewing time depends on the cauldron; I think my cauldron only needs sixty minutes."

"The second step is..." Harry continued, watching Snape's eyes grow increasingly bright.

"Enough," he said. "After reading the Potions book, you accurately remembered the preparation steps. I think this shows your talent is even better than I originally thought."

Harry scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. Ever since he obtained the Jumping Cauldron, whenever it came to anything related to Potions, he always felt a sense of duty, as if he had to learn it exceptionally well so as not to bring shame upon his ancestors.

"Attempting some potions beyond the textbook ahead of time," Snape said, taking some things out of the supply cabinet, "is the privilege of every talented student."

Harry looked in surprise at the bicorn horn and boomslang skin in his hands as Snape wrapped them in a cloth. "But that does not mean I will tolerate anyone causing trouble in class."

"Find the student who caused the trouble, and I will give you a portion of ingredients sufficient to brew Polyjuice Potion," Snape said softly.

Harry suddenly felt expectant; he would be very happy to try brewing the high-difficulty Polyjuice Potion. But soon, he remembered the scene of Hermione running out during class. If it was Hermione who stole those ingredients, he might not be so willing to expose her.

After lunch, Harry intercepted Hermione, who was heading to the second floor clutching her books.

"I want to know, Hermione," Harry asked, "what were you doing sneaking out during class today?"

"I just went to the bathroom," she said nervously.

"Is that so? But some bicorn horn and boomslang skin are missing from Snape's supply cabinet, and he suspects me." Harry's tone was somewhat helpless.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione lowered her head, biting her lip. "But it really wasn't me."

"What do you want to use Polyjuice Potion for?" Harry asked, puzzled. "Whose appearance do you want to take on?"

"How did you know..." She let something slip in her nervousness, but still insisted, "I didn't go to his office to steal anything."

"Relax, Hermione," Harry scratched his head. "I just want to know what you're planning to do, as long as it's nothing bad."

Hermione only knew that Neville had told her Ma Erfu was suspicious; she didn't know about the secret agreement Harry and Neville had reached regarding Ma Erfu. Therefore, thinking of how the two of them were still talking intimately in front of the supply cabinet during class, she didn't dare tell the truth.

"I want... I want to study hard and not break school rules," Hermione still didn't admit it. "You should investigate someone else."

Harry left helplessly. He knew Hermione was someone who liked to get to the bottom of things and had a strong sense of self-esteem. So, if she really hadn't done anything, she should be indignantly trying to find out who the thief was right now.

However, just as Professor Haipu told him, one must allow for different voices. Harry kept this sentence in mind at all times. At this moment, he was thinking, is it possible that Hermione really didn't steal the ingredients?

As an arrogant person, Ma Erfu might not lack students within Slytherin House who couldn't stand him and wanted to see him make a fool of himself. They might have deliberately chosen to act during Potions class just to draw Snape's attention toward Gryffindor.

On Thursday, after the second Potions class of the week ended, Snape called Harry to his office again.

"Tell me, Potter," he said, "do you know anything yet?"

"Professor, I'd like to ask," Harry didn't answer but instead asked, "did you discover the missing ingredients only after class yesterday? Or had some ingredients been missing for a while?"

"Very clever, Potter. I can tell you that I noticed some ingredients were missing before class yesterday," Snape said in a low voice. "I said I don't mind some talented students trying high-difficulty potions ahead of time; I did the same thing when I was a student."

"But what I cannot tolerate is," he suddenly raised his voice, "disrupting classroom order to steal ingredients. This is absolutely not allowed; I must catch this person."

"Is there a possibility, I mean," Harry weighed his words, "that disrupting classroom order has nothing to do with stealing the ingredients?"

"Then this matter is even more despicable," Snape said through gritted teeth. "If it was purely to play a prank and cause trouble in my Potions class, I swear I will expel them."

"I will try to investigate who played this prank, Professor," Harry said, biting the bullet.

"Suit yourself, Potter the Idle," Snape signaled with his eyes that he could leave. "My promise remains valid."

Harry nodded obediently and then left Snape's office.

That night, Harry tentatively told Neville about his conversation with Snape, because he felt that given Hermione's personality, she wouldn't actively break school rules. If she had done something out of the ordinary, it was very likely related to her friends.

"To be honest, Harry, we did plan to steal some ingredients to brew Polyjuice Potion so we could sneak into the Slytherin common room to investigate Ma Erfu," Neville admitted. "But Hermione didn't steal the ingredients yesterday; she discovered that the ingredients in the cabinet were running low, and if she stole them, she would definitely be discovered."

"That's exactly what I'm most worried about; Snape also said that ingredients had been missing before," Harry recalled the situation on Wan Shengjie night. "I suspect that the person impersonating you is the one who stole the ingredients from Snape's cabinet."

"Be optimistic, Harry; this means we can significantly narrow down the scope," Neville said, rubbing his chin. "Teachers can easily buy the potion ingredients they want outside of school; this person having to steal from Snape's cabinet suggests they should just be a student."

"This is too strange. I feel that no matter what, I can't explain why they could accurately say what your grandmother once said," Harry felt completely baffled whenever he thought of that mysterious impersonator. "Or, let's not consider the stealing of ingredients for now; then who caused the trouble in Potions class yesterday?"

"It was me," Neville said embarrassedly. "I did it to create an opportunity for Hermione to steal the ingredients."

"Alright, Snape promised me that if I told him who caused the trouble in class, he would give me a portion of ingredients to brew Polyjuice Potion," Harry said hesitantly. "If Hermione didn't steal the ingredients, then this matter becomes very tangled." ===== CHAPTER 64 =====