In the corridor, before Lucien could even ask, Harry jumped in with the explanation himself.
"I've been kinda interested in potions for dental stuff lately. Want to look into it. Got any book recommendations, Lucien?"
Lucien blinked, then pulled a scrap of parchment and quill from his pocket. He scribbled quickly:
Advanced Potion-Making—regeneration chapter, A Guide to Magical Dental Care, Common Oral Curses…
He tore the page off and handed it over. The whole thing felt weirdly familiar—like he was suddenly the professor handing out reading lists.
The corner of his mouth twitched. "For potion-brewing questions or actual dental magic, you can always ask Professor Snape—"
Harry's face froze mid-nod.
"—or Madam Pomfrey," Lucien added smoothly. "The Hogwarts infirmary's apparently the best place in Britain for tooth problems."
Harry scratched his eternally messy hair, thoughtful. "Yeah… when I took Ron there last time, Madam Pomfrey said the exact same thing. 'In the British wizarding world, Hogwarts is the top spot for dental emergencies.'"
He frowned. "But why, though?"
Lucien kept his face straight. Probably thanks to a certain old bee and his endless candy stash. Out loud he just shrugged. "Lots of experience, I guess."
Harry nodded, already scanning the list.
Lucien's mind drifted somewhere else.
Ryman's hair-growth potion request, now Harry asking about teeth—it was a reminder. The Emerald Tablet Fragment loan was almost paid off. The repayment task was basically "sell alchemy items or potions." He'd poured everything into alchemy lately, especially after Nicolas's lessons. Potions had taken a backseat.
But the loan was basically done—just waiting on SwiftSpeak's global rollout. The Ministries were already in talks. Plenty of time.
Maybe whipping up a few new potions would be a nice change of pace. A little mental vacation.
Beauty potions already had some solid ideas brewing from all the Fountain of Beauty tinkering. Hair-growth stuff… well, he didn't need it personally, but it'd be doing the entire male wizarding population a favor.
…
Outside the castle.
Professor Shafiq—back in her usual casual robes—strolled along the gravel path toward the grounds, looking like she'd just lost a duel.
Because she had.
Her request for extra vacation time had been shot down.
The reason was rock-solid: if she took time off, who the hell was supposed to teach Alchemy?
Dumbledore had covered the last few classes, but he had actual Headmaster things piling up.
Shafiq sighed.
She'd only come to Hogwarts because she owed Dumbledore a favor. Left to her own devices, she would've stayed home in her pajamas for the rest of her life.
She was young, sure, but she was so ready to retire.
Halfway down the path she noticed a crowd of students clustered around something new.
A fountain.
Kids were lining up with bottles, chatting in groups, water sparkling with faint magic.
Shafiq blinked.
The design looked… familiar. From an alchemical standpoint, it was suspiciously close to Beauxbatons' Fountain of Beauty.
She stepped closer and studied the rune arrays, the structure, the subtle flow of magic.
Not close.
It was the same.
As the Alchemy professor, Shafiq rarely hung around the castle except on teaching days, so this was her first time seeing it. No one had mentioned it yet.
"Fancy running into you here, Angela. Come to admire the new fountain too?"
A familiar high-pitched voice chirped behind her.
Shafiq turned. Professor Flitwick was beaming, practically bouncing on his toes as he walked over.
"Filius." She nodded at the fountain. "This is…?"
Flitwick puffed out his chest, pride radiating off him like a spotlight.
"Lucien built it! Finished the day after we got back from Beauxbatons."
Shafiq's eyes widened.
The core was pure Alchemy—elegant rune matrices, flawless construction. But layered in were advanced Transfiguration techniques and even some potion principles. Especially the Transfiguration part; that's what actually let the water reshape small facial imbalances.
She let out a soft whistle. "Clever workaround. That boy really is a universal genius."
Flitwick's smile stretched so wide his mustache quivered. "Ravenclaw is incredibly lucky to have a student like him."
He didn't usually get to brag this openly in front of the other Heads of House—felt too much like showing off—but Shafiq wasn't tied to any house. Perfect audience.
"I've been teaching for decades," he said happily, "and I've never seen another student like him."
Shafiq nodded, eyes still glued to the fountain.
Then a strange little thought crept in.
If only Lucien were a few years older…
He could step in as her assistant. Teach a couple classes.
Teaching assistant, she thought. Yes! That's the word.
The more she rolled the idea around, the better it sounded. Once Lucien graduated, she could finally hand over the reins and retire for real.
As long as someone was still teaching Alchemy, Dumbledore wouldn't complain.
And with the kid's skill level, he could absolutely handle being a professor.
Shafiq turned to Flitwick, voice suddenly thoughtful.
"Filius," she asked, tilting her head, "you're Lucien's Head of House. Any idea if that boy has ever considered becoming a teacher someday?"