Facing Professor Snape's long-lost, sarcastic tone, Vid stood up and said:
"I'm sorry for missing classes for so long, Professor Snape. However, during this time, I haven't relaxed my study of Potions. If you have time after class, could you please guide me through my study notebook?"
The students looked at Vid with eyes full of admiration for a champion, while Snape's lips pressed into a thin line. He stared at Vid for a few seconds, finally letting out an ambiguous snort through his nose:
"I assume that in those self-study notes of yours, there's at least no nonsense about mixing daffodil root powder with wormwood extracts, is there?"
In the classroom, Susan Bones suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, her fingers itching to flip open and revise her own notes, but she dared not move, afraid of attracting the terrifying gaze of the professor.
"Sit down!" Snape said before Vid could respond: "After class, hand over that notebook of yours, and I'll take a good look at it... to see how many ridiculous mistakes you've made in it!"
Vid sat down amid the respectful yet sympathetic glances of everyone, as Michael, from across the aisle, mouthed silently: "…Notebook?"
Meanwhile, he secretly pulled out his own notebook from beneath his textbook and tapped it gently with his fingers.
He and Vid were accustomed to writing a mixture, and their handwriting looked quite similar.
Vid silently answered, "I have it."
Michael nodded and stuffed the notebook back in.
The Soothing Potion was something they covered at the start of their fifth year; Snape gave a brief and quick rundown of the key points and then moved straight into the practical phase.
Unlike when they were catching up on a new lesson, this time he didn't list the notes on the blackboard, so while some students were already grinding moonstone, others were frantically flipping through their previous notes.
Silently, Snape patrolled between the aisles, his black shadow more frequently casting over Vid's desk, coldly springing questions from behind:
"Tell me, Mr. Gray, after removing the cauldron from the fire, what must be added immediately?"
"How is sneezeweed syrup handled?"
"Why stir seven times? What effect does changing the number of stirs have?"
Theo always got startled when a voice suddenly sounded from behind his head, once nearly knocking over the mortar in front of him, luckily saved by Vid's steady hand.
Yet Vid's hands didn't stop in the slightest, smoothly brewing the potion while perfectly answering Snape's surprise questions:
"Sneezeweed syrup, Professor."
"It needs to rest at room temperature for at least five minutes and must be added after the cauldron is removed from the fire."
"Stirring seven times counterclockwise is the best choice for maintaining integration and stability; too many stirs will cause the ingredients to evaporate, weakening the effect; too few stirs will minimally affect stability, causing flocculation, or, in severe cases, lead to an unrecoverable sleep for the consumer..."
As he answered, the potion in the cauldron gradually took on a pearly sheen, releasing a clear silver vapor from above.
Snape finally stopped his nitpicking questions, paused beside the desk, his dark eyes narrowed, carefully observing the potion.
When Vid turned off the flame, Snape picked up a long-handled silver spoon, scooped a bit of the potion, examining its color and consistency, and brought it to his large nose for a sniff.
He was silent for quite a while, finding that even by his most nitpicky standards, he couldn't spot anything to criticize, and finally put down the silver spoon.
"...Not bad." Snape very begrudgingly, dryly said: "Bottle it—where's the notebook?"
Vid handed over the notebook, noticing Snape turn away with a still unsatisfied look. He hadn't even turned halfway around the classroom before picking up a student from their seat.
"Simmering at low heat! Mr. Rivers, what don't you understand about this sentence? If you had used your brain for even a second, you wouldn't have made the liquid in the cauldron boil!"
Without hesitation, he waved his magic wand, and the liquid turning darker in the cauldron disappeared instantly, while the potions professor coldly and mercilessly delivered judgment —
"Do it again!"
...
When the bell rang, students nearly fled from the cold dungeon.
Just outside the door, a student couldn't help but burst into tears:
"I know… I'm too stupid, completely unfit to take the O.W.L.s exam… I might as well drop out and go home…"
Her friends surrounded her, offering consolation. Theo, standing at a distance, sympathetically glanced at the student who was criticized three times by the professor, then turned, still feeling nervous, and said to Vid:
"I used to get scolded every class… It was so terrifying, every time I saw Professor Snape, I felt like my heart almost stopped."
— Fortunately, Vid is back now!
"A strict professor is a good thing… It's much better than being left to slack off." Vid tried hard to comfort his friend.
"Sigh, I'd rather he go easy on us…" Theo said with a pained expression.
"By the way, Vid." Michael, who was walking in front, stopped and turned to ask: "What's next? Are you going to continue attending classes? Or..."
Vid pulled out a schedule from his pocket, one that Vise had brought him at the beginning of the term, but only now was it finally being put to use.
His schedule was very different from the other students', not because he chose twelve courses leading to a jam-packed schedule, but because the content listed was entirely different.
Theo glanced over, seeing it wasn't Vid's class schedule, but rather the time and place where the professors taught upper-year students.
As a student long approved to arrange his study time freely, Vid could choose which class to attend or even find the professors individually after class with questions.
He pondered for a moment, flicked the parchment, and said: "Let's go to Divination class then?"
This answer was clearly unexpected for everyone, who collectively and incredulously asked: "Divination?"
...
The Divination classroom was located in the North Tower, requiring a climb up a creaky spiral staircase to reach. Pushing open the trap door, a wave of hot air and cloying, sweet aroma greeted them.
Despite being situated high up, this classroom was dimmer than the Potions classroom, with all curtains tightly drawn and smoke wafting in the air so heavily that it was hard to see Professor Trelawney's face clearly at times.
— Of course, among students who loved Divination, they called this a sense of mystery.
After Vid entered the classroom, he sat in a corner, almost blending into the shadows.
Professor Trelawney was surrounded by a few girls who adored her, completely ignoring the recently-entered student, as she held one of the girl's hands, her lens-magnified eyes straining to focus on the palm, speaking in a drifting tone:
"...Look here, my dear, the intersection of the fate line and the wisdom line, this tiny cross star... Oh, this foretells an unexpected encounter that concerns your life path, which may bring a turning point, but also comes with... mist, yes, mist..."
Vid, leaning against the wall, watched this scene with great interest.
Though palmistry wasn't the lesson he intended to hear, sitting in the classroom, surrounded by those spices, one couldn't help but feel calm and even a bit drowsy.
He could see that most of the time, Professor Trelawney was speaking off the cuff, deliberately using all sorts of vague wording to interpret signs.
But she also had a peculiar knack for muddling through, often striking the fact's edge by coincidence.
Just then, the trap door creaked open again — Harry and Ron walked in together.