Chapter 34 *Advanced Potions Making*
"The 1970s?"
"The spells he created in Snape's Potions textbook!"
Upon hearing Quirrell's introduction, he immediately thought of this treasure.
So, Basil closed his eyes.
In the castle's basement, in the dark and eerie Potions classroom filled with textbooks, a tattered copy of *Advanced Potions Making* by Libashe Pollach vanished from a corner locker.
A new book appeared in Basil's bag.
After class, he asked Hermione to look up the term "Archmage" for him, successfully getting rid of her.
He couldn't wait to return to his dormitory and open it.
Unlike its tattered exterior, the contents were exceptionally rich.
Besides the densely packed small print in the blank spaces, there were also annotations in the printed areas.
How to process ingredients more properly, crossing out or adding potion ingredients, more efficient mixing methods.
But knowing the plot, he directly searched through the original blank spaces.
Finally, after three minutes, among some scribbles and corrections, they found the spells Snape had invented in his youth.
"How could Harry be so stupid!" Basil thought the instant he saw them.
Buying the box and returning the pearl perfectly described Harry's actions in the movie.
Hermione didn't notice because she couldn't accept her own mediocrity—in front of the Half-Blood Prince—
thus developing a prejudice against the book's contents.
Harry, however, despite clearly caring about the content, mistook the spells for treasures,
ignoring the corrections .
This completely recorded the thought process behind a spell's creation.
It turned out that the spell Quirrell taught in class was the Tongue-Binding Curse.
But Snape wasn't satisfied with its power, perhaps to be more targeted towards his enemies.
He translated, disassembled, and recombined the original Tongue-Binding Curse, adjusting it step by step, thus creating the new version.
The spell changed to [Tongue Lock].
The cursed person doesn't even feel their tongue being stuck until they try to chant or speak.
It seems that James Potter, or rather Sirius Black, was not very good at silent spells.
Or both.
The other spells in the book
cannot be judged by their spell names alone.
Aside from the famous "Sleight of Hand," the "Upside-Down Bell" spell (which appeared in the movies), and "Hearing Block,"
it's extremely dangerous to let others try unfamiliar spells without permission.
Fortunately, Harry tried them all in the movies.
Except for "Sleight of Hand," none of these spells were dangerous.
So, in the following days, Basil began to follow in Harry's footsteps and experiment with these spells.
He used them on himself.
These spells were interesting
and useful.
One evil spell caused a person's toes to grow wildly.
This was very effective in making it impossible for agile wizards who could dodge spells with their bodies to avoid them due to the change in their toes.
Overall, this "Advanced Potions Making" book is Basil's biggest gain since the start of the semester in October.
His spell cards have also gained new cards: [Sleight of Hand] and [Tongue Lock].
His [Spellbook] progress has also been updated, along with his stat panel.
[ID: 000000001]
[Spellbook Level: 3 (1100/100)]
[Name: Lane Smith/Basil Granger]
[Race: Wizard]
[Identity: Hogwarts Gryffindor (Fire spells buff +1%) - First-year student (20 gems daily)]
[Date of Enrollment: 1991/07/27]
[Life Points: 10+15 (Echo Bonus: 1000, False Life Points: 142·341)]
[Mana: 7+9]
[Luck: 3~7]
[Family Traits: Red Dragon Blood (to be ignited), Plant Affinity (Awakened), Potions Mastery (Awakened)]
Among them, the card data for "Shadowless Blade" surprised Basil the most.
[Shadowless Blade Spell]
[Level: 1]
[Magic Cost: 4]
[Creates multiple invisible swords to slash at enemy units. If a player unit has negative emotions or fits the description of a corrupted soul, the swords will be imbued with an unremovable curse, preventing the enemy unit from regenerating its wounds]
[Damage: 12+?]
[Note: Additional damage depends on the amount of negative emotions and the degree of soul corruption]
[Effective Range: Within the caster's line of sight or perception]
This introduces a not-so-new concept: corrupted souls. Whether
the echo of murder and soul-stealing is holy or corrupted may stem from this.
Those souls in between, perhaps their echo is merely golden?
This also confirms Professor Flitwick's statement.
But unfortunately, this spell is only suitable for wizards like Snape, whose hearts are filled with resentment and overflowing with negative emotions.
Harry, in the fifth book, considered a fraud by most in the movies and alienated by his most beloved Dumbledore, also fits this description.
As for Basil himself?
Considering himself a sunny and cheerful young man, without any buffs, his damage output was estimated at only 12.
Moreover, his crippled system's stats didn't take into account health for magic and physical defense;
they were calculated purely based on his physiological structure.
Therefore, aside from plants with extremely high health, even a fire dragon's health probably wouldn't exceed 100.
Attacking vital points, 12 damage was sufficient.
He had tested it afterward.
Standing in the dormitory washroom, he tested the bed in Quirrell's bedroom remotely through the castle in his mind.
Unfortunately, even someone as radiant and holy as him
couldn't escape negative emotions.
This caused a curse to be placed on his invisible sword,
preventing him from repairing the bed with a healing spell.
Thus, when Quirrell, unable to hold back any longer, ordered Filch to find the culprit,
October arrived.
The first day of October was Tuesday.
All day long, Basil wore a gloomy face.
Quirrell's bulging eyes and constant glancing around during dinner couldn't bring him any joy.
No one could understand his anguish.
October 1st!
Independence Day!
A seven-day holiday!
He couldn't enjoy it; he still had classes!
Just then, Nick, almost headless, leaned in.
"Bagil, haven't you always wondered why Professor McGonagall is so indulgent with Gryffindors in Quidditch? I can tell you today."
Bagil rolled his eyes.
Hermione, standing nearby, gave him a grateful look.
After the opening banquet, Nick had changed his tune, avoiding the topic altogether.
Even Ron hadn't learned the secret.
His correspondence with Mrs. Weasley only yielded some information about Professor McGonagall's romantic history.
Professor McGonagall had two boyfriends.
The first was a Muggle, whom she broke up with for his pursuit in the wizarding world.
The second was her former superior in the Department of Law, who pursued her for decades.
She finally agreed to marry him in the 1980s .
She unusually retained her Muggle surname, refusing to take her husband's.
In the third year of their marriage, her husband tragically died from a bite inflicted by a venomous tentacle.
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(End of Chapter)