The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

"By the way!" Professor Flitwick looked to the other side, "Pomona, aren't the Herbology Club planning to open a club? Many students are looking forward to it."

The slightly fat Professor Sprout paused to deal with the steak in front of him and wiped his mouth with a napkin: "You don't need to say this to comfort me. How can there be a little wizard who likes to go into the greenhouse and deal with the soil?"

Dumbledore suddenly turned his head and raised his eyebrows exaggeratedly: "Don't underestimate the charm of those interesting plants. This is not a comforting scene. At least there are many students in Gryffindor who like to play with herbs."

Professor McGonagall reached out and patted her shoulder: "There must be more little wizards like this in Hufflepuff College!"

The colleagues at Hogwarts are really nice to talk to. Professor Sprout couldn't suppress the smile on his face:

"Oh, I'll think about it. But for now, I can take care of the greenhouse by myself. When I feel I need help, I might start an herbalism club."

The atmosphere at the table was harmonious and each club had a bright future.

Some people were laughing and others were sad. Lockhart was thinking about the Defense Against the Dark Arts club where he had no shadow yet. He was anxious and his eyes were wandering among the young wizards in the audience.

Trelawney, who was sitting on the edge, filled another glass of sherry and drank it down in one gulp.

Why didn't anyone come to persuade her to open a divination club?

Isn’t there any little wizard who enjoys divination?

Prophecy is an integral part of magic!

Ton, ton, ton, the wine entered my throat and my heart ached.

In the next two days, the invitation to the Potions Club sparked widespread discussion among the young wizard community.

Potions are a popular profession, and some young wizards are eager to join a potion club to learn the skills of preparing potions and become decent pharmacists after graduation. Now, their hopes are dashed, as only some students can join the club who have received invitations, sent directly from Snape.

Many young wizards are resentful of this non-public and opaque selection method.

"What are the criteria for issuing invitations? Is there a limit on the number of people? Why can't I apply proactively?"

"We must oppose this unfair selection method! Oppose shady practices!"

Two unnamed red-haired students from Ravenclaw walked the path of fire.

George and Fred did not receive the invitation, and they had no intention of joining the Potions Club. They just said these things to watch the fun.

In Ron's words: "Think about it, this is the excitement of the old bat, that's so exciting!"

Leziren Gonghuo's words caused some waves.

One day, several students gathered together to block the door of the auditorium, with solemn expressions, like warriors who were about to be burned to death for justice and freedom.

There were more little wizards watching the fun. George and Fred were in the crowd, looking at these people with bright eyes, with the expectation of causing trouble on their faces.

Loren and his group, who had just finished class, saw such a scene. Ron immediately saw his two brothers, his eyes lit up, he pushed through the crowd and squeezed in, and quickly squeezed out again.

Ron excitedly turned to what he knew about the situation: "They are going to question Snape here and protest to him!"

Seamus and Dean immediately cheered up: "Cool!"

Loren and others didn't want to leave either. Even if they were hungry, they wanted to watch the excitement outside the auditorium.

Soon, Snape, dressed in green robes, approached expressionlessly, and the little wizard in the corridor instantly stopped talking. Snape walked with a breeze, and his long-breasted wizard robes made a hunting sound. When he passed by the little wizards who were about to protest, he gave them a sharp look.

The warriors who were ready to die suddenly stopped daring to die and turned into little quails, daring not to say a word. Let Snape enter the Great Hall smoothly.

The group of people watching the excitement couldn't help but burst into laughter. They had been preparing for a long time, but it was so funny to be frightened by Snape's glance.

The farce was just a farce and did not create any waves in the busy school.

The time for the Potions Club event was slowly approaching. The day before the event, Loren was taken to the office by Snape to make some preparations.

Take the herbs out of the storage box, untie the binding rope, and pack them into boxes. This kind of mechanical work is not tiring, but it is a bit boring.

The bundled herbs are thrown into the box, the slipknot is untied and the rope is pulled out, followed by the next bundle.

Loren twirled the dried grass leaves and recognized the herb by observing the veins on the leaves.

He turned his head and looked at Snape: "Rue? This common herb is used to prepare rue essence. What are you going to use it for?"

Rute is a mild tonic often used by weak people to bring them a bit of warmth and strength, just like glucose.

But the preparation process is very troublesome. The two leaves located in the middle of the rhizome are picked, and the remaining part is used to extract the juice. The leaves are then boiled in the grass juice extracted from rue.

It is a commonly used magic potion. Because it takes time and effort, it can be sold at a higher price.

Snape, who was writing at his desk, raised his head: "For tomorrow's club activities, the second-year students will be responsible for picking grass leaves, the third-year students will be responsible for soaking the grass juice, and the senior students will be responsible for brewing rue essence."

Loren raised his head in surprise: "Aren't these jobs too simple?"

He actually meant boring and boring.

These are tasks that a young wizard who has just entered school can learn and master proficiently after doing them several times. Those who received the invitation letters were all students with excellent grades in potions. What they did was overkill their talents and overkill them.

"The preparation process of rue essence is simple and easy to learn, and the price is slightly expensive. It is the most suitable magic potion for making your first business."

Seeing Loren stunned, Snape explained: "If Hogwarts wants to completely break away from the control of the school board, it needs to have its own funds and income. It's just that it needs to be opened in this way in the early stage, but it won't be used later. You guys."

"B-but... I thought the Potions Club was for research on resurrecting potions."

"I have my own arrangements regarding the resurrection medicine."

…

Basement, Potions classroom.

The first activity of the Potions Club took place here, the classroom where they were familiar with brewing potions. No candles were lit, and dim light shone in from the skylight, preventing the dim underground classroom from falling into complete darkness.

The little wizards in the audience gathered in a group and listened quietly to Professor Snape's narration, just like the first class they had just enrolled in. Professor Snape also said something similar.

Loren, Hermione, Harry, Rolf and Draco sat in front, not daring to make any sound.

Snape's figure was completely hidden in the darkness, and only his occasional movements could reveal some undulations of his outline.

"I said a long time ago that, personally, I do not expect some of you to understand the techniques and mysteries of potions."

"Some mediocre people think that I am arbitrary and the way I issue invitations is not objective enough. But please believe that there is only one reason why they did not receive the invitation, and that is because they lack a little talent in potions. Of course, maybe they are not in front of me. Show your talent." Snape spoke very slowly, with ridicule in his words.

The familiar way of speaking reminded Harry of his first Potions lesson, and he felt a little foreboding. Looking around and comparing the people around him, Harry felt that he also lacked the talent for potions.

Snape paced back and forth on the podium, his shadow getting longer and longer: "Even if you are here, most of them can just follow the textbook and put in the herbs step by step, rigidly holding the textbook in one hand and holding it in the other." Just stir the crucible with your hands."

Suddenly, an unknown know-it-all girl felt that she was being targeted.

"As for some people who want to use potions as a way of making a living -" Snape sneered, "I hope you don't give up on this naive idea."

He held the wand and raised it gently, and the candlesticks on both sides of the wall lit up, illuminating the dark underground potions classroom.

Only then did the young wizards discover that boxes of rue were placed in front of the podium.

Snape assigned tasks to the little wizards of each grade, demonstrated the process of brewing rue essence, and then left.

"Go, go?"

The senior little wizard was a little dumbfounded.

They thought the Potions Club could learn some advanced knowledge of potions, but it turned out to be low-level rue essence? Now Snape left directly, and they couldn't accept it for a while.

Loren looked around and saw that in addition to two acquaintances, Rolf and Draco, there was also a second grader, Michael Corner, who had also received an invitation.

Kona is a wizard from Ravenclaw. His long black hair covers most of his head and his eyes are blank. He also doesn't understand Professor Snape's approach.

Loren stretched out her hand towards him: "Let me meet you, I am Loren Morgan."

Kona came to his senses in a daze, shook hands quickly and responded: "Hi, Michael Kona, Ravenclaw."

Harry, Hermione, Rolf, and Draco also introduced each other one after another. At Loren's invitation, the group began to pick rue leaves. Under their leadership, young wizards from other grades began to work on their own.

The second graders picked grass leaves, the third graders soaked the grass juice, and the remaining senior wizards went around the cauldron to brew rue essence.

"The seven hundredth blade of grass, the seven hundred and one blade of grass, the seven hundredth..." Harry counted, and became irritable and said angrily: "What Potions Club, the old bat is here to torture us. , what can be learned from this?”

Draco looked at him sideways, with the sarcastic words on his lips. He suddenly remembered something and stopped what he was saying in time. He sneered and went back to picking leaves.

Rolf was not impatient at all, and even seemed a little leisurely: "Some seniors and seniors want to consider potions as a career choice. Professor Snape's current arrangement is to dispel their ideas."

These words attracted the attention of several people around, and Hermione's eyes turned, showing a look of understanding. Corner and Draco looked at Rolf quizzically.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Taking potions as a profession, their work is just like now. They constantly prepare the same potions over and over again. As an apprentice, they can only repeat one of the processes as they do now."

While Rolf was speaking, the work at hand did not slow down: "I can't bear it now, so how can I regard making potions as a lifelong career? They don't like making potions, they just like the dignity of a potion master. That’s all.”

Several people turned to look at the seniors who were in charge of the work behind them. Some people were sitting peacefully and doing their own things. Some people were already agitated and couldn't sit down as if there were nails on the stools. They were twisting their limbs and looking around. .

Loren smacked his lips, a little confused.

Does Snape actually have this intention?

Why does he feel that this is exploiting their labor force?

…

Unknowingly, time gradually came to October.

The craze for practicing spells triggered by Professor Flitwick has subsided a lot. The main reason is that the temperature has dropped and the damp cold air has been hidden in the wind. The young wizards practicing spells by the black lake have caught colds one after another. It also infected the people in the castle. The school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, was left scrambling.

There are often little wizards running around in the corridors with white smoke coming out of their ears. It was a side effect of taking a refreshing medicine for colds. People who drank this medicine would have smoke coming out of their ears for several hours.

Raindrops as dense as bullets hit the castle, the glass, the Forbidden Forest, and everything in sight. It has been raining like this for several days, and a misty fog has risen in the wilderness, covering the mountains and the Forbidden Forest.

On the steps of the courtyard on the first floor, the little wizards were sitting here listening to the rain, chatting and playing.

"How are you practicing your spells?" Seamus poked Neville's Leif, and Leif jumped when he poked it. In such a humid weather, Leif was in a good mood.

"I'm a lot more proficient. Everything else seems to be the same. I don't want to practice anymore." Dean said. Most young wizards have similar thoughts. Three minutes of heat is already a long time.

"I heard that the senior wizards of the Charms Club are studying ancient magic. I really want to know how powerful the ancient explosion spell is?" Seamo said enviously, as he had not learned the explosion spell yet.

Hermione also looked yearning when she heard about ancient magic. She complained to Loren in a low voice: "We should not have rejected Professor Flitwick at that time, so that we could also learn ancient magic."

The results of the Transfiguration Club exam she was looking forward to have not yet been released, let alone activities. The little witch even had a little resentment towards Professor McGonagall, and talked to Loren from time to time.

"Then go talk to Professor Flitwick, he will definitely not reject you." Loren smiled.

Hermione stopped talking. Although she had a small resentment towards Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall was her favorite professor.

"Hey, George gave me a good thing." Ron ran over with a bottle of potion and showed off excitedly, "A refreshing potion that makes your ears smoke like a train!"

Ever since everyone thought it was cool to have smoke coming out of your ears, the school doctor's office pick-me-up has suffered. At first, they pretended to be sick to get the refreshing potion. Later, someone actually caught a cold in the rain to get the refreshing potion. Madam Pomfrey became very angry, and the refreshing potion never left the school doctor's office again.

Feeling that everyone was looking at him, Ron drank the potion in one gulp and waited expectantly for the effect to take effect.

His ears were unresponsive, and black stripes appeared on his skin, one black and one white, like a zebra.

The crowd burst into loud laughter.

Harry, Loren and Hermione turned their heads and couldn't bear to look at him. They didn't laugh out loud, but their shoulders hunched sharply.

Ron's skin changed from black and white to angry black and red. He shouted "Yeah---" and went to find George and Fred to die together.

"It seems he forgot that he can't eat anything from George and Fred." Harry laughed.