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Chapter 103: Two Howlers
Placing the books he had retrieved one by one into the unread section of the bookshelf and storing the experiment records in his desk drawer, William finally placed the package containing a complete set of implements solemnly on the table and began to unwrap it, layer by layer.
Once the package was fully opened, the items he remembered began to reveal themselves one by one before him—a cauldron, a knife, scales, a mortar…
Although they were clearly second-hand, they had all been well-maintained. While this wouldn't significantly increase their price on the second-hand market, in their current condition, William could use them immediately without any maintenance.
‘Time to brew a potion—what should I make?’
William began to hesitate. Although this was his first time brewing a potion, theoretically, he should brew a simple potion like the Boil-Cure Potion that first-years make. However, he had no intention of brewing a potion that was meaningless to him—he didn't have as much time to study as the first-years, nor did he lack a foundation as they did.
Even setting aside the extensive potion knowledge he had gained through self-study, the magic he'd mastered alone was enough to handle most accidents that could occur during potion-making.
‘Amortentia? Elixir of Joy?’
William instantly thought of two potions highly valued within Azkaban—if one could acquire genuine, undiluted versions, they could be traded for several times their volume in chocolate. It was well-known that chocolate held a higher status than Galleons in Azkaban!
Amortentia allowed one to smell their favorite scent, while the Elixir of Joy gave the drinker an inexplicable surge of happiness—but neither had a long shelf life.
‘Elixir of Joy it is. Amortentia, after all, has a bad reputation—the stories about it from Azkaban could fill a book, and a professor brewing Amortentia on school grounds is the kind of thing that would give people the wrong idea…’
Having made his decision, William began to summon a house-elf.
"Bart?"
With a soft 'pop,' the house-elf appeared before William.
"Professor, is there something I can—Are you brewing a potion?"
"Yes, Bart. I suddenly realized I forgot to prepare the ingredients. So, please go to Professor Adams and bring me one—no, three—portions of ingredients for the Elixir of Joy."
William instructed him seriously. He'd just been joking with Adams; how could he possibly go over there himself now?
"Yes, Professor."
Bart happily accepted the task.
Not long after William had filled the cauldron with water and set up proper ventilation, the house-elf returned, very pleased and carrying a large bag of ingredients.
"Professor, the ingredients you requested."
Looking at the packaged ingredients before him, William raised an eyebrow. "Professor Adams didn't send any message with you?"
"No, Professor. Professor Adams seemed very happy to find the ingredients and just had me bring them over."
Although the School Authority provided professors with the raw materials for most basic potions—as long as they weren't being mass-produced for external sale—it still surprised him that Adams hadn't sent a single word.
‘No magic traps… and given Adams’s personality, he wouldn’t stuff polluting magical items like Dungbombs in there. What's he playing at?’
Curious, William opened the cloth package. A note lying on top of the pile of ingredients immediately caught his eye.
‘Is he a child? Passing notes?’
William chuckled. Then the note, as if alive, jumped off the ingredients, landed on the table, and began to fold itself into a provocative gesture.
"Elixir of Joy? Haha, just smell it then!"
Adams's mocking voice filled the entire room.
The moment the first word rang out, the house-elf had already Apparated out of the room.
‘A Howler—are you a child? Does being loud make you right?’
William rubbed his temples. It seemed the recent skirmish wasn't over yet. After he carefully inspected the ingredients, he found, sure enough, the ingredients for the Elixir of Joy had been replaced with those for Amortentia.
Just as Adams had said, the Elixir of Joy, originally meant to bring happiness, had turned into Amortentia, which could achieve a similar effect simply by being smelled.
‘Fine, then. A potion meant to be drunk became one meant to be smelled. I'll make do. If I bought the ingredients from outside the school, when would I ever get to brew it? Besides, I can turn this mistake to my advantage; I'll just brew a batch for my students' class—it'll be good to have an actual dangerous item to show them.’
——
"Here, the Elixir of Joy ingredients you wanted."
At the dining table, Adams handed William a small bag.
"No need—I've already brewed it."
William's voice sounded floaty, and the fork in his hand was twirling.
"You brewed it?"
Adams's voice was full of surprise—it wasn't that he doubted William had brewed it, but that William's voice was so floaty, it sounded as if he had drunk the potion right after making it.
"You didn't drink it thinking it was the Elixir of Joy, did you?"
"Even if I were an idiot, I can tell the difference between the Elixir of Joy and Amortentia."
"Then why are you like this?"
"I'm fine, just let me recover—"
William savagely speared a lamb chop, as if stabbing someone.
Just an hour ago, he had completed the Amortentia, and its quality far exceeded his expectations. William discovered that his talent for potions was much greater than he had imagined—when he curiously opened the System to check, he saw that he had already unlocked a 'Potions 2' talent.
3 was the maximum, and 0 was the baseline. No matter how hard someone without talent worked, they would only ever grasp 0. It was like how a talented child like Gauss could devise theorems just by looking at a series of numbers, while the vast majority of university mathematics students, even after completing their higher education, could only switch to other fields for their postgraduate studies.
A Potions talent of 2 meant that even if William had served his full sentence in Azkaban, he could have easily thrived in the Wizarding World.
‘I was such a fool. I never should have accepted that deal. What would have been so wrong with serving my time in Azkaban and starting a potions business afterward?’
Though hindsight is twenty-twenty, William still couldn't control his emotions. After such a huge realization, feeling upset for two hours was completely understandable.
Looking up at the ceiling of the Great Hall, William let out a long sigh. *Forget it. There's always a way to break a curse.* If he hadn't agreed to Dumbledore's terms, how could he have had the chance to set foot in Hogwarts?
He understood the reasoning, but he still couldn't help but feel upset.
Just as he sighed, a flock of owls suddenly flew into the Great Hall.
‘The midday post is here... if I had been released from prison normally, would I be waiting for an owl to deliver business orders right now?’
Just as William was lost in thought, the students' tables suddenly erupted into chaos.
"Someone got a Howler!"
A student from an unknown House suddenly shouted this, drawing everyone's attention to the source of the sound.
William couldn't help but lower his head, his original mournful expression instantly vanishing. A Howler? Which poor soul?
Haha, to hell with the curse!
Where else but Hogwarts could he witness so much excitement?
PS: If it's daytime now, there will be another chapter tonight; if not… (o(￣▽￣)ｄ shameless author trying to sneak by)
(end of chapter)
Placing the books he had retrieved one by one into the unread section of the bookshelf and storing the experiment records in his desk drawer, William finally placed the package containing a complete set of implements solemnly on the table and began to unwrap it, layer by layer.
Once the package was fully opened, the items he remembered began to reveal themselves one by one before him—a cauldron, a knife, scales, a mortar…
Although they were clearly second-hand, they had all been well-maintained. While this wouldn't significantly increase their price on the second-hand market, in their current condition, William could use them immediately without any maintenance.
‘Time to brew a potion—what should I make?’
William began to hesitate. Although this was his first time brewing a potion, theoretically, he should brew a simple potion like the Boil-Cure Potion that first-years make. However, he had no intention of brewing a potion that was meaningless to him—he didn't have as much time to study as the first-years, nor did he lack a foundation as they did.
Even setting aside the extensive potion knowledge he had gained through self-study, the magic he'd mastered alone was enough to handle most accidents that could occur during potion-making.
‘Amortentia? Elixir of Joy?’
William instantly thought of two potions highly valued within Azkaban—if one could acquire genuine, undiluted versions, they could be traded for several times their volume in chocolate. It was well-known that chocolate held a higher status than Galleons in Azkaban!
Amortentia allowed one to smell their favorite scent, while the Elixir of Joy gave the drinker an inexplicable surge of happiness—but neither had a long shelf life.
‘Elixir of Joy it is. Amortentia, after all, has a bad reputation—the stories about it from Azkaban could fill a book, and a professor brewing Amortentia on school grounds is the kind of thing that would give people the wrong idea…’
Having made his decision, William began to summon a house-elf.
"Bart?"
With a soft 'pop,' the house-elf appeared before William.
"Professor, is there something I can—Are you brewing a potion?"
"Yes, Bart. I suddenly realized I forgot to prepare the ingredients. So, please go to Professor Adams and bring me one—no, three—portions of ingredients for the Elixir of Joy."
William instructed him seriously. He'd just been joking with Adams; how could he possibly go over there himself now?
"Yes, Professor."
Bart happily accepted the task.
Not long after William had filled the cauldron with water and set up proper ventilation, the house-elf returned, very pleased and carrying a large bag of ingredients.
"Professor, the ingredients you requested."
Looking at the packaged ingredients before him, William raised an eyebrow. "Professor Adams didn't send any message with you?"
"No, Professor. Professor Adams seemed very happy to find the ingredients and just had me bring them over."
Although the School Authority provided professors with the raw materials for most basic potions—as long as they weren't being mass-produced for external sale—it still surprised him that Adams hadn't sent a single word.
‘No magic traps… and given Adams’s personality, he wouldn’t stuff polluting magical items like Dungbombs in there. What's he playing at?’
Curious, William opened the cloth package. A note lying on top of the pile of ingredients immediately caught his eye.
‘Is he a child? Passing notes?’
William chuckled. Then the note, as if alive, jumped off the ingredients, landed on the table, and began to fold itself into a provocative gesture.
"Elixir of Joy? Haha, just smell it then!"
Adams's mocking voice filled the entire room.
The moment the first word rang out, the house-elf had already Apparated out of the room.
‘A Howler—are you a child? Does being loud make you right?’
William rubbed his temples. It seemed the recent skirmish wasn't over yet. After he carefully inspected the ingredients, he found, sure enough, the ingredients for the Elixir of Joy had been replaced with those for Amortentia.
Just as Adams had said, the Elixir of Joy, originally meant to bring happiness, had turned into Amortentia, which could achieve a similar effect simply by being smelled.
‘Fine, then. A potion meant to be drunk became one meant to be smelled. I'll make do. If I bought the ingredients from outside the school, when would I ever get to brew it? Besides, I can turn this mistake to my advantage; I'll just brew a batch for my students' class—it'll be good to have an actual dangerous item to show them.’
——
"Here, the Elixir of Joy ingredients you wanted."
At the dining table, Adams handed William a small bag.
"No need—I've already brewed it."
William's voice sounded floaty, and the fork in his hand was twirling.
"You brewed it?"
Adams's voice was full of surprise—it wasn't that he doubted William had brewed it, but that William's voice was so floaty, it sounded as if he had drunk the potion right after making it.
"You didn't drink it thinking it was the Elixir of Joy, did you?"
"Even if I were an idiot, I can tell the difference between the Elixir of Joy and Amortentia."
"Then why are you like this?"
"I'm fine, just let me recover—"
William savagely speared a lamb chop, as if stabbing someone.
Just an hour ago, he had completed the Amortentia, and its quality far exceeded his expectations. William discovered that his talent for potions was much greater than he had imagined—when he curiously opened the System to check, he saw that he had already unlocked a 'Potions 2' talent.
3 was the maximum, and 0 was the baseline. No matter how hard someone without talent worked, they would only ever grasp 0. It was like how a talented child like Gauss could devise theorems just by looking at a series of numbers, while the vast majority of university mathematics students, even after completing their higher education, could only switch to other fields for their postgraduate studies.
A Potions talent of 2 meant that even if William had served his full sentence in Azkaban, he could have easily thrived in the Wizarding World.
‘I was such a fool. I never should have accepted that deal. What would have been so wrong with serving my time in Azkaban and starting a potions business afterward?’
Though hindsight is twenty-twenty, William still couldn't control his emotions. After such a huge realization, feeling upset for two hours was completely understandable.
Looking up at the ceiling of the Great Hall, William let out a long sigh. *Forget it. There's always a way to break a curse.* If he hadn't agreed to Dumbledore's terms, how could he have had the chance to set foot in Hogwarts?
He understood the reasoning, but he still couldn't help but feel upset.
Just as he sighed, a flock of owls suddenly flew into the Great Hall.
‘The midday post is here... if I had been released from prison normally, would I be waiting for an owl to deliver business orders right now?’
Just as William was lost in thought, the students' tables suddenly erupted into chaos.
"Someone got a Howler!"
A student from an unknown House suddenly shouted this, drawing everyone's attention to the source of the sound.
William couldn't help but lower his head, his original mournful expression instantly vanishing. A Howler? Which poor soul?
Haha, to hell with the curse!
Where else but Hogwarts could he witness so much excitement?
PS: If it's daytime now, there will be another chapter tonight; if not… (o(￣▽￣)ｄ shameless author trying to sneak by)
(end of chapter)
