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Chapter 121: When Adams Slipped Away
"No, Singeade—"
Adams himself was furious. It was bad enough that you suddenly appeared and startled me this morning, but what's with writing a whole page of jokes like this?
These jokes could make someone laugh all night!
Is the ship of our friendship so fragile?
Let alone Adams himself, even William, who was observing, was a little angry at this moment—this is what you're showing us?
I know making jokes is interesting—but you might as well learn from me and create some exam papers. While it's not as technically advanced as alchemy, at least it helps the students. If you don't know how, I can teach you. Laughing like this over a few jokes, are you an imposter who snuck in, just like me?
"What are you doing?"
Singeade looked puzzled, as if expecting applause and cheers—which made William even angrier.
Staying up all night to make something that's just for fun, and being so excited you can't sleep? That's just unreasonable!
Although staying up all night had left Professor Singeade a bit out of sorts, he still realized something was off—he glanced at the paper, then looked at the two of them with an unreadable expression, before snatching the parchment, flipping it over, and handing it back.
"And you call yourselves professors—can't you tell the front from the back of a parchment?"
'Then you'd better explain what's with this pile of jokes on the back!'
Grumble as they might, they still had to look.
Compared to the pile of text on the back, there were only a few lines on the front of the paper.
[Rapid Hair Growth Potion: Add... to..., assist with..., then use...
...
Experiment successful.]
William felt utterly disheartened—after all, English wasn't his native language. If those technical terms were in Chinese, he might have been able to guess them. Now, he could only understand the auxiliary terms.
Though unrelated, it reminded him of Mei Chaofeng—these technical terms were just impossible to understand. For him, an outsider to alchemy, reading this was harder than deciphering ancient scriptures.
'Presumably, if this formula were in the hands of an alchemy master, it could be replicated perfectly right away, but for me...'
William looked up, feeling this was even more insulting than those jokes—the handwriting was clear, without corrections, and though a bit sloppy, he simply couldn't understand it.
"Oh—that," Adams said with disdain, letting out a chuckle. "Use that head of yours—which looks brand new despite you not sleeping all night—and think. Do I understand alchemy?"
'What a burn.'
William quickly agreed in his mind, but didn't show it—he had only spent a short time with these guys, and for now, he didn't have the courage to speak so boldly.
"I know you don't understand, but you recognize the part at the front, right?"
Singeade chuckled in return, pointing at the name at the front, then brushed his previously flattened hair upwards. "See? What a great discovery!"
They didn't need him to say it; both of them could see—in the spot where he used to be bald, a small patch of very short, fine hair lay there. Although it looked malnourished and seemed about to fall out, it was indeed new hair.
"See? See! A great invention!"
Singeade looked proud—as if not sleeping all night was no big deal at all. He even planned to pull a few more all-nighters.
'Great it is, but it's completely different from what I imagined.'
William, who still had a full head of hair, found it impressive but didn't feel any empathy—he had gone from excitement to disappointment, then back to excitement, suffered a blow, and then was once again disheartened, now feeling neither joy nor sorrow.
Originally, he thought Singeade had created some amazing magical item or alchemical potion, something that could increase one's strength. Now this thing comes out; it's not that it's bad, in fact, it's very suitable for Professor Singeade to use, but it was genuinely of no help to him.
'What Singeade invented has nothing to do with you—if it's useful, you can only use it if he's willing to help you, so it's irrelevant to you!'
William warned himself, but an image of himself using the Rapid Hair Growth Potion to fight dark magic still appeared in his mind.
'The Dark Lord doesn't seem to have hair—maybe this thing would be useful to him? No, that's not right—the Dark Lord doesn't even have a nose, what would he need hair for?'
Such thoughts pulled William out of his strange mood—by this time, Professor Singeade had already started boasting about his discovery to others.
"William—I suspect Singeade successfully made those potions last night. He just couldn't sleep because he was too excited."
Adams whispered.
'I agree with that; so many jokes don't look like they could be made in a short time—but you never know, what if inspiration struck and he had a breakthrough?'
William didn't voice these thoughts—he hadn't eaten yet. Although he wasn't afraid of a duel, if Adams were to challenge him, he wouldn't be able to finish his meal.
—
"Where's Adams? Is he with Hagrid again?"
At noon on Friday, Singeade, whose excitement hadn't faded, asked William at the dining table.
"That's right, just like yesterday."
William carefully moved a small cherry tomato onto his plate, and after confirming it was safe, he replied.
Perhaps the jokes Singeade wrote in his excitement spurred Adams on, or maybe he'd simply gotten addicted to cooking. These past few days, Adams had been running to Hagrid's place every day, where the two of them tackled the rooster together—according to Singeade, Adams was now the head chef.
To be precise, as soon as the first class ended today, Adams eagerly ran off to Hagrid's to cook—his cooking addiction had been truly ignited these past few days.
"Honestly, he's really gotten hooked—he doesn't even blush when making jokes anymore, and he's even holding a cookbook, asking us which recipe looks appetizing!”
"I'm just afraid one day he'll be so into it that he'll treat Herbology class as a cooking class; given this trend, it's not impossible."
"Then maybe he'll shift his attention from the rooster. By the way, have you seen Afra today?"
William grumbled, then asked about the little girl he hadn't seen all day.
"No—Afra was grounded for two weeks, Professor Taylor said."
"Huh? Afra grounded, Adams busy cooking—what about you? How's your potion coming along?"
"Still not allowed. Professor Kettleburn said that until its safety has been verified, I'm forbidden from providing the potion to other colleagues."
Professor Singeade's tone carried a hint of indignation—something William could completely understand.
It's true that a new potion must be tested before use, but being told by Professor Kettleburn to "verify its safety" was truly hard to swallow.
"Good things come to those who wait. Maybe you'll grow a full head of hair before they even get to use it."
"True—then maybe I can turn this into a brand and stay at the school counting money."
"Stay at the school?"
"Exactly—outside Hogwarts, where can you find a job that's less than four hours a week?"
Singeade wore an expression that said, 'Are you stupid?'
'Must be nice having so few Alchemy classes!'
William rolled his eyes.
"Don't mind these details. Think about Adams still having to tend to his herbs in the middle of the night. That puts things in perspective."
That was quite effective consolation, and William felt much better instantly.
(end of chapter)
"No, Singeade—"
Adams himself was furious. It was bad enough that you suddenly appeared and startled me this morning, but what's with writing a whole page of jokes like this?
These jokes could make someone laugh all night!
Is the ship of our friendship so fragile?
Let alone Adams himself, even William, who was observing, was a little angry at this moment—this is what you're showing us?
I know making jokes is interesting—but you might as well learn from me and create some exam papers. While it's not as technically advanced as alchemy, at least it helps the students. If you don't know how, I can teach you. Laughing like this over a few jokes, are you an imposter who snuck in, just like me?
"What are you doing?"
Singeade looked puzzled, as if expecting applause and cheers—which made William even angrier.
Staying up all night to make something that's just for fun, and being so excited you can't sleep? That's just unreasonable!
Although staying up all night had left Professor Singeade a bit out of sorts, he still realized something was off—he glanced at the paper, then looked at the two of them with an unreadable expression, before snatching the parchment, flipping it over, and handing it back.
"And you call yourselves professors—can't you tell the front from the back of a parchment?"
'Then you'd better explain what's with this pile of jokes on the back!'
Grumble as they might, they still had to look.
Compared to the pile of text on the back, there were only a few lines on the front of the paper.
[Rapid Hair Growth Potion: Add... to..., assist with..., then use...
...
Experiment successful.]
William felt utterly disheartened—after all, English wasn't his native language. If those technical terms were in Chinese, he might have been able to guess them. Now, he could only understand the auxiliary terms.
Though unrelated, it reminded him of Mei Chaofeng—these technical terms were just impossible to understand. For him, an outsider to alchemy, reading this was harder than deciphering ancient scriptures.
'Presumably, if this formula were in the hands of an alchemy master, it could be replicated perfectly right away, but for me...'
William looked up, feeling this was even more insulting than those jokes—the handwriting was clear, without corrections, and though a bit sloppy, he simply couldn't understand it.
"Oh—that," Adams said with disdain, letting out a chuckle. "Use that head of yours—which looks brand new despite you not sleeping all night—and think. Do I understand alchemy?"
'What a burn.'
William quickly agreed in his mind, but didn't show it—he had only spent a short time with these guys, and for now, he didn't have the courage to speak so boldly.
"I know you don't understand, but you recognize the part at the front, right?"
Singeade chuckled in return, pointing at the name at the front, then brushed his previously flattened hair upwards. "See? What a great discovery!"
They didn't need him to say it; both of them could see—in the spot where he used to be bald, a small patch of very short, fine hair lay there. Although it looked malnourished and seemed about to fall out, it was indeed new hair.
"See? See! A great invention!"
Singeade looked proud—as if not sleeping all night was no big deal at all. He even planned to pull a few more all-nighters.
'Great it is, but it's completely different from what I imagined.'
William, who still had a full head of hair, found it impressive but didn't feel any empathy—he had gone from excitement to disappointment, then back to excitement, suffered a blow, and then was once again disheartened, now feeling neither joy nor sorrow.
Originally, he thought Singeade had created some amazing magical item or alchemical potion, something that could increase one's strength. Now this thing comes out; it's not that it's bad, in fact, it's very suitable for Professor Singeade to use, but it was genuinely of no help to him.
'What Singeade invented has nothing to do with you—if it's useful, you can only use it if he's willing to help you, so it's irrelevant to you!'
William warned himself, but an image of himself using the Rapid Hair Growth Potion to fight dark magic still appeared in his mind.
'The Dark Lord doesn't seem to have hair—maybe this thing would be useful to him? No, that's not right—the Dark Lord doesn't even have a nose, what would he need hair for?'
Such thoughts pulled William out of his strange mood—by this time, Professor Singeade had already started boasting about his discovery to others.
"William—I suspect Singeade successfully made those potions last night. He just couldn't sleep because he was too excited."
Adams whispered.
'I agree with that; so many jokes don't look like they could be made in a short time—but you never know, what if inspiration struck and he had a breakthrough?'
William didn't voice these thoughts—he hadn't eaten yet. Although he wasn't afraid of a duel, if Adams were to challenge him, he wouldn't be able to finish his meal.
—
"Where's Adams? Is he with Hagrid again?"
At noon on Friday, Singeade, whose excitement hadn't faded, asked William at the dining table.
"That's right, just like yesterday."
William carefully moved a small cherry tomato onto his plate, and after confirming it was safe, he replied.
Perhaps the jokes Singeade wrote in his excitement spurred Adams on, or maybe he'd simply gotten addicted to cooking. These past few days, Adams had been running to Hagrid's place every day, where the two of them tackled the rooster together—according to Singeade, Adams was now the head chef.
To be precise, as soon as the first class ended today, Adams eagerly ran off to Hagrid's to cook—his cooking addiction had been truly ignited these past few days.
"Honestly, he's really gotten hooked—he doesn't even blush when making jokes anymore, and he's even holding a cookbook, asking us which recipe looks appetizing!”
"I'm just afraid one day he'll be so into it that he'll treat Herbology class as a cooking class; given this trend, it's not impossible."
"Then maybe he'll shift his attention from the rooster. By the way, have you seen Afra today?"
William grumbled, then asked about the little girl he hadn't seen all day.
"No—Afra was grounded for two weeks, Professor Taylor said."
"Huh? Afra grounded, Adams busy cooking—what about you? How's your potion coming along?"
"Still not allowed. Professor Kettleburn said that until its safety has been verified, I'm forbidden from providing the potion to other colleagues."
Professor Singeade's tone carried a hint of indignation—something William could completely understand.
It's true that a new potion must be tested before use, but being told by Professor Kettleburn to "verify its safety" was truly hard to swallow.
"Good things come to those who wait. Maybe you'll grow a full head of hair before they even get to use it."
"True—then maybe I can turn this into a brand and stay at the school counting money."
"Stay at the school?"
"Exactly—outside Hogwarts, where can you find a job that's less than four hours a week?"
Singeade wore an expression that said, 'Are you stupid?'
'Must be nice having so few Alchemy classes!'
William rolled his eyes.
"Don't mind these details. Think about Adams still having to tend to his herbs in the middle of the night. That puts things in perspective."
That was quite effective consolation, and William felt much better instantly.
(end of chapter)
