Raven's Claw at Hogwarts

Chapter 457 Winner
Hermione looked back frequently to observe the movements of Mike and Harry, and at the same time twirled the spoon in her hand clockwise according to a specific frequency.

She had noticed when the first blue steam rose from Mike's table just now, and this incident made her very impatient, because it meant that Mike's current progress had surpassed her own, which Hermione could not tolerate of.

And there are many people who have noticed this, such as Slughorn and Draco.

It's just that the former just chuckled when he saw this, and didn't make any noise to disturb him, while the latter was anxious. He looked at Slughorn who was patrolling around the Slytherin table and said:

"Sir, I think you must know my grandfather Abraxas Malfoy?"

Hearing that Slughorn turned his head, looking at Draco with a vaguely anxious face and the passable solution in his cauldron, Slughorn understood him almost instantly. thoughts.

If it was normal, Slughorn might give him some little help as Draco wished, after all, he was the eldest son of the Malfoy family.

It's just that the situation is different now, Voldemort is rampant in the country, Slughorn has no affection for him and the Death Eaters, and he is unwilling to deal with each other.

Ever since, he raised his eyebrows and said in a very regretful tone:

"Of course, but I heard that he died, which is really a pity. But it is also reasonable, after all, he is 80 years old and still has dragon's yin sores."

As soon as this remark came out, Draco's face suddenly darkened, while Mike in the distance burst out laughing.

Dragon Yin Sore is a kind of x-ray disease that appeared in dragons. This kind of disease is very terrible. It can be spread across races through x-behaviour, and its fatality rate to humans is extremely high.

This is not to say that Draco's grandfather did something indescribable with the fire dragon, after all, the size gap between humans and fire dragons is too great.

And what's interesting is that this terrible infectious disease will lose its infectivity after humans are infected with dragon yin sores, which is the direct reason why the Ministry of Magic does not pay too much attention to this disease.

But this also means that Grandpa Draco's taste must be very unique, and old and strong, so that he can contract this disease at the age of 80.

This is very remote knowledge, except for Mike and Draco, only Slughorn and Hermione know about it, and Slughorn, who heard the laughter at this moment, also turned his head, He raised an eyebrow at Mike and smiled.

Obviously, he was very happy that his snarky words were understood.

Mike also nodded with a smile, and then looked down at his crucible again.

It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, Mike's face turned dark all of a sudden when he was startled.

Because at this moment, the medicinal liquid boiling in his crucible has changed from light brown to dark brown.

"Ah! It's a pity that the heat is not well controlled, and it's a bit overcooked."

Slughorn, who had already wandered nearby, also saw the scene in Mike's crucible, he sighed.

Mike also shook his head, he was only focused on laughing at Draco just now, so he forgot to continue stirring the cauldron.

Glancing at the hourglass on the podium, it was less than 10 minutes before the end of the get out of class, and it was too late to make another one. Seeing this, Mike no longer hesitated, and simply used the overcooked liquid medicine The next production started.

Seeing this, Slughorn hesitated to speak, and finally walked away.

Soon Mike's water of life and death was completed, but compared with the perfect version recorded in the book, his finished product was obviously a bit too dark.

Shaking his head helplessly, Mike didn't intend to put the defective product out, but turned his head to look at other people in the classroom.

The inside of Franklin's cauldron was already in a mess, and the dark color was easily reminiscent of poison.

But he still didn't give up, he was still stirring the viscous liquid in the crucible desperately, and put some wormwood water into it from time to time.

Draco, on the other hand, seemed to have given up on the fight for the prize. At this moment, he was chattering with Parkinson next to him with a dark face. Mike guessed that he must be speaking ill of Slughorn.

As for Harry, the 'Half-Blood Prince's Textbook' obviously gave him a big surprise. At this time, he was stirring the cauldron with great interest, sometimes clockwise and then counterclockwise. Judging by the excited expression, the progress should be very good.

"Okay! Time is up! Please stop what you are doing!"

Slughorn's words brought everyone to a halt, and then he started walking between the tables, checking everyone's cauldrons one by one.

The first to bear the brunt was the Ravenclaw long table, and when he saw the dark liquid in Mike's cauldron, a look of regret appeared on his face.

"It's a pity!" Slughorn leaned down a little bit, and whispered guiltily, "It's all my fault. If I didn't tell that joke, this kind of thing wouldn't have happened."

"It's okay, Professor."

Slughorn patted Mike on the shoulder and walked away.

As for Franklin's cauldron, he didn't even look at it, because it was emitting a disgusting disgusting smell, which was obviously not the smell that a qualified water of life and death could emit.

Professor Slughorn kept walking through the classroom, checking every student's cauldron with his eyes, and leaning down to smell it with his nose from time to time.

When passing by Hermione, he nodded approvingly at Hermione, but didn't speak, but Ron beside her enjoyed the same treatment as Franklin, because his works were almost inferior to Franklin's. What's more, almost all the medicinal liquid in the crucible has been refined into asphalt.

But when he saw the liquid in Harry's cauldron, his eyes suddenly widened.

"Merlin! This is really outstanding!" Slughorn spoke excitedly at a super fast speed, and his two walrus mustaches were about to fly off, "You obviously inherited your mother's knowledge in potions. Talent! Harry! You are a well-deserved champion!"

As he spoke, Slughorn took out the glass bottle from his arms and stuffed it into Harry's arms.

"Here, here I am. I'll keep my word. I'll give you a bottle of Felicity Elixir. I hope you can make good use of it!"

Harry held Felix Felicia with a dazed expression on his face, apparently still not understanding what happened.

There was silence on the Slytherin side, and Draco and the others looked at Harry with almost angry eyes.

Ron beside Harry let out a strange cry, and immediately jumped on Harry and cheered. As for Hermione, she lowered her head and looked at her cauldron without saying a word.

At this moment, Slughorn finally announced his dismissal.

Everyone in the other colleges left the classroom quickly and lost their prizes. They don't want to stay in this sad place now.

The Gryffindors gathered around Harry as quickly as possible, looking at Harry's precious bottle of Felicia impatiently.

Seeing this, the corners of Mike's mouth also rose. He glanced at the textbook that Harry had carefully put away, and then put everything into his pockets, ready to evacuate.

But at this moment, Slughorn stood in front of him and said in a kind tone:

"Mike, can I speak to you alone?"

Franklin looked at Mike upon hearing the words, saw the latter nodded, and then left the classroom first.

"Do you have anything to do with me?"

Mike asked with a smile.

"It's like this." Slughorn pulled Mike to a remote corner, and then handed a letter to Mike, "This is a letter, written by me. You can open it and read it first. look."

Mike gave Slughorn a look like a fool before opening the letter.

Excellent Mr Mike Townley
Here, I sincerely invite you to join the 'Slug Club' and become one of countless wizards advocating justice and knowledge.

Come to the Charms professor's party next Saturday evening, if you wish.

Founder of 'Slug Club'
Senior Member of the Society of Extraordinary Pharmacists

Senior Member of the International Federation of Wizards

Horace Slughorn

"As you can see, this is an invitation letter." Seeing Mike read it, Slugher said immediately, "Originally this letter should have been sent to your dormitory tonight like everyone else's, but I think You are different, so you sent it here yourself."

"So, Mr. Townley, would you like to join the 'Slug Club'?"

Seeing Slughorn's expectant look, the smile on Mike's face became brighter and brighter.

"Of course! Professor, it's my pleasure."

"Oh! This is amazing!" Slughorn patted his thigh excitedly, "Then Mike, don't forget to come to the Potions class next Saturday."

"Okay, Professor."

After saying that, Mike turned and left, but only halfway there, Slughorn chased after him again, panting and stuffed a small bottle of Felix Elixir into Mike's arms.

"This is your compensation, Mike." Slughorn said, "Don't refuse! I know that if it weren't for me, the quality of your potion would definitely surpass Harry's! That's it, I'm leaving!"

After finishing speaking, Slughorn seemed to fly away, leaving only Mike standing there, looking at the small bottle of Felix Elixir with a smile:
"Is this sugar-coated cannonball? It's really sweet!"

……

"Harry, can I share some of your Felicia?"

In the corridor, Ron, who was returning to the lounge, suddenly said to Harry beside him.

"I mean, if Professor Slughorn wasn't lying, that bottle of Felicia should create twelve hours of luck. So I thought, maybe you might be willing to give me an hour. I want to feel that too. The feeling that all wishes come true..."

Ron's voice became quieter and quieter, until at last even Harry, who was so close, couldn't hear him.

"Well, of course I would." Harry said, "It's just that I don't know the ratio between the dosage of the potion and the time it takes effect, so I don't know how to divide it."

"Ha! This is really great! As for the distribution of potions, we can leave it to Hermione, she must know about it!"

Ron said happily, but when Harry heard the word Hermione, a look of unnaturalness flashed across his face.

When Slughorn announced that he was the winner just now, he clearly felt that Hermione was a little angry, and he didn't know what happened to Hermione now.

Harry was thinking about it when a hand was on his shoulder.

He turned his head in horror, and saw the panting Hermione staring at him with those glowing red eyes.

"how did you do it!"

Hermione demanded.

Harry knew what she was asking, but said deliberately:
"Um, what are you talking about, I'm not..."

"Don't pretend to be stupid, how did you make the water of life and death better than me!"

"me……"

"Don't tell me that you have previewed. I have been your classmate for five years. I know exactly how good your potion is! So! Tell me the truth!"

"Okay, okay!" Harry shook his head helplessly, and took out the Half-Blood Prince textbook with a blushing face, "Do you still remember the book Mike gave me? I just followed the steps above I went to make the water of life and death, but the original steps above have been obliterated, and I refer to the newly added steps."

"This is impossible!"

Hermione screamed, then snatched the book from Harry's hand and began to look through it.

Afterwards, Harry and Ron heard Hermione yelling "impossible" from time to time. Obviously, the contents of the book violated her understanding of the world.

"It's not science! It's not magic! I wouldn't believe it if I killed you. Are you trying to convince me that a recipe scribbled in an old book is more correct than Professor Slughorn's teaching from an authoritative textbook?"

Hermione growled, and Harry finally got angry at this moment, he snatched the old book back again, and said angrily:
"Then you mean to say that I cheated! Let me tell you clearly that everything I said is true. Maybe you can ask Professor Slughorn for some Veritaserum, so that you can believe me !"

After saying that, Harry turned his head and was about to leave, while Hermione was too angry to speak.

Ron on the side was anxious, he grabbed Harry's robe and said:
"Hey, Harry, don't be mad, we're all friends, don't be mad!"

Harry didn't speak angrily, but his footsteps stopped.

"But I still have a question." Ron continued to ask, "If what you said is true, it means that Mike should have written down all the contents of this book. If this is the case, the winner Why not him?"

Hearing this, Harry was taken aback. Indeed, what Ron said made sense, and even he himself couldn't explain it.

Hermione's face turned red.

She also heard Mike's loud laugh in class just now, so she probably guessed the reason for Mike's failure.

However, she really couldn't tell the reason for being so embarrassing!

For a moment, the atmosphere in the corridor became a little awkward, and looking at the silent Harry and Hermione, Ron sighed and suggested:
"Why don't I go to Mike and ask, since he gave the book, then he must know something."

"good idea!"

"Going right now!"

Hermione and Harry said at the same time.

"I think we'd better go back first." Ron continued, "I looked at the class schedule, and Mike will take Defense Against the Dark Arts class soon, and it will probably take a long time."

(End of this chapter)