Bab 112: Chapter 112
[A/N: Please add my WPC entry novel to your library guys. You can find it in my profile and the name is (Apocalyptic Merchant: I Get Stronger By Trading) ]
Neville nodded, "Yes. Let's go tell Alex about this."
"All right. But I do have a feeling that he expected it to be a basilisk since he told us to read books on Herpo the Foul and the founders of Hogwarts. Herpo created the first Basilisk and Salazar Slytherin owned one."
"Well, that sounds like something he would do. He rarely gives us direct answers after all. At least I'm getting close to perfecting the potion he assigned me while you seem to keep messing up and you don't even know what you did wrong."
Hermione sighed and rubbed her temple, "And he refuses to help me out. It's just so frustrating!"
"But you seem to be enjoying yourself when you're brewing the potion."
"I'm just trying to not make a mistake. Anyways, back to the main topic, let's go talk to Alex."
"Yeah, okay.", Neville said as he touched his ring with the tip of his wand and asked for Alex's help inwardly. He then stood up and walked to his dormitory while Hermione did the same.
Meanwhile, in the room of requirements, Alex entered the room and waited for the two when he got their message. A few minutes later, the two of them appeared in front of him.
"So? Any news?"
"Well, I suppose you already expect it from us but it's about the Basilisk isn't it?", Hermione said, folding her hands.
"Good work guys.", Alex said and smiled, "So, now that you know what's inside there, I hope you both will not go there for now."
"Yeah, we won't. But I'm still curious about Ron. How did he even go there? I also heard that he did go there at night along with Harry.", Neville muttered, clearly puzzled.
"Harry owns an invisibility cloak so I guess that should answer your question."
"It does…"
"Mhmm.", Alex nodded before adding, "Just focus on your potions for now and also tell me how it has been going."
Neville nodded while Hermione looked frustrated. She glanced at Neville and he glanced back, enabling the both of them to communicate with just their eyes. Neville looked apologetic but sighed in the end before he decided to speak.
"I have almost perfected the potion. I might need one or two weeks to get it right. As for Hermione, there has been no progress."
Alex nodded, "That's something I expected but you sure are faster than what I expected. The potions you both are trying to brew are going to be of huge help later on."
He paused for a second before adding, "Keep an eye on Harry for me. Just watch him and don't do anything unnecessary."
"Got it. Anything else?"
"Not really." Alex said as he shook his head before adding, "But I want you to join Hermione and help her with brewing her potion after you perfect yours."
"But I can-", Hermione said hurriedly, but Alex raised his hand, motioning her to stop.
"If you can, I'd be pleasantly surprised. Prove it to me, Hermione. If you can do it before Neville gets his own, I'll give you anything you want. Call it a favor but it should be something that isn't too hard."
She nodded and was about to reply, but he continued, "I gave you that specific potion not because I wanted it. It is to help you realize something. For both of you. Now then, I'll see you guys later."
Alex vanished from his spot, leaving the other two behind who looked at each other's faces and sighed.
"Let's just brew like always?", Neville asked and the latter nodded.
"Hopefully, I won't fail like always."
A few hours passed and the both of them looked at the cauldron that had all of its contents sucked into the unknown.
"I failed… again. Just what am I doing wrong?! I've been following every single thing that's written!"
"Maybe that's the problem."
"What?"
"Huh?"
"What did you just say, Neville?"
Neville scratched the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, "I don't mean to be rude and I am also not trying to be arrogant. You are following everything as it is written and I feel like that's a bad thing…"
Hermione frowned as she turned to stare at the empty cauldron and then looked at her parchment before shaking her head, "How? How is it a bad thing to follow the instructions correctly?"
"…. You almost always follow the instructions the Professors give us so maybe you didn't notice it. Some of the books say different things compared to our professors and this is mostly true with Herbology and potions, which I learned about just recently.
The information is different in the textbooks compared to the stuff we learn in class. This is especially true for potions since Professor Snape never asked us to open our books and instead, got us to follow the instructions on the board.
Did you notice that most of the essays we submit get low scores while yours and some of the Slytherins like Malfoy get really good scores?"
Hermione nodded and Neville continued, "That's because you guys remember the recipes that Snape writes on board and you almost always copy them down. I have never seen Malfoy do it but I think that Professor Snape is giving him notes privately.
Everyone else refers to the textbooks to write their essays so they almost always get a P, D, or T"
"I never realized it…", she said as she sat down looking at the instructions once again. She read it many times only to place it on the floor in frustration.
"I know nothing about most of these ingredients. Forget the potion, I can't even predict the effects of any two of these ingredients when they react with each other."
"I'm glad I helped you realize. It's getting late so let's go have our supper?"
"Yeah, let's do that first. My stomach is grumbling here."
*****************
Meanwhile, Alex smiled as he looked through a large glass orb.
"It'll still take you time, hehe."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone