章節 6: Chapter 6: Neville is an A+ student?

Harry Potter, a child who is called a "savior" by wizards in the wizarding world. In the past eleven years of his gloomy life, he has never felt such a feeling as now, and it can be said that he is truly in the limelight.

He still remembers the scene when he was brought into the Leaky Cauldron by Hagrid: people vying to shake hands with him and show their respect to him.

Although I really can't remember what I've done that makes these wizards look up to me. But, whatever.

All Harry knew was that he was content and happy now. He dared to say that last night's dinner was the best and fullest he had ever eaten.

Ah, I'm not just thinking about the food, I mean the people here are also very supportive and so the dinner experience was great.

The little wizards here are friendly – except for the little white face on the train.

He made his first friend of the same age on the train. The thought of never having enough to eat again, never having to face Dudley's punches and kicks again, never having to face the cynicism of Vernon Dursley's again, never having to face Aunt Petunia's disdainful look again. Thinking of this, Harry felt like he was in a dream.

But Harry soon began to get out of shape.

The next morning, from the moment Harry walked out of the dormitory, some whispers had been whispering in his ears. And Harry could feel that almost everyone was looking at his scars.

Between classes and after class, a large group of young wizards would crowd the door to catch a glimpse of Harry. There would be people walking around him in the hallway, staring at him.

Even when he goes to the bathroom, there is a group of people standing outside the door!

Seriously, Harry misses the stairwell of the Dursleys a little. Of course, it's just talk. Going from one extreme to the other is not something that everyone can adapt to quickly. Luckily, he had a friend named Ron who was always by his side to help him out.

While it was irritating and embarrassing to be watched as a rare animal, Harry could sense that they had no ill will. No malice is no malice, but Harry was really tired of the feeling. It's the fourth day of school, and the number of people around him hasn't diminished at all.

In order to avoid these "Harry Potter watchers", Harry had to make a dangerous decision: to go to class with a pinch. For this, his new friend Ron seems a little dissatisfied.

But Harry had forgotten one important thing: he wasn't familiar with this school of magic. He needs to know how long each classroom takes, and he also needs to know the specific route and some stairs to "pinch the point to get to class".

But he couldn't, and neither could his friend Ron. So naturally, they were late for the Transfiguration class on Thursday morning.

Professor McGonagall is a stern witch, as Harry knew when he first met Professor McGonagall. Perhaps thanks to the resounding reputation of "Savior", Professor McGonagall did not punish them. It wasn't Professor McGonagall that bothered Harry, but a little witch named Hermione Granger. Even though he had seen Miss Granger's nagging when he was on the train, Harry couldn't stand her chattering in his and Ron's ears over and over again that they weren't right and shouldn't be doing this and that. So Harry and Ron decided to try to stay away from Miss Granger, who liked to preach.

Friday was an important day to remember for Harry and Ron as they finally found the right way to the auditorium once and for all, without losing their way along the way.

"What lessons do we have today?" Harry asked Ron, who was sitting across from him, as he dealt with an apple pie.

"Potions class with Slytherin in the morning, two classes in a row." Ron's mouth was stuffed with food, which made it a little difficult for Harry to listen to him.

"Snape is the head Professor of Slytherin, and I've heard that he is particularly partial to Slytherin students. We'll see if that's the case later. "

At this point, a female voice interjected, "Oh yes, I've heard Solim say that Professor Snape is very partial to the students of their house and is very unfriendly to Gryffindor. Solim said Professor Snape would find every opportunity to deduct Gryffindor's points. "

Harry and Ron knew it was Hermione so they didn't bother looking when they heard it. The two glanced at each other, ready to continue dealing with the food in their hands.

"Wait, you mean Snape is going to find fault with us?".

"Yes, that's what Solim said, so he helped me and Neville know about the 'do's and don'ts' of Potions class last night, but hehe, his complexion wasn't good when he helped Neville make the scabies potion." Hermione glanced at Neville, who was sitting next to her.

"Wait, Hermione, who is this Solim you are talking about?" Ron asked. "Also, you said he helped you and Neville with potions?"

"Were you sleeping during the sorting ceremony? And he's Neville's cousin. "

"I think he was sorted to Slytherin. "

Harry and Ron looked at Neville together.

Neville nodded, "Yes, he's my cousin. "

"Neville, how come you have a Slytherin cousin, and the students of that house will all be deathea—bad people... in the future so—" Ron could finish his sentence when he was interrupted by the sound of owls flapping their wings.

Now Harry was used to it. But on the first day of breakfast. A hundred or so owls had suddenly flown into the auditorium, which had really startled him. These owls flew around the dining table until they found their respective owners, throwing letters or packages into their laps.

So far, Hedwig hadn't brought anything to Harry. Sometimes it flew in to peck Harry's ear and ask for a small bite of toast or a small sip of water, then flew back to the owl house and slept with the other owls on campus. But this morning, it fluttered its wings and landed between the jam pan and the sugar jar, placing a note on Harry's plate.

Harry opened the note.

"What is written?" Ron turned his head to look at the note in Harry's hand.

"Hagrid, it's from Hagrid, he asked me to come to him in the afternoon." Harry borrowed a quill from Ron and hurriedly wrote on the back of the note, "Okay, I'll be happy to see you soon." Then let Hedwig fly away.

At the opening party, Harry had sensed that Professor Snape didn't like him. At the end of the first Potions lesson, he realized he had thought wrong. Professor Snape didn't dislike him, he hated him.

Potions class is held in an underground classroom. It's darker than the main castle building above. Glass jars sit along the walls, and the soaking of taxidermy insides makes people shudder.

Snape, like Flitwick, picked up the roster as soon as class started, and like Flitwick, he always stopped when Harry's name was called.

"Oh, yes," he whispered, "Harry Potter, this is our new arrival—the famous Mr. Potter."

Draco Malfoy and his two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, laughed as they covered their mouths with their hands. When Snape finished the roll call, he looked up at the class, his eyes as black as Hagrid's, but without Hagrid's warmth. His eyes are cold and hollow, reminding you of two tunnels in total darkness.

"You have come here to learn the precise science and rigors of this potion preparation." He spoke, almost in a voice a little louder than a whisper, but everyone could hear every word he said.

Like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape has the deterrent power to keep the classroom in order effortlessly. "Since there is no stupid waving of a wand here, many of you will not believe in the magic of potions. I don't expect you to really grasp the beauty of the smoky and fragrant cauldron that simmers, and you don't really understand the magic of the liquid that flows into people's veins, the magic of the mind, and the will that is blurring. I can teach you how to increase your prestige, brew glory, and even stop death—but one thing has to be, and that is that you should not be fools, and fools I often encounter. "

After his short opening remarks, the class fell silent. Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances. Hermione Granger almost moved to the edge of her chair and leaned forward, seemingly eager to prove that she wasn't a fool.

"Potter!" Snape said suddenly, "Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

What grass root powder into what solution? Harry glanced at Ron, who was just as stunned as he was. Hermione's arms were raised high into the air.

"I don't know, Professor," Harry said.

Snape pursed his lips disdainfully.

"Tsk, tsk – it seems that fame doesn't mean everything. "

Snape deliberately ignored Hermione's raised arm.

"Let's try again. Potter, if I asked you to find me a bezoar, where would you find it?" Hermione tried to keep her hand high without leaving her seat, but Harry had no idea what a bezoar was.

He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, and the three of them trembled with laughter. "I don't know, professor. "

"I don't think you opened a book before school started, did you, Potter?".

Harry forced himself to stare straight into his cold eyes. He did turn over all the books when he was at Dursley, but could Snape ask him to memorize the contents of A Thousand Magical Herbs and Mushrooms? Snape ignored Hermione's trembling arm.

"Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione stood up, her hand reaching straight to the ceiling of the basement classroom.

"I don't know," Harry whispered, "but I suppose Hermione knows the answer, so why don't you ask her?" a few of the students laughed. Harry met Seamus's gaze, and Seamus winked at him. Snape, of course, was upset.

"Sit down," he yelled at Hermione, "For your information, Potter, asphodel, and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat that has a strong detoxifying effect and will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite."

"Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?".

Suddenly, there was a rustle of quill pens and parchment. In the midst of the cacophony, Snape said, "One point is deducted from Gryffindor for your confrontation with the Professor, Potter,"

Harry saw Malfoy laugh so much that he almost fell off his chair. The Slytherin students also stared at themselves with interest, whispering to each other and laughing among themselves from time to time.

That's when Harry noticed that there was someone different from the rest of the Slytherin: he was always reading with his head down, not laughing at him with his classmates, and not laughing like Malfoy, who was about to fall off his chair.

'He is a strange person.' Harry thought.

Under Ron's influence and Malfoy's appearance, not to mention the impression that Snape had just made on him. Harry was indeed full of distrust and disgust towards Slytherin. But this man didn't seem to be like any other Slytherin.

Potions class continued, but Gryffindor's situation didn't improve. Professor Snape asked everyone to prescribe scabies potions, but something always happened on Gryffindor's side: Seamus Finnigan had fried his pan, Ron didn't know what he had done, his cauldron twisted into a twisted mass, and Lavender Brown's cauldron had a foul smell.

The only ones on Gryffindor's side who didn't screw up were Hermione and Neville, their cauldrons didn't explode or emit an unpleasant smell at all. The potion in the crucible of the two of them was exactly the same as it was in the book.

In Slytherin, on the other hand, the little snakes were quietly busy with their own work. Not as scrambling and always having problems as Gryffindor, Snape had already deducted points more than once for Gryffindor's problems, including Harry's already deducted seven points.

"Neville, how did you do that?" Ron's cauldron was scrapped, and he couldn't do anything right now.

"Don't you know how to read?" Hermione said impatiently next to Neville, "The blackboard has clear instructions and methods, and I want to ask you how you did not do it correctly."

Hermione couldn't understand it, the clear steps and practical methods were written on the blackboard. Why is it always like this on the Gryffindor side? Hermione saw that Solim had bottled his potion and handed it to Snape. And Gryffindor's fastest self and Neville were still two or three steps away from completing it.

After the lesson, Harry noticed Hermione and Neville standing in the doorway waiting for someone, after all, the whole Gryffindor had just finished the potion for the two of them, and he couldn't get anyone to notice. Harry pulled Ron for a slow walk, wanting to see what they were going to do.

Finally, Slytherin students walked out of the classroom, and Harry saw the only Slytherin who wasn't laughing at him walking towards Hermione and Neville.

"Thank you Solim, if it weren't for you I'd be done today. "

"Shouldn't you also thank me, Neville, don't you have a long memory of last night's events?" Solim chuckled.

Hermione grumbled. "Solim, you don't know, Neville was lagging in class and ready to release the porcupine thorns without removing the cauldron. It's a good thing I've been keeping an eye on him, otherwise what happened last night would have happened again. "

"Okay, okay, there's no class in the afternoon, what are you going to do?".

Harry finally remembered who Solim was, and he remembered the events of the sorting ceremony vividly. Harry motioned for Ron to stay out of the way, dragging him behind a corner to continue eavesdropping.

"Solim, do you have time for the evening? I'm almost done reading the book you lent me. "

"Well, after dinner, you can go to the old place. Pick another one yourself. "

Listening to their voices fade away, Ron couldn't wait to say to Harry, "Two Gryffindor traitors! Harry, what do you think?".

Harry didn't think Hermione and Neville would be traitors to Gryffindor, but he wondered why they were so close to Solim.

Neville's situation was understandable, Hermione said they were cousins, but why did Hermione get involved? Listening to Hermione, they had practiced boiling the scabies potion beforehand last night, so Hermione and Neville were able to complete Snape's homework in class today.

Thinking of this, Harry said to Ron, "Leave them alone, I'll go to Hagrid's in the afternoon, and when we come back in the evening, we'll ask Hermione about this, what do you say?".

♦♦♦♦