Harry Potter: Don't Touch the Badger's Plants

Thinking of this, Snape's heart skipped a beat. He knew how much Professor Sprout cared about Ciel. If Professor Sprout found out that Ciel was being bullied by the little snakes, she would probably go mad.

Thinking of the many strange and peculiar magical herbs in Professor Sprout's hands, Snape shuddered. He immediately drew his wand.

"Alohomora!"

With the flash of the unlocking charm, the locked classroom door burst open with a bang. Snape strode in with purpose.

"Stop! How can you gang up on one person? The dignity of Slytherin House..."

The next moment, Snape suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His expression showed rare bewilderment. Because what he saw wasn't the scene he had imagined of Ciel being surrounded and bullied.

Instead, the Slytherin serpents all had tears streaming down their faces. Their faces were haggard with exhaustion. They were sobbing pitifully.

"I'm so sleepy..."

"I want to sleep..."

Upon seeing Snape open the classroom door and enter, the little snakes looked at him like a savior.

"Professor Snape!"

"You finally came to save us!"

Malfoy, with a face full of grief and indignation, complained tearfully to Snape, "Ciel Sprout bullied us! He wouldn't let us leave, wouldn't let us sleep, and forced us to process flobberworms. Professor, surely you won't cover up for such bullying behavior!"

But the next moment, Malfoy and the other serpents saw Snape's face instantly become blacker than the bottom of a cauldron. His gloomy gaze swept over them with withering contempt.

He asked word by word, "You're saying... ten of you were bullied by Ciel Sprout alone? And this was something you started first. Now you want me to seek justice for you?"

Snape was so angry he laughed, a cold, bitter sound. His lips even trembled with rage.

"How did I end up with such a pathetic year of Slytherins? You're simply bringing shame to Slytherin House!"

Malfoy and the other serpents were scolded so badly they couldn't lift their heads. Then Snape waved his wand with sharp precision. Their eyelids became like they were glued shut with permanent sticking charm, and they just couldn't close them.

Snape said through gritted teeth, "Go back. Go to the common room and reflect. Don't come out to embarrass yourselves anymore. As for sleeping? In your condition, you still want to sleep? Stay awake!"

He took a deep breath, his voice dripping with disappointment. "Also... five points from Slytherin!"

Malfoy and the others looked utterly defeated. But seeing that Snape seemed truly furious, the serpents didn't dare say a word in rebuttal and left the Potions classroom dejectedly.

After they left, Snape's mood still hadn't improved in the slightest. He really couldn't understand it. When he was in school, Slytherin was full of talent. How many years had it been? How had Slytherin become like this?

At this time, Snape looked at Ciel in the classroom without any warmth in his expression. He said sarcastically, "Mr. Sprout was quite impressive this time. You must be extremely pleased with yourself. It seems I've been too lenient with you usually, letting you get cocky."

Snape strode to the podium and snorted coldly. "Then let me see if you're really that remarkable. Ciel Sprout, you don't really think you've been processing potion materials very well, do you? You don't really think you're my right-hand man?"

His voice grew sharper. "Have you ever noticed the issue of magical consistency in flobberworm mucus? Answer me!"

Ciel nodded calmly. "I noticed it today, Professor. I paid more attention to this aspect today. Please criticize and correct me."

The anger emanating from Snape suddenly stalled. His expression became confused as he immediately looked at the flobberworm mucus Ciel had processed.

When he sensed the magical aura emanating from it, despite his anger from the recent incident, Snape couldn't help but show surprise. Ciel was actually telling the truth? He really had noticed the problem and had even begun to improve it?

Although the flobberworm mucus Ciel processed this time still didn't reach the uniform level of his own processing, it was much better than previous attempts. For Snape, he could finally give it a rating of "barely acceptable quality."

He looked at the large bottle of mucus placed before Ciel. The anger in his heart gradually subsided. Instead, he felt a wave of emotion. His expression became somewhat complex.

To be fair, was Ciel's level in potions considered strong? Not really. He was nowhere near being a potions genius. It could only be said that among ordinary people, his progress was relatively fast.

When Snape first encountered potions, his level could have beaten the current Ciel easily. But what was Snape's talent? And what was Ciel's talent?

If Snape put himself in Ciel's shoes, if his talent back then had been similar to Ciel's, could he have achieved such a rate of progress? With such talent, how much effort would it take to process this large bottle of decent-quality mucus?

Thinking about it, Snape couldn't help but be moved. Then his heart filled with regret. What a pity, truly such a pity. If such effort had been combined with better talent, how wonderful that would have been?

But fate was too unfair. It gave Ciel unmatched effort but also made his talent so regrettable. At this stage, perhaps he could still rely on hard practice to train and improve. But the further he went, the more he would discover how important talent really was.

There were always some bottlenecks that mediocre talent could hardly overcome in a lifetime.

Thinking of this, the anger in Snape's heart completely dissipated. He picked up the large bottle of flobberworm mucus. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Considering that you've been fairly diligent and have helped reduce some of my burden... I can grant you one reasonable request. Think it over before you ask."

Upon hearing this, Ciel's face showed genuine joy. A promise from a Potions master was of extraordinary value. With Snape's pride, even if he asked for a bottle of Felix Felicis, he would probably obtain it.

However, no matter how magical Felix Felicis or other potions might be, Ciel's goal had long been determined. He said without hesitation, "Professor, I want to learn how to brew Sacred Tree Potion from you."

Upon hearing this, Snape's pupils contracted slightly, and his heart was shocked. Sacred Tree Potion? The potion used in the second stage of Guardian Tree cultivation in herbology? Had Ciel's herbology reached such a level?

Soon, he looked at Ciel expressionlessly. "You want me to guide you in potions? Don't you know that I only provide guidance to students who achieved an Outstanding grade in Potions on their O.W.L.S exams?"

Ciel was stunned and showed disappointment. This made the corner of Snape's mouth curve up slightly.

After a moment, he slowly said, "Starting next week, every Saturday evening after you've completed your assigned work, I'll spare two hours to teach you individually. But if you prove to be hopelessly stupid, don't blame me for throwing you out of the Potions classroom."

Then Snape turned and left the classroom.

After he left, Ciel also smiled. Regardless of the process, his goal had been achieved.

Next, his schedule would become busy again. Tending to Lumos Shrooms, Goldfish Vines, Piranha Algae... practicing spells, Quidditch practice, searching for the Half-Blood Prince's textbook... processing materials, training magical perception... now there was also Saturday potion guidance added.

It could be said that Ciel's schedule was packed full, making it difficult to find even an hour of free time. But for Ciel, who was already accustomed to this routine, this actually made him feel more at ease.

Sweat more in peacetime, cry less in crisis. Even with the cultivation system, his own effort was indispensable. He didn't want to regret someday why he hadn't worked harder before.

Soon, Ciel put the recent events behind him. He continued searching through the classroom's storage cabinets. It wasn't until dawn that Ciel finished organizing everything and left the Potions classroom.

"I've completely searched all the storage cabinets in this classroom. It seems the Half-Blood Prince's textbook isn't here. By my count, there are only five classrooms I haven't searched yet. Even at a slow pace, it should be found within half a month. If I'm lucky, it might not take that long."

Ciel maintained a calm mood, proceeding with his life methodically. Cultivating plants, attending classes, Quidditch training, processing potion materials... since Malfoy and the other serpents completely dared not interfere with Ciel anymore, he never encountered any more trouble.

His days were busy but fulfilling. Just like that, a week passed in the blink of an eye.

In a daze, Ciel realized that the castle had already begun preparing decorations like pumpkins. He could also hear students passing in the corridors discussing the Halloween feast in small groups.

Only then did Ciel realize, "Halloween is almost here. Time really flies. This semester is already more than half over."

After shaking his head, Ciel dismissed the slight sentimentality in his heart. He could be certain that he hadn't wasted a single day. He should continue making the most of his time to develop himself.

His gaze fell on the storage cabinet in the corner of the Potions classroom before him. After opening it, among the scattered miscellaneous items that fell out, an Advanced Potion-Making textbook was prominently visible.

Ciel's heartbeat suddenly quickened. He carefully opened the title page. A line of writing then came into view.

"This book is the property of—The Half-Blood Prince."

(End of Chapter)

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