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

Upon seeing the signature "The Half-Blood Prince," Ciel took a deep breath.

After searching through the Potions classroom for over half a month, he had finally found this copy of Advanced Potion Making among the vast sea of miscellaneous items in the storage cabinets!

He carefully opened it. Sure enough, he saw densely packed potion notes just as described in the original story. Some notes were no longer just written in the blank spaces of the textbook. Instead, they directly covered the original textbook content.

Obviously, the owner of this notebook held the textbook content in considerable disdain and had thoughts of replacing it entirely. This was clearly Snape's style from his youth.

Just from a few glances, Ciel had no doubt about the authenticity of this textbook. This was exactly the one he was looking for.

Ciel also breathed a sigh of relief. He had previously been somewhat worried, suspecting whether the textbook Harry Potter found in the original story might have been deliberately arranged. Now it seemed that Harry finding this book in the original story was indeed just a coincidence.

However, just as Ciel was about to examine the Half-Blood Prince's textbook, he heard familiar footsteps from the end of the corridor. Moments later, Snape entered the Potions classroom.

Seeing the spotlessly clean classroom and the basket of flobberworms and porcupine quills that had been processed properly, his face showed satisfaction. Then Snape glanced at Ciel.

"You asked me to guide you in potions. How long are you going to stand there stupidly?" His voice carried its usual sharp edge. "Ciel Sprout, take out your cauldron. First, brew a batch of Boil-Cure Potion."

Ciel quickly dismissed thoughts about the Half-Blood Prince's textbook and Sectumsempra from his mind. The item was already in his hands. It couldn't escape now. But Snape's guidance on potions only came once a week. Given Snape's temperament, if he showed even the slightest distraction, Snape might just quit.

This concerned his cultivation of the Guardian Tree. Therefore, Ciel's expression became exceptionally serious.

Seeing this, Snape's eyes also subtly showed a trace of satisfaction. Ciel's seriousness toward work was absolutely unique among current Hogwarts students. It reminded him of his younger self.

However, after seeing Ciel's operations, Snape couldn't help but frown tightly. Ciel had barely begun when Snape called a halt.

Ciel's face showed some confusion. Boil-Cure Potion was the most basic potion. He had been able to brew it successfully in the very first Potions class. Now, after nearly two months of classes, this was naturally even easier. His operation just now had completely followed the standard steps from the textbook.

What was the problem?

Before Ciel could ask, Snape spoke with characteristic mockery. "Have you forgotten my evaluation of the Boil-Cure Potion you brewed in class?"

Ciel recalled the previous scene. In that class, although his Boil-Cure Potion was nearly identical to the textbook standard, Snape had dismissed it with disdain. He had bluntly evaluated it as a potion without soul—just following the book mechanically. It completely lacked the soul of potions.

Now Snape was bringing this up again. What did he mean?

Ciel suddenly had a flash of insight. He thought of how in the Half-Blood Prince's textbook, Snape had directly covered the textbook content with his own notes back then. Obviously, Snape had looked down on rigid textbooks even in his youth and had his own understanding of potions.

So even if he used the standard steps from the textbook, he still couldn't satisfy Snape. Where was the problem?

While Ciel was deep in thought, Snape spoke again, spewing venom. "Fool. Have you forgotten how you process potion materials? Is your brain incapable of absorbing any experience?"

For ordinary young wizards, such questioning would make them tremble with fear and stress. For Ciel, who had experienced weekly group meetings in his previous life, this was like a gentle breeze. Snape was still too gentle.

"Experience in processing potion materials..." Ciel's mind raced. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck his heart.

That was it.

When processing potion materials for Snape, he had to adjust his technique according to the magical aura emanating from each material. So when it came to brewing potions, how could he treat every material with the same rigid textbook methods?

He needed to sense the magical aura within!

Thinking of this, Ciel had an epiphany. He also understood why Snape wasn't directly teaching him to brew Guardian Tree Potion, but instead wanted him to start over with the simplest Boil-Cure Potion.

Because the magical aura in Boil-Cure Potion was the simplest among potions. It would allow him to rebuild his understanding of potions from the foundation!

Then he stared intently at the liquid being heated in his cauldron. Slowly adding the materials for brewing Boil-Cure Potion. At the same time, Ciel stirred the cauldron experimentally, as if he were learning Boil-Cure Potion for the first time.

He also changed the order of adding materials mentioned in the textbook.

Seeing this approach completely different from the textbook, Snape not only wasn't angry but actually showed some satisfaction. Rarely, he didn't spew venom but began explaining with genuine instruction.

"In this world, even potion materials obtained from the same place will never be completely identical. No matter how uniform the magical aura, there will always be subtle differences. The so-called standard processing methods in potion textbooks are merely the least error-prone, universally applicable techniques."

His voice carried the weight of hard-earned wisdom. "But think about it—can a quill from a young porcupine be the same as one from an aged, dying porcupine? The true essence of potions is to blend different materials' magic using optimal methods. The techniques during brewing will naturally vary accordingly."

Snape's eyes gleamed with passionate intensity. "Magic is the foundation of all potions. As for the formulas mentioned in potion textbooks... ha! Even if you memorize them perfectly, at most you'll become a skilled pharmacist in a potion shop. You'll only drift further from being a true potioneer, let alone becoming a Potions master."

He paused, his gaze boring into Ciel. "The Guardian Tree Potion you want to brew is exactly this kind of potion that can only be made by truly understanding the essence of potioneering."

Listening to Snape's explanation, Ciel's eyes flickered as he focused entirely on the bubbling, boiling potion before him. The magic emanating from it was very different from that in magical herbs. Boiling, violent, intertwining, constantly reacting... Even the simplest potion had quite a complex aura.

After a moment, Ciel stirred half a circle and removed the cauldron from the fire. A foul-smelling liquid formed in the cauldron. Obviously, this batch of Boil-Cure Potion had failed.

Snape's expression didn't seem surprised. He didn't even spew venom. Instead, he pointed out several mistakes Ciel had made during processing, then said simply, "Continue."

As Ciel began brewing a new batch of Boil-Cure Potion, Snape also closed his eyes. But he wasn't resting. He was carefully sensing the magical fluctuations emanating from the cauldron during the process.

Two hours later, Ciel had eight failed potions in front of him. However, the last batch smelled considerably better than the first. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Snape's forehead, and he looked somewhat tired.

"That's enough for today. Continue next week."

Then he turned and left the Potions classroom.

After leaving the classroom, Snape sighed almost imperceptibly. The regret on his face became even more pronounced.

Ciel's magical talent was truly... If it were just low magical strength, that would only affect spell power and usage. It wouldn't impact herbology or potions much. But the key issue was that Ciel obviously didn't have high talent in magical perception either.

Although magical perception could be trained—just like how people could become very sensitive to weight and smell through constant training—talent ultimately determined the upper limit. Ciel had been working hard every day for two months since school started, training his magical perception. But now he was only at a fairly ordinary level.

If Harry Potter trained just a little and utilized his talent, he could leave Ciel far behind in a very short time. Potions that might take Ciel ten years of training to master could be learned by some geniuses in an afternoon tea's time.

The difference between having talent and not having it was just that vast.

Snape shook his head. But regardless, since he had promised Ciel, he would definitely guide him to brew Guardian Tree Potion. Even if this process took most of a year, he would fulfill his promise.

Meanwhile, Ciel, remaining in the classroom, showed a thoughtful expression.

"Learning potions according to Snape's philosophy seems to require even higher magical perception than herbology. My Magical Perception Enhancement has already reached Silver Tier, yet successfully brewing a qualified Boil-Cure Potion still requires practice. Guardian Tree Potion's difficulty is definitely far above Boil-Cure Potion. The threshold requires at least Gold-Tier Magical Perception Enhancement..."

However, Ciel showed no sign of discouragement. Instead, he showed anticipation.

"The new batch of Goldfish Vines will mature in the next day or two. After harvesting this wave of rewards, Gold-Tier Magical Perception Enhancement is within reach! Guardian Tree Potion, the next stage of Guardian Tree... won't be far off."

Then Ciel took out the Half-Blood Prince's textbook. His gaze swept over the densely packed notes, searching for what he needed.

After a while, Ciel's gaze focused, joy flickering in his eyes.

"Found it! Levicorpus, and... Sectumsempra!"

[Chapter Complete]

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