Chapter 57: Snape, You Really Aren't Human!
That week in Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Kettleburn introduced Ashwinders and Fire Crabs, two magical creatures associated with fire.
After class, Ethan asked if Magizoologists had a professional journal for correspondence.
"Of course there is," said the professor. "It's called The Daily Prophet's Guide to Magical Creatures, but it's only published twice a year. These days, discovering new magical creatures is virtually impossible, and most research is simply correspondence between colleagues, rarely published."
"Okay, Professor, thank you. I was just curious." Ethan immediately abandoned the idea of writing a paper. Better to leave that useless journal alone; better to make his fortune in silence.
The week flew by, and tomorrow was Saturday, the day Snape had promised last week to test whether the pickled frogs could be used to brew an antidote to neutralize the Love Potion.
His heart raced. During dinner, Draco asked, looking at him strangely, "What's wrong with you? Your face is so red!"
"Nothing, nothing," he answered distractedly, mentally running through the potion-brewing steps, looking exactly like a student frantically cramming before an exam.
Unlike exams in his previous life, where if you failed, you simply failed. If the potion failed to neutralize, he would make a complete fool of himself.
That evening, Hermione finally accompanied him to the library. When he asked what she was doing, she just smiled and said, "It's a secret!"
Ethan didn't press the issue, whispering the potion formula and various precautions he knew by heart.
That night, he brewed a successful antidote in the dormitory before going to bed, feeling somewhat relieved.
The next morning, Ethan walked into Snape's office with dark circles under his eyes.
Snape smiled disdainfully, obviously mocking Ethan's appearance.
Ethan glared at him. "Isn't this all your fault, my dear Professor?"
Snape smiled coldly. "Alright, cut the crap. Get on with it. All the materials are here; take what you need. When you finish brewing, I will feed you the Love Potion. I think you'll understand who the potion is meant for."
Ethan had a bad feeling, his heart in his throat. He worked more carefully.
He weighed the ingredients with extra care, stirred the potion more cautiously, and timed his wand movements precisely.
After simmering for two hours, he had produced a batch of potion slightly different in color from the antidote he'd brewed the previous night.
"Does this look right, Professor?" he asked carefully.
"What's wrong?" Snape's face was expressionless.
"The antidote for the Love Potion should be clear, but mine has a faint pink tint. I think something went wrong, Professor. Can I brew another batch?" he asked, his uneasiness evident.
"No. There are other things to learn today; there's no time for you to waste. Now, take a vial of your antidote and follow me."
Ethan could only take a full vial of the antidote and follow Snape.
When they arrived at the rest area, Snape produced a steaming cup with a mother-of-pearl sheen and spiraling steam that looked somewhat dangerous.
"Professor! You're not going to make me drink a whole cup of Amortentia, are you?" Ethan was so frightened he could barely speak.
Amortentia, the most powerful Love Potion, was recognizable by its mother-of-pearl sheen and spiraling steam.
"Don't worry, this is merely a glass of water with half the usual amount of Amortentia. It's not that dangerous." Snape smiled like the witch trying to trick Snow White into eating the poisoned apple.
"Professor, can you tell me who the target of this Amortentia is?" The drink was already at his lips. He asked as if facing his final moments.
"You'll know when you drink it." Ethan swore he had never seen Snape so happy.
Death comes sooner or later. Ethan steeled himself and drained the entire cup in one gulp.
The large dose of Amortentia took effect immediately.
Ethan's vision grew blurry as he shouted a name: "Little Black, my Little Black, my baby!"
Yes, Snape had set Ethan's pet lizard as the target of the Amortentia-induced obsession.
As Ethan rose to go to the salamander nest, Snape stopped him. "Take out your antidote and drink it," Snape said.
Ethan's last shred of reason was about to be obliterated. Hearing this, he sensed something was wrong and quickly took out the freshly brewed antidote, pouring it down his throat.
Unfortunately, nothing happened. He still walked steadfastly toward Little Black and even passed through the flames to embrace the salamander.
This scene surprised Snape, who had expected to watch Ethan suffer a little and teach him a lesson.
I still underestimated you, Jones," he said in a low voice. Ethan was too absorbed in stroking Little Black's scales to hear him. Even if he had heard, he probably wouldn't have reacted anyway, not under the influence of Amortentia.
Snape watched for a while, deciding the timing was right and the lesson had made its point. Continuing would be pointless, so he extinguished the flame, took out a test tube filled with clear liquid, and forced it between Ethan's lips.
"No, what are you doing?" Ethan resisted at first, but as the potion hit his stomach, he sobered up, dropped Little Black, and stumbled backward, feeling nauseous.
Snape relit the flame and watched him at his leisure.
"Why! Professor, why didn't my antidote work!" Grief and indignation filled Ethan's voice.
"Is that so? Did you check the ingredients before brewing? Did you not notice the white rose petals mixed in with the daffodil petals?" Snape couldn't quite suppress the smirk tugging at his lips.
"Professor!" Ethan cried tears of blood. He hadn't expected a trap in the ingredients.
"Before we officially begin today's lesson, consider this a lesson in why the spell you are about to learn is so important."
Ethan thought, "To put it bluntly, you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, right?"
Specialis Revelio (Scarpin's Revelaspell), invented by Scarpin, is a spell used to analyze the composition of a given potion. Besides analyzing the potion itself, it can also determine whether the ingredients are correct.
Snape's voice was barely above a whisper, but that didn't stop Ethan from pulling out his notebook and scribbling everything down.
Potions class ended for the day. He had learned a lot, especially from that incident. From then on, he cast Specialis Revelio every time, fearing Snape would give him the wrong or impure ingredients again.
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