Chapter 85: Did You Smuggle?

"Did you smuggle it?" Snape asked, looking at the various unknown magical materials floating in front of him with a hint of certainty in his tone. He had speculated about Lockhart purchasing a large amount of banned potions. Seeing this scene, what else was there to say?

"Of course not," Lockhart said decisively. "These are gifts from some friends." Well, it was indeed "gifts" from Morin and Kaecilius.

Snape listened to Lockhart's explanation and stared into his light blue eyes, while Lockhart looked directly back, his eyes full of confidence. Seeing Lockhart's confidence, Snape withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "I don't care what you do, but one thing is certain: you must pay the dues. The appraisal fee for these is 20 gold galleons."

Hearing this, Lockhart asked thoughtfully, "Is this the cost of your appraisal today, or do I have to pay the appraisal fee every time?"

Without hesitation, Snape replied, "There are a lot of items to appraise today. 20 gold galleons are enough. Mainly, these are unknown magical plants, and they cost you a lot of effort." Then he explained, "And my appraisal level is much higher than that of the wizards in Diagon Alley, so the appraisal is more accurate. And I have a certificate of appraisal, which will have my signature on it, and the market will recognize it, so the price is a bit expensive."

Lockhart smiled at Snape's somewhat boastful tone. With a flick of his hand, more than 20 unknown plants and animal remains appeared around him, and he said with a smile, "I encountered a magical ruin during my previous expedition and obtained a lot of materials of unknown nature. Why don't you help with the appraisal today?"

Snape looked at the nearly thirty or forty unknown magical plant and animal remains in front of him and took a deep look at Lockhart. Suddenly, he somewhat believed in the magical ruin mentioned by Lockhart. Two unknown materials could be explained, but with so much unknown material, it's impossible he hadn't seen any of it. Unless it has been lost for a long time, or it has been artificially cultivated. It seems that Lockhart has received a lot of good things over the years.

Snape withdrew his scrutinizing gaze, looked at the large amount of materials in front of him, and said, "These appraisals cost 50 gold galleons." Then, he asked tentatively, "If you give me some of these magic materials, the appraisal fee can be waived. At the same time, I will give you the identification results in two days."

Hearing Snape's probing intentions, Lockhart didn't care and nodded directly, "Okay, I'll give you some of these materials. At the same time, the 20 gold galleons mentioned before are still yours. But you have to test a blood sample for me." With that, Lockhart took out a tube of Spider-Man Peter Parker's blood and 20 gold galleons, passing them to Snape. He continued, "I want you to help me test its value and whether it is possible to refine a potion that improves body or instinct."

After thinking for a moment, Lockhart explained, "This is derived from an unexpected and unreplicable experiment. The target subject has a strong body and amazing reaction capabilities, especially the experiment's instinct, which is beyond comprehension. It's even stronger. Ordinary magic spells can't hit him at all, and he can dodge all of them. I think his instinct is an extremely valuable ability, and if it can be replicated, even a part of it would be great."

After hearing the explanation, Snape looked at Lockhart meaningfully. This guy had quite a few good things in his hands. The bottle of blood in Lockhart's hand, if it were true to what he said, could be sold on the market for at least 20 gold galleons. Not to mention whether it has any effect, the research value alone is enough.

After thinking about it, Snape nodded and said, "Okay." With a wave of his hand, he placed the magic plant and blood in the collection cabinet next to him. He raised three fingers and continued, "In three days, I will give you the relevant appraisal report." Then, he looked at Lockhart expectantly, "Is there anything else I need to identify?"

Hearing this, Lockhart hesitated, but after thinking about it, he shook his head firmly. Well, of course there were good things. Once again, taking them all out and figuring out how to seduce this top potion master later. He still had a lot of Kamar Taj's magic potions on hand, and Lockhart was sure to use them to attract Snape's interest. The material this time was enough for the other party to identify, and he could talk slowly later if he had the opportunity.

Seeing Lockhart shaking his head, Snape felt that maybe the deal between the two had brought him a lot of benefits. So he tried his best to put a smile on his face and said, "If nothing else, Professor Lockhart, you can leave. I still need time to study."

Lockhart looked at the cold smile on the other person's face, nodded, and said, "Okay, Professor Snape, I won't disturb you anymore." With that said, he walked out of Snape's office.

Snape, on the other hand, increased the speed of grading homework. After grading his homework, he could study Lockhart's magical plants. To be honest, having so many magical materials with unknown effects in front of him really made him a little excited. Maybe these magic materials could give him a lot of inspiration for refining potions.

---

The next morning, Lockhart stood outside the corridor window, looking at the young wizards who were training outside and riding magic broomsticks. There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes, even though in his original memory, he often tried to fly on a magic broom. But since he transmigrated, to be honest, he hadn't tried it yet. Now, he basically used the portal, and riding a broom was not as fast as him using the portal.

But seeing this scene in front of him now brought back some memories of his previous life. When he saw the Harry Potter movies when he was young, he was quite curious about this magical world. Especially the picture of a large number of little wizards flying in the sky on broomsticks, he felt a little envious at that time. Maybe it's because as he gets older, the thoughts he had when he was young have gradually faded away. But now that he has nothing to do, he suddenly saw this scene, and a hint of interest arose in his heart.

Suddenly—

Snap!

Lockhart felt a tap on his shoulder, turned his head suddenly, and was shocked to find that behind him was the White Devil—Principal Dumbledore!