Chapter 10: The Library

The water in the cauldron quickly began to emit white steam. 

Wade added the snake fang powder, followed by the nettles, stirring twice clockwise and then three times counterclockwise. The chopped nettles melted away as quickly as ice.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm rang out in the classroom. A thick green smoke hissed into the air, and some students, whose potion had failed, screamed in pain as their skin was corroded. 

Theo was startled and exclaimed, "What's happening?"

"Don't get distracted!" Wade didn't even look over, silently counting to ten in his mind before adding the flobberworms.

"Theo, move the cauldron."

Theo immediately complied (still wearing his dragon-hide gloves), while Wade waited a moment before adding two porcupine quills and stirring five times clockwise.

The potion underwent an immediate and visible transformation. The sickly brownish-green liquid rapidly turned a bright, jelly-like green—the exact color described in the book for a successfully brewed potion.

Theo looked in amazement at the potion and then at the book, exclaiming, "We did it! Wade, you got it right on the first try!"

At the other end of the classroom, Snape, who had just dealt with a potion mishap and scolded several students to the point of tears, heard the commotion and strode over. 

He bent down and carefully examined the potion. Finally, under Theo's nervous gaze, he reluctantly said, "Not bad, it meets the standard. One point—each."

............

"I heard that Professor Snape rarely gives points to students outside of Slytherin. I mean, it's great that we got back some of the points we lost," Theo said excitedly to his friend Ryan as they walked after class. 

"And now that our potion is done, we can use the remaining time to review the Cough Potion for the next lesson. The next time Professor Snape asks a question, I won't be at a loss for words!"

Ryan, happy for him, added, "My group's potion was a bit off—there was a strange smell. I wonder if we didn't simmer it long enough…"

"Hey, Wade!" A voice called from behind. Michael quickly caught up to Wade and asked, "I wanted to ask, how did you get that light green color? I followed Professor Snape's instructions exactly, but for some reason, mine turned out a bit darker."

"If your steps were correct, the difference is likely in how the ingredients were prepared," Wade replied, glancing at his partner Theo. "Theo handled the ingredients perfectly. Our final product was almost completely free of impurities."

Michael looked at the Hufflepuff student with surprise.

Theo seemed unaccustomed to receiving compliments, his face flushed slightly, and he quickly changed the subject, "By the way, do you guys have any classes this afternoon? How about we go to the library to do our homework together?"

Before the class ended, Snape had assigned them an essay on the Boil-Cure Potion, at least six inches (around 15 centimeters) long.

"Is there really a need to rush?" Michael wasn't too enthusiastic. "It's not due tomorrow, we've still got several days until Friday!"

He naturally included himself in the plan, even though Theo had initially only asked Wade and Ryan.

"I'm going to the library," Wade said. "It's only six inches, it'll be done quickly. Better to get it out of the way than keep thinking about it."

Ryan nodded in agreement, "Library."

Michael, likely a bit of a procrastinator, hesitated, glancing longingly at the students discussing exploring the castle or taking a walk by the Black Lake. 

Two girls giggled as they invited Michael to join them at the Quidditch pitch, but after a moment of indecision, Michael ultimately jogged over to join Wade and the other two.

"Not going to have some fun?" Wade asked him.

Michael sighed, "If everyone was off having fun, of course, I'd want to go too. But since some people are doing their homework early, I'd feel guilty if I just played around."

...............

Hogwarts' library was located on the west side of the castle, and it was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside. Wade was certain some kind of space-expanding magic had been used here. 

The library spanned several levels, with staircases that moved within, crisscrossing shelves silently lined up, holding thousands upon thousands of books. Rows of brownish-red desks were arranged between the bookshelves.

On the first day of school, there were very few students in the library. As the four young wizards stood at the entrance, marveling at the endless rows of books, Madam Pince, the librarian, immediately noticed them.

She walked over briskly, looked down at the four of them, and asked, "First years?"

Theo, who was standing at the front, nodded.

"No tearing, ripping, folding, dirtying, damaging, or throwing of books. No noise, no food in the library, understood?" Madam Pince said sternly.

Theo quickly nodded, as if he was seeing Professor Snape before him.

"No going into the Restricted Section. You can browse the books in the general section, but no writing or drawing on them! If you want to take a book out of the library, you must get my permission. Got it?"

Everyone nodded together.

Madam Pince then asked, "What books are you looking for?"

"Uh... something on Boil-Cure Potion... books related to Potions," Michael replied.

Madam Pince waved her wand in a circle, and a dozen or so books flew off the shelves.

"These should be enough. Go ahead and study," Madam Pince said, a very faint smile appearing on her face.

The group carried the books over to a window seat and sat down. Michael flipped through them, noticing that since there were four of them, there were two copies of each book, and even the thinnest one was an inch thick—how long will it take to get through all of this?

He flipped through a few books, realizing he hadn't absorbed a single word. He wondered if he could just copy a few hundred words from the textbook, then randomly pick a book to quote a few lines to reach the required length. 

Just then, he heard the sound of a quill "swish swish swish" across the parchment next to him.

"Wade?" Michael asked in surprise, "You already know what to write?"

"Hmm?" Wade didn't even look up. "It's not that difficult."

Several books were spread out in front of him, and within moments he had written four or five lines, without writing particularly large letters.

Not only were Michael and Theo dumbfounded, but even the usually quiet Ryan couldn't help but lean over to see what Wade was writing.

Seeing their expressions, Wade realized he had overlooked something—these kids were all eleven years old. They weren't like his university classmates who could easily churn out essays of a thousand or so words. 

These kids, especially if they came from wizarding families, might not have even had formal schooling. Even those who had attended Muggle primary schools might not have written many essays.

Wade didn't mind sharing his essay-writing experience with them.

"Writing an essay is actually pretty simple," Wade said, pulling out a blank piece of parchment and writing as he spoke softly. 

"You just need to build a simple framework and fill in the appropriate content. 

First, briefly introduce the Boil-Cure Potion. 

Second, discuss the history of this potion—like who invented it and who improved it. 

Third, describe the brewing process and important points to note. 

Fourth, analyze why the potion might fail and what accidents could occur from improper brewing, and how to deal with those accidents. 

Fifth, you can delve into the roles of various ingredients and how they react with each other—this can be found in "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" and "Introduction to Common Potion Ingredients". 

Sixth, write about the conditions that the Boil-Cure Potion treats, including causes, symptoms, dosage, and past case studies. You can also compare it with similar potions by comparing their ingredients, brewing time, cost, effectiveness, etc. 

Finally, wrap it up with a brief conclusion, sharing your own thoughts. There's plenty to write about. You can just pick two or three of these points, and you should be able to complete a decent essay."

The three of them were silent for a while before they all suddenly pulled out parchment and began scribbling furiously—not to write their assignments, but to copy down everything Wade had said.

"You're a genius, Wade!" Michael exclaimed as he copied. "This is practically an essay-writing guide!"

Theo nodded. "Exactly! I feel like I could write any essay from now on—even if it's six feet long!"

Ryan paused in his writing, thought for a moment, and said seriously, "Six feet is too much! I can't do six feet."

The four of them couldn't help but burst out laughing.

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