A new week began.
Hogwarts’ stairs still moved at their own whim, and they were just as hard to memorize as ever.
No, to be more precise, I simply hadn’t put much effort into memorizing them.
If I looked like I was going to be late, I could just fly there, so there was no real chance of being late.
Besides, I had the secret map, so if I didn’t know the way, I only had to look at it.
Professor McGonagall must have mentioned it to the other professors, because Professor Flitwick also tested the theory I had proposed in our class.
"Mr. Oppenbach. Professor McGonagall made an interesting suggestion. You’re the boy she was talking about, I take it?"
"Ah, if you mean that story, then yes, that was me."
"It’s a topic worth studying. So we’ve been testing this method across all year groups. We’ll need to observe it a little longer, but so far it seems to be working quite well. The lower-performing students, especially those who struggled with practical work, are showing noticeable improvement."
"That’s a relief. Oh, right, Professor, you’re proficient in almost every spell, aren’t you?"
"Hmm? Well... I wouldn’t boast about it, but I do take some pride in my skill. I was a dueling champion in my youth, you know."
"I’ve been assigned as a Potions class assistant this time. I was thinking about the magical tools needed for the lesson, and I figured I’d need your help."
"Is that so? How can I help?"
"Well... I need to cast a semi-permanent restoration charm on an object about this size."
"Oh? And?"
"If possible, I’d also like it to have a function that lets it become softer or harder depending on the setting."
"Ah, that can be solved with a simple alchemical process. Nothing difficult. I’ll hand a sample over to Professor Snape this evening."
"Thank you, Professor."
I ended up joining the next Potions class as an assistant.
"Everyone, pay attention. Starting today, Mr. Oppenbach will be assisting with first-year Potions class. Don’t underestimate him just because he’s in the same year as you; Oppenbach is skilled enough to pass a seventh-year N.E.W.T. exam with ease."
"I don’t think I need to introduce myself, since you all know who I am. I’m only an assistant, so nothing grand—just someone who walks around during practical work and gives you simple advice."
"Assistants, like the other prefects, are granted a small amount of authority over points. If you fail to follow instructions, points will be deducted. Now go in and sit down."
Professor Snape flicked his wand.
Letters appeared and stuck to the blackboard, and the cabinet opened. From inside, cylindrical lumps of clay flew out and landed on each desk.
"Today, you will learn about Forgetfulness Potion. The effect is exactly what the name suggests. Before we begin brewing, there is a new process you will be required to follow from today onward. What I’ve handed out are simple practice tools for cutting."
I took over from there.
"These tools are enchanted with a semi-permanent restoration charm, so they’ll help you practice handling a knife.
After a certain amount of time, they’ll automatically return to their original shape, so you can use them freely.
You see the markings carved into the clay, don’t you? Those marks will tell you how far apart you should cut.
And if you stand the clay upright, you’ll see a dial. See the numbers on it? The number the dial points to indicates the clay’s resistance. The lower the number, the more easily the knife will cut through."
Professor Snape took over again.
"I trust you’ve all understood the explanation. First, you will spend thirty minutes practicing how to prepare the ingredients for the Forgetfulness Potion. Only after that will you actually brew the potion. Everyone pick up your tools and set the dial to two. Spacing: one centimeter. Shape: circular. Begin practice now! The assistant will walk around the classroom and point out mistakes, so correct them as you go."
"Yes, Professor."
The first-years began their knife-cutting practice according to Professor Snape’s instructions.
I walked around the classroom, watching them work.
Among them, I paid the most attention to Harry.
Just as I’d expected, as long as Professor Snape didn’t interfere, Harry could do just fine on his own.
He had inherited the Potters’ long-standing talent for Potions, along with Lily Evans’ blood, which even Professor Snape had acknowledged. There was no way he’d be bad at it.
"Potter, you’re very good at cutting. One point to Gryffindor."
"Huh? You can award points too?"
"Of course. As long as you do well. But if you mess up, I’ll deduct points, so you’d better stay sharp. And naturally, there’s no favoritism just because you’re in Gryffindor. I’ll judge everyone fairly and strictly."
I left the pleased Harry behind and continued around the classroom, observing the other students.
"Malfoy, as expected of Slytherin’s top talent. One point to Slytherin. Ah, still not quite as good as Potter, though."
I gave Malfoy a little poke too.
I could hear his angry breathing from behind me, but so what? He might hate me, but he didn’t have the nerve to pick a fight in front of Professor Snape.
"Crabbe, Goyle. Do your eyes seriously think that’s circular? And the spacing is a complete mess. One point deducted from Slytherin for each of you."
"Granger, excellent. The spacing is precise, and your speed is excellent too. You’ve also set the dial correctly. Two points to Gryffindor."
"Longbottom, what exactly are you doing? Does that look like one centimeter to you? Ten small marks make one centimeter. And I told you to set the dial to two, not that you’d listen. One point deducted from Gryffindor."
"Parkinson, that’s at least passable. If you do a little better, you might earn points. Here, look—don’t hold the knife like that. Hold it like this. Now keep practicing."
"Greengrass? You’ve got talent. Keep going. One point to Slytherin."
When break time came, I returned to my seat and spoke to Hermione.
"Hera, how is it? Honestly, you probably don’t need this kind of practice anymore."
"No, practice is always good. This might actually be effective. Watching the others from the side seems to help too. By the way, you were awfully kind to Parkinson earlier."
Huh...?
I hurriedly whispered to Hermione.
"Hera, she’s just... um... not my type, you know?"
"I know. I was just teasing you."
"That was a pretty creepy joke."
While we were chatting, break time ended before long.
Professor Snape flicked his wand again, collected the tools, and distributed the potion ingredients.
"From this point on, you will begin brewing the Forgetfulness Potion. The order is written on the blackboard, so follow it exactly. You practiced preparing the ingredients earlier, so there will be no mistakes in that part this time. Begin at once!"
I started walking around the classroom again, pointing out mistakes.
"Longbottom! Please! Didn’t you look at the board? I said low heat."
"What? This isn’t low heat?"
"No, you’ve got it backwards."
"Oh, really? I thought this was low heat the whole time. I’ll do it properly now."
"Either way, it’s still a mistake. One point deducted from Gryffindor."
"As expected of Granger. She’s brewing faster than anyone else, and she hasn’t made a single mistake. One point to Gryffindor."
"Malfoy, you definitely have talent. One point to Slytherin. Still not as good as Granger, though."
I gave Malfoy another poke.
"Crabbe, Goyle. Can’t you see the board? You’ve got the whole order wrong. If you can’t see, wear glasses. Or sit in the front row."
"Finnigan, now that Longbottom isn’t making mistakes, are you going to start instead? Counterclockwise. Not clockwise. Do you want to blow up the potion again?"
"Stop! Everyone, hands off!"
When time was up, Professor Snape flicked his wand to extinguish all the flames, then began walking around the tables.
"Draco? Very good. Three points to Slytherin."
"Crabbe, Goyle. What on earth did you make? At least the cauldron didn’t melt today."
"Weasley. Ah, yes. I knew it. Still, this is definitely better than last time. You’ll barely escape losing points."
"Granger... impeccable... one point to Gryffindor."
Wow! What tremendous progress! He’d finally learned how to award points to Gryffindor!
"Longbottom. Be grateful you didn’t end up in the hospital wing. Oppenbach can’t keep holding your hand forever. One point deducted from Gryffindor."
"Zabini. Not bad. One point to Slytherin."
The professor collected everyone’s potions except those of Crabbe, Goyle, Neville, and Seamus.
"The potions I’ve taken are all passing. The four of you will attend remedial lessons. Class is over, so out you go. Oppenbach, come to my office."
The students began gathering their things and filing out.
I, on the other hand, opened the door to the professor’s office and went inside.
"How was it today?"
"There are still far too many below-average students, but the real waste has definitely decreased. I’ll test the other year groups too, and if the results are good, we’ll introduce it across all years."
"That’s good. If more students pass here, there’ll be more potions we can sell outside, which should help the school’s income."
"If it were up to me, I’d never buy such low-grade potions."
"Still, the knife work and heat control have improved a bit. Oh, and I noticed one student who thought high heat was low heat."
"How can someone confuse a picture of flames? What kind of idiot was that? Was it Finnigan, by any chance?"
"Neville."
"Ah, same difference."
"If someone can’t read the board, it’s either because their eyesight is bad, or because they’re just... stupid and forgot. The ones with poor eyesight can be seated in front, though..."
"Crabbe and Goyle. Those two are the problem."
"In my opinion, they’ll probably still be taking remedial lessons by the time fifth year ends."
"What a dreadful thing to say. Hah... but if their skill is clearly that poor, I can’t just leave them alone either..."
"Professor, sometimes you have to know when to give up on the impossible. Do you really think those two will reach passing level by taking more remedial lessons? Let’s just save the ingredients."
Even after my goading, Professor Snape just kept shaking his head.
He still seemed to be agonizing over it.
"Stress myself out and waste ingredient costs because of them versus cleanly cutting them loose, saving the ingredient costs, and using the money to buy Acromantula venom."
"Ah, then it becomes clear. That does seem right. You can’t resist Acromantula venom."
The following week, Professor McGonagall called me in.
"Mr. Oppenbach. After the faculty held an in-depth discussion on the subject, we concluded that it would be best to apply it to the other year groups as well. So over the past week, we implemented the method across all years to gather additional samples, and we analyzed those samples. Here are the results."
"Thank you, Professor."
"You’re still young, so writing a difficult paper like this may be a burden. Here, I brought a few easier papers for you. The topics may be different, but the format of the papers is not all that different, so you can generally follow that structure. Don’t worry about writing the paper; I’ll continue to guide you with revisions."
"Yes, I’ll read through them carefully and get started. By when should I finish it?"
"By when? Well, students usually write papers only when they’re in the upper years. Even then, most only manage to finish them right before graduation, and you’re only a first-year. You have plenty of time, so take it at your own pace."
"Understood, Professor. Then I’ll be going."
"Yes, off you go."
I spent a while shuttling between the library and the Room of Requirement, focusing solely on writing the paper.
'... based on that, I formed the hypothesis and conducted experiments using ...
... the distribution of results according to the experimental outcome ... however, in the case of students who already had good grades, there was little effect, which is presumed to be due to ...
In my estimation, the structure of the human eye... taking as examples the herbivorous magical creature Erumpent and the carnivorous magical creature Nundu...
This characteristic appears even more clearly in ordinary animals that lack magic, and therefore ... was derived as a result.
... further research is required regarding that point.
It seems best to proceed with cooperation from other wizarding schools.'
It’s been a while since I wrote a paper, and my head feels like it’s about to explode.
One thing I realized while writing it was that wizards really are behind Muggles in a lot of ways. Especially in science.
The paper Professor McGonagall gave me was somehow strange, so I looked up a few more on my own, and it was obvious that wizarding papers were inferior to Muggle ones.
Why the hell do these people write papers like this? Who does variable control this carelessly?
Most of the papers had no logic or evidence to speak of; they were just full of rambling words, trapped in whatever idea had seized them.
It was genuinely hard to find a properly written paper.
No matter how I thought about it, the root of all these problems seemed to be magic itself.
When magic can solve everything with a snap, there’s no room for real development, is there?
It had been almost a hundred years since Muggles started using telephones, and yet wizardkind was still sending messages by owl. That said it all.
"Ron, don’t you think it’s been hard to catch sight of Leonard lately?"
"Yeah. If you ask where he’s gone, he always says he’s at the library. And if you ask Hermione, she just says she hasn’t seen him in a while either. I don’t know what’s so great about the library."
"Ron, come to think of it, don’t we have our Transfiguration homework? We should probably go to the library too."
"Oh, right... Since you mention it, let’s go. If we wait any longer, we really won’t finish it."
Just as Harry and Ron were about to head to the library, the common room door opened.
Leonard came in.
"Oh, Leonard. Finally showing your face? Were you at the library again?"
"Yeah. I’m almost done, though."
"That’s a relief. What have you been doing that you barely eat and never come out of the library?"
"Uh... I’m not at the stage where I can talk about it yet. If the results turn out well, I’ll tell you then."
"Well, it’s not like I was terribly curious anyway. Oh, by the way, did you finish the Transfiguration homework?"
"Transfiguration homework? I finished that ages ago. You guys haven’t done it yet?"
"Then can we copy yours?"
"Get lost!"
"Ah! Jeez, that startled me."
"You little brats! You dare try to mooch off your friend’s homework? You only improve if you do it yourself."
"But Hermione won’t show us hers either."
"If you’re the type who can do it well, why aren’t you doing it? Just do it. Anyway, work hard on your homework. I need to go see Professor McGonagall."
I left the fools who still hadn’t finished their homework behind and headed for Professor McGonagall’s office.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Yes, come in."
"Hello, Professor."
"Ah, Mr. Oppenbach. What brings you here? Did you get stuck while writing your paper?"
"No, not really. I’ve finished it."
"Already? You must have put in quite a lot of effort. Let me have a look."
Professor McGonagall read the paper for a long while before speaking to me.
"Mr. Oppenbach. Your ability is remarkable, and your argument is very well developed. And you’re only a first-year. At this level, you don’t need revisions at all—if anything, older students should be learning from you."
"Thank you, Professor. I still have a lot to improve on."
"I’ll ask the Headmistress to have this paper sent to several wizarding schools. The more samples we have, the more accurate the research results will be. Still, in my opinion, this is good enough for third-class Merlin’s Order."
What?
"Merlin’s Order, too? Is it really that impressive?"
"Merlin’s Order is impressive, yes, but only from second class onward. Third class isn’t all that extraordinary. Even a shameless fraud like Gilderoy Lockhart received one, so that says enough. To hand out Merlin’s Orders just because someone wrote a book well... In any case, I think third class is more than enough, and it’s only a little short of second class. If this paper is sent to other wizarding schools and further verified, then second class is certain."
"That much?"
"You’re underestimating your own theory. It could change the paradigm of magical education. It may become the catalyst that moves us away from static lessons and toward something more dynamic and practical."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Yes, Mr. Oppenbach. Are you finished here?"
"Yes, Professor. Then I’ll be going."
"Very well. Off you go."
Hmm... that much?
Well, if they’re giving it to me, I’ll gladly take it.
Still, the evaluation had better finish soon. I needed to buy Hermione a Christmas present...
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register