Harry Potter: Becoming a Top Student from Scratch

Hogwarts' first-year course schedule was quite relaxed. For example, on Monday morning, Wade only had a double period of Potions.

After breakfast, a group of Ravenclaw freshmen walked together toward the dungeons. As the surroundings gradually grew colder and damper, the students' faces also became noticeably paler.

"I heard that the professor teaching Potions is also the head of Slytherin House," said Michael, who was walking beside Wade, trying to ease the tension. "You saw him during the Sorting last night, right? That teacher with the black hair and hooked nose."

"Of course," said Padma. "And I must say, we'd best not get on his bad side."

The group arrived at the Potions classroom in silence. Along the wall were cabinets filled with rows of glass jars, each containing a variety of preserved animal specimens. Some of the more timid students looked like they might burst into tears and nervously chose seats as far away from the jars as possible. Wade, on the other hand, went straight for a corner seat—not because he was afraid of dead specimens, but because he worried about being caught in the crossfire of a classmate's mistake.

Soon, a crowd of Hufflepuff students arrived as well. Their reactions were nearly identical to those of the Ravenclaws. However, since Ravenclaws had arrived first and taken the prime seats, the Hufflepuffs were left to spread out along the edges of the room.

Wade's previously isolated corner soon gained two new neighbors from Hufflepuff.

"Hi, I'm Theo—Theo Mancini. And this is Ryan Carrow," said a brown-haired Hufflepuff boy, taking the initiative to greet Wade. "And you are…?"

"Wade Grey."

"Wade?" Theo asked curiously. "Do you know who our professor for this class is—"

Ryan, the blond boy, cut him off. "Theo, stop talking. He's here."

No sooner had he spoken than the classroom door slammed open. A man in a black wizard's robe strode in. His face was cold and stern, his presence intimidating. Many students instinctively shrank in their seats, and the room immediately fell silent.

Snape scanned the students with a sweeping gaze before pulling out a roll and taking attendance. Seeing that no one was late for the first class, his expression softened slightly.

"Potions is a very delicate subject," Snape said in a deep, whispery tone. "It requires strict procedures and precise proportions. Should anyone decide to alter a recipe without permission, carelessly change the ingredients, or foolishly wave their wand in hopes of covering a mistake—"

His chilling gaze swept over the trembling first-years, lingering in particular on the students wearing yellow and black striped ties—

"—then I will make sure they understand just how terrifying the consequences of a botched potion can be."

Theo gulped audibly, as if Snape had been speaking directly to him. Wade began to feel uneasy—he had chosen the corner seat to avoid trouble, but now it seemed like he was sitting next to a landmine.

Like a human radar, Snape immediately zeroed in on the nervous Hufflepuff and barked, without even consulting the roll, "Theo Mancini!"

"Y-yes!" Theo shot up so fast he nearly knocked over his cauldron. "Yes, Professor."

"How do you prepare the flobberworms when brewing the boil cure potion?"

Seven or eight hands shot up around the room, mostly from Ravenclaws.

Good news: Snape hadn't asked an unfair question—it was straight from Chapter One of the textbook.

Bad news: Theo hadn't read the chapter.

"I—I don't know, sir," Theo stammered.

"Sit down," Snape said icily. "No prior reading? Hufflepuff, minus one point. Wade Grey!"

He casually called on the Ravenclaw sitting next to Theo.

Wade immediately stood. "Boil for five minutes, sir."

"Correct." Snape nodded, but he didn't award any points to Ravenclaw. Instead, he followed up with another question: "Michael Corner. What's the use of nettles?"

"They—they help with inflammation, hair loss… and they stop bleeding," Michael stammered.

"Good." Snape nodded for him to sit and moved on: "Hannah Abbott. When should porcupine quills be added?"

The blonde girl stood up with teary eyes, looking like one more word from Snape would make her burst into sobs.

Snape looked away and called on another name instead. "Ryan Carrow?"

Ryan had already flipped through his textbook as soon as the questioning began. This particular point had been clearly highlighted.

"—After extinguishing the flame, Professor," Ryan answered as steadily as he could.

Snape glanced down at the open book in front of him. "Let's hope next time you'll have the knowledge in your head and not just in the textbook. Don't depend on Merlin's mercy during lessons!"

Ryan sat down with his lips tightly pressed together. Theo gave his arm a comforting pat.

This class, Snape hadn't singled anyone out—he had gone after everyone. His barrage of questions served as a brutal wake-up call. By the time the actual lesson began, Hufflepuff had lost thirteen points, and Ravenclaw had lost five.

In the silence that followed, Snape began demonstrating how to brew the boil cure potion. He paired everyone up according to their seats, and with a wave of his wand, detailed instructions appeared on the blackboard. Everyone scrambled to jot them down. Wade noticed that the steps on the board differed slightly from those in the textbook. If one followed only the book, the potion likely wouldn't turn out the way Snape wanted.

"Sorry," Theo whispered, since he was partnered with Wade. "I didn't read ahead, but I'll try not to drag you down."

His amber eyes were sincere, and Wade's annoyance at being paired with a "slacker" was somewhat soothed.

"It's fine," Wade said. "This potion is pretty simple. As long as we follow the steps, we should be okay."

Theo went to fetch ingredients while Wade weighed them on a balance scale. Then he handed Theo a snake fang and said, "You handle the ingredients, I'll do the brewing."

"Alright."

Theo nodded, put on dragonhide gloves for protection, and began grinding the fang into powder using a mortar and pestle. Wade, meanwhile, used tongs to gingerly drop four flobberworms into the cauldron, using his wand to carefully control the heat.

A few minutes later, Wade removed the now-discolored worms and set them aside, then replaced the water and began heating it again, reviewing the next steps in his head. Beside him, Theo had finished grinding the fang into a fine powder and was now chopping dried nettles.

Wade was a little surprised. Although Theo seemed clumsy, he was actually very meticulous—the powdered fang was even and smooth, with no coarse granules or impurities.

Maybe this partner wasn't so bad after all.

Wade thought.

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