Harry Potter: From Young Wizard to White Devil

For the rest of the day, Snape and Vaughn remained in the office, testing Vaughn's method of magical extraction.

Vaughn openly shared all the techniques he had developed so far. This kind of honesty was essential in the early stages of a new method's development. Since he intended to share it with others, hiding anything would have been counterproductive.

"The idea behind magical extraction came from my early thoughts about the nature of potions," Vaughn explained.

"What is a potion, really? Why do these ingredients, when combined, produce magical effects? Or rather, which part of each ingredient contributes to those effects?"

"I started with the simplest blood-replenishing potion and set up a number of controlled experiments. By adjusting the proportions of materials, I studied how different qualities of the potion worked. Through comparison, I classified the ingredients into three categories—effective, harmful, and inert waste."

Vaughn spoke lightly, but the process itself was anything but gentle.

He had prepared a large number of lab mice, following the drug-testing protocols from his previous life. He inflicted wounds on some and dissected others to observe the healing effects of different potion qualities.

Snape, who was focused on lighting the crucible with his wand while listening intently, naturally guessed as much.

But he didn't see anything wrong with it.

At his core, he was still the former Death Eater who had once pledged loyalty to Voldemort. Any scraps of compassion he had left weren't about to be wasted on mice.

"After isolating the active components, I returned to the raw materials and began stripping away their properties one layer at a time. My studies in Transfiguration helped tremendously with this."

Snape focused. As his magic flowed from his wand into the cauldron, vague outlines began to form in his mind.

This process was like learning Transfiguration!

Only more difficult. It required precise skill to stabilize the flow of magic.

He had to ensure his magic didn't interfere with the movement of the ingredients in the cauldron, and he needed to interpret the structural images appearing in his mind in a short window of time.

Before long, sweat appeared on Snape's forehead.

But decades of experience brewing potions gave him deep familiarity with basic ingredients.

Despite his average talent in Transfiguration, he managed to extract the properties of several ingredients before the potion reached its heating phase.

This was the sixth attempt, and he finally succeeded. With a quiet sigh, he withdrew his wand.

He looked into the cauldron. The potion had clear, defined layers. Vaughn stepped up, stirred it five times, then waved his wand—and it turned a brilliant blue.

Snape fell silent, deep in thought. At last, he said, "It's too difficult. It requires talent—not just in potion-making, but in Transfiguration as well."

Then he added, "And deep knowledge of magical ingredients."

"Exactly," Vaughn agreed with a sigh. "I once worked with a pharmacist who supported my idea. I taught him the method, but he could never grasp it. That's when I realized how immature the extraction technique still is."

Snape nodded. "But it holds great value."

Vaughn smiled.

They were both geniuses in the field of potions, and they understood something fundamental: no technology was perfect at birth. All innovations required a process of experimentation, refinement, and promotion.

The only question was whether something was worth continuing to develop.

And clearly, magical extraction was worth it.

Snape, face unreadable once more, stared into the cauldron of Cure for Boil Potion and asked, "Do you have a development plan?"

Vaughn had already thought it through. "Yes, but it's not easy."

"Say it."

"I need access to more ingredients and higher-level potions so I can study their properties. There's also a spell that would be extremely helpful. I was hoping you could teach it to me."

Snape seemed to know what he meant before he even said it: "The Scarpin's Revelaspell?"

"Yes, Professor."

Snape's gaze sharpened. "You know that spell is restricted by the Ministry of Magic. It threatens the livelihood of potion masters everywhere."

"I know," Vaughn replied with a calm smile. "But all for the sake of research, right?"

After a moment of silence, Snape's dry voice emerged once again. "What else?"

"I want to study advanced spellcraft as well. As you said, magical extraction is too hard to master. I hope to identify the common laws behind all ingredient structures and design a generalized model."

"I plan to eventually codify that model into a spell. For that, I'll need advanced spell theory."

At last, Vaughn revealed his true goal. It was also the reason he had begun refining the magical extraction method two years ago.

Since then, he had set his sights on Snape. He knew the man well enough to be sure—Snape wouldn't turn him down.

Sure enough, Snape was silent for a while, then said: "Come to my office next Saturday. Now, leave."

"Thank you, Professor." Vaughn bowed politely, but paused at the door and asked with curiosity, "How are you planning to convince Headmaster Dumbledore? I hear he's always been wary of Slytherin. He might not approve of you teaching me advanced magic."

Snape stood with his back to the fireplace—the room's only source of light—so Vaughn couldn't see his face.

But he heard the slow, deliberate reply: "He'll agree, Vaughn Weasley."

"As far as I know, Dumbledore rather appreciates how you move about between the houses."

"…Really?" Vaughn raised an eyebrow and shrugged as he walked away.

It was true—Dumbledore had been keeping an eye on him. If Snape was to be believed, the old man had been watching Vaughn's every move at Hogwarts!

"Tsk. Must be Tom's fault—the old coot's gotten paranoid."

Still, Vaughn didn't take it personally. He'd known what he was getting into the moment he chose Slytherin.

He wouldn't give up on his goals just because of Dumbledore's caution. Nor would he resent the world for the headmaster's watchful eyes.

But what he didn't expect was that his habit of wandering between houses would win him Dumbledore's favor.

Even on the way back to the Slytherin common room, he was still wondering about that. Did Dumbledore think he was some kind of kind-hearted, peace-loving young man?

"Bloody hell, I only go to Ravenclaw to eat food and hang out. Don't pin sainthood on me!" Feeling his villainous image had been unfairly tarnished, Vaughn made another trip to Ravenclaw that night.

He laughed and chatted with the girls until late into the night—and left only when he'd collected a fresh cup of fruit juice.