Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
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After finding the page containing the Philosopher's Stone, Kyle placed the book on the table and began to read it carefully.
"The greatest achievement of ancient alchemy, a magical substance with astonishing abilities, capable of turning any metal into pure gold, and also able to create an elixir of immortality, making those who drink it eternally immortal.
The Philosopher's Stone has appeared three times in history, and each appearance triggered an extremely brutal war.
The longest war lasted twenty years, and the country that possessed the Philosopher's Stone was razed to the ground in the tenth year.
Because each appearance was accompanied by countless deaths, the Philosopher's Stone is also known as the Blood Stone.
Of the three Philosopher's Stones, Merlin and King Arthur once joined forces to destroy one, and the other was eventually obtained by Rowena Ravenclaw. She, along with three friends, established the famous Hogwarts at the cost of the complete destruction of the Philosopher's Stone.
The only remaining Philosopher's Stone currently belongs to the famous alchemist and opera enthusiast, Mr. Nicolas Flamel."
Following this description was a picture of the Philosopher's Stone.
It was a bright red stone, irregularly shaped, somewhat like an unpolished ruby.
Kyle stared at it for a long time, carefully examining every angle, until Cedric came to call him for dinner, at which point he closed the book.
On his way to the Great Hall, Kyle returned the book just before the library closed.
Mrs. Pince found it a little strange, but said nothing, assuming Kyle was looking up information for his homework.
For the next while, Kyle ignored the Philosopher's Stone and focused all his energy on Snape's notes.
Although Snape looked disheveled and hadn't washed his hair, his notes were incredibly detailed.
He had meticulously annotated and explained many parts, making them very easy to understand.
Because of the notes, Kyle suddenly remembered something.
That night, during his stroll, he had specifically gone to the underground classrooms and found the tattered copy of *Higher Potions Making* in a cupboard in the corner.
A small note on it read: "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince."
"Tsk tsk, the Half-Blood Prince… I never thought Snape could be so childish." Kyle unceremoniously stuffed the book into his pocket, planning to buy a new copy in a few days.
And so, December arrived quickly.
Hogwarts was covered in a thick layer of snow, and the lake was frozen solid.
With Christmas approaching, the young wizards were much more excited than usual, and professors had to deduct at least ten points from each class just to keep them focused.
Of course, a few professors were exceptions.
For example, Professor Binns wouldn't deduct points.
And then there's Professor Snape… Even if the holidays were to start tomorrow, no one would dare slack off in his Potions class.
Today was no different. In the underground classroom, everyone was diligently studying the process of brewing the new potions, and even when they occasionally exchanged words, they deliberately kept their voices as low as possible.
Snape, meanwhile, was standing behind Kayle, watching with a strange look as he used the back of his knife to crush the Sopophorous Beans into juice.
"What's going on here? It's like seeing Merlin…" Snape thought to himself.
A few days ago, he noticed Kayle's potion-making skills had improved rapidly, far surpassing his own previous level.
But the problem was that Kayle was already quite skilled at brewing potions; such a significant improvement in a short time was impossible.
Snape suspected Kyle had peeked at the notes he'd prepared for Kanna.
So, for this lesson, he skipped the original potion for standing hair and opted for the more difficult potion, the Draught of the Living Death, which was typically taught in sixth grade.
His notes for Kanna only contained material up to fifth grade; if it were a sixth-grade lesson, Kyle would definitely be exposed.
Snape had already planned to deduct fifty points from Kyle regardless of whether he succeeded in brewing the Draught of the Living Death.
This wasn't difficult; the Draught of the Living Death was an extremely complicated potion to make, with numerous and troublesome steps. A perfect result could easily result in a hundred points being deducted.
He wanted Kyle to understand the serious consequences of looking at his notes without permission.
But now… he suddenly found himself confused.
Kyle's squeezing of the Sopophorous Beans was perfect; even he couldn't have done it any better.
This little trick was clearly not in the notes, especially since Kanna was still struggling to cut the slippery beans with a knife.
Snape frowned.
Wasn't Kyle referring to those notes?
No, even the most talented person couldn't improve so quickly in such a short time.
Let's wait and see; maybe he just got lucky, stumbled upon it by chance.
With this thought in mind, Snape didn't go anywhere during the class, standing behind Kyle the whole time.
Even when a junior wizard blew up his cauldron, he simply tossed the other person out of the classroom with his wand.
When class ended, Snape looked at the perfect potion of life and death in Kyle's cauldron, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter any words of criticism, finally only letting out a cold snort.
"How did you do that!"
"What did you say?" Kyle asked, puzzled.
"I mean..." Snape said stiffly, "Why has your potion-making improved so quickly?"
"I don't know, maybe it's because of Dean Sassia at St. Mungo's," Kyle said with a smile, "She taught me a lot during the summer and gave me a lot of potions as references."
"Dean Sassia?" Snape narrowed his eyes.
Snape was certainly familiar with one of the greatest potion masters of his time, but he didn't believe Kyle's recent progress was related to him.
Perhaps it was partly true… but certainly not the main reason. Otherwise, he would have noticed it after the start of the semester; why had it been delayed until now?
"Tell the truth!" Snape stared into Kyle's eyes and said coldly.
"I don't understand what you mean, Professor." Kyle blinked, his face serious. "It's all true. If you don't believe me, you can ask Dean Sassia yourself; she'll vouch for me.
Oh, and by the way, I recently met a very enthusiastic upperclassman whose old notes have been incredibly helpful to me."
Snape's expression darkened further. He gave Kyle a deep look, then turned and left the Potions classroom without looking back.
If he didn't want to talk about it, fine, but why bring up old textbooks from upperclassmen… Did he not know the level of those people?
Let alone the current mediocre students, even ten years ago, no one could brew such a perfect Draught of the Living Death in class!
[End of the chapter]