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Harry Potter was carried away by Snape like a little chick.
However, even though he had left, his "legend" spread throughout Hogwarts with even greater momentum.
With the students' exaggerated interpretations, the titles on Harry's head rapidly expanded and evolved, their length and absurdity almost catching up to Lockhart's.
Old titles like "The Boy Who Lived" and "The Savior" were naturally still there, but the newly added titles showed even more brilliant "talent":
"The Heir of Slytherin," "The Terminator of Medicinal Ingredients," "The Ghost of the Potion Office," "The Thief of the Century," "The Traitor with the Invisibility Cloak"… a series of titles spread quickly through the hall.
On the dueling stage, the smile on Lockhart's face stiffened. He watched helplessly as the little bit of attention he had managed to gather was once again completely snatched away by Potter and his "crime news"!
"Cough, cough~! Cough, cough, cough!! Cough, cough, cough, cough——!!"
Lockhart let out a heart-wrenching fit of coughing, successfully drawing back the attention of some students who were still heatedly discussing "The Master Thief Harry Potter."
Down below, as soon as Lynn saw Lockhart's familiar prelude posture, he immediately felt a familiar headache. Without hesitation, he turned and walked out of the Great Hall, his movements crisp and decisive, without a hint of reluctance.
As he left, students who had long felt bored or were frightened by Snape also began to leave in small groups.
No matter how Lockhart waved his arms or shouted, "Wait, children! I still have important dueling techniques to share!" it was to no avail.
The crowd ebbed away, leaving Lockhart alone on the much emptier dueling stage, maintaining a futile smile at the air.
Outside the Great Hall
"I'm going to the library. Are you guys coming?" Lynn asked his roommates who were following behind him.
Edgar was stretching and rolled his eyes at the question. "Do I look like someone who loves studying and would voluntarily step into a library? I'd rather go back and research how to make a Bludger more obedient with that time."
Ollie didn't speak, only nodding repeatedly to indicate he wasn't familiar with the library.
Lynn: "…"
He turned his gaze toward William.
William pushed his glasses and thought for a moment. "I'll go with you. I happen to need to find a few reference books."
The library remained peaceful, with only the rustle of quills over parchment and the soft sound of pages being turned. Madam Pince occasionally patrolled silently between the bookshelves.
Lynn had a clear goal. He went straight to the "Lifestyle" section and stopped in front of a shelf specifically designated for "Magical Cooking."
He began to quickly browse the titles and indices along the shelf, his fingers sliding over spines that were either brand new or ancient, while he muttered under his breath:
"'One Hundred Beverage Applications of the Elixir of Euphoria'… not this one."
"'How to Make Your Pumpkin Juice More Unforgettable'… useless."
"'The Secrets and Private Blending of Fire Whiskey'… this is interesting, but not special enough… where is it?"
"'Is Unicorn Hair Seasoning Feasible'… what on earth is all this… it shouldn't be? Even 'Marinating Steaks with Runes' exists—how can there not be…?"
William walked over, holding a copy of Transfiguration Examples, and asked softly when he saw Lynn like this, "What book are you looking for? You're so focused."
"Brewing," Lynn replied without looking up, his finger sliding over another spine.
"Brewing?" William was a bit surprised; this didn't seem to be Lynn's usual area of interest.
"Yeah," Lynn explained. "I was chatting with Lumière in the trunk last night."
"It said the mead and whiskey I bought from Diagon Alley are good, but drinking too much of them makes the flavor feel a bit one-dimensional. It asked if there were any other, more special, more exciting flavors."
"I thought, the wizarding world is so big—there must be some unique brewing materials or recipes, right? So I came to look."
As Lynn spoke, he pulled a book with yellowed pages from the shelf, quickly flipping through the table of contents and continuing to mutter:
"Seen this one… Mandrake root soaked in wine—too strong, easy to hallucinate from; bought this one… Gillyweed flavor is too fishy; tasted this one… Venomous Tentacula distilled spirit—Snape would probably like it… this one… 'The Melancholy Vintage of Moondew and Augurey Tears'? That name doesn't sound tasty… what's this?"
Lynn's gaze stopped on an entry.
He closed the book and looked at the cover, which bore ancient gold-leaf letters:
Detailed Explanation of Magical Medicinal Liquors, authored by—Tom Polo.
Lynn curled his lip. "There really are a lot of 'Toms' in the wizarding world. Just sent away a diary 'Tom,' and now here's another one writing books."
He took Detailed Explanation of Magical Medicinal Liquors, sat down in the empty seat next to William, and flipped directly to the page he was interested in.
The handwriting on the pages was all script, accompanied by some simple line illustrations.
[Basilisk Wine]
According to an elder in the family who lived for a very long time and mentioned it while drunk, our family once raised a Basilisk in ancient times.
According to the description, it was a giant species of snake, emerald green all over, extremely poisonous, and its venom can cause rapid death.
Its eyes are yellow and very dangerous; looking directly at it will cause immediate death, and even seeing it indirectly, such as through water or a mirror reflection, will cause petrification.
It seems to be very afraid of a rooster's crow… Sigh, I vaguely remember that elder saying that the Basilisk in the family seemed to have died accidentally that way.
Later, the family also considered breeding another Basilisk. After all, its venom is a precious material for certain powerful potions.
But just the absurd prerequisite of "needing a rooster to lay an egg" led the family to search for many years without finding a qualifying egg, and it eventually came to nothing.
Anyway, enough idle chatter. That's all the anecdotes I know about Basilisks. Now, back to the point—let's talk about Basilisk Wine.
Theoretically, if one could obtain Basilisk venom (be extremely careful!), and go through [Purification and Refinement], [Moonlight Maceration], [Neutralization with Seven Types of Inverse Herbs], [Slow Dragonfire Roasting and Extraction]… followed by a long list of complex and vague process descriptions, it might eventually be possible to obtain a bottle of extremely precious Basilisk Wine.
It is said that if someone is poisoned by another lethal toxin and drinks this wine, the Basilisk power within the wine might convert the original lethal toxicity into a powerful petrification effect.
At this point, the poisoned person is in a state of petrification, and the toxin stops progressing. One could then use a regular Mandrake Reviving Potion for treatment, perhaps gaining a slim chance of survival.
Editor's Note: The above are all theoretical speculations and ancient rumors, unverified. Do not attempt! The risks of brewing and drinking this wine are extremely high; the editor takes no responsibility!
Lynn finished reading this long passage full of "it is said," "possible," "speculation," and "records."
Clearly, this Tom Polo had never seen a real Basilisk himself, let alone brewed any Basilisk Wine; the entire description had the flavor of hearsay.
Besides, a Basilisk? Where was he supposed to find one?
"Seems like a waste of effort." Lynn closed the book and tucked it back onto the shelf with some disappointment.
"William, I'm heading back first. Are you staying a bit longer?"
William was holding a copy of Simple Applications of Transfiguration, reading with great interest. He waved his hand without looking up.
"You go ahead. I'll head back after I finish this one; it's quite interesting."