Chapter 1160: Harry's Lucky Day
Chapter 1160: Harry's Lucky Day
"Professor Slughorn sure is generous!"
Harry gazed at the golden liquid in the vial, a pleased smile tugging at his lips. He had experienced the wonders of Felix Felicis before and was well aware of its magical properties.
"I bet Professor Slughorn knows his way around potions," Ron said, his eyes glued to the vial of liquid in Harry's hand with a mixture of envy and awe.
"If Professor Slughorn has any extra supply of Felix Felicis, I'd be willing to buy some from him, even at a high price. It's a rare and valuable potion," Harry said, feeling like today was his lucky day. The unpleasant clash with Snape during the Dark Magic Defense class earlier had already faded from his mind.
"Remember not to overdose on Felix Felicis," Hermione cautioned kindly.
"Of course, I never expected to get extra Felix Felicis from Professor Slughorn anyway. Remember, he mentioned only taking it twice himself. If he had more, he wouldn't have limited himself to just two doses," Harry said as he tucked the vial into his robe pocket, contemplating how to use it wisely. Downing it all at once would be wasteful; it would be more prudent to divide it into portions, just like Albert, and consume it when needed.
"I wonder how Albert managed to divide it into half-hour portions," Harry mused, intending to ask Sirius about it when he had the chance, hoping they could figure out a method.
"How did you do it, Harry?" Ron asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Oh... I guess I was just lucky!" Harry replied offhandedly, having noticed Malfoy eavesdropping with his ears perked up. "It's really not a big deal. There are people who are much luckier than me."
"You're right, some people do have incredible luck," Ron agreed, following Harry's gaze to where Malfoy stood, watching them. With a cheerful wave, Ron called out, "Hey, I heard your mansion got burned down."
Malfoy clenched his fists, his eyes cold as he glared at Ron. Goyle and Crabbe moved closer, seemingly ready to start a fight.
"Don't be angry," Ron teased, looking directly at Malfoy. "You know, everyone thought your whole family had perished in that fire. It's quite fortunate that you managed to escape, isn't it?"
"That's enough, Ron," Harry said, smiling as he placed a hand on Ron's shoulder in a friendly reminder. "You should be careful, though. If the Malfoys offer a hefty reward for your capture, you'll be in big trouble."
"Scary," Ron pretended to shudder in mock fear.
"People would be so disappointed if they found out that their supposed savior was such a pathetic excuse for a wizard," Malfoy said, his thin lips twisting in a sneer as he glared at Harry and Ron. With Goyle and Crabbe in tow, he turned and walked away.
"Harry, Ron, you shouldn't have..." Hermione began, but Ron cut her off.
"Don't be so naive, Hermione," Ron said, his face twisted in disgust as he watched the retreating backs of Malfoy and his cronies. "We didn't target that little ferret specifically. The Malfoy family has always been rotten to the core."
"And don't forget about the bounty," Harry added, agreeing with Ron. "Do you think a normal person would offer ten thousand Galleons as a reward for someone's life?"
"That's ten thousand Galleons, almost ten years' worth of Dad's salary," Ron muttered, his eyes widening at the thought. "You have no idea how tempting that is. If the target hadn't been Albert, someone might have already lost their life."
"And remember, Lucius Malfoy tried to ambush Albert's wedding and kill him then," Harry said, turning to Hermione. "After Lucius was sent to Azkaban, the Malfoys still offered a bounty on Albert's head. Do you really think Draco Malfoy had no idea about this? I'm sure it was a mother-son scheme."
Ever since learning the truth about the attack on Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes from Fred and George, Harry had lost all sympathy for the Malfoy family, ranking them just below Voldemort and Dumbledore on his list of despicable people.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Albert set that fire himself. I just don't understand why he didn't burn them mother and son to ashes." Ron suspected that Albert had deliberately spared the Malfoys.
"Maybe the Malfoy family is truly despicable, but we didn't need to go that far. It makes us look petty and vindictive," Hermione added, not hiding her dislike for the Malfoys but feeling that their actions were unbecoming.
Changing the subject, Harry said, "Let's go get some dinner, and I'll tell you what I found out earlier." He didn't want to hear another lecture from Hermione and wanted to shift the focus away from their previous topic.
"What did you find out?" Ron asked, taking the bait.
"You'll see," Harry said mysteriously.
During dinner, Harry pulled out the Advanced Potion-Making book he had received in Slughorn's class and shared it with his friends, explaining why he had been able to brew a perfect batch of the deadly Living Death potion.
"So... you followed the modified instructions in the book?" Ron was astonished at Harry's boldness.
"Yes, the previous owner of this book must have been a potions genius," Harry said, noticing Hermione's uncomfortable expression. He handed the book to her and suggested, "Why don't you take a look at it sometime? I'm sure the notes in this book will help improve your potions."
"No, I don't need to," Hermione insisted, immediately handing the tattered Advanced Potion-Making book back to Harry.
"Hermione, I think Harry's right," Ron interjected, taking the book from Harry. "This book, compiled by Libatius Borage, is obviously outdated." He squinted as he struggled to read the tiny, dense handwriting in the book.
"Just because it's written in a book doesn't mean it's the only standard. You give too much weight to so-called 'authorities,'" Harry said, finding Hermione's stubbornness amusing. She was acting like an old man, clinging to the idea of a "standard" and refusing to consider other possibilities.
"The modified recipe is clearly simpler and more efficient, and even Professor Slughorn admitted that Harry's Living Death potion was perfect," Ron added, handing the book back to Harry. "In fact, Albert has modified a lot of recipes. You probably don't know this, but Fred and George use Albert's modified recipes, and they say it's much easier and produces higher-quality potions."
Knowing how to convince the stubborn Hermione, Harry said, "If Albert wrote a potions book, would you find it more credible than Advanced Potion-Making? Or would you still trust this outdated book?" He understood that Hermione was feeling uncomfortable because she had been outperformed, and potions had always been one of her strengths.
Before Hermione could respond, Neville appeared out of nowhere. "Are we still doing the D.A. this year, Harry?" he asked.
"Well... I don't know if I'll have the time," Harry hesitated, remembering Albert's suggestion to keep the D.A. going. "With the Quidditch matches coming up, I'm not sure I can spare the time for D.A. meetings."
"We'll see how it goes. If I have the time, I'll let you know," Harry added.
"I really like the D.A. We learned a lot of useful stuff there," Neville added before leaving. "I think a lot of people in the school would like the D.A. to continue."
"Harry, I think Neville's right. You should keep the group going," Hermione said. "You need some supporters."
"But what about Quidditch? I can't just neglect that, can I?" Harry reminded them that he was still the Gryffindor Quidditch captain.
Neville had a point, as several people approached Harry to ask if the D.A. would continue. Many students had been influenced by the Ministry's Dark Arts training and felt it wouldn't hurt to learn a few extra defensive spells.
"You can hold D.A. meetings on weekends when you have some free time," Hermione suggested on their way back to the Gryffindor common room. "An hour or two each time won't take up too much of your time."
(End of Chapter)
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