"Severus Snape?" Nicolas repeated softly but couldn't find this name in his memory.
Among the people he knew related to magic potions and still alive, there was only one, Pegasus Saxia, and the last time he saw her was sixty years ago... or maybe seventy; it had been so long he couldn't quite remember.
"He's the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts," Kael reminded beside him.
"Ah?"
This was Nicolas' second time being surprised. He couldn't help but ask, "Has the threshold for Hogwarts really become this high now?"
A Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts actually managed to brew the most complicated magic potion currently; are all the professors at Hogwarts this versatile?
Isn't this a bit too much competition? How are other schools supposed to survive?
"No, no... you misunderstood," Conna quickly explained. "Professor Snape has always been in charge of Potion Class, only this year did he take on the role of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Hearing Conna say this, Nicolas finally understood and nodded.
If that's the case, it's much more acceptable.
"It seems he really cares about you," Nicolas said to Conna. "By the way, he probably used the Nirvana Ashes left by Fawkes, right?"
"Sorry, I don't know," Conna turned her head to look at Kael.
"Yes," Kael immediately replied. "I remember Professor Dumbledore mentioned before that when Fawkes underwent nirvana, some of the ashes were taken by Professor Snape."
"No wonder," Nicolas nodded.
He vaguely remembered when he went to Hogwarts two years ago, Dumbledore also mentioned the name Severus, saying that some ashes had already been used by him.
Only at the time, Dumbledore only said these things, without mentioning what Severus taught, and since his attention was all on the part of ashes in Kael's hands, he didn't pay much attention to it.
Now everything became clear.
The half of the ashes Severus Snape took back then had been brewed into the Phoenix Potion before him.
"Truly incredible..." Nicolas muttered, then turned his head to glance at Kael, curling his lips.
"Tsk..."
Wizards should never be compared.
Honestly, there are very few things now that pique Nicolas' interest, but unexpectedly, the first meeting with Conna brought him a gift that so perfectly matched his taste.
And then there's Kael, who each time they meet, finds something for him to do, and indeed the kind he can't refuse, adding more workload in these two years than in the previous thirty.
More importantly, Kael always had designs on his opera house.
The contrast was immediate with such a comparison.
"Not that, I wasn't wrong," Kael muttered. "He's indeed a Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts now."
"I wasn't referring to that," Nicolas extended his hand. "Come on, bring it out."
"Bring out what?" Kael was momentarily at a loss.
"A gift," Nicolas stated righteously. "Are you visiting a six-hundred-year-old man without bringing a Christmas gift?"
Kael opened his mouth, a bit taken aback.
What's going on, why does Nicolas suddenly care about this?
Though he had prepared a gift, compared to Conna's life-restoring Phoenix Potion, his operatic poster seemed inadequate.
"Or..." Kael considered for a moment, placing a golden cup on the table, "I gift this to you?"
"No need," Nicolas declined directly without thinking.
"This is Hufflepuff's Golden Cup," Kael couldn't help saying. "Didn't you mention before that it's a temptation no Alchemist can resist?"
"That was ten minutes ago, but now it's different."
Nicolas calmly shook the bottle of potion. "With this, I can replicate it anytime, so to me, it's just a lump of gold."
"Gold is the least of my problems."
The primary characteristic of the Golden Cup is its stability; even after being eroded by Voldemort's Soul Fragment, it can still remain intact.
Coincidentally, the Phoenix Potion in Alchemy is the best stabilizing material, so Nicolas wasn't wrong.
"But it's Hufflepuff's Golden Cup... its value is different," Kael tried emphasizing its significance from another angle.
"That's only from your perspective," Nicolas remained indifferent. "I graduated from Beauxbatons and have no relation to the four founders of Hogwarts."
Kael fell silent immediately.
Throughout this conversation, Perenelle had been watching the two with a smile, occasionally placing some food she thought delicious in front of Conna.
However, Conna had no appetite for any of it; she stared blankly at Kael and the golden cup on the table.
What had they just said?
Hufflepuff's... Golden Cup?
The Hufflepuff from Hogwarts?
As a student of Hogwarts, of course she knew what this meant.
Just like Gryffindor's Sword and Ravenclaw's Diadem, the Golden Cup is the most treasured possession for every Hufflepuff student.
Yet unexpectedly, it was being disregarded here? Even Kael, like her, was a Hufflepuff.
Conna again looked at the golden, gleaming cup on the table.
Indeed, the size and shape matched precisely with the Golden Cup depicted in Helga Hufflepuff's portrait in the common room.
"Ignore them," Perenelle then patted Conna's hand. "What they think and what they say are completely different."