"Sean—oh, this might be a bit presumptuous, but… are you planning to practice potion brewing on your own?"
Justin placed the parchment and the pale-blue notebook back into Sean's hands. His tone was gentle, with a hint of concern almost too subtle to notice.
"Yeah."
Sean nodded.
If he couldn't grind proficiency through repetition, then with his current potion talent, getting a passing grade would already be a miracle.
As for getting an "Outstanding"?
The odds were so low he didn't even bother thinking about it.
"You're looking for ingredients then? I mean—the four ingredients for Boil-Cure Potion?"
Seeing Sean nod again, Justin seemed to quietly exhale in relief.
His warm, perfectly measured smile finally relaxed.
"Then… I might be able to help you a bit.
Come on, I need to take you somewhere."
He turned and led a puzzled Sean out of the Great Hall.
They walked beneath the vast entrance of Hogwarts, following the stairs down toward the Hufflepuff basement.
The stone corridor below was bright with lamplight.
Sean glanced around curiously, and slowly, a guess began to form in his mind.
"Oh, we're about to walk past the Hogwarts kitchens. I should secretly tell you this…"
Justin stepped toward a wall and stopped in front of a painting of a large bowl of fruit.
He reached out and gently scratched the painted pear.
To Sean's surprise, the pear began to squirm with laughter—then twisted and morphed into a green door handle.
Behind it was the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens.
Side quest: Food unlocked, Sean thought.
"As long as you ask politely, the house-elves will never be stingy with food," Justin explained solemnly.
"There's just one rule: you absolutely can't bring Peeves in here…"
He emphasized the last part with a straight face.
"But today, that's not where we're headed. Look—just up ahead. The Hufflepuff common room."
They turned right down the corridor beside the kitchen, stopping in front of a stack of enormous wooden barrels.
Justin knocked on the lids of two barrels in the middle of the second row in a very particular rhythm.
The lid spun open with a soft whirr, revealing a sloping passage lit by warm, floating lanterns.
It led into a cozy, round room that looked exactly like a badger's den—and felt just as safe.
The entire room was decorated in cheerful black and yellow, like a hive of friendly bees.
Polished honey-colored tables, round wooden doors, and thick, squashy armchairs filled the space.
Cacti in pots lined circular wooden shelves,
many of them waving or bobbing their spiky limbs as if greeting passing students.
Curled ferns and trailing vines spilled out of copper-bottomed hanging baskets on the ceiling;
as Sean walked under one of them, the plant's leaves gently combed through his hair.
At the far end, a wooden fireplace carved with dancing badgers roared with a steady fire,
and above it hung a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff herself.
She held a two-handled golden cup in one hand, smiling as if toasting her students.
Small round windows sat just at ground level,
framing the swaying grass and fluffy dandelions outside.
Sometimes, a random pair of feet would walk right past the glass.
Despite how low the windows were, the common room was bathed in sunlight all year round.
"Welcome to the Hufflepuff common room," Justin said softly.
Sean watched him stride over to a sofa piled with thick cushions and pull out a trunk that looked anything but cheap.
The moment it opened, Sean almost went blind.
The first thing that hit him was a pile of glittering Galleons, followed by scattered letters and postcards.
Next to them were rows of jars and crystal vials of all sizes.
Sean recognized them at a glance—poisonous fangs, dried nettles, and more.
His earlier suspicions were instantly confirmed, but he still couldn't help feeling stunned.
There really were first-years who bought these ridiculously expensive potion ingredients themselves…
"These ingredients aren't of much use to me," Justin said, smiling warmly,
"but I thought… you might be able to put them to good use."
"I… I can buy some off you," Sean replied.
Justin had surprised him, but he couldn't just take something this valuable for free.
A bundle of nettles cost one Galleon and would last for about thirty attempts.
A jar of horned slugs was another Galleon—around forty brews' worth.
A bottle of poisonous fangs and a bundle of porcupine quills would last a similar amount of time—
but each of those cost two Galleons.
In total: six Galleons.
A necessary investment.
If he could brew decent-quality potions and sell them somewhere…
maybe he could earn the money back.
"Sean, what are you talking about?" Justin blinked in surprise.
"If you want to brew potions, then this is my support," he said plainly.
"It's hard to believe I can actually help you with something for once.
I've always wanted to say—constantly asking for your help makes me feel a bit guilty sometimes…"
Sean was still dazed when Justin calmly began loading the vials and jars into his bag.
"But—"
Before Sean could finish, Justin cut him off in a soft voice:
"I believe you'll succeed.
And if you don't… well, I still have another set."
When they finally left the Hufflepuff common room,
Justin's steps were noticeably lighter.
His mother's voice seemed to echo again in his ears:
"My dear Fenlerry, remember?
Everyone has their own strengths.
And the children of the Fenlerry family are especially gifted at weaving everyone's strengths together.
Money and things are just small investments.
The best investment will always be sincerity—and love."
"I think… I'm starting to understand," Justin thought.
Sean ultimately did not reject the help.
Sometimes Justin could be even more stubborn than a mule.
"If I'm only allowed to help you with Herbology and Magic History," Justin had said,
"but I'm not allowed to give you this tiny bit of support—
then what kind of friends are we?"
…Fair enough.
Having a Hufflepuff friend was actually… pretty wonderful.
At noon, in the Great Hall.
Sean was still sweeping through his food like a storm front.
Now that the biggest problem—ingredients—was solved,
all that remained was to find a place to quietly brew and master heat control and stirring technique.
Beside him, Justin had a stack of notebooks—Sean's notes for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and more.
Sean's progress far outstripped the classroom pace.
For Justin, these notebooks were basically legal cheat codes.
On Justin's other side, Hermione had already picked up on the unusual atmosphere.
Something was clearly different today—Justin was eating more and faster than usual.
Hermione suspected this was a bad habit he'd picked up from Sean.
As they parted outside the Hall, Sean heard Justin murmur:
"Yeah… Sean, whatever happens, I just want you to remember—
if you ever run into trouble, you can come to me.
We're friends, remember?"
The firelight flickered in Justin's pale-grey eyes, full of sincerity.
Sean nodded.
Hogwarts' fireplaces were far warmer than he'd ever imagined.
So was Hufflepuff.
I want to be a Hufflepuff too, Sean thought.
Curse you, Sorting Hat.
That afternoon, in the greenhouse.
Sean's hands moved with practiced ease as he processed dried nettles.
On their own, nettles were just ordinary plants.
But after being soaked in a special blue potion, they became a usable magical ingredient—
one that could be used to brew Swelling Solution and Boil-Cure Potion.
Professor Sprout added cheerfully:
"Nettle essence can also be used to make sleeping draughts and sedatives—but the way we handle it changes a bit in that case."
Compared to the chaos around him—
Wrong amounts of potion, uneven cuts, incorrect soaking time…
Sean's work looked almost professional.
A few frustrated Ravenclaws and Slytherins, under Professor Sprout's direction, ended up clustered around him, watching how he did it.
And at the same time—
the notifications on his panel continued to chime softly.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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