A distinguished Potions Master?
Harry paused for half a second, his eyes glazed over.
Being qualified to build your own team, apply for various resources and support, and even have the opportunity to have top wizards like Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flamel personally help solve problems seemed more desirable than being the Minister for Magic...
"But Draco... that's too far away, too far away for us..."
Harry shook his head, dispelling the illusions in his mind, and said with a wry smile.
"You also heard Ms. Elena say just now that there may only be a few distinguished Potions Masters in each era. Even Ms. Elena may not be able to do it, let alone someone like me—Professor Snape isn't one right now."
"That's just for now. Didn't Professor Slughorn and Professor Snape both say that?"
Draco Malfoy looked at Harry intently and said extremely seriously.
"Harry, you have the bloodline and talent of a potions genius flowing in your body, and you also have this—"
He pointed to the old book on Harry's desk, paused for a few seconds, and continued.
"This is definitely a treasure left by a Potions Master during his student days. You should know that in the magical world, this kind of treasure never appears casually—it only appears in front of the right person at the right time."
"It's just an old textbook. We don't even know who its original owner was."
Harry turned his head, avoiding Draco's gaze, and said softly.
Although twelve-year-old Harry was still a child, that didn't mean he didn't have his own understanding. As his relationship with Professor Snape gradually became closer, Harry had noticed some uncoordinated strange traces.
This old textbook, obtained by chance, might not be a real coincidence...
"Don't know who the original owner is? Didn't Professor Snape say before—"
Draco Malfoy frowned in confusion, his eyes scanning Harry's evasive gaze. "So, you know something? Harry, is there something you can't even tell me? I thought we were friends."
"Well..."
Harry stood up, staring at the direction of the podium.
The writing on the blackboard had disappeared, but Harry's mind could still conjure up the content Professor Snape had written on the blackboard during class. The handwriting might be changed, but the writing style... these were too suspicious.
"Okay... about the Half-Blood Prince, Professor Snape is just guessing, isn't he? And, on the one hand, my mother is not a half-blood witch. She is a witch from the Muggle world—I asked Professor Slughorn, and my mother's textbooks and notes were always neat and clean. At least in the professor's memory, my mother should have had a separate notebook..."
Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn, one of them must be mistaken.
After all, Harry had heard Professor Snape say with his own ears that his mother occasionally took notes in her Potions textbook.
"So you think... the Half-Blood Prince is someone else?"
Draco seemed very surprised. He stared at Harry and said after a while, "I see! Okay, Harry, even if this old textbook wasn't left by your mother, the knowledge in it is real, right? Hermione, Ron, and even I have read this book, but the student with the best Potions grade is still you—don't be shy—"
He glanced at Harry, who seemed to be about to deny it, put his hands on his shoulders, and said seriously.
"At least this semester, you and my potions group have defeated Ms. Elena and Granger's group more than once. If Ms. Elena and Hermione Granger are geniuses that appear once in a century, then you are the same in the field of potions."
"As for who the Half-Blood Prince is, that's not important, right? We'll always find out..."
Draco Malfoy said, meaningfully and softly.
Given his excellent performance this semester, Bill Weasley had personally told him some time ago that his promotion application had been submitted. If there were no accidents, Draco could become a Level C member before Christmas.
Compared to the pitiful basic guarantees of Level D personnel, the Foundation's benefits strictly start from Level C.
The database located at the headquarters of *The Quibbler*, and the archives of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, collect a large amount of information from all over the world. As long as you spend a certain amount of points, you can obtain the corresponding information—if the "Half-Blood Prince" is really a nickname from a well-known Potions Master's student days, then the Foundation's strength will definitely be able to find traces.
A moment later, Harry and Draco left the underground classroom.
Just as Draco had guessed, less than two minutes later, several Hogwarts house-elves ran out from various shadows in the outer alley and quickly came to the classroom to start cleaning.
And in the shadow of the knight's armor next to the classroom door, Dobby muttered thoughtfully.
"Old book? Half-Blood Prince? Potion? Master, Harry..."
Dobby had been observing in secret for many days, and had not found any clues on Master Malfoy. Just when he was a little discouraged, he did not expect that today's work of cleaning the classroom had unexpected gains.
Just...
Dobby turned his head and looked worriedly at the end of the tunnel.
Hopefully it's not what he imagined, otherwise Harry Potter might be in danger.
In short, he would memorize these key information first, and then ask his "Dark Wizard Master" indirectly when Mr. Malfoy comes to school on the weekend—if it really has anything to do with the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy would definitely guess it.
Anyway, Dobby had already decided that he would definitely find a way to protect Harry Potter and prevent Harry from being harmed by the Dark Lord.
Even if this was a wicked conspiracy planned by Master and Young Master, he would punish himself a few more times afterwards, but he could not let the "Boy Who Lived" who saved the magical world fall into the trap set by the Dark Lord's minions, especially when he was in Hogwarts, he could not watch those terrible things happen.
"Dobby, Dobby will protect you, Mr. Harry Potter..."
"Hey! Newbie! What are you doing over there in a daze?! Come over here and help clean up!"
Just then, Dobby heard a shrill roar in his ear.
Not far away, a Hogwarts house-elf holding a rag stared at Dobby warily.
This elf from the Malfoy family was quite diligent in housework, but his brain was not very good. He would often be in a daze and absent-minded, and occasionally he would have self-harming behavior. Head Elf Beryl had specially told everyone to keep an eye on this unstable destructive element, so as not to do anything that would damage Hogwarts and the reputation of the house-elves.
"Yes, yes—"
Dobby shrank his head, grabbed the rag in his hand, and ran over quickly.
The old pillowcase he used to wear as clothes had been replaced. Now, like other elves, he was wearing a standard "napkin clothes". The only slight difference was that Dobby's napkin did not have the Hogwarts emblem.
Before he was officially accepted, Dobby was not qualified to wear the Hogwarts napkin.
This was the bottom line of Beryl, the head of the Hogwarts House-Elf Kitchen.
And from the current situation, Dobby seemed to be quite far from being accepted.
According to the agreement between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, if a house-elf could not pass the acceptance test, they would "repeat study" at the school. This was obviously a very bad, even discreditable thing for the wizarding family who sent him to the school. If they were unlucky, they might "receive clothes" and be directly kicked out.
To avoid such things from happening, the Hogwarts elves almost spontaneously united to supervise Dobby.
No matter where he was, there would always be enthusiastic and kind elves teaching him how to work.
"They're watching too closely. It looks like I'll have to wait patiently for an opportunity..."
Dobby wiped the floor of the underground classroom, while looking around with his tennis ball-like eyes, thinking secretly.
"At least I have to find a way to go to the Gryffindor dormitory to find out where Harry Potter's bed is, and I can't be watched by too many people. Hogwarts... could it be that they've discovered something, so they're especially vigilant..."
…………
In the next few days, the news that Potions was about to become fully professionalized spread like wildfire.
There were more and more rumors about the first Potions Master exam at the end of the term: A student from Slytherin named Marcus Belby swore that his uncle Damocles, one of the current three Potions professors, Professor Belby, would be the chief examiner for next year's exam, and one of the assessments was the rapid preparation of Wolfsbane Potion.
However, these claims did not gain much recognition. People were more inclined to believe another rumor.
Deep in the Hogwarts kitchen was a secret potion laboratory, which led directly to Professor Snape's office cabinet, and the first round of testing was conducted there—all students would act as unsuspecting proctors, and their preference for the dishes served from the kitchen would determine who could pass the first round of the "potion technique" test.
In addition, many students were convinced that there would be other professionalized fields in addition to potions.
The most direct evidence for this was the attitude and tone of the professors of each subject.
Potions aside for the moment, this was almost a semi-public matter.
Whether it was Professor Slughorn or Professor Belby, they received many letters from outside the school every day, and more than one person saw Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge frequently visiting Hogwarts, and saw the Potions professors gathering in the Headmaster's office on weekends, not knowing what they were discussing, often for the better part of the day.
Many well-informed wizarding children, especially upperclassmen, had already received the news from their parents.
Starting as early as next year, the Potions Master title would be fully implemented. If you want to work in the corresponding positions, you have to find a way to pass the exam and at least get a "Junior Potions Master" professional certificate, and that's just the beginning...
You should know that in the magical society, there is not only the profession of Potions Master.
Magical creatures, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Flying...
Almost every course in Hogwarts can correspond to one or even more jobs in the magical world.
The professors' attitudes, whether profound, mysterious and ambiguous, or stern and cold, undoubtedly made this guess more and more solidified. Any little wizard with a brain would logically deduce that this was just the beginning.
Especially when a senior deputy minister of the Ministry of Magic began to hint that the Ministry of Magic would have a series of new policies, the spirits of many upperclassmen were even more tense in advance. Compared to those little guys who still had plenty of time to explore and learn, those graduating students who were originally going to face O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts this year almost all became unstable bombs.
"George, Fred! You guys be quiet!"
Percy Weasley roared angrily for the third time in the Gryffindor common room.
"If you really feel like you have too much energy, then I can arrange some house-elf work for you, or tell Wood to tailor some higher-intensity physical training for you, but don't make noise in the common room!"
"Oh, Percy... have mercy... we just came back from the Quidditch pitch..."
Fred said bitterly, pushing his equally embarrassed twin brother in front of Percy.
"Wood has been almost crazy lately. He doesn't know where he heard about some 'Flying Qualification Exam'. I guess his personal training volume may even exceed the intensity of a professional Quidditch team. I guess we'll die on the field before the game even starts..."
"Yeah, right, Percy, you're a prefect... persuade Wood..."
George nodded, singing and crying in unison.
The Quidditch match was approaching, and in front of the demonized Wood, he even had to time his dates to the second.
You should know that because of this, Miss Peach's anger value was almost full. George prayed every night, hoping that his Miss Peach would still consider her identity as the president of the student council, and wouldn't directly draw her wand to duel Wood—with the brain circuits and combat power of Ravenclaw girls, he was afraid that the Gryffindor team would be wiped out.
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Yay!!