No one could quite say how much time had passed before Malfoy finally returned to the Slytherin common room in a daze. The little snakes, who had been waiting for what felt like forever, were mostly dozing off, but they perked up as soon as they noticed him enter.
"Malfoy, what took you so long?" one of them asked, rubbing his eyes.
Some of the others looked at him with a knowing glint. "You must have had a private talk with the Head of House, right? What did he tell you?" another added with a hint of admiration. "As expected of the Malfoy family…"
But their praise was cut short by the news Malfoy brought back.
"The Head of House gave extra points to Char Sprout."
Silence fell over the room. Then, all at once, a chorus of shocked voices erupted.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?"
"Malfoy, are you sure you heard right?"
Malfoy gritted his teeth. "I was standing right there. How could I have heard wrong? The Head of House really gave Hufflepuff an extra point. If you don't believe me, go check the House Cup Funnel tomorrow. We record the scores every day. You'll see for yourselves."
Hearing this, the little snakes had no choice but to accept the truth. Malfoy wasn't the type to get something like this wrong. A sense of absurdity settled over them. They had been ready to fight Hufflepuff tooth and nail for the House Cup, and now it felt like their own Head of House had turned against them.
"No way…" someone muttered.
"It must be that Char Sprout sweet-talked the Head of House," another suggested. "He tricked him into giving Hufflepuff extra points. That cunning little badger has set his sights on our Head of House!"
The more they thought about it, the angrier they became. This couldn't be allowed to continue. But what could they do?
"Let's not talk about revenge just yet," one of them said. "The most urgent thing is to get that Sprout kid away from the Head of House. We have to kick him out!"
After some discussion, a plan began to take shape.
"Hufflepuff has Quidditch practice tomorrow. We already know that. Char is sure to be there, which means he'll be busy until late. If we finish his work before he can get to the Head of House's office, what use will he be? We'll show the Head of House that we can do just as well—no, even better!"
The little snakes grew more confident as they talked. "Char Sprout is just one person. How much work can he really do? Compared to all of us working together, he doesn't stand a chance. Even if it's tough, we can outlast him."
With the details settled, the little snakes began to nod off, exhausted. Some even fell asleep right at the table in the common room. Others, like Malfoy, stayed up just a little longer, lost in thoughts of tomorrow.
"No matter how much he flatters the Head of House, I'll make sure he's kicked out of the Potions classroom for good," Malfoy muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, Char knew nothing of the little snakes' plans. He had already arrived at the Potions classroom, carrying the potion ingredients he needed to process. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he nodded in satisfaction.
"It's only two in the morning. Still plenty of time."
He turned his attention to the [Magic Perception Enhancement] ability on his system panel. The bronze color was almost completely gone, replaced by a steadily growing silver light. From past experience, Char knew that once an ability reached this stage, promotion was almost guaranteed—just a matter of days, or sometimes even hours, of focused work.
But tonight, he felt a surge of determination. If he poured all his energy into it, maybe he could make the breakthrough tonight.
[Magic Perception Enhancement] reaching silver level was incredibly important to Char. It wasn't just about verifying the effect of the Frequency Light Spell on piranha algae. The Fluorescent Spell, stuck between silver and gold, could also make a breakthrough with this promotion. Even his other spells—the loosening spell, the pruning spell—would all benefit greatly from improved magical perception.
So, for tonight, Char set aside his search for the Half-Blood Prince textbook. His only goal was to push [Magic Perception Enhancement] to silver as quickly as possible.
Taking a deep breath, he placed the two large pots of Flobberworms and porcupine quills on the table. His mind began to settle, like a calm lake, all distractions fading away.
Char had never been more focused. Before, even when he worked hard, part of his mind was always thinking about finding the Half-Blood Prince textbook. But tonight, he was completely absorbed in the task at hand—processing the materials, feeling the subtle magical auras, noticing every detail.
He forgot about time, space, even his own body. He was lost in the work, every ounce of his attention on the materials in front of him. The magical auras, usually so faint and hard to sense, seemed clearer than ever. Char picked up each Flobberworm, squeezed gently along the flow of magic, and collected the thick, clear mucus.
His movements were smooth, almost graceful, as if he had absorbed some of Snape's skill. On his system panel, [Magic Perception Enhancement] flashed with silver light, advancing toward silver level at a speed he had never seen before.
Char stayed in this state for hours, lost in the rhythm of his work. It wasn't until a surprised voice broke the silence that he snapped back to reality.
"Char?!"
He blinked, disoriented. The wonderful state—the flow—was gone in an instant. Glancing at the clock, he was shocked to find it was half past six. Four and a half hours had passed, but to Char, it felt like only a moment.
"Flow state," he thought to himself, remembering the term from his previous life. He had experienced it before, during intense study sessions—completely focused, almost unaware of time passing. In that state, both efficiency and performance were at their peak. It was rare and hard to trigger, but tonight, while processing the materials, he had found it again.
Coming back to himself, Char looked toward the voice that had woken him. Hermione stood in the doorway, her face full of concern.
"Char," she said, "don't tell me you've been here all night, working on Flobberworms and porcupine quills? There's so much of it! What Professor Snape's doing is practically corporal punishment. How do you feel? Do you need me to ask for leave for you? You should go rest."
Char shook his head, waving his hands. "Thank you, Hermione, but this really has nothing to do with Professor Snape. I did it all voluntarily. When I can't sleep, I like to work. It makes me happy. As for how I feel now…"
His eyes drifted to the system panel, and a smile touched his lips. "I feel great. It's never been better."
On the panel, [Magic Perception Enhancement] shone with a dazzling silver light. And at the same time, a brilliant golden glow appeared elsewhere on the screen.
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