HP: The Stellar Witch [OFC]

~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones

~ Every 400 PS = Bonus Chapter!

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After staying up late the previous night and being woken up by her roommates early in the morning, Lys felt extremely drowsy even after breakfast. This left her slightly out of sorts during her favorite Potions class in the morning.

The Potions classroom was also located underground. It was very spacious, with the front designated for the professor to lecture and write notes, the center for the young witches and wizards to conduct their practical experiments, and the back for the storage cabinets where students retrieved ingredients for their potions.

Usually, Lys worked alone at the far corner of the classroom since the number of students in the class was odd. However, today, that corner was occupied by two Slytherin boys who had set up their cauldrons there, forcing Lys to sit between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors.

Rat bile, wormwood, porcupine quills, and what else? A moment of carelessness caused Lys to mix up the order of ingredient preparation.

This left her with no choice but to shake the cauldron roughly as a substitute for stirring, freeing up a bit of time to prepare the rat bile.

Casually tossing the bile into the cauldron, she lowered the heat to let the potion's ingredients catalyze fully. Covering the cauldron with the potion book she had just glanced at, she turned her attention to the porcupine quills.

Believing the quills to be dirty on the outside, she decided to wash them at the sink on her right.

Professor Slughorn frowned as he watched this flustered student who had left her cauldron unattended. Though he couldn't deny her efficiency and unconventional methods in handling ingredients, he was nonetheless exasperated.

From the very first lesson, she had been brewing potions in a crude, imprecise manner, as if she'd thrown her brain into the cauldron along with the ingredients.

Shaking the cauldron to create turbulence instead of proper stirring, pouring liquids directly along the cauldron's edge instead of using a glass rod to guide the flow, and arbitrarily changing the intervals for adding ingredients!

Slughorn was genuinely puzzled as to how such haphazard methods hadn't yet resulted in her cauldron exploding.

But soon, he had no time to keep an eye on Lys, as he heard the unmistakable hissing sound of a potion boiling over—something that shouldn't occur during this particular brewing process.

He turned to the left side of the classroom, where the Gryffindors were stationed. It was too late! With a loud "Bang!", a cauldron belonging to Potter erupted, spewing a pus-green liquid all over the classroom. The potion, originally intended to treat boils, seemed to have taken offense at the lack of a proper target and decided to create some of its own.

The exposed skin of nearby students quickly turned red and broke out in large, bulbous pustules that gleamed with an ominous milky white as they grew.

The culprit, who had wrapped himself tightly in his cloak from the start, was now pointing and laughing at a Slytherin student.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," Slughorn sighed, "I reminded you multiple times—porcupine quills must only be added after the potion has been removed from the heat! I'm afraid I must deduct 10 points from Gryffindor. Now, for those who have been affected, please line up to receive the boil-curing potion."

Professor Slughorn, with his large belly, made his way to the podium to distribute the potion he had prepared earlier as a demonstration. He prioritized the girls, followed by the other students.

By the time only three or four students were left without the potion, Slughorn's supply had run out. Surveying the classroom, he declared, "It seems we don't have enough potion. The remaining students will need to visit Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing."

Lys, who had been crouching by the sink washing her ingredients, was lucky enough to avoid the potion splashing onto her skin, though a few drops had landed on her robes.

She had just noticed that, during the commotion, Snape had instinctively shielded Lily Evans with his cloak.

Letting out a breath, Lys couldn't help but envy Evans for being the object of such attention and protection.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black had shoved Snape aside while retrieving the potion, ensuring that Snape was at the back of the line and missed out on the cure.

This left Snape with half his face and two fingers swollen to the point where they looked ready to burst. Among the remaining students, his condition was by far the worst.

Gryffindors are so annoying, Lys thought as she returned to her cauldron with the porcupine quills. Just as she was about to lament the wasted potion, she realized that, thanks to the book covering it, her cauldron hadn't been contaminated. Although the cooling time seemed a bit long, it wasn't a big deal.

After shaking off the water from the porcupine quills, Lys weighed them and tossed them into the cauldron with a "plop." It was time to stir. Seeing the glass rod coated in what looked like green snot, she opted to shake the cauldron again.

A puff of pale green smoke rose from the center of the classroom.

"Well, it seems we have a new potion! Five points to Slytherin," Professor Slughorn announced after inspecting the cauldron. Though the potion was of low quality, it was effective; doubling the dosage would suffice.

Lys quickly used the largest ladle to scoop out a portion and handed it to Evans, who was supporting Snape. She then helped the remaining affected students apply the potion. By the time she finished, she noticed Evans still dawdling, using a glass rod to gently apply the potion to Snape with excessive care.

The tenderness in her actions made Potter grind his teeth audibly with jealousy.

As the class neared its end, Snape's swelling still hadn't subsided. Unable to bear it any longer, Lys approached the two, took the ladle from Evans, nodded politely, and dragged the slightly dazed Snape to the sink.

Holding the ladle in one hand, she used the other to scoop up the potion and smeared it over Snape's face and ears as if she were washing his face. Evans gasped, "No, you can't—this won't work—" and turned to seek the professor's help.

However, Slughorn offered no advice, merely casting a cleaning spell around the classroom to prevent further accidents.

Once Snape's swelling subsided, Lys grabbed his sleeve and shoved his hand into the ladle. Her left hand trembled slightly from holding the heavy ladle for so long.

The motion caused Snape's pustules to burst painfully. With a sharp intake of breath, he snapped, "You sugar-obsessed dunderhead! Why is your hand shaking?!"

Seeing that Snape had regained his clarity, Lys shoved the ladle into his hand and replied, "Obviously, Snape, because it's too heavy and I'm too tired."

After washing her hands, Lys rushed to clean up. While others could use a simple cleaning spell on their cauldrons, she had to scrub hers manually. With a sigh, she muttered her frustration.

But today, that problem was solved. Evans approached and cast a cleaning spell on her cauldron. "Oh, thank you, Evans. Otherwise, I'd be scrubbing this cauldron with trembling hands for ages."

After expressing her gratitude, Lys quickly gathered her belongings and distanced herself from the red-haired girl. She wasn't blind to the look on Potter's face as Evans tended to Snape earlier. Staying too close would only invite trouble.