"Devereux?! It really is you!!"
Snape was plunged into profound shock. This directly challenged his authority as a potions expert of so many years! The child had actually relied on these trivial ingredients to brew a Polyjuice Potion that perhaps even Hogwarts graduates could not make! Moreover, judging by what he had just seen, the effect was exceptionally good! It completely lacked the flaws in height and physical appearance usually associated with defective potions. This was simply absurd! Even himself, back at that age and with an ample supply of ingredients, would have had to try his hand at it. Yet the materials he had left behind were almost entirely scrap waste that he couldn't use, given to the boy just for practice. He himself definitely could not have produced the effect Devereux had just achieved. But this was not the time for him to remain in shock.
"Professor Snape, is something the matter?"
At this moment, the real Tom appeared at the bottom of the stairs, while Snape still had his Wand pressed against Devereux's chin.
"Nothing, Tom. Devereux made a mistake, so I was administering a small punishment."
Snape unconcernedly tapped the boy with his Wand. "Am I right, Devereux?"
Devereux instantly felt his strength return to his limbs.
*Ding!*
*New spell acquired!*
Devereux glanced at it.
*Revival Charm (Novice / Non-verbal)*
Not bad! He had learned another spell!
"That's right, Tom. I accidentally mixed up an ingredient, and the Professor only did this to make sure I remembered," Devereux said very sincerely.
However, he felt that Tom didn't seem to believe it. Indeed, after all, what kind of lesson involved casting an evil Jinx on someone? Coupled with the fact that the room currently looked as though a gang shootout had just taken place, it was hardly convincing.
But Snape didn't care about any of that. He had given his explanation; whether Tom believed it or not was his own affair. Snape grabbed Devereux by the collar and dragged him straight into the room, leaving a highly suspicious Tom staring up at them from the bottom of the stairs.
***
"Just what on earth did you do?!"
As soon as Snape dragged Devereux into the room, he immediately cast a silencing spell, then began interrogating him.
"A Polyjuice Potion? Did you think this is something any beginner can brew? You possess neither the necessary skills nor the required ingredients. The only explanation is—did you make some unspeakable deal with those dark wizards in Knockturn Alley?"
"Not only that, you've also mastered Apparition and a whole series of advanced spells. These are incantations that even upper-year students might not fully master. Tell me, how did you learn these?"
"What's even more unbelievable is that you casually practiced magic outside of Hogwarts. Do you have any idea how serious a violation this is? Or do you simply not wish to attend Hogwarts anymore?"
Snape's questions rained down upon Devereux like a machine gun, leaving Devereux somewhat bewildered for a moment, not knowing which question to answer first. After rambling a bunch of nonsense, he left Snape completely baffled as well, to the point where the professor was just a hair's breadth away from drawing his Wand and executing Legilimency.
Fortunately, Devereux managed to calm down in time and reasoned with Snape point by point.
"Let's start with the Polyjuice Potion. I bought the bare minimum of knotgrass, leech juice, fluxweed, and other materials from the apothecary."
"After that, I substituted unicorn hair with red horsehair—yes, I knew the effect would definitely differ, but I also added..."
Devereux talked on and on, explaining his initial train of thought to Snape—namely, how he had deduced the brewing method for a defective Polyjuice Potion with the assistance of his Potion Genius trait.
Snape's expression gradually shifted from initial suspicion to astonishment, and finally, he looked at Devereux with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.
"This is practically identical to my original train of thought..." Snape secretly marvelled.
Back when he was still a student, he had also wanted to try brewing a Polyjuice Potion, and what Devereux was describing was virtually indistinguishable from what he had once envisioned. Could this child possibly possess a talent for potions that rivaled his own? Why hadn't he noticed it before? The boy always seemed so dull and foolish.
At this thought, however, Snape's expression turned skeptical once more.
"But this line of thinking could never produce a Polyjuice Potion of such high quality! Just now, you had zero flaws—I couldn't detect a single defect!"
Devereux knew he would ask that, and by now he had his answer prepared. In truth, the moment he had acquired the red trait Potion Genius, he had already known how to improve his Polyjuice Potion recipe to successfully mask the poor quality caused by the original formula. Therefore, the words practically tumbled out of his mouth.
"That's right, which is why I made further improvements based on that approach. I added the knotgrass and fluxweed in batches between the fourteenth and twenty-first day of brewing, because doing so allows..."
What kind of man was Snape? He was a system-certified Potion Genius! Hearing this improvement proposed by Devereux, he only needed to ponder it for a brief moment to realize that this method was absolute genius!! Although it might still fall short of the flawless result yielded by the original formula, coming close was an absolute certainty. Who knows, if experiments continued along this line of thought, a brand-new Polyjuice Potion recipe might actually be born into the world!!!
At this thought, Snape could no longer remain calm! Could it be that this brat was about to accidentally cause a major sensation in the potion-making world?
Suddenly, as if recalling something, Snape's expression relaxed somewhat.
"Ah, being his child, how could he possibly be an ordinary person?"
"I reckon this kid's talent for potions might even surpass my own!"
Snape's inner monologue was exceptionally rich. Devereux, however, could only watch as Snape's facial expression cycled through endless variations—one moment surprised, the next skeptical, and finally looking somewhat enlightened—completely unable to fathom what was going through the man's mind.
"Your explanation holds water well enough." Snape stiffly nodded, acknowledging Devereux's reasoning.
After another moment of silent reflection, he said, "Now, write down your train of thought on a piece of parchment—oh, damn it! I forgot!"
Snape had originally been about to give Devereux an order when he suddenly clicked his tongue, as though remembering something. He turned and cast a Repair Charm on the devastated room. Instantly, the dust, glass shards, and shattered tables and chairs all snapped back to their original places without a single flaw.
Then, turning back to Devereux, he demanded, "Where is your luggage? Pack it up immediately!"
Devereux picked up his Wand and gave it a wave. "Eld, Accio!"
No sooner had the spell fallen than a dark green shadow flew from the corner of the room straight into Devereux's hand.
"All here!" Devereux said, placing Eld on his shoulder as he looked at Snape.
Snape almost instinctively wore an expression of deep disgust. For reasons unknown, he seemed to intensely despise this toad.
"Right, today is the day you go to Hogwarts. I'll take you to the station... Wait! You actually used your Wand outside of school!"