Professor Slughorn explained that today's lesson would focus on brewing the Forgetfulness Potion. Camelia and her friends had already mastered it long ago, though they hadn't actually brewed it due to limited ingredients.
During the practical portion, Camelia naturally paired up with Lily, while Severus ended up with David Copperfield, another Muggle-born Slytherin who had been left without a partner. Although Severus felt that having someone else share his Potions experiment would be a drag, he didn't want to draw attention to himself; Camelia's physical altercation earlier that day had already brought enough unwanted eyes their way.
Severus finished brewing his potion the fastest in the entire class. Before he knew Camelia, he had spent a long time gathering ingredients to brew it once, but he hadn't expected that, despite not having made it in so long, he would still succeed on the very first try with absolute precision.
He carefully poured the potion into a vial. The pale green liquid swirled slightly inside the glass, looking exceptionally beautiful against the flickering candlelight.
"Oh! A flawless Forgetfulness Potion! I truly never expected any first-year wizard to brew a flawless Forgetfulness Potion. Do tell me your name, won't you?" Professor Slughorn was immensely amazed, and at the same time delighted to have discovered a student with such exceptional talent for Potions. Although this was a pair assignment, Slughorn's observations hadn't gone to waste. "Five points to Slytherin, for your perfect magical potion."
He held up the potion Severus had brewed, examining it from all angles and unable to contain his awe.
Shortly after, Lily and neither of them had brewed it before, yet they managed to craft the potion exceptionally well. "Oh, wonderful potions! Two points each to Slytherin and Gryffindor." Professor Slughorn was never stingy with awarding points to talented students. "And your names?"
They each stated their names.
Things went smoothly over there, but the Gryffindor side was not nearly as fortunate. The innocent and brave nature of Gryffindors manifested in every possible way. Potions clearly tolerated not even the slightest margin of error, yet Gryffindor's bravehearts always insisted on making certain innovations or improvements.
Take Potter, for instance. Out of curiosity about the waters of the River Lethe, he actually attempted to use a lesser amount and take the rest back to study. The result was that a pungent, dark green smoke billowed out of his and Black's Cauldron, and it was only thanks to the professor's prompt discovery that the rest of the classroom was saved from losing their memories.
The class ended smoothly, save for that minor accident.
The classes that followed were handled with ease by Camelia and her friends. Potions was their absolute favorite; Charms was the favorite of both Camelia and Severus; and while Severus wasn't particularly fond of Herbology—tolerating it only because of its close connection to Potions—both Lily and Camelia loved it. Camelia especially adored it, finding that the herbs smelled wonderful. Beneath the natural scent of the plants themselves, she could always detect a sweet, fragrant aroma, though Severus and Lily could only smell plain earth and greenery.
During their very first Herbology class, Professor Pomona Sprout discovered Camelia's miraculous talent. She seemed exceptionally sensitive to the scents of herbs and could even distinguish their exact stage of maturity, which left the professor thrilled.
Professor Sprout was an optimistic and compassionate person. She was short in stature with a mane of flowing gray hair, usually wore a thick, patch-covered hat, and was always covered in dirt from tending to plants in the greenhouses.
Upon learning of Camelia's situation, she felt deep sympathy and offered her a position helping to tend the plants.
Camelia was deeply grateful and accepted the offer.
Wednesday was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Rumor had it that the teaching position for this subject had been cursed by You-Know-Who, preventing anyone from holding it for more than a year without suffering severe curse-related harm.
"It's a lot like the story of Sleeping Beauty," Lily remarked. Severus looked puzzled, so Lily explained that Sleeping Beauty was cursed into a deep slumber the moment she touched the sharp spindle of a spinning wheel. In the same way, whoever took on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship would receive a curse.
Camelia and Severus didn't quite understand Lily's comparison, but they respected it.
Lily thought the person who cast the curse was being completely unreasonable, but Camelia and Severus found it rather impressive, wondering what kind of powerful wizard could sustain a curse for so long.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts, the newly arrived Professor Nolan Hawthorne—a retired Auror—had a very straightforward teaching style. He would directly teach them several spells, let them practice for a bit, and then have them use the newly learned spells to duel him.
Camelia thoroughly enjoyed this style of teaching; at times, she almost couldn't restrain herself from using other spells she had previously learned.
Camelia was not a traditional wizard. Unlike Severus, who focused on mastering pure magic, Camelia preferred to supplement her physical combat with charms. In short, Camelia favored hand-to-hand combat, using magic as an auxiliary tool, whereas Severus relied primarily on magical attacks, supplemented by spatial positioning.
This led Severus, when practicing and learning charms with Camelia after class, to seriously suspect that the Sorting Hat had malfunctioned—he was convinced this reckless piece of work belonged in Gryffindor!
Because of this reckless and boorish partner, Severus was forced to step up his physical conditioning; otherwise, he simply wouldn't be able to handle her close-quarters attacks. To that end, Camelia even went to the Library to borrow a book on martial arts training titled *Lesser-Known Wizarding Physical Cultivation Techniques*.
Days passed in peace and serenity. Camelia felt there could simply be no better place: no need to worry about food, endless books to read, knowledge to gain, and friends to cherish. Truly, it couldn't be better.
Though there were occasional taunts and instances of being ignored, to Camelia, none of that amounted to anything.
Sometimes she noticed that Severus's robes appeared disheveled or torn, but Camelia chose not to interfere. She understood her friend well enough to know that words were unnecessary; he had his own plans.