The Extraordinary Apothecary at Hogwarts

"Don't jump to conclusions too quickly, Dumbledore. Whether the curse has been completely lifted has yet to be confirmed. I can't guarantee you now." Snape poked Fawkes after Nirvana, feeling a little disappointed.

It has been a month since Nirvana. It is now a sub-adult, its body length is close to that of an adult, but its feathers are matted and dull, its tail is a bit bald, and it has not yet grown long golden feathers.

Snape expressed doubt, "Will it work like this?"

"Oh, no problem. It's much better than the old age, right, Fawkes?" Dumbledore scratched Fawkes' chin, "Your tears can come in handy again."

Snape accepted the newly produced phoenix tears and looked at the light carefully. The color was clearer, hiding the new vitality. "There are also snake teeth. I want to borrow them for a few days."

"Okay, okay, take it all and use it, as long as you ask." Dumbledore opened the drawer he had just locked, and the box containing the snake fangs drifted into Snape's hand, "If Lockhart confirms it, it is good news. Remember Tell me when it's time for me to make next steps - and of course, tell me if it's bad news."

If it was not the only choice, Dumbledore would never want Lockhart to accept this position. He knew exactly what kind of person Lockhart was when he was a student. The old professors in the school all had a taste of Lockhart. special trouble.

"I will." Snape turned and left.

The snow stopped outside the window, and thick frost formed on the glass. The sunlight passed through those complex natural crystals, turning each window into a unique ice sculpture art.

Eugenie put the cut sleeves back into place, climbed onto a chair by the fireplace and curled up, resting quietly with her head on her knees.

Soon the door opened.

"Destroyed," Snape replied to her questioning look. "To be on the safe side, we have to check it again."

"Yes." Eugenie stretched out and got down from the chair, moved her neck, cracked her fingers, moved all the movable joints, and then she had to stay in the same position for a long time.

You must also be prepared for the re-inspection and check it thoroughly from head to toe.

The first round of searching for the curse took two hours to examine the area above the abdomen, while a thorough examination of the whole body took nearly double the time, and the whole day's energy was drained.

Fortunately, the final result was satisfactory, and the damn cancer was finally removed.

The effect of the medicine had not yet worn off, and Lockhart spent the night lying on the cold table without knowing anything. His fortune had been damaged by the curse and could not be restored, but it was better than staying in office for a full year.

Just before he came to, Snape placed him in a chair, returned the desk to its normal size, and scrawled his hat and cloak over him.

Snape conjured a wine glass and several empty bottles of Firewhiskey out of thin air. The empty bottles were placed messily at Lockhart's feet, looking like they had been kicked over by himself, forging evidence that he had been drinking alcohol here.

He thought for a moment and opened Lockhart's mouth to drink some wine conjured by a spell.

When Lockhart held his head and looked around, Snape folded the newspaper and, before he could ask, he blamed him and said in a reproachful tone, "Professor Lockhart, you are very rude to me." I’ve been sleeping here all day.”

"Huh?" Lockhart was confused, and he was also confused.

"Check the time for yourself," Snape angrily took the clock off the wall and pointed it in front of his eyes. "It's 10:[-] in the morning. All day and night, you were drunk and you insisted on staying here with me."

Lockhart rubbed his eyes, the residual effects of the drug finally left, and his brain began to function normally, "I seemed to - I only drank a cup of coffee - and then I don't remember it, I definitely didn't -"

"What can you remember when you are so drunk! I have always hated drunkards. If you are not too stupid, you must know that every drunk thinks that he has never done anything ridiculous." Snape pointed at the bottle and complained.

"Ah, I don't-"

"You said you wanted to drink whiskey. After I poured the coffee, I thought there were still a few bottles in the cabinet and wanted you to take them back and enjoy them slowly. What happened?" Snape pointedly glanced at the shelf filled with potion bottles. , "I also found an unusual shard of glass on the ground. In order to prevent you from destroying my work when you woke up - I had to waste my pleasant vacation time on a drunk and unconscious good colleague."

Lockhart was a little panicked when he mentioned the glass fragments. He used a standard smile to hide his guilt, "That's not me - you misunderstood, Professor Snape, haha, I bet that thing was broken when I came in, you didn't catch it in time Discover."

Snape gave a very sinister smile, "Oh, really? I don't think you can guarantee it. You may need some truth serum. I just changed the formula recently and want to find someone to try the new effect."

Embarrassment quickly twitched on Lockhart's face, but it did not affect his normal performance, "Oh, you want to know how to make a powerful veritaserum - I must have prepared it hundreds of times, I don't mind giving the formula Give it to you, the most powerful one, just one drop, no matter how cunning the old guy is, he will have to reveal his most precious secrets in front of it."

"I remember you came here to ask me for this." Snape nodded impatiently at a book on the table, "You can go, Professor Lockhart."

Lockhart grinned, revealing two rows of neat white teeth, "Ha, I almost forgot, I have a new book coming out in less than a month, and I want to polish it up a little bit - when the new book comes out, I will give you a copy for free. You will be glad to learn in this book how effective a shampoo made from the yolks of birds and snakes is. I think your hair is in dire need of a shampoo of my invention."

"I said you can go." Snape held up the newspaper to cover his face and repeated it again.

"Okay, bye!" Lockhart adjusted the brim of his hat, strode out the door with his book under his arm.

Snape put down the newspaper, locked the door and walked into the study. He felt that the black snake he left behind was anxiously conveying a message.

The invisible power of the portkey hooked forward at his navel, spinning him quickly to the auxiliary building on the side of the library.

Eugenie patted the black snake's head and saw that it didn't respond. Now she was lying next to it and scraping the dense snake scales with her nails. She was scraping again and again, and the sounds they made were different. She almost thought it was some kind of scraping. Play an instrument.

She stood up immediately when she saw the rotating outline drawn by the portkey in the air, "Professor, I was worried that you might have run into some trouble."

"That guy talks too much." Snape looked at the time and found that it was indeed a little later than agreed.