Chapter 55: Snape's House
Early in the morning, after saying goodbye to everyone reluctantly, Della took Maggie, picked up her light wooden suitcase and the birdcage containing Ange, and held the potion bottle that seemed to contain fate with a little trepidation.
After a dizzy spell, a gray fireplace appeared before her eyes, but Della was so dizzy that before she could take a closer look at her surroundings, she fell backwards uncontrollably.
Unexpectedly, what greeted her was not the hard ground, but a very soft touch. When the dizziness passed, Della found herself sitting on a single fabric sofa.
"Quite punctual, Miss Riddle." Snape was sitting in the armchair by the fireplace. He glanced at Della opposite him and continued to scan the newspaper in his hand.
"Your room is on the far left of the second floor. I believe you have already had breakfast. Although you will not be staying for a few days, please tidy up and remember to change into your robes afterwards. We will go to the Ministry of Magic to register the adoption this afternoon."
"Okay, Professor." Della responded obediently to Snape's flat words. She didn't dare to look at the cramped living room full of books. She stood up and carried her luggage towards the staircase that had just appeared at the wall of books.
As he reached the stairs, Snape's cold voice came from behind him again, "If you can pack up quickly, bring your Potions homework to meet me in the basement."
"Okay, professor." Della nodded and continued to walk forward. When she reached the second floor, she let out a breath and rubbed against Maggie who came out from her collar while looking for her new room.
"Hai-Xi (How was last night)." As soon as she entered the room and closed the door, Della asked Maggie in snake language about what happened between her and Ange last night. After looking around the empty and tidy room, she placed the birdcage on the old desk.
"Hai-ha-sha (Very smooth, it's a large piece of ore, it's right there with Ange)."
Della opened the suitcase and ran her slender fingers over the secret compartment inside. In the end, she did not take out the other shrunken suitcase that contained space. Instead, she took out a bag of bird food and walked towards Ang.
"Hai-shiha-shahi (Let's leave it at that for now, we'll talk about it when we get back to Hogwarts)."
Looking at Ang happily pecking at the food in the cage, Della's heart froze, but her hands gently kneaded Ang's soft feathers.
It’s really strange. It’s obviously an alchemical creature, but it can also have metabolism.
Although it is only a possibility and not a necessity, it is clear that Ang has a tendency to pursue metabolism.
What was left in the booklet was mainly practical. Della's current level of knowledge was not enough to understand the principles behind all the mysteries, and there was a lot of confusion behind many magics.
But this can't stop Della from exploring.
While thinking about the new images that appeared after the restoration of "Resurrection" that day, she skillfully took out her things and put them in order.
Professor Snape was right. Although I wouldn't be living here for long, I still had to tidy up. After all, I mainly wore robes in Hogwarts, and I didn't need many sets of clothes for daily use. And I was a girl who was a little fanatical about new clothes.
Looking at the robe in her hand and then at the already packed closet, Della was silent for a rare moment. Then she naturally hung the robe on the hanger beside her and continued to pack her books.
Well, before, when I was at Lamp House, I only pursued decency and comfort, but now I am somewhat unrestrained.
Speaking of which, I haven't been to Gringotts to see the so-called compensation, so I don't know how much Dumbledore is talking about.
Well, it should be a lot. Considering that the first two bags of gold coins have not been used up even half.
As for books, some of the first grade books will be needed in the second grade, so put them out for the time being so that they won’t be forgotten when school starts.
As for those alchemy and runes, they still need to be displayed in some places to make the scene look more presentable. Fortunately, the books Professor Snape saw last time were all introductory books.
As for these things...just treat them as your own business for now.
The hesitation crept into Della's heart again, but she finally suppressed it. Before she figured out what kind of existence she was, she didn't want others to know that she was inhuman.
Although she may feel lazy occasionally, because she is not the kind of person who pursues the truth excessively, judging from her behavior of using knowledge to avoid the current situation from time to time, Della is actually a person who is very content with the status quo.
It’s a pity that there is always a sense of crisis chasing after this very valuable quality in certain circumstances.
Della is already very familiar with cleaning the room. This is the fourth time she has done it this summer alone.
Della also followed through on her own requirements here, making the furnishings as neat and tidy as possible.
That being said, she didn't have much to pack besides clothes and books, and Maggie was there to help, so it only took Della more than an hour to change into her robes and go downstairs with her Potions books and homework.
When she reached the door of the dilapidated yet solemn basement, Della resisted the urge to push the door open and knocked gently twice first.
"Come in." Snape's cold voice came unreal from inside the door.
Della pushed the door open quietly and squeezed into the basement through the gap in the door with caution, trying to let in as little light and wind as possible.
"It's not time to cook it yet, but your method deserves extra points."
Snape was working on the potion in his hand. He raised his chin slightly and motioned Della to his left. "That's the dried cocoon of the inkworm. Grind half of it clockwise into powder, and the other half counterclockwise into powder. The bottle is already labeled."
"Okay, professor." Della put the book in her hand on the top of a black wooden cabinet as tall as her, and walked quietly to Snape's side in this place filled with countless bottles and jars.
Before picking up the pestle, she saw Snape pressing and cutting the rhizomes of the Mia flower into coin-sized pieces. Della looked at the black cocoons on the table and couldn't help asking, "Coin-sized Mia rhizomes and inkworm powder, are you going to make a visible water, Professor?"
"Have you reviewed this year's courses?" Snape continued speaking without stopping his hands and without raising his head, "Did you see anything?"
"I remember that the rhizome of Mia needs to be half-cooked first, and the inkworm seems to only need to be ground into powder clockwise," Della picked up two or three cocoons and put them into the grinding bowl, and began to grind them clockwise.
"Mia rhizome is quite commonly used, but inkworms are not used much. I haven't seen any other potions that use these two materials at the same time in books. Or is this a new potion developed by the professor?"
Snape paused, looked at Della with his always dead eyes, and then continued his actions.
"You remember correctly. The half-cooking process is to stimulate the medicinal properties of the Mia tuber. However, it is difficult to control the temperature. However, as long as you soak it in room temperature water for a quarter of an hour after pressing and cutting, you can get the same effect."
He placed the processed tubers into an empty basin of water with a constant temperature magic at hand, then tapped the table gently to signal Della to stop what she was doing. Snape picked up a dried insect cocoon and broke it open in front of Della, revealing the tiny holes inside.
"The cocoon of the ink tube worm is not separated before hatching. The body and wings are only formed at the moment of breaking out of the cocoon. Therefore, all the energy it has accumulated before breaking out of the cocoon is in this cocoon. Grinding it into powder is to allow the impurities in it to dissipate naturally, and rotating it clockwise is to adapt to the energy inside. Miss Riddle, has the book you have read told you about the habits of the ink tube worm?"
"I read in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that their forward movement is basically random, but when moving backward they need to keep drawing circles of varying sizes to reach the desired position. The ink tube worm is no different from an ordinary worm, except that the liquid it secretes and the juice in its body can show traces of magic, so it is a material that can be cultivated."
"That's right, then what is the effect of the water of apparition?" Snape's voice remained flat.
"Ordinary inkworm juice can only show the existence of magic traces, and at most can be used to detect the existence of magic. However, the revealing water can show different colors according to the type of magic, so it can also be used to determine the type of new spells, and can temporarily break the effects of the Confusion Spell and the Concealment Spell. However, this depends on the situation of the spell caster. In extreme cases, the time it takes for the revealing water to break the spell is so short that the magic cannot be detected."
Snape glanced at Della who was so willing to follow his advice, and hummed in affirmation. He then continued, "No matter what it is, its composition cannot be pure extreme, otherwise it cannot be formed. Grinding counterclockwise will produce much less powder than grinding clockwise. Those are the materials that stimulate antimatter, and they are the main materials for the invisible agent I developed."
"Potion? Professor, is this a potion for internal use?" Della raised her eyebrows slightly and asked.
"That's right. Any traces of magic performed within a quarter of an hour after taking it will not be detected, and there will be no trace left on the wand. However, a black rash will appear somewhere on the body, and it will take three days to disappear."
Snape put down the cocoon and reached out to scoop out the soaked Mia tubers in another pot.
"This sounds like a really amazing potion." It should be a very good criminal material, Della thought to herself.
"Hmph," Snape snorted lightly, obviously hearing the meaning of Della's words, "The Ministry of Magic should be thankful that I am not someone who likes to stir up storms. Well, let's end the small talk and get back to work, Miss Riddle."
"Okay, Professor Snape." Della responded and continued grinding the powder clockwise.
By the time Della had ground all the inkworm cocoons, Snape had also prepared twelve dozen bottles of apparition water. He waved his wand to pack the sealed potions and put them into a special box.
As he carried the box past the basement door, he flipped through the Potions homework on the wooden cabinet and then motioned to Della to take the books away.
"I think I've checked it. You don't have to hand in your homework after school starts. I'll give you an O."
"Thank you so much, Professor Snape." Della said with a smile.
Snape nodded slightly and took Della to the small kitchen on the first floor to have lunch. It was called lunch, but it was just a simple bacon sandwich and canned pumpkin juice.
This made Della a little worried about her daily fruit.