Chapter 12 First Encounter with a Mysterious Girl

"I found it!" Maca couldn't help but feel delighted as he quickly found the information he was looking for.

He read the content of the book word by word, silently in his mind: "Fairies, classification by the Ministry of Magic: XX, fairies hold wands that resemble tree branches..."

At noon that day, Maca couldn't wait to open one of the books he ordered, a potion textbook called "Book of Potions." It was an ancient book published in the 16th century. If he hadn't seen it on a list of old books at Flourish and Blotts, he might have missed it.

In this potion book, Maca came across an intriguing material—the wings of fairies.

It was a rare potion ingredient. Although fairies wouldn't die if their wings were removed, they were naturally vain and would never willingly allow someone to take their wings away.

"...Fairy wings possess unique magical properties. They can make fairies shine brightly when they want to show off and conceal their whereabouts when they need to hide."

"If it's possible to use these wings as a main ingredient, it might be possible to create a very special invisibility potion." Maca couldn't help but speculate.

The question of how to make a person invisible was a fascinating one. Apart from creating complex invisibility cloaks and challenging Disillusionment Charms, only a few potions could achieve a relatively perfect effect of hiding an adult wizard's appearance. And without exception, these magical potions were very expensive—their ingredients were quite hard to find.

This made Maca think, "Why not research and create a new invisibility potion myself?" It seemed like an impractical idea, but he saw it as a self-challenge.

Opportunities are created by oneself—that's how Maca always saw it.

"Excuse me, do you know where the books on cultivating fluxweed are located?" Just as Maca was about to put the book back on the shelf, he suddenly heard a faint voice behind him.

Because the voice was so soft, Maca had the illusion that he might have misheard. To confirm this, he turned around.

"Um, what did you just say?"

Behind Maca, stood a slender Slytherin girl hidden beneath a large Slytherin robe. On her head, she wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat that covered half of her face, leaving only a glimpse of her small rosy lips visible to Maca.

"Excuse me, do you know where the books on cultivating fluxweed are located?"

The petite girl repeated her words word for word, with the same monotonous tone that reminded Maca of Professor Binns teaching the History of Magic.

"Uh, um, the books on Herbology should be over there." Maca instinctively pointed to the bookshelf area not far from there.

As soon as he spoke, the mysterious Slytherin girl turned and walked towards that direction without even saying "thank you."

"What's going on?" Maca stared blankly at the girl's back, feeling ignored.

It seemed that in the eyes of that girl, Maca was just like a tree on the roadside, an existence that didn't require attention.

After pondering for a moment, he couldn't recall the existence of this mysterious Slytherin girl from his memory.

"Well, forget it. I'll find out when I get the chance. She seems to be a first-year student as well," Maca shook his head and walked towards the section on Potions.

Perhaps he would have to visit the library frequently in the future. He discovered that the collection of books here was truly astonishing. With careful searching, he was sure to make significant discoveries.

In the following days, Maca spent most of his free time in the library, apart from attending classes and moving between different classrooms with other students.

Most of the time, students who came to the library could witness a scene like this: near the shelves of Potions and Herbology, a position was always engulfed by a multitude of books. These books varied in size, thickness, and were mostly theoretical books that only senior students or even teachers would borrow.

And Madam Pince, the librarian, usually kept a sharp and angry gaze fixed on that spot, as if the person sitting there was trying to harm her child.

If you wanted to figure out who was sitting there, you had to go around to the back because the front was completely blocked by the stacked books.

Unintentionally, Maca had become a topic of discussion among Hogwarts students.

It was not only because of his conspicuous actions in the library but also because he was the only non-Slytherin student who could exchange a few words with Professor Snape without receiving sarcastic remarks.

Even Miss Know-It-All, who excelled in Potions, couldn't achieve that.

"That's because Hermione is a Gryffindor," Maca replied, shaking his head when Ernie mentioned this rumor.

As a student, Miss Granger was undoubtedly quite outstanding, and Maca had to acknowledge the tremendous effort she put into her studies. But still, he didn't think that an indiscriminate approach to learning was a suitable choice, especially for a wizard.

During this time, the deeper he delved into his studies, the more certain he became of this—magical knowledge was vast and profound. Just deeply researching the subject of Potions alone could consume a lifetime.

...

When someone is immersed in something, time passes quickly without them realizing it. Unknowingly, a week flew by.

During this time, Maca did not encounter the mysterious Slytherin girl again, but his understanding of Potions continued to advance.

Maca had thoroughly absorbed the books he ordered on potion-making, and he made significant breakthroughs in the development of a "new type of invisibility potion."

Regarding his research on how fairy wings achieved the effect of concealment, Maca had reached a conclusion. It was a new category of invisibility, different from invisibility cloaks and Disillusionment Charms. It was called "Perception-Blocking Invisibility," utilizing optical camouflage and several ancient potion recipes.

This was undoubtedly a very effective means of invisibility. While objectively there were no visible changes, others could not "sense" your presence.

"But this thing is really expensive!" Maca exclaimed with frustration, as he collapsed onto the table and let out a heavy sigh.

In his calculations, to completely conceal a wizard's presence, a significant amount of fairy wings would be needed in the potion's recipe.

"A single set of 'fairy wings' costs 8 galleons, and three sets would be 24 galleons. Adding other ingredients and catalysts, the cost of a bottle of the finished product would be a whopping 43 galleons..." Maca sighed again. "It's simply robbery!"

"...Wait a minute! Why am I worrying about this?" Suddenly, Maca stood up as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Noisy behavior is prohibited in the library!" Madam Pince shouted hysterically.

"...But she doesn't care if she's being noisy herself," a group of Ravenclaw girls whispered not far away.

Maca apologized repeatedly to Madam Pince with an embarrassed expression, then sat back down amidst the pile of books.

Undoubtedly, a practical new potion meant one thing—wealth!

Compared to the rarity and high cost of the few existing invisibility potions, Maca's potion was already quite affordable. Rare potions always commanded high prices in the wizarding world, and Potion Masters like Severus Snape, who created and improved numerous valuable potion recipes, were highly sought after.

If it weren't for Severus Snape being involved in so many stories and having different goals, he would have long been working as an exclusive advisor to a potion manufacturer or a noble family.

What's the problem with not having money? Throughout history, which Potion Master has truly lacked money? As long as he carefully selected the selling channels, galleons would roll in and support his continued research with more than enough to spare. When it came to transactions, that was Maca's specialty.

Early the next morning, he had Madam Pince deliver a shopping list for him. He wanted to start experimenting with the potion immediately. But before that, he needed to solve several practical problems that he would encounter in the actual preparation process.

"Knock, knock, knock."

During lunch break, Maca knocked on the door of Professor Snape's office—a door that almost no one would voluntarily knock on.

"Who is it?" The tone was still gloomy and indifferent, making the visitor feel unwelcome.

"Professor Snape, it's me, Maca McClain."

"Enter." The voice inside paused for a moment before responding.

Maca turned the doorknob, opening the gloomy and dimly lit room, and walked in quickly.

"Professor Snape, I have a few questions about Potions that I would like to ask you. I hope I'm not disturbing you." Maca chose his words carefully, trying to be as polite as possible.

Severus Snape glanced at him expressionlessly, then replied with a hint of impatience, "Ask."