Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure

It’s late afternoon when Alex arrives back inside the castle. He walks down the stairs to the dungeon, passing by numerous Slytherin students who either instinctively walk away from him or politely greet him.

Are they either fleeing or sucking up to me based on their blood status? The half-bloods are actually fleeing. These rumors are incredibly dumb. Do people really believe I’ll do another cleansing right here, right now, under Dumbledore’s nose?

Alex decides to ignore the students’ reactions and continues through the dungeon corridors until he arrives at Snape’s classroom. He enters and walks straight to Snape’s personal office.

He politely knocks and waits a few seconds until he hears a cold, lifeless voice say, “Enter.” Alex promptly obeys.

Inside, he finds not only Snape but also Menchi standing around a large cauldron, wands in hand, clearly still busy brewing.

Alex decides not to interrupt and casually stands a distance away, merely spectating.

“Now, pay close attention! During this challenging phase of the brewing process, which I handled, we extracted everything possible from our ingredients. Now, we just need to increase the heat and carefully control it so the ingredients bind together. Too little heat, and the potion won’t come together, wasting nearly a thousand Galleons and days of work. Too much heat, and not only will we have wasted our time, but you’ll also be responsible for blowing up my office and will pay dearly!” Snape explains. Alex isn’t sure if he’s serious or if this is just his type of humor.

“Wait… me?!” Menchi responds, slightly surprised and looking a bit worried.

“Who else should do it? Would you like to ask the client to do it himself?” Snape asks dryly before arrogantly commanding, “Do it with your flashy ability! A student of mine should be able to handle this!”

Student, my ass. It’s been what… a week? If Snape fucks this up, I’ll beat him!

Snape steps away from the cauldron, and Menchi extinguishes the fire beneath it. She activates her Hatsu, Gastronova, and a bright blue flame appears in her hands, enveloping the cauldron. After heating the cauldron with both hands, she continues to create the flames with just one hand, holding her wand in the other. She closely inspects the cauldron, doing her very best to regulate the temperature of the potion. From time to time, she skillfully switches her wand for a ladle, stirring just a tiny amount.

Is she just eyeballing it at this point? This looks random as hell! Didn’t Snape call it an exact art once or something? Also, Snape isn’t even helping, lazy asshole!

Alex looks away from the cauldron in frustration, glancing at Snape. To his surprise, he notices Snape’s eyes are literally glowing, staring in excitement at Menchi and her flames.

He… looks impressed?

It takes Menchi just 20 more minutes to finish the brewing process. She ceases her Hatsu and slowly bottles the potion into a large, mystical-looking round flask.

Snape rudely grabs it from her hand and inspects it. “Acceptable,” he comments before handing it to Alex.

[Unnamed Potion]

World: Harry Potter / Wizarding World

Quality: Light Purple

Effect: Restores a body or part of a body to peak condition and above, as long as the flesh remains mainly intact.

Effect: Infuses the target with powerful strengthening elements, causing unknown effects.

Note: Originally supposed to be a simple curing potion, this potion has been enhanced by synthesizing various herbs and ingredients into a powerful restorative potion via special means. It is capable of restoring almost any body part to peak condition, even beyond its original strength.

Note: This potion can’t create new matter; it merely restores and energizes existing matter.

Note: Warning: Due to its extreme potency, this potion is deadly to most humans, as their organs can’t handle its intensity. A potion like this is suitable for various large and powerful creatures.

“Acceptable, my ass. This is a damn masterpiece!” Alex says, looking at it with awe.

“How would someone like you know? Are you a potions master?” Snape questions him in a mocking tone.

“I’m good at appraising things… and stuff,” Alex vaguely states.

“Hmph. So, what are you waiting for? Wasn’t this supposed to be an emergency?” Snape questions him.

So he wants to watch? Can’t be honest even once, can he? Anyway, he did great work on the potion, so I guess I can allow him to watch.

Alex takes out the Light Purple [Rotten Basilisk Heart] and places it into the nearly empty [Blood Mixture]. He slowly drips the [Unnamed Potion] onto it. As the first drops land on the heart, the pale, almost gray organ immediately begins to regain some color. It doesn’t take even half of the potion to completely restore the heart. The heart, no longer rotten, is now a full Purple-quality item called [Basilisk Heart].

“Should I dump the rest of the potion onto it as well? Maybe it’ll strengthen the heart?” Alex asks, looking at Snape.

“Fool. This heart is in peak condition. What do you think will happen if you pour even more of the potion onto it?” Snape questions Alex.

“It would get even mightier, becoming empowered,” Alex answers in a hopeful tone.

“Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that medicine for a healthy person might as well be called poison? Even someone like you should realize this. To answer your question, no, what you imagine would not happen. The heart would simply lose integrity and turn into a bloody mess within seconds,” Snape explains.

“Isn’t that the plan? I need to turn it into liquid anyway,” Alex responds, slightly shocking Snape, who looks deep in thought.

“The function of the organ would obviously stop. However, you might be right. Your lucky guess is not wrong. Since using the potion on the egg would result in the destruction of the egg, your only choice to meaningfully use the rest of the potion would be to use it on the heart,” Snape concedes.

Alex nods, happy with this answer, and begins to slowly pour the rest of the potion onto the heart. The heart begins to glow, beating faster and faster until it literally melts. A bit of liquid flesh oozes out, and the heart finally stops beating as Alex finishes pouring the rest of the [Unnamed Potion] onto it.

Alex then takes out his last [Blood Essence]. This time, he doesn’t even bother with a syringe. Instead, he uses his [Butchering Knife] to cut open his arm, creating a small incision, letting a lot of his own blood drip into the [Blood Mixture], which now contains the liquified [Basilisk Heart] and a fresh [Blood Essence]

He closes his wound using aura alone—a show of progress in his Nen ability beyond just using the skills the system offers.

He then places the [Royal Thornback Matriarch (Mutated) Egg] into the mighty [Blood Mixture]. The mixture drains at such an astonishing speed that Alex can see the bowl emptying before his eyes.

“Well, well. All this effort, these sacrifices, the simply insane amount of resources… to hatch a slightly rare spider egg. This is such foolishness,” Snape comments dryly.

“I think you’re wrong, Professor. A true comrade is priceless, not something as worthless as money and resources can ever hope to measure up to. I’ve got a good feeling about this egg,” Alex says with a confident grin.

“Really?” Snape questions him, not looking even remotely convinced.

Alex answers, “Ask the headmaster what he thinks about his pet bird, and you’ll probably find someone who agrees with me.”

“You’re comparing a mere spider with a Phoenix, one of the last of its kind?” Snape asks, his tone amused.

“Yeah, the silly bird will probably be outclassed by my pet, hehe. But I was talking about the sentiment,” Alex jokes.

“Is that arrogance, humor, or simply foolishness? I guess we’ll find out soon. As far as I can tell, the egg will hatch tonight,” Snape predicts.

Alex looks toward Snape and thanks him. “I won’t forget what you’ve done. If you need help, I’ll stick by my word. Also, here’s a little bonus,” Alex says, handing him another vial of [Acromantula Poison] as a token of gratitude.

“Looks like you’ve been busy. I’ll consider this deal finished then. If there’s more to discuss, I’ll send someone for you,” Snape states before turning away, clearly done with the conversation.

Alex looks at Menchi, who shrugs her shoulders and says, “Let’s go home when your egg is no longer…” She pauses, searching for the right word, “…thirsty.”

Alex nods. “Yeah… and good job!”

Twenty minutes later, with the [Blood Mixture] almost empty—the largest amount the egg has ever absorbed—Alex and Menchi walk home. Alex says, “Since the egg will hatch tonight, I better swing by Hagrid and tell him.”

Menchi responds, “I’m coming with you anyway,” deciding to go along with him.

As they approach Hagrid’s hut, they spot him outside doing some business with other players, the supposed lesbian team, the name which Alex finds a bit offensive, especially because this name only exists because of Tereza’s bad guess.

They lift their hands to greet Alex and Menchi but quickly leave.

Hagrid enthusiastically steps away from the cart and walks over to Alex. “Did ya hatch it yet?”

“Not yet. According to Snape, it’ll happen tonight. We just managed to cure the heart in time. It just had its fill, but I guess it was a bit too late, sadly,” Alex says.

“There’s no such thing as too late. Even a few minutes before the egg hatches, it can still undergo tremendous changes. Ya really did yer best, lad. Swing by once the lil’ cutie has hatched.”

“…Let’s hope it indeed ends up a cutie and not a giant, scary, bloodthirsty, eight-legged killer beast in the mood for human meat,” Alex says, half pleading, half joking, looking a bit worried.

“Heh, if ya don’t feed it, that might happen! As thanks fer all yer help with the forest, I caught ya a bunch of fresh deer for yer pet. Even cut ‘em down for ya. Take ‘em with ya so you can feed yer pet a bit of fresh meat, yer got a special purse right,” Hagrid offers, his face kind, though Alex notices his still-bloody hands.

Heh! I don’t know if it’s the Forest Troll, Hagrid, or the corrupted beasts who’ve hunted all the deer, but I’m beginning to feel sorry for them… Hagrid is a nice guy, but let’s get home before the egg hatches.