Volume 1 Chapter 21 Impressions of Jon
Curls of white steam rose from the crucible.
Lily carefully tilted a bottle containing dark green liquid and dripped three drops into the pot. In an instant, the potion in the crucible changed from purple to grass green.
Just as she put the bottle down, there was a slight knock on the door.
Lily paused and spoke.
"Come in."
Slughorn walked in with a box of pineapple preserves. Lily looked up at him, her expression noticeably softened.
"How come the teacher has time to come to see me?"
"I just happened to get some things from the storage room, so I'll bring some to you as well."
He placed the box of candied fruit on the desk and sat down on a chair in front of it. Lily looked at what he had in his hand and said helplessly.
"Eat less sugar. You are already very old. Too much sugar intake is not good for your health."
"Okay, okay, don't lecture me. Without this, my life will be half as fun. Well, your pot of tranquilizer is almost ready, but I suggest you add a pinch of fairy wing powder. This will give you an extra 0.3 to 0.5 pint of potion. This is my secret recipe."
Lily followed her instructions and found a small bottle of fairy wing powder from the cabinet nearby. She tapped it twice and poured the powder into the crucible.
"Thank you for sharing the secret recipe, teacher, but I always feel that you came to me for more than just a box of preserves. There should be no need for us to be so roundabout, right?"
Slughorn laughed dryly. Facing this student who was once his most proud, he could always guess the little thoughts in his mind.
After coughing twice, Slughorn's smile faded and he looked at Lily seriously.
" Did you bring that boy called Jon Green?"
Lily noticed the change in Slughorn's tone and turned her attention from the potion in the cauldron to the conversation.
"Yeah, what's wrong? What's his problem?"
Slughorn shook his head and asked, staring into Lily's eyes without blinking.
"There's nothing wrong with him, but I want to know from you, what is your impression of him?"
Lily had a thoughtful expression on her face, as if she was recalling the scene when she first met Jon.
"He is very smart, even smarter than the Longbottom boy."
She told Slughorn about what happened in the orphanage, and how Jon, based on his own observations, finally chose to leave with her.
"I've never seen an 11-year-old think so much in such a short time."
Slughorn's face also showed deep thought, and soon he continued to ask.
"anything else?"
"He values relationships very much. When I went to look for him, I also looked into his information. He didn't have a good life in the orphanage. He was bullied before he showed his magical talent. After he showed his talent, he became isolated. But after he followed me out of danger, he asked me about the safety of the orphanage as soon as possible. I could see that if I said that the people in the orphanage would be in danger, he would definitely ask me to help save them."
Jon left a deep impression on Lily, so she always remembered everything about him very clearly.
Slughorn listened to her story, tapping his fingers lightly on the surface of his desk, and remained silent for a long time.
"So, teacher, why are you asking these questions?" Lily asked puzzledly.
Slughorn crossed his hands and placed them in front of him, with a complicated expression on his face.
There was relief, relief, and hesitation.
"I was thinking, maybe, I could teach him something..."
…
Jon was woken up by Neville.
After returning from Slughorn's office, he lay on the bed and fell asleep while looking at the ring.
He had a very peaceful nap and didn't dream anything. It was already dinner time when Neville woke him up.
"In fact, we can have dinner a little later tonight. After all, we can't go to bed until we finish our astronomy class, and we will definitely be hungry by then."
Jon said while yawning as he changed out of the pajamas he wore in the dormitory.
"The restaurant won't wait for us until dark, and you brought some snacks back with you. You can eat them when you're hungry in the evening."
Neville didn't sleep much in the afternoon. He had already taken a nap in the morning.
The two of them left the dormitory together. There were quite a few students walking up and down the corridor. They were all senior students who were preparing to go to the cafeteria for dinner after class.
They met Ron and the other two at the dining table. The others were also curious about Jon's whereabouts this afternoon, but he fooled them with the excuse that he went to help Slughorn.
The astronomy class didn't start until almost midnight, and Jon and the other five stayed in the lounge together for a long time after dinner until Flitwick personally led them to the astronomy "classroom".
"Follow me, and be careful to keep your voice down so as not to disturb others who are resting."
After giving them the instructions, Flitwick led them along the corridor towards the entrance hall and stopped at a room near the entrance hall.
There was a sign on the door that read "Astronomy Classroom".
Flitwick pushed open the door, but inside was not a classroom, but a stairwell. Opposite the entrance, there was a spiral staircase going vertically upwards. He walked in front and led Jon and the other four along the stairs to the top of the carriage.
The space here is not as big as that in the carriage. The top is about the same area as the carriage seen from the outside, which is an open-air space about three or four meters long and two or three meters wide. There is also a guardrail around the edge of the carriage that reaches the waist of the freshmen.
Hagrid was still driving his carriage across the land of Great Britain. They were passing through a small town. Whenever the carriage passed by, the street lights would automatically go out, and when it left, the lights would light up again.
As soon as the freshmen arrived at the roof, they were attracted by the magical scene around them, which made Flitwick dissatisfied and knocked on the blackboard in front of him with his wand.
"I know the scenery around us is beautiful, kids, but our real goal tonight is the vast sky, not the land. You should find a seat and sit down."
Five desks and chairs had been placed on the roof, and an astronomical telescope was set up on the side near the guardrail. Obviously, these were all prepared by Flitwick before .
Jon and the others collected their thoughts and sat down on their chairs, shielding themselves from most of the evening breeze that blew gently past them. At the same time, the voice of Flitwick's lecture rang out.
"In the last class in the classroom in the carriage, I simply gave you some basic knowledge of astronomy. Starting from this class, we will really begin to understand the starry sky above our heads."
