Chapter 196: Slughorn Is a Good Professor
The classroom was empty now. Slughorn sat alone behind the podium, holding Regulus's vial up to the light.
Pale red liquid rolled gently inside the glass.
"Perfect." There was real admiration in his voice. "In terms of magical purity and stability, this is even better than mine."
He set the vial down and looked at Regulus.
"What you did just now, guiding the ingredients' magic into fusing on its own, for a low-tier potion like the Wound-Cleaning Potion, it works." He paused. "You aren't the first person to do it, either."
Regulus met his eyes, calm as ever.
Of course Slughorn had seen through it. The man was a Potions Master, one of the best alive. If he hadn't noticed, that would have been the weird part.
And Regulus already knew the method had limits.
Once you got into higher-level potions, merging the magic inside the ingredients was only the start. Other things came into play too. Timing, method, sometimes the brewer's own magic had to be involved directly. Sometimes even emotion mattered.