HP: Supreme Potion Collector [Original Female Protagonist]

The start of a new semester always brings a sense of novelty.

The first Herbology class took place in Greenhouse Three, where the students were introduced to the handling of Bubotubers. These peculiar plants resembled slimy, black slugs more than anything botanical, protruding straight from the soil. They writhed faintly, their surfaces dotted with shiny, liquid-filled boils.

"You'll need to squeeze them by hand to collect the pus," Professor Sprout announced cheerfully. Orli grimaced as she donned her gloves. Bubotuber pus was immensely valuable, but the extraction process was undeniably revolting, evoking memories of dissecting frog spawn in the dungeons during her first year.

Following Professor Sprout's guidance, the class diligently collected the liquid into bottles. By the time the lesson ended, they had accumulated several bottles.

"Madam Pomfrey will be thrilled," Professor Sprout remarked, corking the final bottle. "Bubotuber pus is the best remedy for stubborn acne. This should deter students from resorting to extreme measures to deal with their pimples."

The low chime signaling the end of class rang out, and the fourth-year Gryffindors made their way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Hagrid stood outside his hut, gripping the collar of his massive boarhound, Fang. At his feet were several open wooden crates. As they drew closer, an odd clattering noise reached their ears, interspersed with faint popping sounds.

"Hello there!" Hagrid greeted them with a broad smile. "Best wait for the Slytherins—they won't want to miss this... Blast-Ended Skrewts!"

"What are those?" Ron asked, his curiosity piqued.

Hagrid gestured to the crates at his feet. Orli took one look and felt her skin crawl. The Blast-Ended Skrewts resembled grotesque, shell-less lobsters, their grayish-white, slimy bodies sprouting numerous spindly legs that jutted out at odd angles. Their heads were nowhere to be seen. Each crate contained about a hundred of them, writhing in a tangled heap and exuding a pungent stench of decaying seafood.

Occasionally, a Skrewt's tail would emit a burst of sparks, followed by a faint pop, propelling it forward a few inches.

"Just hatched," Hagrid said proudly. "You'll be raising them yourselves! It'll be a grand project!"

"And why would we want to raise them?" a voice drawled from the other side. The Slytherins had arrived, with Draco Malfoy leading the pack. Crabbe and Goyle snickered in agreement. Hagrid seemed momentarily at a loss.

"I mean, what's their purpose?" Malfoy pressed. "What can they do?"

Hagrid opened his mouth, clearly struggling to come up with an answer. After a few moments, he gruffly replied, "That's for the next lesson. Today, just focus on feeding them. Try offering them different foods—I've never raised them before, so I'm not sure what they like. I've got ant eggs, frog livers, and green snake bits—try a bit of each and see what they'll eat."

"First it was Bubotuber pus, and now this," Neville muttered under his breath.

Out of loyalty to Hagrid, Orli reluctantly grabbed a handful of slimy frog livers and dropped them into the crate, hoping to tempt the Skrewts. She couldn't help but think the whole exercise was futile, given that the Skrewts didn't appear to have mouths.

To be fair, Hagrid's lesson didn't go entirely as planned—another student ended up injured. Fortunately, it was only Dean Thomas, who suffered a minor burn on his hand from a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

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