That night's hot pot was incredibly delicious, and by the time everyone came to their senses, it was already past curfew.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, feeling as if a time thief had stolen their time during dinner, otherwise, time wouldn't have passed so quickly.
Hermione rubbed her round belly, accidentally let out a burp, quickly covered her mouth, and glared at Chen Yu with a hint of resentment.
Seamus lay on the table, mumbling, "Can't eat anymore, so full... but I still want to eat..."
Only Neville and Chen Yu were still eating heartily.
Neville, with trembling hands, held a trembling slotted spoon, shakily scooped a few slices of duck blood from the extra spicy pot, then shakily dipped the duck blood in the dipping sauce, and then, using the spoon, shakily brought the dipping sauce and duck blood to his mouth.
Only Chen Yu was still furiously blanching mutton, like a relentless eating machine, never stopping.
Feeling that enough time had passed, he checked the time on his panel; it was already 11:30 PM. He stopped blanching mutton and also made Neville stop eating.
Looking at the scattered food scraps on the table, Chen Yu was surprised by the Little Wizards' capacity for food.
Everyone had eaten a lot; even Hermione, who had the most ladylike eating manners, had finished two plates of dipping sauce.
Chen Yu cast a Cleaning Charm on the table, and then cast a Cleaning Charm on Hermione and the others to remove the hot pot smell from their bodies.
"Let's go, it's time to go back to the dormitory to sleep!"
Chen Yu supported Seamus, and the group walked cautiously down the corridor, afraid of encountering Filch and his cat.
They returned to the Gryffindor common room without incident, and when Hermione parted ways with Chen Yu, she specifically asked him for the recipes for the hot pot broth, dipping sauce, and side dishes.
Chen Yu could only tell her he would give them to her tomorrow, and only then was Hermione satisfied and let him go.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, early in the morning.
Ron's howl woke Chen Yu.
Chen Yu then realized that the system's sleep mode could be interrupted by external noise.
Chen Yu sat up to see what was wrong with Ron and saw Ron jump straight out of bed and rush into the lavatory in the dormitory without looking back.
Neville, Harry, and Seamus exchanged glances and also rushed to the lavatory.
Finding no stalls available in the lavatory, they quickly ran to the public restroom in the common room.
Chen Yu watched his roommates, risking everything and pulling at each other, rush towards the Gryffindor common room, and helplessly shrugged his shoulders: "I told you, hot pot beginners should start with clear broth, then progress to mild spicy, and then numbing spicy. The super spicy was made for myself. Why did you all follow suit? Now look, your bottoms are going to suffer! This morning is Snape's Potion Class class. I hope Harry can endure it."
Chen Yu mourned for his roommates for three seconds, then heartlessly got up and dressed.
When passing the Gryffindor common room, Chen Yu found Hermione already waiting there.
She stood there, staring intently at Chen Yu.
From her expression, clutching her stomach and frowning slightly, Chen Yu knew she also harbored some resentment towards him.
"You can't blame me for this. Yesterday I said that the extra spicy pot was for myself. It's because you all, one by one, couldn't resist the temptation and insisted on trying it."
Hermione glared at Chen Yu but said nothing; she also knew she was in the wrong for not resisting the temptation of the extra spicy red soup.
Eating it with gusto at the time meant paying the price for her impulsiveness the next day.
Chen Yu didn't wait for his other roommates; who knew how long they would be in the lavatory.
He took Hermione to breakfast and then went to class.
Sure enough, when Snape, dressed in his black robes like a large bat, strode into the classroom, Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, and the others had not yet arrived.
Snape surveyed the classroom, and seeing that Harry was not there, his lips curved slightly before he resumed his stern expression.
"Very good, now we begin class!"
"Professor..."
Hermione raised her left hand, wanting to tell Snape that there were about five minutes left until class officially started.
But Snape directly ignored Hermione's raised left hand and began to introduce the Potion they were to learn today.
Once before, Hermione had answered a question for Harry without raising her hand, which displeased Snape, and he deducted one point from Gryffindor.
He also stipulated that no one was allowed to speak without permission during Potion Class class; only after raising a hand and getting the professor's consent could one speak, otherwise, House points would be deducted.
Chen Yu opened his textbook, took out his quill, and recorded the key points Snape discussed during class.
This quill was much more uncomfortable to use than a fountain pen; it felt like holding a slightly thicker pen refill, and writing with it easily made the handwriting wild and flowing.
Perhaps the universal language translator gifted by the system was at work; he could now not only understand English and speak fluent and authentic English, but he could even write an essay in English.
It was just that his handwriting was a bit wild and flowing, like bugs crawling across the page.
Besides Chen Yu, anyone who looked at his notes would be a little confused.
With three minutes left until class officially started, Harry, Ron, and the others finally rushed into the Potion Class classroom.
Before even entering the door, Ron was heard shouting as he ran: "Thank goodness, we finally made it, so Snape that old bat won't have any reason..."
Pushing the door open, Ron immediately stopped, his words abruptly cut short.
Ron's sudden stop caused Harry, who was rushing blindly, to bump into him unexpectedly.
When Harry looked up, he saw Snape staring intently at him, Snape's dead fish eyes making Harry shiver.
"Very good, very good, someone is late for my class, and someone dares to give the teaching professor a nickname. Five points from Gryffindor."
Neville and Seamus also ran in, standing at the doorway, at a loss.
After deducting Gryffindor's House points, Snape continued his lecture, looked up at the four, and continued: "Aren't you going back to your seats? Or have Gryffindor students forgotten even their seats?"
The four of them, as if granted a great pardon, quickly returned to their respective seats.
As for Snape's sarcasm, Harry and the others had already grown accustomed to it.
Ever since the first Potion Class class, ever since Harry met Snape, Snape had constantly targeted Harry.
The vast majority of Gryffindor's House points were deducted by Snape.
At first, Harry was very angry, but over time, he became numb to it.
With a professor like Snape specifically targeting Harry and constantly deducting Gryffindor's points, and their own professors being impartial, plus the frequently troublesome Weasley Twins, many in Gryffindor had already given up on the House Cup.
Anyway, Slytherin had already won the House Cup for seven consecutive years, so an eighth consecutive year was not unacceptable.
Some even maliciously speculated that it was precisely because Harry was sorted into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat, and out of fear that Gryffindor with Harry would surpass Slytherin in House points, that Snape was so nitpicky and constantly targeted him.