Hagrid, finishing his meal, gave a big hiccup before replying. "Aye, I did. Saw quite a few while I was in the forest, and it’s about time they ripened."

  Alex’s face lit up. "That’s perfect! Hagrid, ime you go into the forest, could I e with you? I’d like to colleanda fruits."

  Hagrid immediately shook his head, looking serious. "No, Alex. The Forbidden Forest is dangerous, especially for a student. If anything happeo you, I’d never be able to expin it to the school."

  After thinking it over, Hagrid added, "Tell you what, I’ll gather some manda fruits for you ime I’m in the forest. That way, you get what you need without risking yourself."

  Alex couldn't hide his excitement. "Really? That would be amazing! Just make sure they're the light purple, magical ones, and they have to be whole."

  Hagrid chuckled. "Don’t worry, I know my way around the Forbidden Forest. You’ll get your manda fruits. ime you stop by, I’ll have a whole basket for you."

  Alex thanked Hagrid again, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. He spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with Hagrid before heading back to the castle.

  With the materials for the Euphoria Potion taken care of, he could foastering the brewing process. First, Alex o memorize the entire process of brewing the Euphoria Potion. He opehe sixth-year Potiobook—the one belonging to the Half-Blood Prind found the formu for the Euphoria Potion. He had skimmed over it before but hadn’t paid much attention to the detailed steps, especially the specific methods for handling and preparing ingredients.

  As Alex studied the notes, he noticed a peculiar suggestion from the Prince: adding a small amount of peppermint to the potion would signifitly improve its effects. 'Really?' Alex muttered. The Half-Blood Prince had a habit of adding his own twists to potion recipes, and many of them were unventional. Curious, Alex decided he would follow the Prince’s method when he brewed the potion to see if it really made a difference.

  After studying the potion-making process, Alex tinued flipping through the Priextbook. He found several insightful notes on other potions, along with a spell written in the margins: Sectumsempra. 'Shenfeng Shadowless Curse?' Alex read aloud. 'That sounds dangerous.'

  He hesitated. 'Is this a finished spell or something the Prince just made up?' Alex decided not to risk trying it. Until he uood more about the Prind his background, Alex wasn’t willing to experiment with potentially dangerous spells.

  A few weeks ter, Alex returo Hagrid’s hut and was greeted by a rge basket filled with perfectly ripe manda fruits—at least a dozen of them. He marveled at how easily Hagrid could gather such rare ingredients. 'Hagrid could make a fortune if he ever decided to sell these ingredients,' he thought.

  Rather than taking the basket back to his dormitory, Alex decided to brew the potion at Hagrid’s. Potions couldn’t be made in the dorms, and sneaking into the potions was too risky. Hagrid’s hut provided the perfect secluded spot to work.

  The weekend came, and Alex packed his cauldron, ingredients, tools, and the sixth-year Potiobook. He alsht along the peppermint a off frid’s hut once more.

  By now, the weather had ged, and Hogwarts was growing colder as November settled in. Students were bundled up in winter clothes, and many were suffering from colds and the flu due to the giher. The tensioween Gryffindor and Slytherin hadn’t cooled, and frequent squabbles led to poiions for both houses. Fortunately, none of this affected Alex, who remained focused on his own goals.

  As he walked dowh, Alex sidered keeping some of the potions he made as Christmas presents for his friends. Hagrid, in particur, deserved something nice for helping him out so much. The thought made Alex smile as he neared Hagrid’s hut.

  Outside the hut, the green onions Alex had pnted were thriving. It seemed Hagrid had taken good care of them, and Alex made a mental o give him a couple of bottles of the potion o was ready.

  He also noticed something new: a stoove had bee up outside, with the rge iron pot Alex had requested sitting on top. 'Looks like my big pot has arrived,' Alex thought happily.

  Hagrid greeted him enthusiastically as soon as he stepped inside. "How do you like the stove outside? Looks good, doesn’t it? We’ll have to cook something delicious in that big pot ter!"

  Alex ughed. "Don’t worry, Hagrid. We’ll definitely cook up something good. But I came a bit early today to borrow your pce for some potion-making. We’ll have dinner after I’m done."

  Alex unpacked his materials, ying them out on Hagrid’s rge wooden table. He set up his cauldron, gss potion bottles, and various tools, asking Hagrid to keep a while he worked. After all, many of the ingredients had been taken from the greenhouse, and the potion bottles were borrowed from the potions . He didn’t want any unnecessary questions raised about where everything came from.

  With everything in pce, Alex got to work. It was time to see if the Half-Blood Prince’s method for brewing the Euphoria Potion was as good as he cimed.

  After setting up the cauldron, Alex carefully ied the ingredients. The quality of the materials was crucial to the effectiveness of the finished potiohen began preparing everything acc to the recipe for the Euphoria Potion. The process required two manda fruits—oo remain whole and unpeeled, while the other o be peeled and sliced into precise strips. The thiess of the slices was very specifid Alex’s steady hand made quick work of the preparation.

  Ohe ingredients were ready, Alex monitored the potion’s progress closely, the color of the liquid, the smoke rising from it, and how it boiled. These cues would tell him when to add ingredients or stir the mixture.

  The brewing process went smoothly, and wheime came, Alex remembered the note from the Half-Blood Prince about adding peppermint to enhahe potion’s effects. Curious, he decided to experiment. He added peppermint to this batd po make another without it to pare the results.

  After a short time, the potion was finished, and Alex bottled the Euphoria Potion, filling five bottles in total. He looked at the shimmering liquid aed whether to test it.