HP: Alchemy? Nah, It's Crafting

Chapter 403 - 403: 403: Debate

"Since the two of us have different ideals, there was never much to argue about in the first place. It would only end on a sour note anyway, so what's the point of debating?" Kasenhis shook his head, clearly lacking that unnecessary competitive spirit."I'm not talking about differences on a personal or principled level," Slughorn said. "I'm talking about the differences in our teaching philosophies."

After speaking, Slughorn waved his wand. Several chairs, a small table, teabags, and hot water quickly arranged themselves under the influence of magic, and before long, the three of them were seated, each holding a cup of tea.

"Unfortunately, this isn't my house, so I couldn't find any snacks. After all, I only arrived here not much earlier than you did," Slughorn said apologetically.

"It's fine."

Holding the warm tea in his hands, Kasenhis felt somewhat better. He waved a hand, and biscuits, mushroom stew, pumpkin pie, and three small cakes appeared on the table.

"Oh, my dear Kasenhis, I must say, this is simply wonderful... This is the marvel of alchemy. I simply must offer you my highest respect..."

Slughorn paused before continuing.

"However, I still have to return to our previous topic, namely the matter of our educational philosophies. Please forgive me. I haven't had an in-depth conversation with someone of your calibre in over a year, so please excuse my rambling and abruptness."

"I said earlier that your achievements in alchemy are unmatched across England and perhaps even Europe, with only Nicolas Flamel possibly able to rival you. But education cannot be influenced by such hollow things as passion and love."

"Tell me, if dragon blood were handed to a foolish wizard who doesn't even know which direction to stir a cauldron, wouldn't that be a terrible waste?"

After speaking, Slughorn slowly sipped his tea, then picked up a biscuit and took a gentle bite. The tea and biscuit blended together in his mouth into a sugary mush capable of sending blood sugar soaring and insulin into chaos before he finally swallowed it.

"I've never agreed with dividing students into categories and labels. Good students in the front rows, while those with poor aptitude and grades are shoved into the corners at the back of the classroom."

"The second before alchemy succeeds is often one of chaos. As the ancient alchemist Paracelsus once said, so-called waste is merely treasure placed in the wrong location," Kasenhis said while eating his cake with a spoon.

"But isn't there simply too much waste before us?" Slughorn countered. "If we pick up every piece of refuse and carefully examine what it really is, then even if we devote our entire lives to it, how many treasures could we possibly find? The time wasted in doing so might be enough for us to teach many more high-quality students, those diamonds in the rough that already have a small window cut open."

Slughorn set down his teacup, picked up his wand again, and casually gave it a wave. A cloud of white mist spread out from it, and within the mist, the silhouette of a person slowly emerged.

"The daughter of a former Minister for Magic from the Flint family," Slughorn said, as the figure became clearer. "A natural Legilimens. Her improved version of the Cheering Potion once made Moaning Myrtle sing. Are we supposed to spend the same amount of time teaching fools who can't even remember which direction to stir?"

Kasenhis shook his head.

"Wisdom doesn't grow solely from bloodlines and power. I once had a student, a pure-bloodless Hufflepuff named Franz. His talent wasn't remarkable. He spent an entire month memorising the essentia generation charts of Thaumaturgy. But what is he doing now?"

"With his own ingenuity, he built an enormous magic lens array. At present, all the mystical essentia used by alchemists across Europe is supplied by him. A new noble family rose from nothing beneath the feet of that little wizard with mediocre talent."

"Such old-fashioned medieval compassion. Had you lived in the era of the Four Founders, the Hufflepuffs of today might well have been sorted into House Kasenhis instead."

Slughorn cracked a small joke before continuing.

"But those are exceptional cases. That's survivor bias. If he hadn't happened to possess both talent and good fortune, you wouldn't be using him as an example, would you?"

"Meanwhile, my elite education can discover true talent with the greatest efficiency and in the highest proportion. Those people are the real force driving the progress of the magical world."

"I'll use someone you're familiar with. Severus. From the moment he entered Hogwarts, he displayed astonishing talent in Potions. Since graduating, what has he achieved? He became Head of Slytherin House, improved the Wolfsbane Potion formula, though that's no longer particularly useful nowadays. He also refined the brewing method for Felix Felicis. His old school notes, which he no longer needed, would be enough to turn a troll into a Potions Master!"

"And the members of my Slug Club are all such people. They may not be as gifted as Severus, but every one of them is an elite wizard contributing to the advancement of the magical world."

"In truth, I know plenty of wizards who weren't especially talented but still achieved remarkable things. Or is it that, in your eyes, having a respectable job at the Ministry, St Mungo's, the Daily Prophet, or the Wizengamot is the only definition of success?"

"Last year, one of my graduates ranked dead last in Alchemy during his fifth year. But when he graduated two years later, he passed Gringotts' examinations and became an internal Curse-Breaker, specialising in restoring old alchemical artefacts for the bank."

"And once, while I was in a library, I came across a name. He had been rejected by both his family and Hogwarts because he was a Squib. Yet by the time I entered university, he had become a world-famous physicist. Among the seven billion people in the Muggle world, every single one would see his name in their textbooks. And in Hogwarts' eyes, such a man was nothing more than a worthless Squib?"

After finishing, Kasenhis slowly rinsed his mouth with tea, then pulled out a slice of watermelon from the void and casually started eating it.

"That's a fallacy. The two examples you mentioned, were they truly lacking in talent? Their talents simply manifested more slowly," Slughorn said with a shrug.

"In fact, I also recruit such people later on. As long as they display talent, it's merely a matter of waiting a bit longer. What's the problem? Severus was a half-blood, Lily was Muggle-born. I don't judge people by so-called bloodlines."

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