Day 3 of Pottermore’s 12-Day Christmas extravaganza finds the Harry Potter author explaining the reason behind making Snape the potions expert at Hogwarts.

The new writing from J.K. Rowling was shared in the Chapter 9 moment of Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series which Pottermore is slowly opening up over the next couple of weeks.

In a new passage about Potions in the Harry Potter books, Rowling reveals that she wanted to give Harry’s nemesis her least-favorite subject.

“Chemistry was my least favourite subject at school, and I gave it up as soon as I could. Naturally, when I was trying to decide which subject Harry’s arch-enemy, Severus Snape, should teach, it had to be the wizarding equivalent,” she says.

Despite her distaste for Potions, even Rowling was intrigued by Snape’s teachings. “I found Snape’s introduction to his subject quite compelling (‘I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…’),” she writes. “[A]pparently part of me found Potions quite as interesting as Snape did; and indeed I always enjoyed creating potions in the books, and researching ingredients for them.”

In a separate blurb, readers learn that Muggles aren’t capable of brewing potions because some level of wandwork is always involved. Damn!

Rowling also offered new thoughts on cauldrons today, saying that she considered making a Horcrux out of a large pot before realizing that all seven needed to be more portable for Harry to carry around. We have to admit, seeing Harry run around with a cauldron in the final film would’ve been pretty entertaining.

The first two days of Pottermore’s 12-days-of-giveaways offered new writing from Rowling on Snape and Lily’s hometown and how Florean Fortescue was almost a hero in Deathly Hallows.

What will the remaining nine days bring? Stay tuned! So far we’re enjoying these fun tidbits about the series.