Chapter 8: The Effect of Causality
James Potter was out of recovery and headed back to his dorm room. The night was young with the half-moon appearing low on the dark horizon with a strong glow. He slinked past the Fat Lady's portrait and slowly appeared into the Gryiffindor common room. Sirius sat on the couch with Remus staring into the crackling fire; they discussed classes lightly. The sound of the entrance moving alerted both of them with a light enthusiasm. They had seen James a few days ago and was told not to return until he was almost fully healed from the Quidditch accident. James's brown-hair shimmied into the red fire light and Sirius immediately stood up. "James. Mate.." Both Sirius and Lupin rushed over to him and gave tender pats to his backside. Both noted something different on James. He was now wearing glasses. They were round with dark brown frames and were a predominant feature on his plain face. Potter smiled openly to his friends, "I am fine now. Madame Pompfrey was all over me like a certain girl who should be in love with me." His friends chuckled at the insinuation and they all plopped on to the soft-cushioned lounge furniture.
Potter grimaced momentarily, "So what rumors are there about my fall?" Sirius swayed his head back and forth trying to be careful about how he phrased things, "There are not many. Of course, Slytherin's plan was to hit the Seeker anyways. We've heard a lot of things but nothing to-" James cut him off with an immediate annoyance, "I heard otherwise." His hazel eyes locked onto both of his friends with an analytical gaze that cut through their exteriors, "I heard someone helped plan my demise. I heard he did this to me."
Remus furrowed his brow with some dissatisfaction with his previously injured friends tone, "I heard no such thing James. Who told you this?" Potter ignored his friend with a dark intent looming over his thoughts as if it was infecting his body slowly pulling downwards to his core. He wanted revenge on each and every person who did this but it was first time to find those Beaters and hex them. James finally reconnected with reality and looked at Lupin with a sorted appearance, "A little slithering bird."
Sirius gave a small chuckle at the suggestion, "And you trust this?" James clenched his jaw and stared at the fire with a longing of retaliation held in his hazelnut eyes, "He had no reason as to lie."
The moments after were met with an awkward silence that took over the current mood. Everyone was thinking individually about how James had found out anything. Potter broke the silence, "We need a plan. Something small and big." He stood out of the worn armchair and turned to the curling stairs. He ascended upwards trying to not look back to his friends. Sirius and Remus tailed behind him with a curious glow.
Lupin gazed at Sirius with a small look of worry, "What does he mean?" James entered his dormitory and left the door open for both to follow. Sirius stopped in his tracks and turned to Remus with a low gaze, "It means he is going to get back at Snivellus." Lupin remained confused as if the truth of the incident was still masked, "What do you mean? For the scar?" Sirius shook his head at his close friend, "No, my friend, for his Quidditch injuries."
Lupin searched through his infallible memory trying to connect two and two together. So far nothing made perfect sense. "You mean to tell me that Snivellus thought of a good Quidditch plan? There is no way it could be his fault. Strategy or not, the injuries James received were from those two Beaters and not a know-it-all Slytherin." Sirius sighed at his lycanthropy-infected friend and gently placed a hand on each shoulder, "You cannot imagine the embarrassment. He wants Snivellus to feel what he is done and you know how James is. He won't let this go until he is satisfied. We all know that."
The plan was simple. Severus was good in every single class that he ever took but there was always one class he had to be the best in, "Potions." James had slept soundly in his bed for the night hoping the reprieve would clear his mind. Sirius hoped it would rinse his unusual behavior away to make him think clearly. "Potions class is the answer. He always excels in that class. He doesn't need to excel in it anymore." Sirius and Remus sat back in their own beds listening to Potter ramble on. "What are we making now? Strengthening potion? Use the wrong ingredient and it would not work as necessary but that just isn't enough. Failing at a potion isn't as detrimental as what was done to me. So we use this." James held up a vial filled with an acid-colored liquid. Neither Sirius nor Lupin recognized the brew.
Remus questioned the mixture first, "What is it?" James chuckled out loud for a moment letting the guffaw overtake his body, "Swelling Solution Moony. I'll charm it to look like salamander's blood. As soon as he pours it into the mix, it should look like normal Strengthening potion but as you know, Snivellus always tests his potions after class. He'll balloon up like an overfilled grape. It will be my public revenge." Sirius chuckled at the delight ahead of them and Lupin followed the same tact.
The next early Potions class started as usual. Lily and Snape walked together to the class lightly discussing the early spring weather and their soon to be completed task of the Strengthening potion. Severus tenderly smiled when she mentioned the Slug Club Ball, "Well, as you know, Professor is mandating all of us, all of the Slug Club, to help plan. I am no good with creative ideas as you undoubtedly know. So perhaps we can team up and jointly come up with some thoughts?" Lily nodded lightly to the suggestion and quickly turned her head back letting the fiery tousles of hair whip around her soft jawline. She thought she heard a curious sound almost as if someone was right behind them. Snape stared at her for a moment and then he too looked behind them. Nothing. Lily simply shrugged and Snape opened the door for her to Slughorn's classroom. A few other students filed in behind them and everyone sat in their usual seats.
After a light discussion about amounts of ingredients to add, Lily and Snape pulled their cauldrons from the nearby holding cupboard. They both sat them on top of the burner and slowly stirred in the rest of the ingredients into the mix. Slughorn then placed small vials of salamander's blood on each students table side. The exact amount needed for this brew to work. Just as Severus went to grab his vial, there was a slight pull on his dark, ironed pants and he looked to the side. His dark eyes searched for who dared distract him but saw no evidence to support the inane feeling that someone else was next to him. There was another small sound to his opposite side and though he moved quickly, there was nothing there either. Lily looked curiously at Severus and wondered what was the matter, "Are you alright Sev?"
Snape gazed around the area once more for good measure and nodded to her question contently, "Yes, I am fine." His forehead furrowed slightly frustrated thinking that perhaps his recent lack of sleep was getting to him. Lily still looked at Snape as she began to pour her sample of ruby red blood into the cauldron but was then suddenly jostled from her seat and dropped her tiny bottle onto the floor. The red splash echoed from the floor like a bouncing ball and Horace immediately turned to the sound of breaking glass. "Lily, is everything alright my dear?"
She blinked a few times thinking she had gone mad but returned a gentle smile. Her olive colored right hand curled a loose strand of hair behind her right ear, "Yes Professor. I just..dropped a vial. I am so sorry." Slughorn flicked his wand to the mess and it was no longer to be seen. "Not a problem dear. Let me go get another. After all this is Academics, these kinds of things happen." As he went off to his stores in the back of the classroom, Severus pushed his vial to her in a kind gesture. "Use mine. I will wait." Lily smiled sweetly at her friend and gladly took the vial from his fingertips. She poured the bottle into the concoction and it immediately began to boil furiously. Lily stepped backwards and watched in a stunned awe as the brew launched upwards and towards the ceiling above them. Severus stood in shock watching as the dark red mixture turned bright orange and suddenly turned volatile with a glowing green aura. He moved quickly pulling out his wand and shot a protection charm in front of her. "Protego Totalum!"
What followed after was a blur. The explosion pulsed throughout the entire classroom with orange, fiery liquid spewing on to all of the walls until it suddenly pulled inwards. The implosion to follow knocked against all of the glass in the classroom and was met with an echoing sound of broken shards splashing around. Severus was sucked closer to the blast and then thrown backwards into Horace's office door. He pushed against the wooden frame with a crushing force that bent the locked door into splinters. His body was rocked with a dominating cutting fixation on his back and ribs. The resounding crack of bone echoed at the detonation's end. As Severus landed on the floor, his body instinctively spat out blood as it slowly filled his mouth. The red liquid flowed from his body like a rushing river down stream. His arms curled into his core to hopefully crunch away the excruciating shocks of pain that rippled through his senses. Severus's brain quickly began to shut down as the screams were shouted into the dead air. His eyes tired of being open and as the drawn-out trickle of the leftover, volatile mix pulled over his pitch-black eyes, the pain began to settle into his senses with stinging precision. Just as Professor Slughorn and his fellow students crowded around all trying to see his condition, Severus could have sworn he viewed James Potter slipping out of the classroom, but as delirium sat in he passed out and remained unmoving on the cold, hard floor.
