Requiem for the Living
By Jinxd n Cursed
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I merely play in the world of J.K. Rowling; she still owns the characters.
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.
Chapter Ten
Hermione opened the letter from Jack Hier as soon as she had fed Zelda a few owl treats and had a chance to visit the toilet. Taking a seat at her desk, she broke the seal and began to read.
Dear Healer Weasley,
The notes you sent to me are mediocre at best. Most of the notes by Ms. Jones could be provided by any third year Hogwarts student from his or her Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum. Surely someone who has supposedly studied healing enough to be a certified Healer would know the characteristics of werewolves and how lycanthropy affects a person. The only original piece of information is the theory that lycanthropy is a disease rather than a curse. I require more information in order to make a judgment as to whether her idea holds water. I expect a detailed report as to how these conclusions were drawn and how to test the theory.
While the Arithmancy calculations were undoubtedly useful to you, the variety of factors and difficulty certainly does not require a master to achieve. Surely any person with a NEWT in Arithmancy could replace the work of Terry Boot. Perhaps you ought to send him on to a project that actually requires Arithmancy since you seem to do most of your ingredient calculations on your own.
It is perfectly clear in your potions work that you are not a master. You have had study in subject, yes, but you are not a master. It is a good thing you are seeking one because if you ever wish to go beyond ingredient substitutions into curing lycanthropy, you will most definitely need one. You have successfully replaced one ingredient of the potion and judged how it will affect other ingredients. Congratulations. You have lowered the cost of the potion by two galleons. I'm sure the families who cannot afford the potion now will feel so much better that the price has dropped from impossibly beyond their financial reach to well beyond their financial reach.
Your substitution of winged horse hoof shavings for powdered horn of bicorn may have merit but obviously requires more research. Am I to assume by the illegible state of your calculations on the subject that it is something you are still working on? You have identified six key ingredients to simplify the brewing process and making the potion less expensive. I agree that these are the most important ingredients to replace. You have replaced one and are working on another. Do you have a plan for identifying substitutions for the other three ingredients on that list? Perhaps they are beyond the depth of your training.
I await your speedy reply.
Sincerely,
Jack Hier
Something about the letter bothered her. It wasn't the content—he had a right to be curious and question the methodology of their work—but rather the tone of the letter and even the writing itself. The letters were narrow and spiky and something in the back of her mind told her she had seen this before. The tone of the letter itself reminded her of someone, though she couldn't remember whom. Granted, she had dealt with a pernickety Potions master since she was eleven and had found that Potions masters as a whole had more in common with Severus Snape than Horace Slughorn. Her master at Oxford, Madame Ingrid Sloane, had made Severus Snape seem like a kitten in comparison. Jack Hier seemed to have a typical attitude for a Potions master.
With a sigh, she set the letter aside to reply after she had run the calculations on the breed of winged horse required to replace the Griffin feathers with hoof shavings. She was writing out the equation for Abraxan horses when a hand snatched the parchment away.
"Hermione," Terry Boot told her, "How many times do I need to remind you that I am responsible for all arithmanthetical calculations for the team?"
Hermione looked up at him. "Well... You and I both know I am capable of doing this myself."
"Hermione, I can do in a single calculation what it takes you five equations to do," he said, crumpling her half written parchment and tossing it in the trash. He extended a hand. "Give me your factors."
She huffed and scribbled down the list quickly and handed it to him. He smiled and went to his own desk.
"You're very welcome Hermione," he said.
"Do shut up," she replied, irritably.
"Touchy today. Another rejection letter?" he asked.
"Not exactly," she said. "This one has actually been communicating with me."
"Really? That's a change," he said. "What has he said?"
"He has been asking about our research thus far. I sent him our notes," she told him.
"Is that wise? He isn't a team member," Terry replied.
"What choice did I have? He is the first person to even express interest in our project. Most call me an idiot if they reply at all," she told him.
"True," he said. "Who am I to criticize anyway? You're the team leader."
"Oh come now Terry," she said. "You know I've never abused my power."
He nodded. "Who is this bloke, anyway? Anyone I would know?"
"A brewer by the name of Jack Hier," she informed him.
"Never heard of him," Terry replied.
"He brews medicinal potions for St. Mungo's. Mostly the basics but some advanced fertility potions among other things," she told him.
"Is he a master?" he questioned.
"If he is, he didn't do his apprenticeship in Europe. I didn't see his name on any registry," she told him.
"Not ideal but better than nothing," Terry said.
"Exactly," she said. "I want to figure this one out before I send my next reply. Maybe he'll think our work is actually possible."
"Hermione, clearly this work is worthwhile. You've figured one substitution out and soon you will have another one," he said.
"I hope so," she told him.
"Ten minutes and you will have the breed, quantity, stirring pattern, quantity of stirs, and whether it affects any other ingredients," Terry replied. "Now tell me that isn't better than the time it would have taken you."
"You aren't wrong," Hermione admitted, grudgingly.
"Indeed," he said, somewhat absently as he was absorbed into his work.
Hermione turned to Jack Hier's letter again and read it over. The first order of business was to request a draft of the detailed report Hestia had been working on. It required an impressive amount of Muggle scientific theory that Hermione doubted she could have realized herself. She was much more capable of recognizing that other people occasionally knew more about a subject than herself at the age of twenty-eight than she had at thirteen. She had taken a few Muggle science courses at Oxford, but Hestia had almost completed her degree in biology. Hermione occasionally had to ask for her assistance in understanding a report. It was an exercise in humility for her. She knew Hestia was working on a detailed analysis of her theories but she hadn't seen it yet. That analysis was the reason Hestia was in the lab at Oxford rather than in London.
Hermione penned a quick note, asking for a copy of what she had so far. She debated whether or not to say why, but in the end chose full disclosure, telling her co-worker that a potential Potions master had requested the information. Hermione dashed up to the mailroom and it was sent off quickly.
Terry had moved on to a second sheet of parchment. While she was curious, she chose to let him work and move on to the next piece on his list of demands: a plan for replacing the other four ingredients: Griffin feathers, Thunder God Vine, Flesh Eating Slug mucus, and enchanted Belladonna extract.
As she had learned in her university studies, ingredient substitutions generally required like for like. Plant ingredients had to be exchanged for other plant ingredients, animal for animal, and enchanted for enchanted. Enchanted ingredients were by far the most difficult to find substitutes for, which is why her greatest concern was for replacing the enchanted Belladonna extract.
The amount of extract required was tiny, but it was the single most expensive ingredient in the Wolfsbane potion due to its rarity. Belladonna was poisonous in all but the smallest quantities but was a valuable ingredient in many potent healing potions. Finding an acceptable substitute would require a Herbology expert and possibly a Charms expert to be able to identify and recreate the necessary charms.
Thunder God Vine originated from ancient Chinese medicine. It was a powerful anti-inflammatory but more than that, it also had a calming affect on the immune system that regulated its activity enough to keep the it from attacking healthy cells. It would need to be replaced with an equally potent herb. On the short list for that one was sarsaparilla, yucca, and chlorella. Green tea was another possibility but she didn't think it was the most likely. She needed to do more research before she began running calculations on the substitution.
She suspected that the Griffin feathers would need to be replaced by those of a magical bird. Perhaps an Augery or a cockatrice or even a fwooper. That would require a lot of research as well. Feathers were notoriously difficult to replace in a potion. Or... hmm... maybe Hippogriff feathers could work. She had heard a rumour that it could be used as a substitute.
Last was the Flesh Eating Slug mucus. She wasn't sure she had a clue on that one but she certainly couldn't pass that on to Mr. Hier. She scribbled down leeches, garden slug mucus, and flobberworms as possibilities. Maybe she would even look into it down the road if no other options presented themselves.
"You're brilliant," Terry said. "Really, really, really brilliant."
"What have I done now?" Hermione asked.
"You've successfully substituted Thestral hoof shavings for powder horn of bicorn, jobberknoll feathers, AND the kava," Terry said, placing the parchments in front of her. There were three of them, which was somewhat unusual for her very efficient colleague.
"Really?" she said. "That is excellent."
"Indeed. I had to run two extra calculations to determine the effects on the other ingredients. It's not a one to one replacement so it changed things at three different stages of brewing," he told her. "Take a look."
Hermione looked over the parchments and broke into a grin. The potion required two ounces of hoof shavings, which took the place of the powdered horn of bicorn, jobberknoll feathers, and kava. It eliminated two sets of seventy stirs and reduced the third set from two hundred down to seventy three. It changed the pattern from clockwise to figure eight and required a rosewood stirring-rod in lieu of tempered glass but it was the single biggest improvement they had made to the potion thus far.
"Thank you Terry," she told him. "It took you half an hour to do what would have taken me three days."
"Which is exactly why you should be giving me all your calculations," he reminded her once again.
"Thank you," she said. "And in the future I'll make you do all the work."
"I expect nothing less," he replied. "If it's all the same for you, I am going to slip out now since it is four thirty and I am taking Penelope out for dinner."
"That's fine," Hermione replied. "I'll be staying a little late so I can get this letter out, then I'm going to pick up the kids from Molly."
"Have a good evening, then," Terry replied.
"Give Penelope my best. How is her project with the charms department coming?" she asked.
"Splendidly," he told her. "I'll make sure she knows you asked."
Hermione nodded. "See you tomorrow," she told him.
"Goodbye," he said.
Hermione received a reply from Hestia a few minutes later, saying that she could have a preliminary report the next day. She was very excited about her findings thus far, apparently. Without that, Hermione wrote a letter to Mr. Hier with the information she had on the Thestral hoof shavings, and her points of research for the other four ingredients. She informed him that she would send along her colleague's findings as soon as she had them.
As she got ready to leave for the day, she was quite pleased with how the day had gone: two letters from Jack Hier and a major breakthrough. She would allow Molly to feed her dinner and then she would hopefully have a good night's rest before doing it all over again the next day.
I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I will warn you that all chapters prior to November 15th are liable to be late as I have stuff every weekend from now until then. I will *try* to post on Fridays but I can't guarantee. I get married in 27 days! AHHHH!