Published 19th of October, 2020
When Hermione entered studio number six, Snape was just looking for ingredients against the wall.
"Good morning," she said aloud and looked around discreetly to see if they were alone.
The door just stopped, so Snape nodded reassuringly and gestured to her towards the table.
"Banks has agreed to send your request for all orders to Carcassonne?" He asked in a lower voice, coming up to her. "Sit down, let it look like you're watching what I'm doing."
Hermione took the previously prepared notes onto the table, set her bag on the floor, and climbed onto the stool.
"Of course! I played a bit of Ministry honor. You know, I told that they can't give the fifth Drop if they have doubts and so on," she replied, entwining her fingers under the table. "You can't even imagine how easily Octavia fallen for this! It looked as if she was personally responsible for the decision and did not want to embarrass herself in case of problems."
Snape pursed his lips at this lengthy explanation. It looked like he would have to wait a while with their argument for the girl to be able to pretend.
"Did she say when would she get an answer?"
Hermione shook her head.
"No, but it's perfectly normal. You know, at the Ministry ..."
"I don't know and I'm not interested in that," he said dryly, impatiently.
The girl bit her lips and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Do I have to wait a long time for ... our argument? I'm a bit nervous."
Snape sat on the other side of the table, which was already in the mess that was typical for brewing. The brew was already bubbling in the cauldron, on the right side there were a few vials in a row, on the left an empty bottle, on a chopping board, carefully cut in half daisy roots were waiting in a pile.
"I could have gone to Powell's earlier, before our ... our meeting," she added.
"It will be much better if you go to AFTER" he replied. "If Powell doesn't hear us, which seems doubtful to me, he'll guess what happened from your behavior. Besides, that will justify your nervousness. Speaking of which," he summoned her writing supplies and pushed them towards her. "You forgot to take out the ink bottle and quill. I don't know how you would explain your notes if someone came in. Are you starting to regress in development?"
The ink bottle sped towards her so violently Hermione barely managed to catch it. She bit her lips tighter and unscrewed it, head bowed.
„Shit."
For the next ten minutes, Snape was brewing and paying no attention to her, so she slowly began to relax and she felt the potion weaken.
„You think that ... I was right?" She asked finally, and when he raised an eyebrow in question, she added:
"That someone was really after Muggles? Because nothing has happened since last week. And ... maybe it's just a coincidence?"
„I don't think it's a coincidence."
"Well, maybe this someone just wanted to kill these four people?"
Snape nodded regretfully.
„You're doing exactly what the killer expects. Since there are no new cases, you quickly realize that nothing serious is happening" he tapped the spoon on the edge of the cauldron and put it carefully back on stand. "Tell me, in the Muggle world they mitigated their precautions? They start to say that this strange disease is over?" He snorted shortly when she confirmed. "I am convinced that something will happen again soon."
Hermione felt a shiver down her spine and she shook herself.
"How ... why are you so sure?"
„Think a bit. Would anyone go so far as to invent such a complicated poison, steal our ingredients, and risk brewing here if it were only to eliminate four people?"
The girl inhaled sharply, and her eyes widened in sudden understanding.
"It must have some follow-up," he added grimly.
Ministry of Magic, Atrium,
Shipping Department, External Shipment Office
09:00
As Octavia pushed the front door open, Pelagia jerked violently and widened her eyes.
„Octavia !" She sighed and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you napping again?" Octavia replied. "If Benny find out, you can have a surprise!"
Pelagia covered her mouth and yawned.
"Most likely he already knows, but what can he do to me, my dear," she nodded with some effort and adjusted the heavy glasses whose lenses were as thick as bottle bottoms. „On this position work only the oldest grandmothers just before retirement. And for this moment I don't have any competitors."
Octavia looked at the old woman's completely gray hair, wrinkled face, hands, and the gaunt figure, and smiled sadly.
„What's new? Is your granddaughter graduating from Hogwarts this year?" Pelagia asked. "I remember when I used to go there. Back in my day, N.E.W.T. were real exams, not what it is now ... such piss in borscht."
"Excus… what ?!"
"It's such a modern saying lately," Pelagia said, and held out her hand for Octavia's envelope. "I heard two Blues saying that yesterday when they came here to change the weather. Ah, by the way, do you know that Florenty and Arsacius, the two Unspeakable, live together? Two men! What it's come to, my dear! Poor Merlin turns in his grave!"
Octavia handed her the package to the Central Warehouse of A and B Class of Ingredients in Carcassonne, and decided not to comment on the saying or the next rumor.
"I have a very urgent, red to France. To Carcassonne." She tapped the address with her finger so that Pelagia would not be mistaken again and deliver the package to her, instead of to the recipient. "When do you think they'll get it? I'm really in a rush."
Pelagia choked reassuringly.
"Consider it's not until tomorrow morning. Eric won't get the letters for an hour or two. And even with the Acceleration Potion, the owl won't reach Calais until the afternoon."
"The French have a great way to send items," Octavia sighed. "And it takes seconds for them to send a letter from north to south. It is a pity that it does not exist here."
"Oh, yes, I heard something about it, their remurderers are really amazing! I wonder how they do it ... you know maybe? I heard something flashing for them and that's it! Oh, it's all moving forward so fast now. When I was young, there were only ordinary owls. And there was even no age restriction!"
Octavia glanced discreetly at her watch and began filling out the parcels register. She entered the date, the status of the shipment, the exact address, and pursed her lips as she tried to come up with a reasonable reason.
"Routine order control?" Pelagia read, and Octavia quivered.
What a nosy old lady! Everybody thinks she has no strength and she is blind, but she can loiter, tilt her head and read upside down!
"It's nothing," she said immediately. "You know, under different procedures we have to control ..."
"Central Warehouse of A and B... in ... Kark-something?" Pelagia muttered, indeed tilting her head. "Do you have any problem with orders from them?"
"Not only..."
"Oh, it's probably about that Powell procedure! This Miss Granger of yours has figured out something?"
Octavia hided her grimace. Merlin! Better let Gawain take her to the Aurors, because here only her talent is wasted.
"Have you heard about procedures, Pelagia? These are the rules that impose on us ..."
But Pelagia just waved her hand weakly and smiled, showing her two missing teeth.
"You better keep an eye on Granger. She hangs out there a lot. People say TOO often for this procedure."
This time she managed to surprise Octavia.
"How is it ... too often? What do you mean?" She frowned unconsciously.
The old woman looked as if she had won at least the Morgana Lottery.
"I hear she's been there several times. Usually Inspectors go once or twice for an inspection. And she is young, pretty ... and lonely" she suspended her voice by default.
"Nonsense. Hermione knows perfectly well that during the procedure she has no right to make any contacts with the controlled entity" Octavia recited quickly. "She is just very dutiful, that's it."
"Oh, love doesn't listen! Henry, you know, from the Blue, said he saw her a while ago in Diagon Alley with that young boy from there, what is his ... Ah, Sebastian Kelly! And that once this Kelly went to the Clinic to see her."
Octavia, who at first froze in disbelief, stared at the old woman.
"... Kelly ?!"
"But she must be careful, because he is such a young bull for women, I tell you. He picks up girls, on left and right and leaves after one night," added Pelagia in an expert tone. "He will use her, and she will only break her heart! You better warn her, my dear!"
Octavia stopped listening to her mumbling for a moment. It looks a bit as if Hermione WANTED to find a problem for some reason ... Or maybe she is doing this on HIS request?
"... to illegitimate pregnancies. In my times..."
"Pelagia," she interrupted abruptly. "Have you heard ... do you know if this Kelly is ... overly ambitious or doesn't like Leoncius Powell? Or something like that?"
"Oh, you surprised me, my dear ... let me recall ... what it was ... I don't think he is too ambitious, nobody said this, but that he doesn't like – yes, I heard! He doesn't like Snape, and that's an understatement! He hates him!"
Octavia felt she had to think it over.
"Thank you very much, my dear. I'll be going now, I have a meeting soon. Have a nice day!" She said and left quickly.
Pelagia sighed, sat back comfortably, and rested her head on the soft headrest. Half of the Ministry was having a second cup of coffee at this time, so she won't be disturbed during at least a quarter of an hour.
She closed her eyes and fell into a light nap very quickly.
Howden Dam,
Around 09:30
Tylor passed his wand over the body of the Muggle, who was now sleeping on the narrow bed after administering various potions, including a pain killing potion and calming draught. He still looked terrible, but much better than last morning when Peter finally gave him the antidote. When he and Gratus opened the spell-locked door at dawn yesterday, they both thought the Muggle was already dead. But hearing them, he regained some consciousness and tried to tell them something. Then Peter just rushed towards him and, ignoring the dirt, the stench and faint protests, poured a whole vial of antidote into his mouth.
Now he was leaning against the wall and watching the Old Man in silence.
"Good," Tylor said finally, and stood up with a soft grunt. "Peterson, give me current notes and observe and write everything down."
„He just got over it?" Gratus dared to ask.
„Not quite yet, but it's much better. It looks like the potion is working," Tylor explained.
Peter didn't react in any way. In fact, he didn't even know how. He didn't know if he wanted the Muggle to live or die. First, because if he survives, the Old Man will no longer need him. And second, because he knew it wouldn't stop there.
Tylor glared at him, and as if reading his mind, he added as he walked to the door.
„Heal him until tomorrow morning."
Gratus opened the door to him.
„And then?"
„Then kill him. We will have to deal with a mass test."
With a sigh, Peter looked down at toes of his boots so as not to show what he KNEW now with complete certainty.
Such an unscrupulous person would not pay him half his fortune. If you're lucky, it will end up with an Avada.
Powell's Lab
Around 9:30
Wilson, Kelly, and William were sitting around the table, talking about the last Quidditch match in which the Tornados had been smashed by the Wasps, when a noise came from the corridor.
„I tell you, Ludo Bagman beams with pride! They just trampled the others ..." Kelly was just arguing, but he paused and added, quieterly, "to the field ..."
„What is it?" Wilson asked.
They heard a slap against the wall and a male voice.
"I'm not going to tolerate your stupid remarks any longer!"
"It's not you who decides, but Leoncius Powell, so you will tolerate my remarks whether you ..."
„I warn you, Granger !"
„ ... like it or not!"
The three men looked at each other in surprise.
"I thought he won't be able to control himself. He lacks polite and social manners" William said, straightening his mustache.
"Shit, Snape finally lost his temper," Wilson said simultaneously with a mixture of disbelief and satisfaction.
Kelly jumped up from the stool.
"Come on, he'll do something to Hermione!" He shouted.
They reached the door and looked out into the corridor. Hermione Granger was standing in the center, her hands on her hips, and she was just yelling at Snape, who looked like he was going mad.
„... so if you know, don't contradict me every word !"
„Are you suggesting I don't know, Granger ?! You dare try to prove me wrong?!"
"I suggest that maybe it's time to stop being a genius and repeat the material from the first year !"
Snape narrowed his eyes dangerously, stepped forward and looked down at her.
„You are one of my students, you blind, stupid girl! Someone who couldn't see that I was alive won't tell me when the brew changes color !"
The girl gasped with anger, turned pale, and jerked forward.
„I COULD NOT...?! HOW DARE YOU! YOU pathetic ... !"
Snape froze for a second, his face lengthened and he exploded.
„SHUT UP, IDIOT!" He grinned and leaned over her sharply, his nose almost touching her forehead.
"THEN YOU SHUT UP ! "The girl did not back away, on the contrary, she leaned against him. "YOU WILL NOT..."
Snape gripped her shoulders furiously and shook her.
"GET OUT, GRANGER," he growled.
„Snape, stop it !"
„GET OUT, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANY MORE!" He pushed the girl back.
Hermione staggered straight against the wall screaming and would have fallen had he not been supported by Kelly at the last moment.
"I don't want to see you, either," she groaned, tears in her eyes. "You son of a bitch!"
"Snape, are you crazy ?! Leave her!" Wilson called.
Snape gave him a murderous glare and gestured toward the door to the lab.
"I see that it finally dawned on your empty head that it is time to change your profession to one more suited to your ... abilities. But I'll disappoint you, you don't have qualifications for guard dog either."
Then he turned on his heel, pushed the door to his lab so hard that it slammed against the walls and slammed it shut behind him.
The girl wiped her wet cheeks and released herself from Kelly's embrace.
"Thank you," she choked to the boy who was still staring at the closed door.
„Are you all right?" He turned to her immediately. "Hermione, come, sit down. Honey, you're barely on your feet!"
"I'm fine," she said and sniffled. I'll go now."
"But ..."
"Please tell Mr. Powell that I will come to meet... HIM another time. I do not know when."
She waved her hand and, leaning against the wall, walked slowly towards the stairs.
William looked at Wilson with widen eyes.
"Merlin! For a man to behave like this with a woman?! Baseness and cowardice!"
Wilson was trembling with rage.
„What a bloody shit ...! He is dangerous to the environment! A jerk!"
Kelly looked after Hermione a moment longer, then walked over to them.
"He won't get away with it this time," he slammed his clenched fist into the other hand. "I'm going to talk to Powell. So he kicks him out!"
Wilson grinned happily.
"I have good news for you, Seb! Leoncius has already fired him!"
"Yes? That's great. Let him die, goddamn murderer!"
Hermione went down the stairs with difficulty, reached the ladies' bathroom quickly, and when the heavy door finally slammed behind her, she couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.
But hot tears could only wash off her makeup, not the intense, burning guilt that flooded her with the force of a rough river. Her hands blindly reached for the support in the sink and dug into it as she hung there, torn by a hollow sob, mumbling, tugging, and scratching hard porcelain as if it was water.
I was right! I let him die then, and now he hates me for it! God, HOW MUCH hates! Oh Merlin ... ! How could I ...!
Every nerve in her, every cell in her body cried, and she felt that this cry would tear her heart apart at any moment.
But those hot tears could not quench the anger that raged inside her.
But even if he hates me, how could he treat me like ... like ... an animal! Like trash!
His words continued to rumble in her head, making her want to scream and tear them out with her memory. IDIOT! GET OUT, GRANGER, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANY MORE!
She didn't know how long it took for her to calm down. Enough for tears mixed with the mascara to run down the cheeks and drip into the white sink, leaving bitter marks behind. Looking at them, she didn't even know what she was doing here. Everything faded, made no sense, only the dark streaks on the white background mattered.
She came back to her senses suddenly, unexpectedly, feeling the heat pouring down her right hip. Instinctively, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the fake Galleon she had created on Sunday. She gave Snape the second.
MY HOME. IMMEDIATELY.
Anger erupted in her with redoubled force and drowned out her sense of failure and guilt.
You must be angry and you think you can take it out on me! Bullshit!
The chill of the water on the heated face brought a little relief, but not for long. Before Hermione left the Lab, her cheeks and eyes began to burn again.
She apparated to Spinner's End right outside his house. She was already raising her hand to slam her fist on the door when it swung open.
„Come in!" Snape grabbed her arm and pulled her in.
He slammed the door and pushed her against the wall.
"Can you explain to me WHAT IT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, Granger?" He hissed.
Hermione tried to push his hand away, but he held her with the other.
"It is me to ask about it ! She jerked furiously.
"Don't you feel like you've gone too far ?!"
"Certainly ...
"I'm talking now!" He snarled and started screaming again. "I didn't allow you to call me by name! I didn't let you to insult me! This is not what we planned !
„We didn't plan on calling me idiots ! You weren't supposed to treat me like a last-ditch cleaning rag ! You weren't supposed to insult me in front of others!"
"I was not supposed to insult you in front of others ?! What do you think everyone expected from me?!" There was a brief flash of pain in his angry eyes. "That I will caress you ?! That I would politely ask you to the corridor and ask you to stop visiting me ?! Start to use your apparently exceptional brain! Everyone knows I'm nasty, filthy son of a bitch! Exactly as you said! I had to call you! I had to hurt you to make it look convincing !"
Hermione gasped, struck by her sudden understanding, and froze, motionless. Oh Merlin ... Oh Merlin ... what have I done ...
"What I don't understand, Granger, is how YOU could answer me the same way ! How could you spit on me and offend me! Nobody has ever had a right to this, especially not you !"
"I..."
„You think they'll believe it now ?! That you could dare to do something like that for no reason ?!"
„Sorry, I didn't think ..."
„Can you tell me what's got into your ?!" He snorted and pulled away from her. "You've wasted your only chance to avert suspicions!"
He took a few steps away, and Hermione stepped uncertainly towards him.
„Excuse me. Please ..."
„What the hell is wrong with you ?!" He hissed, turning sharply.
The girl bit her lips hard and looked away.
„It just ... hurt what you said. And the fact that you said it ..."
„WHAT did I say!"
"That I didn't see you survived," she whispered in a wet voice. "I know you must hate me after this, but ... I thought you understood. That I regret it." She lowered her head and sniffled.
Snape froze. In one second, he remembered talking to her boss and understood what he had done. "Take that into account," the other asked, talking about the causes of her trauma. Shit, this is how you took it into account. You told her the one and only thing you weren't allowed to say!
He did not know what to say or what to do. He looked at her and didn't see anymore an annoying, nosy ex-student, but a broken adult woman who suddenly appeared exceptionally petite, delicate and vulnerable in a black, narrow suit. He felt as if he could touch her soul.
"You must be right," she added, her voice trembling. „I shouldn't have come anymore."
He should apologize to her. He should have said he overacted.
"I don't want to hurt you any more… Sir."
"Look at me."
The girl slowly looked up at him and he saw her arms hanging down and tears streaming down her cheeks. He was silent for a long moment, searching for the right words.
"Come today when you finish work," he said softly at last. "We still have a lot to do."
Wednesday, April 30th
Rood Lane, London, St. Margaret Church
10:15 pm
Paul waited a quarter of an hour and glanced at his watch more and more often. It was definitely supposed to be Wednesday. After all, this is what we agreed at the previous meeting. Nothing has changed since then.
In the deep silence of the church, he could hear perfectly the rain sloshing against the windows. Since his arrival, the downpour must have increased even more, because every now and then the noise turned into a dull drumming, only to suddenly weaken and just as suddenly wake up again.
Another five minutes later, one of the last candles at the prayer altar went out, and at that exact moment there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Moments later, Paul heard the approaching steps in the darkness.
"Hello, Mr. Bryant," Tylor greeted him, looked briefly at the burning candles, and rested on the bench next to Paul.
"Good evening, sir," Paul replied.
"Do you have any news for me?"
"Nothing special. I was at Powell's lab to check on Snape and found nothing suspicious. Besides, I found out that in about two weeks he is leaving."
He certainly wasn't going to tell him that he had seen Granger going upstairs today, probably to one of the labs, instead of Powell's office. He was sure that such a message would alert Tylor, who would most likely order him to get rid of Snape. It was already strange that he had not yet taken a deeper interest in the subject of Granger's inspection.
Now, in the dim lighting, he could read the approval on the old man's face.
„Very good news. Even if since one week I have forbidden my people to go there, the sooner he won't be there, the better. Something else?"
Paul shook his head, and Tylor cleared his throat, covering his mouth, and began to say,
"Tomorrow we will carry out a mass test of one of our potions."
„Still among the Muggles?"
„Yes, so it shouldn't concern you yet. But I prefer to mention it in case any rumors reach our world."
„Because ... these people will die?"
"No. They will be sick, but they will recover, at least the vast majority."
The indifference and coldness in his voice were so poignant that Paul shivered. It was as if the temperature in the church had suddenly dropped a few degrees.
"The test will take place in one of the secondary schools in Dublin," Tylor continued. "There are children, adolescents, adults and older people and such a cross-sectional audience will be the best to see how the potion works on people of all ages."
Paul managed to keep his face calm, but maybe that was because he dug his fingers into the bench.
"How long will it take?"
"We will give the healing potion on Sunday, so during a day or two days, everything should calm down. And this is where your right role will begin."
Tylor took a pouch from his jacket pocket and tossed it on Paul's lap.
"We will move to our world from the beginning of next week."
The pouch was heavy as usual.
Heavy of guild flashed through his mind as he stood up to walk on the storm outside. He put it in his pocket as quickly as possible, because it was burning his fingers.
Saturday, May 3th
Hermione's apartment
Midday
The large living room table was lost under a pile of papers and parchments. On the first edge, in Snape's careful, precise handwriting, was a list of twenty-six wizards in Britain who would be able to brew poison. Next to it were parchments with a brief description of each. A little farther down, Hermione arranged the Muggle newspaper clippings about the four victims.
Now they were sitting with Snape and trying to find anything in all of this that would lead them to the murderer's trail. They didn't expected a clear trace of it, but rather a shadow of it, which would evoke any association or sow the slightest suspicion.
But in vain. Hermione looked at her notes and her concentration was becoming more and more difficult. Nothing had happened for over a week and she was starting to think that she had just exaggerated the problem.
Snape was sitting in the chair next to her, clearly lost in thought. The vertical line between his eyebrows was sharp, he narrowed his eyes, and sometimes he stroked his narrow finger across his lips as if it might help him focus.
From time to time, he picked up the newspaper clippings, read them, and put them back.
"What does autism mean?" He asked finally.
The girl called up an encyclopedia from the shelf, found the definition, and mumbled for a moment as she read complicated descriptions.
"Shortly, it's a type of mental disorder that causes problems in dealing with other people," she finally replied. "People with autism tend to isolate themselves from others and are very introverted. From what they write here, very often such people have an IQ higher than average and show exceptional abilities in certain directions. Why are you asking?"
Snape pointed to a brief description of the first victim.
„These people go to healers? Maybe the common feature is frequent visits to their Healers?" He tapped the clipping about Eleanor Ryan, an elderly retiree from Mitchelstown, who had kidney problems and was taken to the hospital for dialysis every week."
Hermione shook her head with a sigh.
„Yes, they go to the healers, but not in clinics. In completely different places, to completely different people, and they take completely different drugs. So we can't assume that the killer is finding them in the same place."
"No. But maybe this someone has something against ill people in general."
"If so, we are in deep sh… problem," she muttered. "In a society where there are as many elderly people as teenagers and children combined, and half of the adults are hypochondriacs, the guy will be able to go wild."
Snape gave her a questioning look, so she felt compelled to explain to him what the word hypochondriac meant. In response, he began rereading the suspect list, and Hermione refrained from saying aloud what she thought. They wandered in the dark like little children lost in the woods.
At that moment, an alarm spell whistled in the kitchen, and the girl suddenly smelled of stewed beef.
"We'll be able to eat soon!" She said, jumping up from the table.
Since there was no room on the table to put even a single fork, Hermione set the food on a table by the couch. When she brought a plate of gold-baked, sizzling potatoes and a bowl of large chunks of beef in a velvety, thick sauce, from which aromatic steam surged and the smell spread throughout the room, Severus Snape tore himself from the parchments.
"I have bad news," Hermione said. „I forgot to buy wine for that."
She returned to the kitchen for lettuce with tomatoes, corn, and nuts in a mustard sauce, so she didn't see Severus smirk the corner of his mouth. Whatever she cooked, it was ... divine.
Since last Saturday, she has been preparing food every time they met. He guessed that she just didn't want to eat badly cooked potatoes and a piece of fatty, stringy meat, which was what he always prepared for himself, but he wasn't going to protest.
They sat down on the couch and Hermione turned on the TV. This was perhaps the second reason Severus agreed to meet with her.
He associated the television with a Pensieve, where he could see the memories of many people at once, but he couldn't enter them. He had never seen this Muggle invention up close before, so on the first day he tried to push the glass that separated him from those thoughts, but then only all the hairs on his hand bristled. The girl showed him the news as well, and that intrigued him. Surely the TV was faster than the Daily Prophet. He ignored the weather forecast - he was definitely fed up with Sybilla Trelawney and her friends.
Hermione scooped up potatoes and meat and passed them to Snape. He should have priority as a guest, but something told her that savoir-vivre had no special meaning to him, and what was important, he had the rest to himself that way. Finally, he will have something good to eat.
They watched a brief account of the car crash near Glasgow and a report from Iran in which an earthquake over 7 on the Richter scale took place and the estimated death toll has already exceeded 25,000. Then Sky News went on to rob the Birmingham Jewelery Museum, which was undergoing a crown jewel display and unknown thefts stole eight ten-carat diamonds from Elizabeth II's crown. Hermione was about to mention the tiara Fleur had at her wedding when the reporter moved on to the next topic of the day. She saw a hysterical crowd outside the hospital, and she KNEW. She didn't even need to glance at the bar at the bottom that read Temple Street Children's University Hospital, Dublin.
"The condition of the thirty children who are currently in the intensive care unit is very bad and continues to deteriorate," the reporter said. "Same as the condition of O'Connell School's students, teachers and support staff. Let me remind you that the first victims appeared on Thursday evening. To date, more than five hundred cases have been diagnosed and are now spread across all hospitals in and around Dublin. At the moment, no one is able to say what this disease is, the symptoms of which are very similar to Ebola, but the research carried out constantly by staff at the Institute of Infectious Diseases completely rules out the hypothesis of any infectious disease. Immediately called, specialists from the Middlesex-London Healf Unit are leaning towards acute food poisoning from an unknown ingredient that causes acute damage to internal tissues, including those outside the digestive tract. The radiation sickness, which consists in the absorption of a harmful dose of ionizing radiation, is also not excluded. In the haematological case, the only one that can be treated, it comes to the reduction of the lymphocytes in the blood, which causes a hemorrhagic diathesis, which in turn causes extensive bleeding. The Military Institute of Radiobiology and Atomics is currently conducting research on the entire school grounds.
In St. Vincent's University Hospital a surgery took place that morning on the three youngest patients who had profuse internal bleeding. However, their condition remains highly unstable."
Hermione, pale as death, set the plate of food down on the table with difficulty and buried her face in her hands.
"Most Holy God ..." she whispered. "OVER five hundred cases ...?!"
She was so shocked that she couldn't even cry. It'll probably come later.
Severus was also shocked. As he remembered Griffin's agony, something twitched within him and howled in protest. Merlin, this was even worse than the massive Crucios the Death Eaters practiced on Muggles !
"I told you he was going to attack again," he said, and to hide his expression, he set his plate aside and leaned over to find her fork that had fallen onto the shaggy carpet.
„But over five hundred cases? There are kids there ... God, it's ... some kind of monster!"
Snape didn't answer, because there simply wasn't any reasonable answer to such a statement.
They had one vial of antidote. One, only one, and no hope of making more. Snape had no more Moon Water, he found only a few drops in the Lab, there was nothing in any ingredient warehouse, even in Carcassonne there was nothing left. And it was necessary to wait at least two months for the production of the next batch. Although the total lunar eclipse was only two weeks away, but then it was necessary to wait a full lunar month for the water to stabilize and another few days for the bottles to be prepared and the order sent.
A thought flashed through his mind, but he was preoccupied with imagining what the victims must have suffered now and, above all, WHAT ELSE they would suffer before they die, he couldn't grasp it.
„Maybe we'll Apparate there!" Hermione suddenly spoke up. "Maybe we can do something ..! Give them Sleeping Draught or a pain killer potion...!"
Snape shook his head.
"They definitely have such things in their clinics."
"Well, go back in time! Make sure they never eat it!" She called pleadingly.
Severus gritted his teeth. He would have liked to do it himself, just to catch this filth. Catch and kill on the spot. If only it was possible ..."
"Think a little," he grunted.
„So at least do something so that they do not suffer! I do not know what...! Anything...!"
"There is nothing we can do," he said emphatically. "Mostly because the killer would find out. And in this way he would realized that someone in our world was after him."
"We can't wait so passively !" She protested desperately.
There were the first notes of crying in her voice, but Snape couldn't console her. He had no wonderful idea. Not for now, not for these people. For them, the day was over and it was never going to be morning.
He felt a sudden disgust with himself. But this was what almost his entire adult life consisted of. Watching others die for the greater good.
„There is nothing we can do ourselves at the moment. But I think it's time to involve the Aurors seriously," he said, trying to be convincing, reassuring. In response, the girl sent him a silent question, so he added: "We'll brew the poison, mix it with the chocolate, and make a very large spot in lab number Eight. And on Monday morning I'll call in the two Aurors who handled the Griffin case and show it to them.
"Do you think they'll believe that both they and you overlooked it?"
Snape lifted the corner of his mouth in a slight smile.
"Of course not. I'll tell them it's a brand new spot."