Wolfsbane Potion
Ginny dreamed that Pompeii was holding a conference. Someone said Vesuvius is about to erupt, we should move the city; another said, no need to do that much, we can simply move the volcano. Their discussion continued and unanimously decided to move Vesuvius to Ginny's forehead because it's vast enough to protect the innocent from the eruption.
"So I'm not innocent?"
Ginny, half-asleep and angry, reached up to touch her forehead and was instantly awakened by the scalding. Seeing her roommate Kelly Dawton resting a freshly poured mug of milk and cereal on her forehead.
"Hot hot hot!" Ginny leapt to her feet.
"Oh good morning, Ginny," Kelly said leisurely, catching the falling mug without spilling a drop. "I ran into Hermione at breakfast. She wants to tell you that Dumbledore is back."
"Got it, thanks." Ginny sat up slowly, suddenly feeling out of place, "Wait? During breakfast? What time is it now?"
"Sheven hihty-hive..." Kelly replied vaguely as she savoured her cereal.
Ginny yelped miserably and jumped to her feet, scrambling to get dressed.
"You slowcoach, why didn't you wake me up!"
"Listen… "
"The first class is Potions, you wanna see me die in the dungeon?"
"Listen to me… "
"Listen to your arse, after you finish your sentence we'll all be late for class!" Ginny rushed into the bathroom and washed her face haphazardly.
"The potion class is… "
"Kelly! Hurry up!" Ginny picked up her school bag and rushed outside the dorm.
"Cancelled for today… "
With Kelly's long trailing voice Ginny slammed into the door.
"Cancelled?"
Kelly gulped down a large cup of cereal, breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly explained.
"Look at the announcement board. Potions class is cancelled once today, so I didn't wake you up."
Finally finishing her sentence, Kelly made another cup of cereal and wormed her way towards the common room with solemn measured steps.
Seeing her roommate leaving, Ginny remembered Hermione's words again.
Dumbledore is back.
Which obviously means for me to hand over Tom and confess? She will certainly ask me later if I have handed Tom to Dumbledore or not. If I say I haven't, she'll nag again endlessly. She'll definitely call me an idiot! Questioning if I care for my safety at all! Maybe not only nagging, but Hermione has also recently been getting angry a lot, maybe she'll trick me more… The more Ginny thought about it, the more aggravated she felt. Finally, she impatiently shouted at the imaginary Hermione:
"I'll hand over I'll hand over I'll hand that over right now! Stop nagging!"
She indignantly took out a notebook which almost got into the jail from her school bag. Turn it to the middle page, see two pages of Tom lying quietly inside, never meant to invite disaster, following the law and virtue. That moral look lets people have no desire to put him at disadvantage.
Thinking about last school year. Writing my homework, taking notes for me, helping me cheat quizzes, Tom was a lifesaver. His hard work indeed needs to be counted. At the same time, he has the same problem with me, even if he cannot be treated like a friend, he is still a comrade; not a comrade, still a fellow patient. Although he is a sinner, he did not make an irreparable consequence. Besides, he had already been in rehabilitation and living a hard life now, why continue to treat him so difficult?
With these thoughts, Ginny forgot all the old story about the chamber of secrets, and even the "it's not a death note" resentment is also dissipated.
And of course, these thoughts do not mean Tom can stay with Ginny. But based on the above reasons, before handing it to Dumbledore, Ginny felt the need to talk with Tom again, and say farewell to him. As they luckily meet each other in this vast people, space, and time.
So, she wrote on the spread-out book:
Tom, long time no see, I've missed you. I…
Ginny firstly intended to explain her experiences these months and report her thoughts, then gently talked about the situation of handing over Tom, then enlightened Tom to actively cooperate with the investigation, for leniency and so on. She has a thousand words to say. She even imagined that Tom would blame her for not contacting him for a long time, or could not stand the long mental torture then passed away, which means she may not receive any response. But actually, after Ginny wrote these few words, there was an immediate answer.
Ginny Weasley?
Tom, nice! I was worried you'd ignored me!
Where are you?
School. Are you ok?
It's ok. Mind if you do me a favour.
What kind of favour?
Take me to Dumbledore.
This request made Ginny really surprised. She cannot help but think that Tom neither asked her to save him, nor asked her what happened in these few months, but went straight to Dumbledore. Was he ready to devote himself to the good and therefore he took the initiative to cooperate with Dumbledore?
Ginny was satisfied with his idea, no more words, she quickly wrote "Great", and brought the notebook directly to Dumbledore's office.
Standing outside the door, Ginny was a little nervous. She straightened her shirt and took a deep breath before raising her hand and knocking on the door. After waiting for a little longer than expected, a calm but spirited "Come in" slowly came out from the inside.
Push open the door, a hale and hearty old man behind the desk looked up from a stack of manuscript paper, staring at Ginny, and greeted casually.
"Good morning, Miss Weasley." He paused, "Professor Snape didn't come with you?"
Why should I come with him… Ginny froze in place and thought.
"Did you mistake for someone else, professor?" Ginny inquired tentatively.
"Is that so?" The old headmaster pushed up his glasses and smiled, "Ah, Miss Ginny Weasley. My apologies. Let's be lenient with the elderly. What can I help you?"
"Yes, please, I have something extremely important to tell you. If you are not busy right now, I wish… "
Dumbledore waved a hand at Ginny, signalling her to pause.
"If you have a lot to say, I think I'd better ask you to wait for a moment." The old headmaster looked up at the wall clock, "Someone had an appointment for discussion beforehand, and I think she is almost here. You wouldn't wish our conversation to be interrupted by something else. Would you see if we can set up another time?"
"Oh… No problem. Maybe I can come back this afternoon?"
Dumbledore flipped through his schedule. Before he could answer, there was another knock at the door and he frowned slightly, then said to Ginny:
"Sincerely apologies. Miss Weasley, it's not convenient for you to leave now. Would you like to wait in the lounge for a moment?"
Ginny nodded and walked towards a small door on the backside of Dumbledore's desk, passing by and overhearing that the box of fudge she used to steal had been replaced with a tin of cockroach cluster.
Once in the common room, Ginny was surprised to find Astoria sitting on the couch.
"I would have gone out earlier if I had known it was you," Astoria said disgruntledly as she gave Ginny a look.
She hooked her fingers and Ginny walked over to see a mirror hanging on the opposite wall, reflecting not Astoria and her, but the view from the outside room, which from the angle it looked like the large mirror that was placed in the middle of the west side of Dumbledore's office.
"The mirrors are connected," Astoria explained.
"Keep your voice down." Ginny was worried about Astoria's loud voice.
"It's alright. They can't hear us from the outside."
In the mirror, the door of the headmaster's room opened, Aquamarine gracefully walked in, like the wind swinging lotus leaf. That familiar expression seems like a regular visitor of Dumbledore's office. Immediately behind her, Snape and Lupin entered one by one.
Ginny heard the cold grunt of Astoria beside her.
"Ah, welcome, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore looked happily at Aqua's arrival, "A little cockroach clusters? It's my favourite."
Aquamarine momentarily blushed, but hurriedly hid her face full of disgust, sitting gracefully in a padded high chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and shaking her head.
"Let's get down to business." Aquamarine smiled and winked, "Professor Snape sent word to you, didn't he, that I improved the wolfsbane potion over the holidays."
Dumbledore nodded: "Yes."
"Since Professor Lupin came to school, I always felt odd magic fluctuations… Not long ago Professor Snape substituted for the class and explained werewolves to us, I slightly associated…" pausing here, Aquamarine's eyes swept toward Lupin. "If I'm not wrong, this seems to be the werewolf in front of me. With the improved wolfsbane potion I just mentioned, I believe, headmaster, you have always been concerned about the welfare of your staff, don't you think that Professor Lupin needs this very much? For fifty gallons per bottle of potion, I would be happy to do this business with you, headmaster."
"Fifty galleons?"
Hearing Dumbledore's disoriented exclaim, Ginny was even more surprised than knowing that Lupin was a werewolf, she leaned close to the mirror and watched the old headmaster closely, finding his expression quite genuine, his eyes staring out from behind the half-moon shaped lenses.
"Yes, fair enough." Aquamarine looked at the old man's comical expression, became more inspired, "Raw materials twenty-five galleons, labour costs fifteen galleons, the profit is only a thin ten galleons. This is a friendly price, if put on the black market, such a bottle of the potion I can earn at least fifty gallons for profit."
Aquamarine's big eyes flashed, looked at Dumbledore and then looked at Lupin, lips hooked up a smile, no longer speaking, seemed to be waiting for Dumbledore to respond.
"Can't it be less?" Dumbledore looked like he was about to cry.
"This potion does have that value, but you can still choose to use the original one." Aquamarine gave Dumbledore a sidelong glance and said with a smirk. "That original potion is good, except that long-term use will weaken the magic of those who take it, and once you leave the support of the potion, will also be delirious. My potion, not much better, but not the professor invented the kind of potion weakening magic side effects and can remain fully awake, long-term use can even suppress the body's wolf poison, will not have adverse genetic effects on their future children." After saying that she spread her hands and gave a summary, "Basically, there is not much difference."
The atmosphere of the meeting room was silent for a while, who did not speak, Aquamarine with a mocking smile, as if bored to death generally yawned, just at this time, Ginny found Dumbledore raised his finger at Professor Lupin, Lupin dawned as if to open his mouth and said.
"There is no… other ways?"
Aquamarine looked at him like a prey she caught, making a shocked expression.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that the professor does not have that strong financial strength."
Satisfied to see Lupin's face turning white and Dumbledore's beard starting to curl, Aquamarine continued:
"Actually, it's not non-negotiable. After all, I have no intention to put the potion on the market so early. It would be a good choice to use it to help the professor now."
"Then…" Dumbledore waited for Aquamarine's affirmative answer.
"Forty-nine galleons per bottle of potion, with all raw materials covered by the school." Aquamarine blandly offered the conditions. "For your own good, at the critical moment, someone is a trump card to enlist the wolves."
Hearing this, Astoria, who had been watching coldly, slapped her thigh and stood up.
"Nonsense, that filthy little arsehole!" Astoria winded up into the side of the lounge standing cabinet.
"What are you doing?"
"Just sit there and watch."
Astoria went into the cabinet and didn't come out again, Ginny focused on the mirror again, Aquamarine was aggressive, Dumbledore was backing up, and there was no suspense in the bargaining battle.
Just as they were about to reach an agreement, there was another knock on the door, and when they opened it, Astoria also walked in with the style of the lotus leaves swinging in the wind.
"O-la-la~~~everyone is here, what a wonderful coincidence!" She did not care about the changing expressions of Dumbledore and the others, continued to smile coquettishly, imitating the tone of Aquamarine, "I came to see the headmaster today, just to say that I accidentally researched a new potion, very effective in treating wolfsbane, I thought someone in the school might need it, so I wanted to talk to the headmaster."
"Is that so? It's a pity, I'm one step ahead of you." Aquamarine replied contemptuously.
"Oh really! Miss Weasley, always so amazing!" Astoria walked up briskly, "Does that mean you've made a deal with the headmaster now? It shouldn't be for nothing, should it?"
"As so, forty galleons a bottle." Aquamarine hurriedly looked at Dumbledore, "You know, if Professor Snape had not already told you, I would prefer to sell these potions. Forty was giving a big step up!"
"I only need fifty!" Astoria smiled and held out a palm, "a bottle of potion just to give Slytherin fifty extra points!"
"Sounds good." Dumbledore looked interested.
"Then I only need forty-five points."
"Forty points for me… "
"Thirty-five… "
"Thirty… "
Two schoolmates from the same academy fought to cut their academy's score for the dignity of the mall, and the battle was fierce and unrelenting.
Eventually, Astoria won the bid with five points per bottle and a free three-month trial, she thanked the headmaster, turned around, showed Aquamarine a winning smile and turned to go out.
Astoria's small victory did not put things to rest, her front foot had just left, Ginny started to get scared because of Aquamarine's face. That face, worse than the half-year expired milk, the rain was coming as the dark clouds started to fill the sky.
A storm is brewing…
Not surprisingly, Aquamarine did not give up and walk away, but pretended to look unconcerned, pulling around to chat together. Seemingly calm words coating the malice, provoking every topic involving Lupin – the one in the room who seems easiest to bully.
Finally, the tipping point has arrived, Aquamarine pulled out an old past flogging story between Snape and Lupin, discussed the grudge even more clear than the parties themselves, the arrow of benevolence and morality one by one whooshing shot to Lupin, will not rest until his body intact with thousand of holes.
"I guess you think this childish behaviour is very interesting? In that case, if I want to try some special potions for werewolves, then change the potion to a fake one, can you also forgive my childish behaviour? You know, I'm only in my second year of school, and it seems that Professor Lupin and his friends were already in their fifth year when the murder took place. I'm telling you! Professor Snape is my most beloved professor, and I will never forgive anyone who bullies or hurts him. If any more Gryffindors try to bully the professor, I will give the whole Gryffindor a piece of my mind, including my brothers and sisters!"
A declaration of accusations coming out of nowhere, full of anger yet so inexplicable. The hatred in the words rushed over, the waves of malice covering the sky.
What do you mean, including my brothers and sisters? What have we done to you anyway? Ginny heard Aquamarine's words and wanted to vomit. Her mood was as if a small boat in the wind, falling into the whirlpool, drowned at the bottom of the water, buried in the ocean trench.
Finally, if Snape, who Aquamarine favoured, had not stopped her, they would never know what kind of sharp sword, axe, hook and fork would be shot out from Aquamarine's mouth.
Finally, Aquamarine took a deep breath, stood up, looked at the side of Dumbledore and Lupin, and then turned to face Snape.
"Professor, I'll go back now."
Snape nodded slightly.
Looking at the back of Aquamarine who was leaving the office, Ginny suddenly found Astoria who returned sometime earlier standing beside her.
Astoria's teeth clenched for a while, finally grinding out a sentence:
"It's enough to be as shameless as me. Don't ever be like her!"
Hello everyone, thanks for reading this far.
I have a really important test coming up, so I wouldn't be active for at least till march :(
But, but, I will come back after, and if you like this story, reviews are always welcome!
Anyway, bye for now!
-Yoyo