The next morning an old man came to Hogwarts. Hagrid stopped him, as he crossed the lawn, heading for the front door of the castle. The man told Hagrid that he had a message for Madam Pomfrey. After talking to him for a few minutes, Hagrid ushered him up to the castle and left him in Filch's care in the entrance hall, while he went to fetch Poppy.
When they returned, the man bowed to Poppy, and said, "Last night a gentleman came into my pub. He gave me two gold Galleons to come here this morning and pass on a message to you. He said it was urgent."
Poppy nodded and held out her hand. The man shook his head. "Oh, it wasn't written down. It was only two words. Devil's Foot. He said it was a matter of life or death, and you'd understand."
Poppy nodded again thoughtfully. "I think I'm beginning to. Can you describe the man who left the message with you?"
The man considered the question. "Aye, he was tall and pale with black hair and eyes, dressed all in black, too. He had a soft, sort of menacing voice. He seemed rather desperate for help. He was very insistent on my coming here as soon as possible. Wanted me to come last night, but well…I told him I'd do it first thing in the morning, and he settled for that. Scared me a bit, though, he did. He didn't seem like the type you'd want to cross, if you know what I mean."
Poppy's heart leaped at the description. This had to be the information that they'd been searching for so desperately! Now if she could only figure out what Snape meant by it. "Where's your pub located, sir?"
"Diurn Alley, in London."
"You've come a long way to deliver this message. I really appreciate that you went to all this trouble. Thank you so much, for you might just have saved a young woman's life." She smiled at him, and then turned to Hagrid. "Hagrid, please show our friend to the kitchen and get him a good meal before he heads back. Thank you again, sir."
The man smiled politely and nodded, pleased with the kind treatment he'd gotten. "I'm glad to be of serve, Madam, and thank you for your hospitality. Actually this is the most interesting thing to come up in quite awhile. I haven't been back to Hogwarts since I was a boy. I'm real pleased to have the chance."
As Hagrid led the man off to the kitchens, Madam Pomfrey gave him a final smile and ran upstairs to search for Remus Lupin. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was just finishing up a class, when he saw her standing anxiously in his doorway. Curious to know what she wanted, he sped up his last minute instructions, and let the class out a bit early.
As the students began to file out of the room, happy to have a little extra time, Poppy pulled Lupin into a corner, so the departing class wouldn't overhear them. "I just received a message from Severus," she exclaimed in an excited whisper.
Lupin's heart started to beat faster. "So he's okay, then."
The mediwitch shrugged. "I hope so. The message was only two words. Devil's Foot. It sounds familiar to me, but I can't quite recall where I've heard it before. It must be related to the poison that's killing Evangeline. It's the only thing that makes sense. Does it ring a bell with you?" She stared at him hopefully.
Lupin frowned thoughtfully, then he gasped and blanched. "Oh my god, we've been looking in the wrong place!" Swiftly he turned and ran over to his own bookcase and began to search through the books. Finding the one he wanted, he pulled it out and began to flip through it.
"Here it is! Devil's Foot is a powerful hallucinogen. Powerful enough to cause death if burned and the smoke inhaled." With a shiver he read further and nodded. "Yes, it says it can also be made into an ointment that acts like strong poison if taken internally or rubbed onto the skin or into a wound. It would cause the wound not to heal. It would also cause strong delirium, hallucinations, and eventual death!"
He looked up at Poppy in fear. This was exactly what he'd been so afraid of! The worried woman grabbed his arm and tried to direct his attention back to the book in his hands. "Does it give any information on an antidote?"
Immediately he dropped his eyes once more and read further, turned the page, and felt immense relief wash over him. "Yes, there's a recipe for a potion that should counteract the effects. It looks very complex. I'm not sure if we have all of the necessary ingredients. How are you at brewing complex potions? I'm not good at it at all." He watched her face anxiously.
Poppy snatched the book from his hands and read the recipe. She nodded thoughtfully to herself. "I could probably do it, but I think I'll ask Albus. He's quite good at fussy precise things like this. I certainly wish Severus was here, no one could do a better job than he could."
Lupin nodded. He felt a stab of guilt at the thought of Snape returning. If I feel this way at the mention of Snape's name, how am I going to feel when he actually returns, and I have to face him? He wondered.
Resolutely he turned his attention back to Poppy. "I'm sure he wishes he could be here, too, but at least he got us the information we needed. You go talk to Albus. I'll take the book and go check Severus' storeroom to see if we have all of the ingredients we're going to need."
So Poppy headed off to Dumbledore's office as quickly as she could while Lupin made a beeline for the dungeon. He checked everything in Snape's storeroom. It appeared that they did have everything they needed, after all. Intense relief washed over him. He'd been so afraid that despite their best efforts, Evangeline was going to die.
Pomfrey and Dumbledore entered the dungeon classroom as Lupin was putting out all the necessary ingredients. He looked up at them and smiled. "We have everything we need, thank god! Are you willing to attempt this, Albus?"
Dumbledore nodded reassuringly. "Of course, Remus, now calm yourself and don't worry. We'll do all that we can to help Evangeline. Let me see the recipe." He held out his hand for the book. After perusing the recipe he said, "This should only take a couple of hours to prepare, if you help me, Poppy. Despite its complexity, its brewing time is rather short."
She nodded and turned to Lupin. "Remus, can you relieve, Minerva? She's been sitting with Evangeline, but she has a class she needs to get to."
Lupin nodded, trying to hide just how reluctant he was to go and stay alone with Evangeline. "Uh…okay. I'm free for the rest of the day. I can stay with Evangeline for as long as necessary, I guess." With a slightly nervous feeling running up and down his spine, he left them to get started and went down the corridor to knock on the door to Snape's quarters.
***************************************************
Author's Note: For the satisfaction of sharing what you know and to help keep me honest, can anyone tell me where I have shamelessly stolen Devil's Foot from? :)