Chapter 45
Lily. Such a simple, four-lettered word. And it would only take a simple, two worded curse to erase it from my life.
Don't be fools—of course I wasn't planning to kill her. I wasn't 'off my rocker' as you muggles say—wasn't then, and never will be.
No, I was just thinking how easily someone as trivial, as pathetic, as Garednon could kill her. Could remove her from existence. Today was Saturday. Lily had Defense Against the Dark Arts on Monday. And, blind as Garednon was, there was no doubt he would notice a student thought to be dead miraculously come back to life. Hell, I'm sure he was suspicious enough not to hear any reports from Dumbledore about a certain missing Gryffindor.
But it was Hogsmeade weekend.
And many, many things went unnoticed during Hogsmeade weekend.
The only way to ensure Lily's absolute safety was to tie off loose ends. And my loose end, of course, was Garednon.
I wouldn't mind killing him.
Maybe I'd even enjoy it.
I'd never liked him, anyway, the bastard.
But how?
Obviously, cursing was completely out of the question. It would be too easy to find out who did it—a simple Prior Incantato on everyone's wands, and the murderer would be caught. News would catch, Lord Voldemort would find out, and then I would die.
And I didn't want to die yet.
So Garednon would have to be poisoned. Now, poisons were Severus' department—not mine. As I said, when I look at it objectively, Severus would have made the better Death Eater.
But back to the point. Out of the millions and millions of potions out there, which was the right one for Garednon? A quick, simple death wouldn't do. No, no. That would be a mercy to him. It would have to be something drawn out—something magic would not cure. Something anti-poisons wouldn't detect. Something like…
The Menandrus. The poison my Great Aunt Vialett had used on her third husband. Perfect. Of course, I only knew the lore of the poison—where she'd found it—how she'd changed it to suit her.
To explain the subtle workings of this potion, I will have to take a few minutes of your time, and bore you, as explanations always do.
Unlike many other poisons, the Menandrus is specific—I could drink it and live--only Garednon could drink and die. This specificity is due to the presence of the essence (interesting rhyme, I know) of the person—similar to the Polyjuice mix. The poisonous substance itself, of course, is the scale of the Red Mermaid—a very rare substance, and found only in the shadiest areas of the Black Markets.
Now, I don't mean Black Market the way muggles mean it—I mean it literally: the Black Market, owned by the Black Family. So that would be easy to obtain.
As for the rest of the potion, however—the catalysts for the poison to work, and everything else—I did not know. Of course the Library did—so I would have to do some research today. But I would have to hurry. The potion worked lethally, but, as potions went, quite slowly as well. If all went according to plan, Garednon would drink it tonight in front of the entire school, have a mild stomach ache by late evening, enjoy a rash or ten by Sunday's mid-morning, be too sick to teach on Monday, and die by Tuesday.
I was wonderful at making plans, wasn't I? No one would suspect the Menandrus poison—unless someone was already expecting it. See, the Menandrus poison, as I said, is very specific and targets the person's allergies—if he had none, it would create its own.
Yes, it would be the Menandrus. Now, I would have to get the ingredients. And, where else would I get it, but the school's very own library? It would be too long to wait until nightfall, however—I would have to go now. Invisibility cloak was a definite yes—wouldn't it be rather obvious and coincidental if I marched up, borrowed a book on poisons, and a teacher dropped dead the following week? Of course, I needed more than the invisibility cloak—I'd need a position spell. A spell that would ensure no one would see any books floating in the library whilst I obtained what I needed.
A few moments of preparation, and there I was, in the library (at last). I'd snuck in behind Trelawney, who was too worried about Madame Pince's astrological signs to feel my presence with her—ahem third eye. If she even had one.
I whispered the position spell ('Freosium'), hopped in over the gate, and searched for the book. A minute or two or searching, and I'd found what I was looking for: 'A Thousand Preposterously Poisonous Potions'. The Menandrus was there in rather fine print, along with its ingredients.
As suspected, I would need Red Mermaid Scales—but along with that, Beetle Brains, Ground Unicorn Hoof, Salamander Eyes, and Toad Spleen. I gave an involuntary shudder. How was Garednon going to not taste anything? My eyes roamed further down the page, and I found the assurance I needed: 'The poyson blendes well with the conseeling adgent.' There it was. In terrible, sixteenth century spelling. The potion would taste like the juice he was drinking. Thank evilness for small blessings.
I made a quick copy of the 'recipe', undid the position spell, and left the library, whistling a tune beneath the cloak. A slow smile formed on my lips. Not exactly a happy one, but. . . it was a smile. A rather evil one at that.
Next on my list—the Black Market.
Author's Notes:
I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I'm a terrible updater! Terrible, terrible, terrible! You'll see a small bit of Lucius/Lily interaction (or, uninteraction) in the next chapter—a bit sad, but you all know how this story is going to end. I'm a bit tired right now, so hope you all enjoy this chapter, and send me your reviews to tell me what you think! But, just for the record, this chapter was ready last month! Unfortunately, my dad, in the process of reformatting my comp, deleted it. You could just imagine how angry I was! And, how angry Lucius was. So I lost a bit of interest in retyping everything—you know what it's like. But, I finished the chapter, and, short as it may be, at least I finished it, right? The next one will be soon. Er. Sooner.
Thank you so much to all who reviewed last time—I'm just too tired to reply right now, teehee.
