Chapter 9
The four found each other back at the common room. Alice was white as a ghost and the two boys had dark expressions on their faces.
"If we could have gotten him-"
"Want us to curse him for you?"
"No," said Alice. "It was my fault, I was in his room." And even though this brought up a chorus of protests, Alice held her hand up and motioned to James to talk.
"We put all the git's books in some bags the house-elves gave us. They're over there," he said, pointing to linen laundry bags. "You never said what you wanted them for."
Lily and Alice exchanged glances. Lily gave her a helpless look, begging Alice not to go into too much detail.
"We need the books for something that's gone wrong."
"What is it? What's gone wrong?"
"We're not sure yet, but we'll tell you when we are."
*
"This is excellent," said Alice. "All twelve love potions."
"What information is there?" asked Lily, touching her lip gently. They had pored over many of the tomes, some as old as the school itself. A few of them mentioned love potion, but this was the first that went into detail.
"Love potion is one of the first potions ever conceived. Over the centuries, twelve different variations of this tonic have come into existence.
"Love Potion One is the lightest of the potions, colored in light pink. Its properties are very simple, making the drinker have harmless feelings of attractions toward a subject. It is employed to prompt mating in small mammals and its most practical application is to encourage breeding in endangered species.
"Love Potions Two and Three are similar. Their colorings are light red and orange-red. Both have the properties in enticing a drinker into an adolescent sparkle state, or "crush". Three increases these feelings more than Two. Love Potions Four through Eight instates what is called "true love" by critics, or as a recreated love by the potion. Each increases these feelings more. This is typically used illegally to entice a person into reciprocation of love by another person. Their colorings range from pure red to violet-red.
"Love Potion Nine is unique in that it there is no specific subject in which the enamored feelings are directed to. It is mostly used to entice members of the opposite sex or to increase sexual drive. Critics have called this particular serum "frivolous" and "wasteful" but this potion is the most popular in the entire set.
"Ten, Eleven and Twelve have all-consuming properties. A drinker will fall irresistibly in love and become completely devoted to one person. These were all used for strictly political reasons in medieval era; when two royals resisted becoming married for diplomacy a wizard merely needed to slip a drop or two into the prince and princess's evening wine, and they would desire each other forever. The colorings are deep, vivid scarlet."
"Does it say anything about a cure?"
"It does. Hate Sap and another one I've never heard of before: Amorbane Wine. But it's so vile-looking. Dead loveage leaves, that's fatal to a consumer. And there's loads of nasty things in here, you may as well take poison yourself and be done with it."
"The Hate Sap's obviously not working. This might be the last hope."
*
"Dead lovage?" The new Herbology professor asked. Lily stood in her 'office', which was more like a shed than anything. Most of the outdoor gardens withered and died in winter, so the professor was getting ready to set up more plants in the greenhouses. Sprout was young and pretty in the face and had joined the staff only a few months ago. "Are you aware of the consequences of wielding it, much less eat it?"
"Professor Dollops needs it, not me," said Lily quickly.
"There are very few potions that use dead lovage in its recipe, and none of them are used by the Potions master. If you want dead lovage, you will need to go to him and get a signed request."
"Thank you, Professor Sprout, I'll tell him," said a defeated Lily.
The four found each other back at the common room. Alice was white as a ghost and the two boys had dark expressions on their faces.
"If we could have gotten him-"
"Want us to curse him for you?"
"No," said Alice. "It was my fault, I was in his room." And even though this brought up a chorus of protests, Alice held her hand up and motioned to James to talk.
"We put all the git's books in some bags the house-elves gave us. They're over there," he said, pointing to linen laundry bags. "You never said what you wanted them for."
Lily and Alice exchanged glances. Lily gave her a helpless look, begging Alice not to go into too much detail.
"We need the books for something that's gone wrong."
"What is it? What's gone wrong?"
"We're not sure yet, but we'll tell you when we are."
*
"This is excellent," said Alice. "All twelve love potions."
"What information is there?" asked Lily, touching her lip gently. They had pored over many of the tomes, some as old as the school itself. A few of them mentioned love potion, but this was the first that went into detail.
"Love potion is one of the first potions ever conceived. Over the centuries, twelve different variations of this tonic have come into existence.
"Love Potion One is the lightest of the potions, colored in light pink. Its properties are very simple, making the drinker have harmless feelings of attractions toward a subject. It is employed to prompt mating in small mammals and its most practical application is to encourage breeding in endangered species.
"Love Potions Two and Three are similar. Their colorings are light red and orange-red. Both have the properties in enticing a drinker into an adolescent sparkle state, or "crush". Three increases these feelings more than Two. Love Potions Four through Eight instates what is called "true love" by critics, or as a recreated love by the potion. Each increases these feelings more. This is typically used illegally to entice a person into reciprocation of love by another person. Their colorings range from pure red to violet-red.
"Love Potion Nine is unique in that it there is no specific subject in which the enamored feelings are directed to. It is mostly used to entice members of the opposite sex or to increase sexual drive. Critics have called this particular serum "frivolous" and "wasteful" but this potion is the most popular in the entire set.
"Ten, Eleven and Twelve have all-consuming properties. A drinker will fall irresistibly in love and become completely devoted to one person. These were all used for strictly political reasons in medieval era; when two royals resisted becoming married for diplomacy a wizard merely needed to slip a drop or two into the prince and princess's evening wine, and they would desire each other forever. The colorings are deep, vivid scarlet."
"Does it say anything about a cure?"
"It does. Hate Sap and another one I've never heard of before: Amorbane Wine. But it's so vile-looking. Dead loveage leaves, that's fatal to a consumer. And there's loads of nasty things in here, you may as well take poison yourself and be done with it."
"The Hate Sap's obviously not working. This might be the last hope."
*
"Dead lovage?" The new Herbology professor asked. Lily stood in her 'office', which was more like a shed than anything. Most of the outdoor gardens withered and died in winter, so the professor was getting ready to set up more plants in the greenhouses. Sprout was young and pretty in the face and had joined the staff only a few months ago. "Are you aware of the consequences of wielding it, much less eat it?"
"Professor Dollops needs it, not me," said Lily quickly.
"There are very few potions that use dead lovage in its recipe, and none of them are used by the Potions master. If you want dead lovage, you will need to go to him and get a signed request."
"Thank you, Professor Sprout, I'll tell him," said a defeated Lily.