4. Midsummer Night's Gifts

Are not you he that mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
~ William Shakespeare

"Have you gone mad, Sev? It's night, if you haven't noticed! Time to sleep, you know. Where are we going?"

"To the forest."

"We already ARE in the forest!"

"Do keep quiet, if you please. Nobody but hopeless Muggles will sleep tonight. And certainly not here."

Lucius sighed and moved the bundle he was carrying to the other shoulder. There were two linen sheets, an axe and some matches in there, and Merlin knows what else, probably.

"All right, I'll ask it in even smaller words. What are we going to the forest for? And why must I carry this trash instead of using spells like a normal wizard?"

"We are going after a valuable ingredient. That is why we can't use magic. Any more questions?"

"Just one. Couldn't you find anyone else?"

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"Let's trade tasks, Sev. You will chop the wood, and I'll go around in circles, muttering gibberish."

"Do you know what gibberish to mutter?"

"No. Does that matter?"

"Alas, it does. So start the fire, please, and don't be in the way."

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"How could I possibly know that aspen wood did not burn well?"

"You should try burning raw aspen wood... ah, wait, you just did. Do you use that in your manor's fireplaces too?"

"I have house elves to look after my manor's fireplaces, thank you very much. And they use apple wood. I like the scent."

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"You want me to do WHAT? That's it, Sev, you are mad. I won't jump in there."

"Not in there. Just over it. Do you need explaining every little thing? How did you manage to pass your N.E.W.T.s, I don't know. You are worse than the Potter boy!"

"All right, so do it yourself, if you wish to."

"Don't worry, I will."

"Perfect. And I will stand by and watch."

"It is quite simple, Luce. Either you jump or you fall. The choice is yours."

"All right, Sev. I concede. But if I burn my... something valuable, Cissy will claw your eyes out. She is a real witch, my Cissy."

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"Are you quite sure this water is safe to get in, Sev? It looks too dark. Who only knows what it is infected with."

"Oh Merlin. You do remember, don't you, that it's actually the middle of the night? If we have found some lake with the water that glows in the dark, I would not recommend you to touch it. This is a normal lake with normal water. Get in."

"It is probably icily cold. And it stinks of bog."

"It won't kill you anyway. You only have to get in for a minute, and then you'll be able to go back and dry yourself. Here is the sheets, all ready."

Lucius undressed himself and threw on his cloak against the cool night air. He came up to the bottomless black pool and cautiously tried the water with his toe. At the next moment, he jumped away from it.

"Sev, you are mad! It's freezing! I will get cramps, and sink, and die! And I'll catch a cold! And pneumonia!"

"Don't worry, I have enough of Pepper-Up on me," Severus smirked, getting himself naked too. "Get in the lake, if you don't want me to throw you there."

Moaning and groaning, Lucius parted with his cloak, all the way to the water pretending to be dying from the cold. At last, he sighed and dived into the dark water without a splash.

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"So, this is your precious Splitwort? The Springwurzel?" Lucius asked derisively, wrapping himself in the sheet and looking down his nose at the unimpressive little plant with small flowers. "This is your lock-opening and metal-bursting magic herb? Ha! I am deeply wounded. How could you risk my health and my life for this ugly weed? I could have catch my death in that lake! I could burn alive!"

"Yet you did not," Severus answered calmly. He wrapped the precious plant into a clean white cloth and put it into his pocket. "Now we have just to give it to Albus in time and don't let it touch metal. Otherwise it will lose its power."

"Well, you are the expert," Lucius shrugged. "But I must warn you that the next time you will have to go without me."

"Uh-huh," Severus answered vaguely. He could not tell his friend that there could not be a next time. He could not possibly explain that only a total ignoramus who did not know what he was looking for could find a Splitwort on Midsummer Night.


A/N. Splitwort is more or less literal translation for the most famous Slavic magic herb that opens locks, breaks chains and shatters metals. Springwurzel is German for "key-root', it's also a magic herb that opens locks.