Chapter 32: Antidote to common poisons

The last couple of days had been crazy. Ever since Colin Creevey was petrified, the whole school was on edge. Someone tried to sell Elsa an amulet that would supposedly protect her from harm, but she knew better than to fall for the fraud. Just from touching it, she could feel that it was a plain stone, it didn't hold any magic. Besides, would she even need one? She wasn't Muggleborn. She wasn't a witch either, but no one knew that. She felt no need to cower in fear. What would that achieve anyway? Fear was a useless emotion.

Her brother was distraught and blamed himself for what happened to his friend. She tried to assure him that he couldn't have done anything to prevent it, but he wasn't easily persuaded. Guilt was yet another useless emotion. If only she could make him see that.

If he wasn't under enough strain already, his roommate, Merlin, had been making it worse. Per Jack, his friend was acting strange around him, upset by what happened to Colin in his own way. The fear was getting to everyone and had a compounding effect. It was like an infection causing mass hysteria, spreading from student to student, becoming more potent with each day.

Elsa was most intrigued about the Old Religion business that Merlin spoke about. Jack's plan was rolling out well—McGonagall was receptive to their request to officially accept their religious beliefs, but then, Colin was petrified, and Merlin's attitude completely changed.

Several days had passed since then, and Merlin could not find the time to move forward with their plan. Now, he had been spending all his time with Harry Potter's gang and wouldn't be bothered with anything else. Her brother wanted to leave him be, but Elsa didn't like a tease. So when she saw Merlin in the hallway, she decided it was time to confront him.

"Hi," she said, wanting to start diplomatically. "I'm really sorry about your friend."

Merlin narrowed his eyes, giving off unfriendly vibes, and she wondered if she had ever done anything to make him dislike her. Her brother seemed to like him though, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"Jack mentioned that you showed him an Old Religion spell a few days ago, and I was wondering when you were planning on teaching us that 'real' magic you spoke of."

"Oh, that." Merlin scratched his head. "This isn't the best time with everything that's happened."

Elsa blinked a few times, trying to recover her train of thought. This was the attitude Jack was talking about. "Well, or maybe it's the best time exactly for that reason. Jack complained how he wishes he had been there to protect Colin, but how exactly could he protect him? He doesn't know any spells strong enough. When you spoke of it, it sounded like you know advanced magic. Or was that all just talk?"

Merlin frowned, and she wondered if she pushed him too hard, but she stood her ground. Someone had to give this boy a good talking to.

"It wasn't just talk. I want to teach you, but you're going to have to be patient."

She did not appreciate his patronizing tone or how he was dangling his knowledge of the subject in front of her like it was a carrot teasing a hungry goat. She did not like being under his mercy. "Don't forget, Jack needs your help to talk to Professor Snape. We started the process, we can't just pause. That would make it look like we weren't serious."

"I'll try to find the time, but I have more important things on my plate right now."

"Some friend you are," she said bitterly. "You gave my brother hope that he was going to be alright and then you abandoned him. Nevermind. I will help him if you won't."

Merlin had no response for her, but instead stared at her in a strange way that made her feel uncomfortable like he was searching for something in her eyes, so she ended that disappointing conversation.

They needed Merlin for their conversation with Snape because as a real practitioner of the faith, he could answer the professor's questions about it, but if he was going to act so don't-bother-me-now, then they had to figure this out alone. Elsa wanted to help her brother and thought that a good solution would be to occupy them with new research. They spent the next couple of days scouring the library for any mention of Old Religion but found no volumes about that topic. Since Merlin mentioned ancient Druids, they decided to research them instead and found that, apparently, ancient Druids believed in passing on their knowledge in a word-of-the-mouth method and did not like to write it down. They found nothing authored by the true practitioners but records written about them.

The more Elsa read about it, the more she wanted to learn Old Religion. She was enthralled by the idea of possessing it all: her own brand of nature spirit magic, Hogwarts magic, and Old Religion. If she could wield them all, she would be unstoppable.

They found one book which contained Old Religion spells, and she got excited, thinking they wouldn't need Merlin after all, only to find that the spells were written in an ancient rune.

"Do you think Merlin can read this?"

Jack looked over at the page and shrugged. "It's possible. He knows Old English. Hey, remember when Mother spoke in a different language sometimes? That's what it was! Isn't it weird?" He leaned in closer and whispered, "Merlin says that this language has been dead for a thousand years. Do you think Mother is that old?"

A shiver went down Elsa's spine. She couldn't imagine how anyone could be that old, but she supposed Mother could have been doing her spring rejuvenation for a thousand years already. Maybe longer.

"Who would want to live that long?"

A new thought occurred to her. One of the spellbooks she had found might contain a spell in Old Religion that would help her find their father, and she wouldn't even need Mirror of Erised anymore. But they needed Merlin to translate it, and he wasn't cooperating at the moment.

Research into Old Religion was a welcome break from her usual research for the Mirror of Erised. Luna's father turned out to be of no help. He didn't keep a record of who submitted the article about it. In an act of desperation, Elsa wrote a letter to the Gulbadox family and gave it to a school owl, hoping that the bird would be able to find them by some magical means. Two days later, the owl came back and angrily threw her letter back at her. The events in the article had happened over a century ago. Was it possible that there were no surviving Gulbadox descendants?

After that fiasco, her last hope was finding where people would send dangerous artifacts. She was running out of places to look. It felt like she had read half the library by now. So it was with welcome thoughts that she dived into the knowledge on the Old Magic and Druid practices. It distracted her from feeling like a failure.

Once they read what they could about ancient Druids, they talked to McGonagall, counting on her help with Professor Snape.

"What exactly do you plan to achieve with Professor Snape?" she asked them.

"Some of the ingredients we use in Potions are so horrid," Jack said. "If we could substitute them for something more humane…"

"Do you realize that you propose to change a potion's recipe? What makes you think you know the subject well enough to do this? You're only in your first year."

"She has a point," Elsa admitted, but her brother seemed pretty confident about his plan.

"Elsa, do you remember that elixir book that we used to practice reading?"

Elsa had a warm flashback to her biggest childhood "crime"—borrowing Mother's elixir book without permission. They had very few reading materials available when growing up, and Elsa was intrigued by the strange hand-written book. It was difficult to decipher, and they didn't know what they were reading, but that was what made it exciting. That, and the constant fear of being discovered.

"Yes," she answered.

"A lot of tips from that book apply to Potions. They work. I've tried them."

She blinked, taken aback that he remembered. "See? All those times I told you to practice reading on it has paid off."

He smiled, refreshingly not afraid to admit that she was right. "Yes, it did. Have you tried using what you remember from it?"

"No. I remember it well, but those elixirs are not the same as what we're learning here. I've been following the recipes from our textbook."

Jack gave her a sly smile. "Really? I'm doing something better than you?"

"Who said that you're better? My grades have been excellent."

"So are mine, and I've been modifying every potion recipe according to the elixir book notes."

Elsa gaped at him. "That was a brazen risk."

"Jack, this is intriguing," McGonagall sighed, "but I don't want you to get your hopes up. What you're trying to achieve is unprecedented."

"I need to try."

"Very well," she drew herself up and straightened a crinkle on her long gown. "I'll speak to Professor Snape and arrange the time. I suggest you two prepare what you're planning to say to him in the meantime."

While having a word of their Head of House was going to be useful, Elsa knew that this was a battle they had to fight on their own. She spent hours in the Ravenclaw common room, racking her brains for the best way to approach the unapproachable Potions Master. Luna came over and squatted on the floor with her drawing materials.

"Luna, when I said you can borrow my shoes, I meant both, right and left."

Someone stole all of Luna's right shoes, leaving her with only the lefts. While they looked for them, Elsa offered her a spare pair. Luna seemed to be very relaxed about the whole situation. If it was her, Elsa would've turned the place into a war zone to find out who did it.

"They're a little large, you're taller after all," Luna said in a chipper tone. "It's better to have at least one well-fitting shoe if two are not available."

Elsa stared at the one yellow and one gray shoe and sighed. She supposed it was better than her brother's barefoot obsession.

A group of second-year girls passed by and openly laughed upon seeing Luna. Elsa wondered if they were the thieves. The girls noticed her ferocious stare, sobered up, and left the common room. They looked guilty. This was worth investigating.

Right after, another girl went down from the dorm, and Elsa's mood brightened up.

"Padma," she waved to her favorite second-year friend to come over, "you know Professor Snape better. If you had a request for him, how would you go about it?"

Padma paused and approached slowly with a wistful look on her face. "What is this about?"

She looked down at Luna and made an incredulous face as if she had never seen an oddity like her before but did not comment.

"I'm helping my brother with something. He has a special request for Professor Snape and if it was any other teacher, it wouldn't be a problem. Everyone falls for his charisma and gives in to all his whims. It's annoying, really, how effectively he can charm people."

Padma had a dreamy look in her eye. "Your brother is really cute. I couldn't resist his request either."

Elsa thought she would hurl. "You too?"

Padma sighed, staring into nowhere. "If only he wasn't younger..."

"We're almost your age, you know? We'll be twelve in December."

"Really?" Padma perked up. "So it wouldn't be weird."

Elsa groaned. "Why does everyone like him so easily? I don't think people react to me this way."

"You're a little intense," she said with a shrug. "They're intimidated. It's not a bad thing."

This was an interesting piece of information, and Elsa put it aside to analyze later.

"Jack's charm has no chance against Professor Snape. It's up to me to find a way to get him to listen and give us a chance. What would you recommend?"

Padma twirled a lock of dark hair on her finger and took a moment to think. Elsa hoped she wasn't still fantasizing about her brother.

"Yes. Snape." She sighed like she'd prefer to get back to the previous topic. "Underneath the moodiness, Professor Snape is an intelligent man. Appeal to that. It wouldn't hurt to stroke his ego a bit—very subtly. For example, just 'accidentally' mention how excellent of a teacher he is."

"Thank you. A sound argument I can handle."

"Good luck and," Padma giggled, "mention me when you speak to your brother."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Sure."

When they came to the Potions Master with McGonagall, he nearly laughed at them. Nearly. Elsa supposed he'd forgotten how to do that properly decades ago.

"Professor," Elsa tried to follow Padma's advice, "we wouldn't have suggested alternate ways of preparing potions if we didn't have confidence that it can be done. Isn't the art of potion-making a science? Where would science be if not for experimentation?"

The corner of his lip twitched but the rest of his face did not betray any emotion, so she wasn't sure what he thought of her appeal. Professor McGonagall excused herself to attend to her duties, and they were left alone with the Potions Master.

"Just so that I can fully comprehend the extent of your" he licked his lips, "request, do divulge, which ingredients offend your religious sensibilities?"

Jack took out their textbook and pointed at a long ingredient list. "Things like fairy wings, unicorn horns, or any part of an animal that wasn't naturally shed. If obtaining the ingredient harmed an animal, especially if it's a magical creature, I won't use it in a potion."

Snape looked a little bit too pleased, and Elsa wished that her brother didn't put so much emotion in his words. Snape seemed to be the type of person who found emotions to be a weakness.

Elsa's mind reeled at that thought because that was her view on emotions as well. Did she really have this much in common with this wizard? She appraised him, from his intimidating posture, permanently sneering expression, and an aura that screamed, "Beware!" Was this how people viewed her? She was the opposite of him as far as looks went, and she didn't think anyone thought her to be a vampire (Jack was still convinced that their professor was secretly a bloodsucker), but she tended to agree with Snape. Even his meanest insults had sound reasoning behind them and could even be quite funny.

"You two dunderheads want to rewrite the work of famous potioneers?"

"We wouldn't dare do this on our own, Professor," Elsa added, remembering the second tip Padma offered, "not without the guidance of an excellent Potions Master."

His eyes lingered on her and a corner of his lip lifted a little. Elsa couldn't believe it. Was that a smile? Did he actually smile at her attempt at flattery?

"I find your ridiculous request so utterly absurd, I'm willing to let you try, only so that I can watch you fail. You will prepare the Antidote to Common Poisons right now and," he paused for effect, "test it on yourselves."

Elsa swallowed. "What?"

Snape looked smug. "Not so confident now?"

Jack took a long breath. "I can do it."

"Then don't waste my time, get on with it."

Jack took the lead on the preparations, and Elsa helped. Some deviations from the recipe she recognized as something he had to have learned from the elixir book—she even remembered which page the tip was on.

"Now we wait five minutes." She pointed to where it said so in their textbook.

"The exact time depends on the heat and cauldron thickness and that isn't exact, is it?" He put his hand over the cauldron and tilted his head, thinking. "It's nearly ready. Maybe one minute"

"Now you're just making this up."

"No, I'm not. I can feel it. You can't?"

She hesitantly put her hand over the cauldron. It felt hot, and she instinctively wanted to pull her hand back, but she waited, trying to feel what he described. She felt a tingle of magic and took her hand back. He could tell it was ready from such a small tingle?

When they were small, Jack turned feeling magic into a game, and over time, he got really good at it. Still, she didn't see a use for the ability. But now she wondered if it was a mistake.

"I used to make fun of your hobby of touching everything to check if it had magic," she remembered.

"I did it even more to annoy you. Now, I feel it everywhere, in each person and object. Sometimes, even the air has magic in it."

"You trained yourself in this skill."

"Instead of making fun of me, you should've joined me."

She used to think it was just another one of her brother's quirks, but underneath the game hid the practice of refined skill. He allowed himself to feel it all, to grow sensitive to even the slightest trace of magic. She wondered if she could still learn it or if it was too late for her. It took him years. Did she have that type of patience?

"Are there side effects to feeling magic in everything?"

He ground his ingredients in a pestle while deep in thought. "It gets overwhelming sometimes. That's why I like to go outside to clear my head."

"This is all fascinating," Snape's drawl sounded behind them, making Elsa jump. "Would you care to explain what you're doing to this unfortunate valerian root?"

Jack was happy to fill him in. "When mashed together with wormwood oil and moondew, they will have the same magical properties as a unicorn horn. I just have to time it right."

Snape's lip twitched. "I have heard of this technique, but it is extremely unreliable and most difficult to replicate. You'll completely change the properties of your brew if you fail."

"I imagine others describe it as difficult because one has to wait for the magic to be at its optimal, and if they can't sense it, how would they know if they timed it right?"

"But you can?"

"Yes." Jack lifted his eyes to their professor and released the full force of his innocent gaze on the man. The grumpy professor seemed frozen in thought for a moment and didn't betray whatever he was thinking.

"Carry on," he said, barely moving his lips.

Jack got back to squishing his ingredients and finally decided that the mixture was ready. He put them in the cauldron and slowly stirred. He knew what he was doing. Elsa found it fascinating to watch him work and actually be serious for a change. She was proud of him.

He waved his wand over the pot and lingered for a moment, feeling the magic.

"It's almost stable. Try," he encouraged her. "Can you feel it?"

She put her hand over it and could sense the magic. "What do you mean by stable?"

"Right now, the brew's magic feels like it's trying to decide what it wants to be. It's like a mood, up and down, good and bad." He hovered his hand over it again and waited.

Snape was right next to them and observed their brew. "Nix, you managed to get the color right, but you might be overcooking it at this point."

"Almost," Jack whispered.

He closed and opened his fist uncomfortably, and Elsa imagined that he was burning himself, but he endured it, determined to get his potion right. Then, he smiled in satisfaction, snapped his hand back, and turned off the fire.

"It's ready."

Then, he discretely hid his hand beneath the desk and covered it with a layer of frost to cool down his skin.

Snape stirred the potion gently to examine its consistency. Without a change in expression, he walked away and disappeared behind a mysterious door that was usually locked. He came out with a vial in his hand and a hint of a smile on his face.

"Since you are so confident in your potion invention, you should be as confident in its effectiveness. Ms. Nix, if you will, drink this entire vial."

"What's in it?" Jack asked.

"Poison, what else?" Snape answered. "This is how we're going to test your potion's effectiveness."

Jack huffed. "Fine. I'll drink it."

"No, dear Mr. Nix," Snape said as if he was bored. "Your sister will drink it, and you will cure her with your potion."

Jack gripped the edge of the desk. "No. I should be the one…"

"Ms. Nix, are you ready?" Snape ignored her brother.

Elsa stared at the vial and felt momentarily too stunned to respond.

'Logic. Logic over fear,' she thought to herself.

Snape was testing their resolve as much as actually testing the potion. She could guarantee that he had an antidote ready to give her, should Jack's potion fail. But there was the risk that Jack's potion was poison in itself with unknown effects and Snape's common antidote wouldn't counteract it.

"You don't have to," Jack whispered to her.

His eyes shone with fear. She would have felt the same if the roles were reversed, and she was sure that should the roles be reversed, Jack would have taken the risk for her. If she backed out now, it would undo all they had achieved with their professor today. He wouldn't give them another chance. This was it.

She gritted her teeth and made up her mind. She would do this for him.

She took the vial from Snape and regarded it. She had to trust in her brother's skill and also that their teacher wouldn't make her drink it if he didn't have confidence that he could cure her. He was intimidating and dark in many ways, but she didn't believe that he was evil.

She turned to her brother, said, "You owe me," and drank the whole thing.

She closed her eyes, feeling heat run down her throat and spread in her stomach.

"Professor," Jack asked in a worried tone, "what type of poison did you give her?"

"Pure aconite extract."

"But that's lethal!"

"Precisely," Snape said slowly, "so your antidote better work."