Published 26th of November, 2020
Severus flung himself to the ground instantly avoiding another Stunner that raced towards him and shouted:
"Expelliarmus!"
Tylor build a wall in front of him in a second, exploded it and threw at them; a hail of debris fell on them, but Severus immediately conjured his Shield and the stones stopped on it with a crunch and crushed down. With one move of his hand, he got them together, transformed into a herd of snakes and sent them straight at Tylor, who in turn cast Frigeo at him.
There was a sharp crack, everything turned blue and white and Severus had a feeling that even the air was frozen! He answered with Incendio, a pillar of fire burst from his wands, which instantly disappeared on contact with the ice and a loud thud was rolling around.
Hermione was still unconscious on the other side of the table.
Severus summoned her Accio, covered her with his body so that no spell or ricochet would hit her and cast Stunner and Confringo and the wall next to Tylor shattered into thousands of pieces.
"Stop it!" The man shouted, still defending himself against the attacking snakes. "Take them away! Stop it !"
"Levicorpus!" Tylor screamed and hovered upside down from the ceiling. "Expelliarmus! Vipera Evanesca."
The wand flashed towards Severus and at the same moment a fiery flash engufled the herd of snakes and vanished.
"Stop it" Tylor groaned again.
Severus leaned over the girl and whispered "Renervate." She sighed and slowly opened her eyes.
"Sit down and don't move" he muttered.
That was where his gentleness ended. He walked over to Tylor in a few long strides, grabbed his thick hair, twisted his head towards him and fixed him with a hateful stare.
„Where are you Moon Water, Tylor?" His voice was not much louder than a whisper, but that didn't diminish the threat.
„I do not have it! Nobody has!"
„DO NOT LIE."
„I'm not lying! There is no Moon Water! That's why we're looking for a replacement!"
"Tylor, I think you didn't understand me. I am asking for the last time. Where. Is. Moon. Water."
Tylor screamed and covered his head with his hands.
"There isn't! I swear it! If it was, we would made this antidote a long time ago!"
Severus clenched his hand and Tylor sobbed and started talking frantically:
„Listen! If you try to make it, I swear you will fail! It's a terribly complicated process! Please take me down! We just started preparing the antidote! The sooner you let me go... the sooner we'll be done! I'll give you the first vial if you need! But let me go!"
„We - you mean you and Peterson?"
Tylor froze for a moment and immediately shook his head.
„We, the potion makers! Peterson is not among us! TAKE ME DOWN !
Severus cast non-verbal "Liberacorpus" and Tylor fell screaming to the floor. But he had no time to get off the ground when Severus knelt beside him, petrified him and, holding his head, looked deep into his eyes. He had neither the time nor the desire to handle this murderer with kid gloves!
„Legilimens!"
Tylor was clearly trying to defend himself, because Severus sensed his shield. It was like a thin, transparent veil behind which memories and feelings simmered, he could feel it, but he couldn't see it.
But such childish attempts to close access to his mind were not for him. He concentrated, pressed with all his force, Tylor screamed and suddenly the shield was gone and Severus plunged into hundreds of images, sounds and feelings.
He immediately realized that Tylor's mind didn't arrange them either thematically or chronologically, but he wasn't interested in that. He tore into them and began to dip through them blindly, relying on his instincts. In the thousands of faces that surrounded him, he searched for Gratus, Peterson and Bryant, he searched for pictures from a Muggle hospital or meetings in some dubious places, and in dozens of emotions he tried to sense something that would draw his attention; domination, triumph or greed, he listened to sounds and tried to hear familiar voices and pick out names from millions of words ...
It was like struggling against the flow, running a crowded street and looking for someone, anything, whatever, any detail that would make his heart beat faster and bring something to his mind. So he pushed forward, he tore frantically, with more and more fury, tossing away thoughts, memories, feelings, he barely touched them, reaching again for another and another and more, and again and again and again! Until he finds something! Not this one - then take another! Not that one! This one either! Either that! No, no, no and NO!
There was nothing! Just nothing !
Impossible! Merlin, it's impossible that there is nothing !
Tylor howled and Severus couldn't take any more and withdrew from his mind with an equally long scream.
"I'm not done with you yet" he barked furiously. "Imperio! Show me memories of poison. Your discussions with Peterson! With Bryant! Your arrangement with Gratus !"
Tylor stared at him, but when he burst into his mind again, all he saw was void. A dead void! He looked around, waited, searched, but nothing came up! There were no memories, not even the slightest trace, nothing, just nothing !
He left his mind and looked at the lying man. His tiny body was shaking with sobbing, tears streaming down his eyes, disappearing into deep wrinkles and dripping into his hair, soft moans escaping from his throat and it was clear that he was definitely not capable of fighting Imperius just now!
Oh Merlin !
Suddenly he felt a light grip on his shoulder.
„Severus?" The girl whispered softly. "What's happening?"
Severus didn't answer, just stood up abruptly and walked away from them a few steps to gather his wits.
Pull himself together.
Catch his breath.
Calm down.
Calm.
„Severus?" The girl did not give up, she approached him, so he had no choice but to answer her.
"It's not him" he shook his head desperately. "It's not him."
"That man you caught ... He lied to us?"
"Yes. Or rather he really thinks it's Tylor."
Hermione sighed just as desperately and hid her face in her hands. Of course. Polyjuice.
"Oh my God..."
They failed. They had to start looking again. Choose someone from among the potion makers, go to him and try to find what they needed more and more desperately. Something without which in a moment, in a few hours, Two people will die, because she was a coward and wasn't able to chose and save One of them.
She felt hot tears under her eyelids, tears streaming down her cheeks and she gritted her teeth. There's no time to cry. When you cry, you are not searching. So get over it. Do not give up! Fight !
„What are we going to do with him?" She asked, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve.
Severus walked over to Tylor and undid Petrificus Totalus and Imperius.
"Get up."
The man moved, grabbed his head and looked at them with painful eyes.
"Who are you? What do you want" and when neither of them answered, he added. "Somebody close to you is dying? Or do you want to win... the Minister's Prize?"
Still standing a few feet from him, Hermione helped him up with a spell.
"Someone is dying."
Tylor opened his mouth and hesitated.
"I'm sorry. Really" he said finally.
"Someone told us you have Moon Water" Hermione tried again, this time in a pleading tone. "That... you brewed the antidote."
"If you do not believe me... Then look for" he waved his hand.
Severus walked over to them as well, reached for Tylor's wand and twirled it for a moment between his fingers.
"Why are you here?"
"For ingredients" Tylor shrugged. "We're just brewing the base for the antidote. And we're looking for the best... and the freshest ingredients."
He nodded and turned to Hermione.
"Clean up here."
For a moment he watched as the girl cast Reparo, the debris from under their feet rose into the air, darting towards the wall and in the next second there is even no trace of their fight, then turned to Tylor, brought his wand to his temple and muttered "Tranquillis". Then he wiped his fresh memories thoroughly, showed the door to Hermionie with short nod and after checking that everything in the room was in place, he pushed the wand in Tylor's hand.
"You removed your Shield. You slipped and fell when you got in here. And you hit your head against the wall."
And he went out quickly into the corridor.
Hermione's hair began to lengthen and darken and her facial features started to change. Moments later, she became herself and as she looked at him; pale, with red, dark circles under her eyes, with still wet cheeks, with a mournful face, in too large clothes hanging over her, his heart he thought he hasn't, was torn apart.
He took her hand gently and desapparated to Spinner's End.
Spinner's End,
3:30 pm.
As soon as they were home, Severus made a fresh batch of Polyjuice and handed one glass to Hermione.
The girl took one sip and quickly set it down on the table to wait for the short and unpleasant transformation. A few seconds later the physical pain was gone, but the pain in the heart and soul remained; she could not fool it, becoming a young, slim and tall man again.
She went into the sitting room, slumped into an armchair, tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms tightly around them. Some part of her dreamed of nothing else but to hide from it all, to run away and
Went into her shell. Like in the past. But this time it wasn't her life that depended on whether she would keep fighting or give away, so she had no choice.
Removing magic cage and removing all spells off Peterson, Severus sat down in opposite chair and stared at him with, ice in his eyes. The fat man quickly moved away from him, grabbed the pillow and set it on his lap.
„Whhhat... where am I? And you? Who-who are you? What… from me..." he faltered.
"Silence" Severus snapped and Peterson jerked, pushed back to the very corner and tried to hid behind the pillow.
"You might be interested by the news that we just got back from Tylor. Stefan Tylor. Do you remember? You said it was he who ordered you to brew the poison. And the Antidote. So I have bad news, Peterson. Very bad. Especially for you."
He paused and began to play casually with his wand; he ran his fingers from side to side, twisted it lightly and tapped on the end. And while he looked completely unlike Severus Snape, his tone and demeanor made Peterson pale as dead, his eyes widened and he began to shake.
Hermione seemed to awake; suddenly it dawned on her that not everything is lost! They still have someone who can lead them to the killer, whoever he is! Show the place, Apparate ...! And give them the antidote! After all, he said he brewed it!
She straightened slowly, not even realizing it, held on to the back of the chair and looked closely at Severus, who was just talking.
"Do you want to hear it?"
"Yhhhh..."
"We didn't find anything there. Nothing at all. Maybe you can explain it somehow, Peterson?" He asked in a seemingly polite tone, but when the fat man did not answer, he leaned forward sharply and snarled. "SPEAK!"
Peterson slammed into the back of the couch, screaming.
"NO! No...! Do not kill me!" He howled.
"Look at me."
"No!" the fat man immediately covered himself with a pillow and when it fell out of his hands, he turned to the side and covered his head with his hands. "Please! I'll say! I will say everything! But don't kill me!"
With one flick of want Severus swung him back into a sitting position and took his hands off his head. That was exactly what he meant. He didn't have time to dig into this fool's mind, search blindly and risk him failing to check something – something that, when it came out finally, it would be too late. Peterson had to tell him EVERYTHING.
"Either you tell everything now or I'll get into your mind" he whispered. "But I assure you, if I do, I won't be... gentle."
"I'll say... ! I'll say anything you want!"
"Uncover your face."
Half sobbing, half panting, Peterson pulled his hands away and looked at Severus through half opened eyes. Severus narrowed his ones and Peterson immediately opened his eyes wide.
"I-m… I'm ready! A-ask!"
"On whose order did you brew the poison?"
"Tylor! Really!" When Severus raised an eyebrow, Peterson immediately began to explain. "He came to me! And... he offered me ... an arrangement!"
"How many antidote have you brewed? And where and how much Moon Water do you have?" He cut him off impatiently and held his breath.
Hermione did it too. Every nerve in her froze, breath stopped and heart also stopped. Everything stopped.
"I made fifty vials. Not because Tylor ordered it, I... just in case. And I described it as some totally unnecessary potions. So that nobody will pay atte..."
"How much Water do you have!"
"About ten bottles."
Hermione gasped and only now realized that she had just choked up until now. The antidote is ready! Fifty vials! It's not enough for everyone at the Clinic, but it's enough for Harry and Ginny! They will be healed! Merlin, they WILL BE HEALED!
You have to go there as soon as possible! For them and for Moon Water ! But WHERE?!
Severus's thoughts ran exactly the same way.
"Where."
"Not in his lab! Tylor found us another place!"
„WHERE!"
Instinctively Peterson curled up and caught the pillow again.
„Somewhere near Sheffield! Near Manchester! I saw ... I was nearby."
„Manchester... ?" Hermione blurted out, but Severus sent her a warning look and she immediately fell silent. Manchester? It's ... not far!
"Be more specific!"
„How ... more specific?" Peterson was frightened.
"In the city, in the forest ... you idiot!"
"In the forest! There is a big forest there! And the area is surrounded by a wall. Far from Muggles!"
„How did Tylor secure this place?"
„Spells! You have to know the spell on the grid that blocks the stairs. And the front door."
„How many are you there?"
„I... Gratus... and recently Bryant and... his wife - the fat man shook strangely. "And Tylor comes only occasionally and for a very short time."
Severus grimaced at the sound of such familiar and hated names and thought for a moment about what he heard.
The area in the large walled forest, away from Muggles, was the perfect place for a hidden laboratory. But surely, in add to the spells on the front door, there must have been some other spells there to protect against visits by wizards and random Muggle tourists.
If Peterson managed to get through them and didn't even notice, it must be some kind of Barrier. A spell is needed to remove the cage, the Shield and to reality change. Probably his magic is written into the Barrier and that is why he could pass through it.
But that means he can guide us through it. And you can deal with the spells on the front door and the grid. Peterson will take us there ... And the best keep that son of a bitch with you so that you can question him if you need to. We'll have to lure out Gratus and Bryant and his wife somehow. We'll see how. Disarm them and take Water and antidote.
At the mere mention of Gratus, he cast a brief glance at Hermione and pursed his lips.
"Let's go" he decided, standing up and nodded to Peterson. "You will bring us there."
The fat man, who had regained at least a little color, paled again and his eyes widened.
"I...? I have to bring you…?!"
"Do you see a problem with this?" Severus asked softly, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I... I just..."
"I don't care what "YOU just", Peterson. You happen to have absolutely nothing to say about it."
"..."
"Come here."
Peterson took only one, small step forward and Severus suddenly lost his patience, grabbed him by the robes and yanked him toward him.
"Quidem incarcerata" he said loud and clear.
A shower of spark burst from his wand at their feet, wrapped around them and in an instant climbed around their bodies and vanished above their heads. Then just Peterson's squeaky voice was heard, but Severus cast Silencio and took it off only when he closed his mouth.
"From now on, you are my prisoner. If you walk away with the intention of... leaving me, you will die. Do we understand each other?"
The man made a tearful grimace and as Severus headed for the kitchen, beckoning Hermione on the way, immediately followed him.
"I didn't tell you to follow us" Severus snapped, stopping him.
'But ... I don't want to ...!"
"Sit down and wait for us."
Peterson hesitantly returned to the couch, but sat down on the very edge, as close to the door as possible.
Once in the kitchen, Severus cast Muffliato and quickly explained what his plan was. Hermione listened, biting her lips, but let him finish.
"As soon as we have the antidote, take all the vials and bring them to the Clinic" he said at the end. "I'll bring all the Moon Water here and start brewing."
"What about this ... someone? And Bryant? And this… this Gratus?"
"They must be disarmed and imprisoned. As for Gratus… Drink the rest of the Polyjuice." He showed the glass with the rest of the potion. "Take a good dose with you and keep an eye on it. And drink regularly. Gratus cannot see you as a woman."
"Why?"
"Do you have to ask about everything?!" He snapped. "Gratus is a murderer. A mercenary. He serves whoever pays him more, is extremely brutal and has no scruple. No pity. During the war, he served mainly the Dark Lord, though not always. I've used him sometimes, too."
Hermione bit her lips hard again, both at the mere mention of those dark times and at the confession that Severus was "using him." Even knowing that he was on the Light's side, when she imagined that he might be cooperating with the murderer ... She shivered and shook herself quickly.
"And he'll kill me?"
Severus was silent for a moment, as if searching for words.
"Believe me, at some point you'd be begging for it."
A sudden understanding flashed in Hermione's eyes and she quickly reached for the potion and drank it to the end.
"And ... that Peterson ... What was that spell?"
„None of your business. You have no other worries?" Severus replied with sudden coldness, turned and added as he left the kitchen. "Prepare a potion and let's go."
He wasn't going to explain it to her. This could not be explained. This had to be experienced. THIS and dozens or hundreds of other moments that made up his entire youthful life. Which wasn't much different from childhood.
It was his own spell, invented around the same time as Sectumsempra and Levicorpus, not long after the Shrieking Shack incident. None of the hated four were punished, except for Black, who was detained and unable to go to Hogsmeade during one weekend. And Dumbledore forbade him to tell anyone about it, under the threat of expulsion from school. He explained that he must cover up this matter, downplay it and for the good of everyone ... for the GREATER GOOD, no one can find out that something serious happened then.
How much he dreamed then that he would bind one of them to himself with magic, be his Lord and force him to obey him! Like a dog.
He had never used this spell then, or even after Potter had humiliated him by undressing him in front of the entire school, but perhaps only because this nightmare was followed by another, even worse. He lost Lily.
Don't think about it, don't think about it ! Severus clenched his fists so tightly he dug his fingernails into the palm of his hand and quickly returned to Peterson.
Another Dimension - Alex Lab
3:45 pm.
All the Moon Water bottles had been carefully moved by Gratus through the Passage and now stood on the bottom shelf of Alex's private lab. The giant man also brought a large glass cauldron, glass ladles and porcelain knives. The rest she didn't need. She had plenty of stands, pipettes, cutting boards, whisks or scales here, so she wasn't going to waste time moving them.
Now she had to pick up the base that Tylor, Powell and the others had brewed, pour it out and start brewing the real antidote as soon as possible.
Panic flooded her again at the thought of brewing it alone. Of course she told Peterson to write down all the ingredients and proportions, describe the brewing steps, but ... what if he did not write everything? What if he has deliberately misled her?
You say they made the base wrong. Or that you don't have enough power. And you will start again. There is enough Water for you. You can do it. You must succeed! Everything you have done must not be wasted!
"What do I do now, Mr. Tylor?" Gratus's voice heard her, and she quickly returned to reality.
"Come back and wait for me" Alex decided to get rid of him only when she was absolutely sure she no longer needed him.
"What about the ingredients and potions Peterson kept? And the rest?"
Alex instinctively brushed some lint on the dark sleeve of her jacket. After all... she could keep him busy so that he would still feel needed.
"Destroy everything. I won't need this anymore."
The man nodded and stepped to the other side of the Passage. Alex quickly closed it and went to change and drink polyjuice with her own hair.
Howden Dam
Moment later
Smiling to himself, Gratus made his way to the room where Peterson brewed and kept the various potions.
He decided to see what was there first. You never know, maybe there are some potions in there that would be of use to you?
He sat down at the table and began looking at vials in metal buckets.
Some names meant nothing to him and these he immediately set aside to be thrown away. Some at first glance would be of no use to him. He had neither lockjaw nor needed to be beauty or change the color of his hair. But seeing the burn salve, he put it in his pocket. Then he took the Pepperup Potion, Healing Potion and Cough Potion and started to check the brewing equipment.
After all... if Tylor didn't need any of this anymore, it might be useful to him. He could sell all the equipment, many strange things could be found on the Knockturn Alley. Ingrediences as well. And he could tell the Old man that he destroyed everything.
He just had to hide it somewhere for a while.
He reached for a pile of cauldrons, put the potions vials there, filled them with spoons and ladles, picked up the scale in his other hand and took it outside.
.,.,.
Using Side-Along Apparition, Peterson arrived with Severus and Hermione on a heavily overgrown path that led to a large iron gate and was lost in a thicket a few yards away. The trees and shrubs grew very dense here, as in the Forbidden Forest, completely obscuring the sky and letting in only a little light and everything was shrouded in the pale gray of the evening.
Hermione looked up and in the slight gap between the branches she managed to see a little bit of the sky turning dark bluish color. The air, scented with the deep, intoxicating smell of the forest, became heavy, almost thick,and it was difficult to breathe. No birds' cry was heard, the wind subsided, the leaves on the trees did not move and there was a tense silence, as if everything was preparing for something that was coming.
Hermione felt exactly the same. It was no longer groping and guessing; they were in the right place, one step away from the antidote, one step from the Moon Water.
Severus walked over to the gate and examined the thick, rusty chain and the padlock that looked Muggle. But when he tapped it with his wand and whispered "Alohomora", nothing happened - neither the chain nor the padlock even twitched.
"You have the key or you know the spell?" He turned to Peterson, who cringed a few feet behind him. Surprise flashed across the fat man's face, which immediately turned into terror.
„I do not have! I didn't know it was closed!" He exclaimed. "I swear!"
"Stop yelling" Severus snapped immediately. "How did you get in and out?"
"I ... Tylor opened the gate for us... I didn't know, I didn't see him doing anything with it."
"In both sides?"
"Both sides...?" Peterson, clearly lost, repeated after him.
"How did you get out of here, you fool. Someone opened for you too?"
"Aa-h! Well... I... so I didn't come out this way. I mean..."
"Spit it out!"
The fat man cast a frightened look at the wall next to him and Severus immediately remembered the feeling of panic and entrapment that accompanied one of the memories. So he figured out right that Peterson had just escaped. He had to jump over the wall. But for them it didn't change anything, the barrier worked exactly the same at the height of the gate as at the wall. It's just that going through the open gate was easier than climbing the wall.
"It seems, Peterson, that apart from your undoubted talent in the field of brewing .. poisons, you have other TALENTS. It is a pity that you did not offer Tylor just those others." He nodded at the wall. "Get upstairs and wait for us."
Unfortunately, despite earnest efforts, Peterson could not climb to the top, so Hermione helped him by levitating upwards. The man gripped the wall awkwardly, shifted his leg and very slowly pulled himself up and lay down across it, with his legs and arms on either side. As soon as half his body crossed the Barrier, the air shimmered and rippled strongly and Severus and Hermione exchanged a brief glance.
"Stand or crouch on top, don't try to sit up like... recently" Severus instructed her in an undertone, grabbed the top of the wall and managed to pull himself up and squat on it.
The girl did the same on the other side of Peterson, they helped him sit up and, taking his hands, they jumped down onto the soft litter. The air shimmered around them, but nothing else happened.
Severus immediately cast Disillusionment Char and Muffliato at them, grabbed Peterson tightly by the sleeve and leaned toward him.
"Show us the way. And be warned, don't even try to dream about leaving me" he whispered.
"There is my wand somewhere... I lost it..." the fat man squealed, looking around with desperate eyes. "S-I'll look-we..."
"Maybe I should bring it to you on a golden tray and clean it? Go!"
The path leading to the castle was quite narrow and only two people could walk it, so Hermione walked first, Severus and Peterson right behind her.
It's close now. A dozen... several dozen steps. You are so close...
The castle could be behind the nearest trees, around the bend, it could emerge from behind a clump of bushes... Hermione was walking past the stones lying on the ground, jumping over fallen trunks, avoiding holes and protruding tree roots, but the more she entered the forest wilderness, the more she felt as if she was moving away from it. As if she was at sea and a wave was coming every moment, and gently but firmly it took her away from the desired target. So she fought her way forward, farther and farther, scanning everything around her carefully and trying to see soaring towers, high walls in the ever denser darkness...
Suddenly she heard a thud and a soft curse from behind.
"Slow down!" Severus hissed to her, tugging on her jacket. "And you get up!"
"Yes, I…! Get up...! Wait...!" A panting voice reached them. „One moment...!"
„Shit. Hurry up" the girl urged him.
Not wanting to listen to the loud wiping of nose, she looked ahead and suddenly had the impression that she saw some gap between the dark trees... and some brighter spots... Castle?? She looked closely and her imagination immediately prompted her stone wall topped with battlements...
"There is!" She cried, forgetting Severus couldn't see her.
Severus gripped Peterson's hand tighter and pulled him to his feet. He, too, saw something in the twilight and now he suddenly lost all patience with the sluggishness.
"Let's go!"
The girl sprang forward immediately and dragged them with her.
A dozen yards away they had no doubts. The lighter stain turned into a vertical rock, clearly jagged at the top, as if broken... which a few steps farther turned out to be the wall of a collapsed and overgrown castle!
Severus had to hold her again; he grabbed her elbow and led her to the line of trees that ended about twenty yards from the castle. They leaned against it and looked around.
Straight ahead of them there was a high wall with holes in the places of the windows and with large gates. Even from a distance they could see that the wood has already decayed badly and was held by rusty iron bars.
Suddenly, a bit further to the right, a door swung open. Hermione immediately hid deeper behind the trunk of the great tree and, holding her breath, froze in anticipation. The door slammed against a rotten wall, then closed with a soft creak, but no one left. A moment later it opened again, much slower and in the same time next to them dried leaves whirled for a moment and scattered on the ground. Wind! It was just the wind ...!
„It's there!" Peterson choked. "There is an entrance!"
Apparently he must have turned his head in that direction because his voice was muffled and a little mumbled.
Without hesitating, Severus muttered "Salvio Hexia" and a sudden wave of air bounced off them and spread around.
"You think that they didn't use Magicae Deprehendre here?" The girl asked uncertainly.
„No."
He was sure of it. This form of protection was used when the area could not be completely closed from external visits and it was quite complicated to set up. Here the murderer surrounded the area with the Barrier, so he did not need to cast additional spells that detect the use of magic. For the same reasons, he also did not have to use the protection of dangerous magical creatures.
Of course, the Barrier could be cheated, but that was true for all forms of protection. Even for Fidelius. When you trust someone who will cheat on you he thought bitterly.
"Describe exactly how you enter the lab" he demanded, turning toward Peterson.
„There will be stairs behind the door. Down. At the end there is a grid with spells on it. Then there is a passage to the corridor. And finally there is a door. Also opened with a spell."
„Is there any lighting?"
„Torches. But I don't know if they always light up. Recently, yes, but last time it was dark."
„Something else?"
Out of the corner of her eye Hermione caught a glimpse of a movement low among the trees and immediately gripped her wand tighter. The multanimal and pogrebins from just a few hours ago had reminded her that it was not just humans to beware of. This human-forgotten forest could be full of various magical creatures that could spot them despite their protective spells!
This thing moved again, a little closer to them, hid behind a tree and very slowly a small head appeared from behind the trunk, surrounded by lush, long hair, with large, round eyes. As soon as it met Hermione's eyes, it quickly hid, waited a moment and looked again.
At first Hermione thought it was Porlock, the horse keeper. At least this was indicated by its small height and lush mane on its head. But seeing the creature's strange behavior, she quickly changed her mind. Porlocks were very timid, avoided people and could only be seen by chance, for example, sleeping in the hay in the stables or among the herd they guarded. This creature, despite its obvious fear, tried to get closer to them.
The girl pretended that she had lost interest in it. She looked down at her feet and, after waiting a moment, swiftly turned her head to see a filigree, naked creature that immediately disappeared behind a tree trunk.
Rusalka! It's just a Rusalka! Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Rusalkas were good water goddesses who attracted to the needy and the weak. They rarely left their habitats in water bodies, but when they did, they liked to wander around and were very curious.
But most importantly, being outside their home, they avoided any dangerous magical creatures. Since she came here, there was definitely nothing dangerous around!
"What? I? I am supposed to... go?" Suddenly a high-pitched voice on the right reached her.
"If you thought I took you here for company, then I must disappoint you."
"But..."
"Hurry up, Peterson."
A second later Severus grabbed her hand.
"Stay here and wait for us."
Stay here? No way! She was so close now, she couldn't just stay here and wait for them to get the antidote!
"I'm going with you!" She called immediately. „I'll cover you!"
"I'm not going to..." He cut off abruptly.
He is not going to WHAT? Put me in danger?
"Seve..." further sounds died on her lips when his hand covered it strongly.
"Be silent!" he hissed straight into her ear. "Don't you dare move from here, Granger!"
He shook her and suddenly the grip was gone and in the growing noise of the trees she could still hear footsteps walking away. And a familiar - an unfamiliar voice.
„You know what "move" means or shell I explain it to you?"
Hermione clenched her fists with all the strength to keep from bursting, chasing after him and...! She didn't even know WHAT she could do to him! She tried to say something and was relieved to be able to speak.
She imagined them walking to the entrance and in the exact moment her imaginary Severus opened the door, it rocked hard, hit the wall, then creaked back into place. ALMOST in its place. You could still see how it moved and stilled.
Hermione also stilled. Now all she had to do was wait.
.,.
Peter grunted and accelerated a little, only to slow down a few steps further. He did not want to, desperately did not want to go there! He didn't run away this morning to come back now! At the thought of Gratus and Bryant and possibly Tylor, waiting for him there, he shivered violently and looked around with the frantic gaze of a hunted animal.
But he couldn't escape! After all, the goddamn man said if he did, he would die! He had no idea if it was true, but he didn't want to test it, for nothing on the world! And only somewhere, at the bottom of his heart, there was a hope that this man would still need hm and protect him from the others!
He had no idea who this wizard might be, he didn't quite recognize him, but the man seemed to know him, Peter. And sometimes something about his behavior seemed strangely familiar.
Dragging his heels, he reached the door, a strong hand held him in place and for a long moment nothing happened. Let it stay that way, Merlin, let it stay that way! Let us stay here and not to go any further!
"As soon as I open the door, you have to enter immediately. Did you understand?" Peter nodded and wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his sleeve.
„Did. You. Understand, Peterson?" another familiar ominous snarl! "It will be better for you if I don't run into you!"
"Yyes! And... what… somebody is there?!"
"There nos nobody. NOW!" The door burst open and at the same time the man pushed him hard and Peter fell inside.
He quickly lunged into the familiar, gloomy corner and squeezed his eyes tight as he had a few hours earlier. Muffled sobbing shook his chest. He was afraid that if he went down there, he wouldn't come out alive. One could get away once. Not twice. Not on the same day!
The same heavy, merciless hand sought him out and pushed him towards the stairs.
"Go ahead."
Peter moved hesitantly forward, running his hand over the rough wall and shuffling the ground with his foot to finf first step down. For a dozen or so quick breaths it was flat, surprisingly flat and despite of common sense, a hope raised in him… when suddenly his right leg tilted down.
A slow descent began and suddenly it occurred to Peter that each of these steps was measuring the last moments of his life. Like grains of sand falling in an hourglass.
The grid at the bottom was closed, but to his surprise this fact did not wake up new hope that they would not be able to open it and that they would come back upstairs. This stranger could do anything. He knew anything. Nothing was impossible for him.
He simply hung his head and waited in silence until the lock clicked softly and with a faint creak the grid opened.
.,.
Gratus narrowed his eyes as a violent gust of wind hurled dead leaves at him, leaned forward and staring at his feet, almost blindly walked forward. Fortunately, he had traveled this route so many times that he almost knew it by heart. In a moment he should come to a large root on the right and right behind it was a broken pine tree...
A few steps later he did see the edge of the root. He strode through it confidently and out of the corner of his eye he saw a pine tree. He stepped over it and was already on the other side when suddenly something white flashed between the dried branches...
Gratus stepped back, looked at it, and froze. It was... a piece of parchment. A plain sheet of parchment, folded in half.
He picked it up, looked at the scribbles and recognized them immediately! And if he had any doubts, the text would have completely dispel them!
-.-.-
a decoction of Akonite tuber by throwing it into boiling water and leaving it for a week. Set aside the obtained decoction, at this time throw the Saargo stone into the cauldron and sprinkle it with a drop of wormwood. To obtained potion base add the fresh cobwebs, while stirring, bring to the boil and add the Akonite tuber stock. Put the resulting mixture aside for a week, uncovered, in a very bright place.
Ingredients:
2 Wiggen tree bark petals
1 eye of the sea devil
3 fresh cobwebs
1 drop of wormwood
1 Saargo stone
1 liter of sea water
1 Akonite tuber
-.-.-
Scholar!
Gratus looked around at the pine branches, at the parchment and back at the pine branches.
He would have seen it if it had been there, as he had passed the last time! Maybe the wind just blew it from somewhere and Peterson lost it while he was running away? But they had checked this route several times with Bryant and didn't notice anything ...
Could he be back here? But why the hell?
The idea that Peterson might have come back here seemed absurd to him, but he was absolutely sure that the bloody page hadn't been here twenty minutes ago!
Quickly he cast Disillusionment Charm on himself and walked, much slower and more carefully, towards the descent to their quarters.
IF he came back, he surely didn't go inside. He doesn't knows the spells, and THIS time you closed both the door and the grid! So IF he's back, where can he be? Maybe he's waiting on the stairs... or maybe he is JUST WALKING OUT ...!
At the thought that Peterson might come out on him in a moment, Gratus paused uncertainly, not just wanting to run into him.
Check, it's so simple!
"Homenum revelio" he muttered, waving his wand at the door that was torn by wild gusts of wind. Somewhere in the trees to the left, something burst out and lunged on him with such force that he could barely stand. And he almost screamed.
Merlin's fucking pants !
When the spell detected a human presence, it created an immaterial reflection of the person and sent it to the spellcaster. And the stronger magic of this person was, the stronger the reflection was felt.
THIS definitely is not Peterson!
Trying to walk quietly, Gratus moved slowly, right in front of that person. He couldn't see anything at all, so either someone was wearing an Invisibility Cloak or was concealed by Disillusionment Charm or Invisibility Spell.
He walked a little more and another gust of wind brought the almost imperceptible scent of musk. Gratus stopped abruptly and held his breath. That someone had to be somewhere close! Right next to him! Merlin, maybe an inch ahead of him!
He did not dare to cast Homenum revelio again, because this time the spell's answer would have knocked him out. He couldn't cast the stunner blindly because he didn't know exactly where that someone was. Stunner or any other spell.
Another gust of wind smelled of musk again; this time, knowing what he was looking for, Gratus sensed it more clearly. He took a step back and scanned the nearest trees and shrubs.
The next insane blast tugged so hard that the thinner trees were almost crushed to the ground. The thicker trees bent, some dry limb stuck with a crack into the neighboring ones and leaves were torn on all sides.
And only one bush tilted just a little, less than the others... as if it had leaned against SOMETHING and suddenly one branch bent in the opposite direction!
Gratus smiled to himself, aimed at the place next to the branch, at chest level, focused... and hit it with a spell.