"Today's lesson will require your uttermost attention", Professor Slughorn stated with a straight face, which was very unusual for him.
Hermione shifted in her chair impatiently, making Severus snort at her actions. The Slytherin had become a constant in her life, to everyone's surprise. Lily looked at their interactions with weariness in her emerald eyes, Sirius and James were furious, while Remus looked very worried and fascinated at the same time. Peter was the only one to actually inform her of his utter trust in her choices, which shocked her completely. Her roommates, on the other hand, kept pestering her about Black, so that left little time to talk about anything else. Ewan, though...
Well, the Ravenclaw worried Hermione the most. It was not like he had been angry with her, or constantly trying to get her to change her mind about Severus. Ewan was the epitome of calmness. Her choice didn't seem all that strange to him and he supported her fully. Someone would think that he was being a good friend, one that trusts her. But Hermione felt very uneasy with his behaviour.
Ewan had been attacked, cursed with a very dark curse and yet, he wasn't afraid a bit. And Severus Snape was known for his affiliation with Dark Arts. Why didn't it make him weary at least?
"You were supposed to be focused", the boy sitting beside her hissed with annoyance, making her blink a couple of times.
What was wrong with her? Since when it was so easy to distract her with anything? Hermione was slowly starting to think that her problems and worries were way too complicated to deal with...
"Sorry", she whispered back and looked at professor Slughorn with intent.
He was clearly talking about poisons and antidotes, a subject that excited her to no end. It was incredibly difficult to create a working antidote, since it required immense knowledge not only in Potions, but also in Herbology and Arithmancy. Brewing the adequate potion was one thing, but deciphering necessary ingredients and making all the calculations that would allow them to work took much, much more finesse.
During her original sixth year she'd decided that Potions weren't her favourite subject. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't beat Harry and his book. But right now? Sitting next to Severus was absolutely brilliant. It was like delving into entirely different world, filled with complicated riddles and equations. The fact that he had managed to become a Potion's Master, one of few in Great Britain stopped being so surprising. It became obvious.
"So... How exactly do the poisons work?", Slughorn asked the class, but no one beside Hermione and Severus seemed obliged to answer.
"Miss Granger, if you please"
Hermione smiled smugly, noticing Severus' grimace. It had become some sort of a contest between them - who will get Slughorn to pick them more often? Unfortunately for Snape, the Ravenclaw possessed much nicer smile and the Potions teacher seemed to notice that.
"There's no right answer to that question, Professor", she answered, making other students murmur with surprise.
"How come?"
"Each poison is different. There are two basic groups of them: common and uncommon. They were divided into those categories based on the ingredients they all contain, but to be honest, those ingredients interact in a completely different way in each poison. Creating an antidote for them is quite simple though, since you only need to reverse the effects of every single ingredient used in a poison. However, things get much more complicated when it comes to blended potions, which come to existence after mixing several poisons together", she explained and a familiar chuckle reached her ears.
Sirius Black, who decided to switch places with a pair of girls from Slytherin so that he and James would sit right behind her, laughed softly at her answer.
"You're such an adorable nerd", he whispered, making Severus clench his jaw.
Hermione was incredibly surprised that the two Gryffindors and her Potions partner were able to sit so close to each other and not fight all the time. Apparently, Sirius wanted to have an eye on her, but decided that making her angry wouldn't do much good.
"Splendid! Perfect answer, as always, Miss Granger. Since you seem to be so familiar with poisons and antidotes, maybe you also know how to create an antidote for blended poisons?"
Hermione took a deep breath and said:
"Golpalott's Third Law"
"Fuck me, how does she know all that?", James whispered.
"She's like super smart, mate", Sirius answered with irony in his voice.
"Mr Black! Care to tell us what does it mean?", Slughorn asked, noticing that the two Gryffindors weren't exactly focusing on the lesson.
"How would I know?"
Hermione sighed and shook her head. Why didn't they read anything?!
"In that case, please, listen to Miss Granger and focus this time"
"I always focus on her", Sirius purred and made her blush furiously.
Hermione pushed away her dangerous thoughts and answered the question with a smile:
"The potionmaker needs to decipher each ingredient that had been used in the poison, in order to blend correct antidotes. However, this is not enough to create a fully-working antidote. To do that, the brewer needs to discover one, single ingredient, which will transform blended antidotes into a combined whole that would be able to counteract blended poison's effects. It is said that the ingredient has to transform the antidote in almost alchemical process, and Alchemy is very complicated. But to simplify the law itself... It states that the antidote to blended poison needs to be more than just counteracting ingredients mixed together. They need to react in an exact way to produce a working antidote", she recited without hesitation and Slughorn clapped his hands with a huge smile.
"Brilliant, Miss Granger. Simply brilliant. 20 points to Ravenclaw!"
"How was that simpler?", James whispered again and Severus snorted.
Hermione had a strong feeling that the Marauders will have a lot of trouble with understanding the rest of the lesson and that made her very worried. They wanted to be Aurors, for the love of Merlin! And antidotes were something that each Auror had to be able to make. Their lives depended on it.
"Yes, yes... That law, however very useful, is not always working. Can someone tell me why?"
This time, Severus got picked and his cold voice sounded in the classroom.
"Golpalott's Third Law doesn't refer to some of the poisons, because they are much more complex and sophisticated than the others. They are based on careful calculations pertaining the ingredients' interactions. Arithmancy is clearly necessary to extrapolate the potion's final effects. There are calculations that allow the potionmaker to make sure that each ingredient will be used to its full potential. Perfect spellwork, perfect timing and perfect technique is required to brew a poison that couldn't be sorted to neither of the categories mentioned by my colleague. Those poisons are so rare, that there is no common antidote accessible in an instant. Reversing those potion's effects is a very complicated process, very much like the one used to create the poison"
Hermione listened to Severus' voice in a slight awe, as he explained the theory standing behind potionmaking so effortlessly, that it made her heart sing. She almost couldn't believe that she had never managed to notice this incredible passion for Potion's that he held in his mind. True, he had been cold, unpleasant and incredibly cruel at times, but this brilliance of his was something that was almost impossible to miss.
"Correct! 20 points to Slytherin! The two of you is making me really proud, but also feeling incredibly unnecessary", Slughorn laughed, making Hermione and Snape exchange glances.
Both of them agreed that Slughorn was pretty inadequate, most of the time, despite the sympathy they held for the man and his class. Of course, they wouldn't go as far as to tell him that, especially not with all the points he was giving them.
"Now... I believe that the best way to understand what your brilliant colleagues had explained is to try and brew your own antidote. Of course, we're not going to dabble into those rare poisons that Severus has mentioned. No, today's assignment will be to..."
Professor Slughorn's voice faded away, as Hermione felt someone poking her arm. She turned around and looked straight into Sirius' grey eyes, that were glinting with amusement.
"How about we make a deal? Every time you say a word I don't understand, I kiss you. Sounds good, yeah?
Hermione returned to her previous position and tried to ignore his quiet laughter and her heated cheeks. His idea was truly horrible. But also extremely enticing. After all, she'd known a lot of difficult words.
"Professor... I hate to ask, but did you manage to find Ewan's attacker?", Hermione's voice sounded unsure and stressed.
Being in Dumbledore's office had become quite terrible. All of her negative thoughts seemed to resurface every time she found herself in this room. Maybe it had something to do with the memory of their last conversation, or maybe it was the Time Turner's fault. She couldn't stop herself from gazing towards the small hourglass every five seconds, as to make sure that it hadn't been a dream. Or a nightmare, to be more precise...
Unfortunately, the Time Turner was still there, containing a part of her soul and reminding her about that miserable part of her existence. How was she supposed to focus if she wasn't able to think about anything other than the monstrosity lying on top of one of the shelves?
"Unfortunately, Miss Granger, no. As we had expected, one of the students had been Imperioed, but he had no recollection of any suspicious situations that may have led to getting cursed. However, our theory that it might have happened during Hogsmeade visit seems to be accurate, as his memories ended that day. He wasn't able to recall doing anything after getting to the village and was genuinely surprised that more than a week has passed"
"No good news then", she stated in response, her tone completely void of emotions.
It bothered her on more than one level. If she wasn't here because of Ewan, Dumbledore's reasons must have been connected to the Horcrux. After all, he had promised to do everything in his powers to find out more about her situation and the events that led to it. Their best guess was that it had been his spell's fault that her soul got split, making him the only person who could be able to help her somehow.
"Not necessarily, Miss Granger. Maybe not in Mr Hughes' case, but in yours... I'm happy to inform you, that I've managed to contact one of my dearest friends, who found your situation incredibly interesting. I hope that you'll forgive me for explaining everything to him, but I assure you, Nicholas would never betray my trust"
Hermione looked up, clearly surprised. Nicholas? Did he mean Nicholas Flamel? She voiced her suspicion and was rewarded with a satisfied smile. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he said:
"Of course, I should have known that you'd be familiar with his name"
"I am. But I don't know why would you think he could be of help"
Hermione knew a lot about Flamel. After all, his achievements have been legendary. He was an Alchemist, his knowledge ancient and almost forgotten. However, the Alchemists had never taken much interest in anything that would be similar to the magic necessary to create a Horcrux, at least not to her knowledge. Of course, a lot of the facts about those ancient wizards had been forgotten, or rather obscured, since the magic they wielded was incredibly powerful - after all, it came from the nature itself.
"Nicholas is, like I said, my dear friend. I have worked with him on multiple occasions, a privilege that not many had been given. Our time spent together allowed me to get to know him and his excessive knowledge. I assure you, Miss Granger, that man might not move with the times, but to solve your problem, we need to delve into much, much older times than most of the people can recall", Dumbledore explained with a gentle smile and Hermione nodded, deciding that he might be right after all.
"So what did he say to you? About me, I mean"
"Nicholas was extremely surprised to hear that you've managed to travel back in time so many years. He was even more baffled by the fact that it appears to be my doing...", his eyes twinkled gleefully, before he continued his speech. "Time and its secrets have always intrigued him. Hundreds of years, no one managed to unveil its mysteries... And you, Hermione, are the only living proof that it might be possible to achieve, eventually. Such a wonderful mind like Nicholas' surely had to take interest in you and your situation. It occurred to him, that Horcruxes are very ancient artefacts, indeed. The knowledge of them is so poor and insignificant, because the Alchemists have done everything to hide the details from the world"
Hermione's mouth flew open as a sign of pure shock. How was it possible? How could it be that Nicholas Flamel had held all of the answers to the questions that bothered Dumbledore long before Harry was even born, and yet, they've managed to lose this entire war. Why couldn't Dumbledore simply ask the man about the Horcruxes, about Voldemort's immortality?
"Before you start throwing accusations, I'd like you to know that Mr Flamel agreed to share his knowledge with you and with you only"
The room fell quiet, as Hermione tried to gather her wits. Flamel wanted to meet her? But why? Why chose a teenage girl, that he didn't even know, over someone who had been his friend?
"Why?"
Dumbledore chuckled lightly, seeing her baffled expression.
"It's quite logical and simple, Miss Granger. I don't know how much do you know about my... history"
"Enough, sir", she responded dryly and the man nodded his head, his smile faltering a little.
"Well, then you must know that a man such as Nicholas Flamel would never willingly share his secrets with someone who dabbled in the Dark Arts and tried to find all of the Deathly Hollows for himself"
Hermione furrowed her brows, realising that the Headmaster's word were indeed very logical and simple. However, it didn't explain Flamel's wish to speak with her... After all, she had been an owner of a Horcrux - artefact so dark and horrifying that Dumbledore's greed seemed very childish in comparison.
"And I've created a Horcrux, professor"
"But you didn't mean to, did you?", Dumbledore looked at her gently, making Hermione bite her bottom lip.
"Of course not. But it's done. There's no denying that fact"
"No. But I believe that you'll soon realise that intentions are incredibly important, especially when it comes to ancient magic", the Headmaster stated mysteriously, leaving her with a huge mess inside her head.