Wonka lead his tourist toward the river, where a large purple boat that was shaped like a dragon emerged. The boat was rowed by several Oompa-Loompa's, all of whom had a look of pure misery that made Severus feel a pang of empathy. He could only imagine how awful it would be to deal with Wonka's delusions every single day. When they pulled the boat up to the edge, they began to have a fit of laughing.

"What's so funny?" Violet asked while chewing.

"I think it's from all those doggone cocoa beans," Wonka answered, "hey, by the way, did you guys know that chocolate contains a property that triggers the release of endorphins? Gives one the feeling of being in love."

Scarlett gazed at Severus. "You don't say."

Severus looked at the eatable grass on the floor, pretending nothing had just occurred.

"All aboard." Wonka said, visibly disturbed and embarrassed by Scarlett's comment, giving Severus a brief look of sympathy.

The Teavees and the Salt's shared a row, while Violet was saving a seat for her mother. Severus moved to sit in the back, so he could avoid contact with the other's, but Scarlett followed him and sat to his right. More surprisingly, Wonka choose to sit to the left of Severus. Dumbledore now had no choice but to sit next to Violet.

Wonka made a forward motion with his hand. "Onward."

A Oompa-Loompa in the very front of the boat pounded a drum Severus had not noticed before, and the boat started moving. It was a pleasant enough ride so far, the boat traveling at a gentle place.

"Here," Wonka unexpectedly took a large stiring spoon seemingly from nowhere and poured it into the river, collecting a generous amount of chocolate, then handed it to Severus, "try some of this. It'll do you good, you looked starved to death."

Severus was hesitant to drink the chocolate after Augustus possibly contaminated it. But it did look rather good... Severus took a sip of the chocolate. The liquid chocolate was the thickest, hottest and most delicious thing Severus had tasted in so many years. "It's great."

The chocolatier beamed at the praise. "Why thank you."

Severus decided it would be a friendly gesture to share the chocolate, so he offered the spoon to Scarlett. Scarlett was flattered, and her eyes rose in euphoria as she took a sip. "This is the most excellent chocolate I have ever had."

"That's because it's mixed by waterfall," Wonka alledged, then began repeating himself "The waterfall is most important. Mixes the chocolate, churns it up, makes it light and frothy. By the way, no other factory in the world -"

"You already said that." Veruca pointed out.

Wonka froze. After an awkward moment, he went on the defensive. "Your all quite short, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah," Violet snapped, her voice irate to Severus, "we're children."

"Well, that's no excuse. I was never as short as you were."

"You were once." Mike insisted.

"Was not. Know why?" Wonka's voice sounded extremely childish, "because I distinctly remember putting a hat on top of my head. Look at your short, little arms," Wonka taunted, "you could never reach."

Mike looked at Wonka with an incredulous expression. This was so ludicrous that it was be easy to debunk it, but everyone seemed to have given up on trying to get Wonka to accept any sanity whatsoever.

"Do you recall your childhood at all?" Severus asked.

"Oh, boy, do I," Wonka's upbeat face transformed into a look of questioning, "Do I?" The chocolatier stared into space.

"Mr. Wonka?" Severus said. Severus then snapped his fingers several times in front of Wonka's face. "Mr. Wonka?"

"I don't believe he can hear you." Dumbledore said.

"Why not? He's clearly awake!"

"Well, prehaps he is in deep thought." Veruca suggested. Severus shrugged.

"What exactly do you teach at that Hogwarts school?" Scarlett asked, attempting to make conversation.

"I teach multiple classes and multiple subjects," This was technically true, potions involved several forms of magic, "and yourself?"

"Huh? Oh, I work at the local gymnasium. I won a few awards in my youth, but nowhere near Violet's level."

Severus glanced at Wonka. No change.

"There is truly something wrong with this man." Severus muttered.

"He is very odd," Scarlett agreed, "yet he's quite brilliant. I don't know how he does it."

Severus looked up. Violet was speaking to Dumbledore, apparently boasting of all her accomplishments. The Headmaster seemed to enjoy her company, though Severus couldn't imagine why. Veruca was looking around then occasionally turning to her father, probably listing all the things in the factory she wanted.

"He seemed rather indifferent to Augustus going up the pipe," Scarlett whispered to Severus, casting a nervous glance to Wonka before continuing, "I think that boy was right. He knew it would happen."

So, Severus wasn't the only one with suspicions. Severus decided to share his own suspicion with her. "I think he not only planned it, but he was thrilled by it."

"Why would a man be thrilled by a child in danger?" Scarlett's eyes were now full of fear, looking at Wonka every few seconds as if expecting an attack.

Severus wondered the answer as well. Trapping himself in the factory clearly has effected Wonka's mental ability greatly. But enough to enjoy suffering of children? Granted, they were awful children, but still, there was a shade of sadism about it.

Severus looked up. There was an opening at the end of the river that seemed to lead to a dark tunnel. Severus had no idea where it went, but it looked like it was a potentially dangerous area.

"Mr Wonka?" Severus warned, "Mr. Wonka? We're heading for a tunnel."

"Oh, yeah," Wonka had finally awoke from his trance, "full speed ahead!"

"Full speed ahead?" Severus asked incredulously, "we're going in that thing?"

"Why, certainly."

The boat came close to the entrance of the tunnel.

"How can they see where they're going?" Violet asked.

"They can't," Wonka answered, "there's no knowing where they're going. Switch on the lights."

A series of lights emerged from the end of the boat, but Severus barely saw this before the boat sunk downward. Severus stomach felt infested with butterflies and he felt faint. No matter how many Dark Lord's he faced, Severus was never to overcome his childhood fear of heights, which he assumed was probably the fault of his father. Severus had enough strength to study the two people sitting next to him. Wonka clearly was enjoying the ride, while Scarlett clearly was not.

Eventually the river stopped traveling down and instead was moving straight. There were a series of round circular doors with neon signs over each one explaining what was in the room.

"People," Wonka called, "keep an eye out. We're passing some very important rooms."

Severus read the signs. Clotted Cream. Coffee Cream. Hair Cream. Hair Cream? That didn't involve candy.

Scarlett, still fearful of Wonka after Severus comment, nonetheless had the nerve to ask Wonka one question. "What do you use hair cream for?"

Wonka patted his eccentric hair. "Lock in moisture."

Scarlett seemed embarrassed that she spoke, and began staring at Severus again. Severus was watching a cow being whipped by four Oompa-Loompa's. "Whipped cream?"

"Precisely!" Wonka cried in cheer.

"That doesn't make sense." Veruca observed.

"Furthermore, that is rather abusive towards the poor thing," Dumbledore pointed out, "whipping it for cream!"

Veruca nodded in agreement. "Exactly. The poor thing must be in pain every day. Daddy, I want that cow so we can raise it properly."

"Well, who knew all my ticket winners were animal rights activists? In any case," Wonka pointed to a tunnel, "we're going further down."

The boat sunk further down and Severus feared he might vomit if forced to take any more of this. Finally, though, the literal downward spiral portion of the ride ended, and the boat moved smoothly on solid ground.

"Stop the boat," Wonka ordered, "I wanna show you guys something!"

The Oompa-Loompa's decreased the speed, parking next to a door that said Inventing Room.