CHAPTER 17: POTION LESSONS FROM THE LOVE MASTER
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Kristanna shouted at Sirius, making the birds perched on a nearby tree fly in fright.
Sirius scratched his head. "Kristanna, please understand…"
Kristanna clenched her hands into fists and said, "I thought we had a compromise."
"We have one, Kristanna!"
Kristanna narrowed her eyes and looked at Sirius. "Yes, but a compromise is not complete without…" she took her wand out of her pocket, "…An Unbreakable Vow!"
"Unbreakable Vow?" Sirius said in frightful manner. "Kris… are you quite serious about that thing?"
Kristanna flashed a smirk on his way, her eyes flashing dangerously. "When was the last time I was not serious?"
"Earlier this day?" Sirius replied. "Kris, look. I promised you that I will tell Auriga about this."
"You should not even care about her because she is not your girlfriend!" Kristanna shouted at him.
"Alright! Alright!" Sirius finally shouted back, rubbing his ears. "Just don't shout that much."
Kristanna sighed. "Good," she said in satisfaction.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"You know, I agreed working with you but are you sure I won't be in hot water?" Helena asked.
"Just do it, Helena," the figure in the shadows replied. "This little trick will make Matthew go back to you."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked in suspicion.
The figure in the shadows chuckled. "We have someone powerful behind us. I'm sure there's no flaw in this plan."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Eros," Lily asked one time, looking at her hovering friend… or fiend. "Can I ask you a question?" She had this large Moste Potente Potions book on her lap, dusty and moldy.
"Yes, dear?" Eros replied, sitting beside her.
"I want to know, is there any connection between you, a god of love, and any kind of love potion?"
Eros looked at the bookmarked page of the book. It was all about love potions. "You're not planning to create one, are you?"
"I'm not," Lily replied. "Besides, I know now that there really is someone for me, right?"
"Of course," Eros told her, patting her head. "But if you're really curious, I will tell you something about them. One of the ingredients of all of the love potions written in any book – and only for the love potions written in a book – has this ingredient they call Aphros. That is sea foam. That is where my mother came from."
"So?" Lily asked curiously.
"It has her lovable essence. The one that makes those mortals head-over-heels in love with her," Eros finished. "But as you can see, there is that 'most powerful love potion' we call – you call – Amortentia," he started.
"Yes," Lily replied.
"Is there an ingredient there named Airi?" Eros asked.
After scanning the ingredients, Lily found it. "According here, the potion Amortentia will become an ordinary love potion if Airi is not placed on the cauldron when you already smell the things you desire to smell."
"Airi is a rare stone found only on the shores of Mediterranean Sea," Eros explained. "No one knows the truth about that stone because it only looks like an ordinary amber, but colored gray. Those stones were the scattered beads from my mother's belt when Hera borrowed it before. You know about that belt, right?"
"Of course," Lily replied. "But what do you mean by 'only love potions written on a book'?"
"There is one love potion that does not need Aphros or an Airi," Eros said in a dark tone. "It is not listed in any potion book but it can be seen in one dangerous Dark Arts book."
"Why?"
"It has the same effects but on a greater risk and a greater damage to the heart and mind of the drinker. He would be like a puppet to the one who administered the potion."
"What is it?" Lily asked.
Eros' face retorted. "The Dianca."
"Dianca?" Lily repeated the word in a puzzled sort of way.
"It does not contain an Aphros nor an Airi but it contains water from the underworld's rivers. It needs two drops from Styx – the river of unbreakable promises and a drop from Lethe – the river of forgetfulness. A drop of Lethe is so powerful that it could clear a part of your brain. Its effects can be permanent. Restoration can be possible only if there is a strong will from the person to get back his own memory. That makes the drinker a puppet – the removal of his memories."
"But what administers the feelings of love?" Lily asked.
"Lily, are you familiar with the four Nymphs of Wishes?" Eros asked.
"No," Lily replied quickly, ashamed that she knew more of the supposed "real" life than paying attention to myths that are really true in the Wizarding world.
"The first one is The Lady of Fire, Prio, who grants the wish of revenge. Avila, the Lady of the Breeze, gives the gift of fate and justice. Dalin gives the gift of life and Argua gives the gift of love," Eros explained. "We respect the wishes Argua grants but since there are only a few who manages to give their wishes to her, it's still not that effective."
"What does she do with the potion?" Lily asked.
"Like any butterfly, her wings produce this powder that causes blindness to anyone who accumulates the material in their eyes. That was the thing."
"Isn't that hard?"
"That was the reason why it was included in the Dark Arts. The only way to get that ingredient is to kidnap Argua and forcefully take her wings away from her. Even though you just need the powder that falls off from her wings when she flaps it, meaning she conveys powerful emotions, she becomes protective of that essence when she knows that there is someone who wants to use it."
"Did anyone attempt that…?"
"That horrible thing?" Eros looked at Lily once again. "Yes. The Dark Lord's mother, Merope."
"You mean…?" Lily started.
"She violently stripped off Argua's butterfly wings, leaving her in misery inside a cage when the other nymphs found her, near to death."
"What would happen if she dies?" Lily asked.
"The four nymphs serve as balances to the art that they control in this world and in your world only. If Dalin dies, there will be no life. If Prio dies, there would be no control for revenge and it will destroy the world. If Avila would be gone, there would be no justice and fate would be unfair to any human being."
"So if Argua was gone, there would be no love!" Lily shouted.
"You're right, Lily," Eros replied. "But it's also hard to get water from the underworld that you need an insider to get it. Who's her insider, I don't know. But she listed the procedure of the potion and because it's dark magic, we could not erase it."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"We're going to do it here, Helena," her newfound friend said. She was pointing at the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"And how are we going to manage it?" the girl asked testily, folding her arms.
The accomplice smirked. "With this," she said, showing two vials, one containing elegantly black liquid, and one with a dark blue liquid. "And we also have a copy of how to make the potion." She took a piece of parchment. "And everything's ready!" she said with another sly smile, pointing at the already smoky cauldron and etc.
"Then, let's start."
"Okay then. Grind the Siren Stone in a marble slab and add a drop of…"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aphrodite was sitting on her usual throne in her office. Among the hundreds of assistants and officers, she saw a fairly short employee carrying a golden box. Well, we should all know what that is.
"Jaide, come here," she called out to the girl. She was then transported by smaller floating things to the mini-island of the goddess.
"Yes, dear goddess?" she said in a small voice.
"Leave the box here and bring the Hogwarts catalog," she ordered. She made movements as though opening the box without really holding it and out sprang two fish bowls with crystals. So, it's not really paper!
"Rowanna," she called to the one at her far right, "transfer the shuffling options to Hogwarts area," she said, sitting down and crossing her legs.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied as she started to manipulate the beads on the harp-like keyboard they had. The background changed as the other officers disappeared in the perimeter. It was as if Aphrodite was in a different dimension filled with smooth and bright aurora lights.
A voice over started to speak. "… Shuffling destination, England. Hogwarts area… to start on further instructions."
The two golden bowls floated, their crystals following the light of the dimension. "Hearts of humans, destined to fall in love, find truth and find your devotion. To be together in passion and compassion. To stay and to endure the pain together, to create a crystal that will shine forever," she chanted in a song-like voice unlike her normal tone.
"Criteria testing… data computing… consulting the Fates… checking pending wish requests…" the voice over started to say. After an hour of choosing (the crystals jumping and rolling inside the bowls), two crystals jumped out of the bowl and hovered in front of the goddess. She returned to the present dimension and Jaide was carrying a scroll.
With a snap, the two crystals settled themselves on the scroll and became glowing ink. "What a stressful job," she said, sitting down lazily. "Call Iris and give her that scroll. She'll know what to do," she said before disappearing to get to her beauty sleep.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Christopher Summerwind and Jeanne Shou?" Lily asked in confirmation, rolling the glowing parchment once again. "I don't know but you seem to have fun giving me people whom I don't know. And I thought I'm going to pair-up Potter and Lira?"
"Well, that's your job, my dear," Eros replied. "Okay, this is their information. Jeanne does not really know Christopher except last year, when their classes fused together. You know, Christopher had a girlfriend named Jolin Dave," he further said. "He also had Chloris Rivers, Justine Provenrite, Anne Ceguerra, Laine…"
"Wait, is he a playboy?"
"He's not. He just got this big butt that attracts those ladies. And he's also good-looking; in any aspect you define the word. And he's smart as well, but I don't know who's smarter between Matthew and him. Based on the records, Jeanne before even liked Matthew, way back in first year."
Lily nodded in understanding. "So, is it easy to pair them up?"
"Kinda," the god replied, scratching his chin. "Lily, they're ultimately close! Know that? Maybe we could eventually pair them in a day. And to tell you the truth, I'm really into this pairing because people around them want to pair them up."
"Really? Then I can rest," Lily said with a sigh.
"But the Fates had decided, Lily," Eros said in a dark tone. "You are going to pair them up in the Easter Holidays."
"Why do we have to wait?" Lily asked.
"Are you stubborn or what?" Eros said, scratching his head. "The Fates have decided. It's Easter Holidays!"
"How am I…?" Lily started but she found out that Eros had disappeared. "Hey, Eros, don't just leave me here!" she shrieked.
a/n: Well, that's my update for this month… I'm happy to tell you that this fic has reserved chapters!! So please wait…