The next day, at breakfast, Callidus received a letter from Madam Fikodoxos. It was the reply to the letter he had sent her. Since the Slytherins were only discussing the news (which was reporting two more cases of the Orange Madness in the south) Callidus didn't pay them much heed, and opened the letter instead.

He skipped through the first few paragraphs in which she spoke of how proud of him she was, and how he was a credit to the Prince name and that he was surely a paragon of the Slytherin House. Her praise was so profuse, yet he had a feeling that the letters that Madam Fikodoxos wrote to Caiside were nothing like the letters she wrote to him. It made him feel uncomfortable; Caiside might have a bit of an attitude, but she really wasn't a bad sort.

Finally, he got to the section that was of interest to him, and he was pleased to see that Madam Fikodoxos has listed several materials as well as ingredients that could be used to either stabilize potions or store them. Two of the materials were exotic enough that he hasn't even heard of them before. He felt a renewed sense of satisfaction and folded up the letter, tucking it into his robe pocket.

The letter reminded him that he needed to write to Wystan as well. Hopefully Wystan could offer some information about being able to see magic. The topic interested Callidus enough that he decided it would probably be his next big project for potions, assuming that it was even possible to make a potion that would allow one to see magic.

The day was spent listening to Harry and Draco discuss how they would attempt to dose Flint with the friendliness potion. Callidus had said he didn't want to get involved - especially since Flint was notorious for his short and violently explosive temper. But Harry's and Draco's enthusiasm soon drew him in. They were simply so in their element when it came to mischief that Callidus couldn't help wanting to be a part of it.

It kept the three of them awake during History of Magic, but none of them heard a single word that Professor Binns had said.

"We're going to have to follow him," Harry whispered, "to learn his habits. We have to catch him alone so that we're prepared when we dose him tomorrow."

"I don't think he really has to be alone," Draco mused. "I mean, it's just a friendliness potion. How bad could it be?"

"More people means more witnesses," Harry pointed out. "And do you really want to risk the chance of getting caught by Flint?"

Draco frowned. "That's true. Fine. We'll try and get Flint alone. Or maybe if it's just him and Montague. Montague's a pillock. I swear, he was trying to purposely knock me off my broom during practice."

Harry's expression turned sympathetic. "I don't like Montague either. So should we do this after class?"

Callidus raised his eyebrows. "Don't you two have a Charms assignment that you still have to complete?"

"Oh, it's just Flitwick," Draco scoffed. "He won't even take points off us if we're late."

"You say that but then you'll be the one panicking at the end of the year because you worry that your grades aren't good enough to please your father," Callidus reminded him.

"Do you want us to dose your potion or not?" Draco challenged.

Callidus shrugged. "Do what you must."

"You can always help us with our homework later, can't you?" Harry asked, though he already knew the answer. "With our Quidditch schedule, it's been hard to find the time to get it all done."

Callidus sighed, as if heavily burdened. "Yes, Harry."

"Come along with us!" Harry cajoled. "It's more fun when you're with us."

"I ought to be working on the container for the potion -" Callidus answered, though felt indecisive.

"You should come," Draco insisted. "Extra pair of eyes, and all."

Harry grinned. "See? Draco agrees. You always help us out if we're in a tight spot. It's just better if you come."

"You are useful," Draco opined.

Callidus shrugged. "Fine." Though in truth, he did have a lot of fun with his friends/brothers, so it was no chore to join them on their escapade.

When classes were done, the trio quickly made their way back to the Slytherin dungeons, remembering to grab their Camouflage Potion at the last moment. Their timing was perfect, since the seventh years had also just finished their classes and were entering the common room. Their target Marcus Flint dropped off his book bag in his dorm room and he and his friends, Graham Montague and Lucian Bole left the dungeon soon after. The trio exchanged glances and followed them, each taking a dose of the potion once they were in the relatively deserted hallway.

They had forgotten to grab the Foot-silencing Potion so they had to keep as quiet as possible. But Flint and his friends hardly seemed aware of their surroundings. After all, they were at the top of the school food chain. People like Flint didn't have to worry about being bullied and attacked because he already was a bully, and an incredibly tough one at that.

They followed Flint out of the dungeons and exited the castle into one of the lesser known courtyards. Callidus grimaced, and shivered from the November cold. He could see Harry doing the same, but Draco was snug in his expensive charmed robes. Callidus fervently hoped that perhaps Flint was using the courtyard as a shortcut to another part of the castle. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Flint and his friends settled down on a spot on the stone floor, and Montague pulled out a gobstones set from his rucksack.

Beside him, Callidus heard Harry groan. "They're playing gobstones?" he whispered in dismay. "In this weather? I always thought Flint had stone for skin and this just confirms it."

"Shh," Draco hushed. "We don't want them to hear us. And if they like a game like gobstones, it's no wonder they'd play it out here alone in the courtyard where no one can see. People who actually like gobstones are kind of pathetic."

Callidus sighed, wondering why he thought this would be fun. He could have been working on his potions project instead. Recalling that he had Madam Filodoxos letter to aid his progress, he found himself regretting his decision already. But since he was here, he decided that he might as well see what might happen. What did someone like Marcus Flint do with his free time (aside from gobstones?)

As the trio watched Flint and his friends play, it was clear that Flint was nowhere as near talented at gobstones as he was at Quidditch.

"Got you!" Montague crowed as his stone knocked Flint's out of the circle and Flint got a face full of slime. The trio had to bite down on their lips, and cover their mouths to muffle their laughs.

"Merlin's bloody pants!" Flint swore, slamming his fist on the ground.

"You can't play gobstones like you play Quidditch," Bole pointed out. "You can't just knock the stones at full force and expect to score points. You have to use skill and finesse."

"You saying I don't have finesse?" Flint growled, still trying to wipe slime from his face.

Bole snorted. "No Flint, you bloody well don't, and you know it. You're like a erumpent in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. You destroy everything in your path."

That caused Flint's lips to quirk upwards. "And I'm going to be destroying Gryffindors left and right next week. I want them completely crushed and humiliated. Especially that bloody Wood."

Oliver Wood was the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and it was well known that he and Flint were obsessed with Quidditch. Unfortunately for Wood, they hadn't had a good seeker in all his years as captain, and the Gryffindors had suffered loss after loss against the brutally aggressive Slytherins.

"Would you stop it with all your talk about Wood?" Montague groused. "He's never won against you. You're bloody obsessed with the bloke. Keep talking like that and people will think you have feelings for him or sumthin'"

"I don't have feelings for Wood!" Flint roared, and Callidus flinched at the force of his anger. But Flint's reaction was rather interesting. Callidus suspected that there might be something there, but since he didn't have to personally deal with Flint, he didn't know what to do with the information. He stored it away in the back of his mind.

"If anything, I just want to see Wood on his knees, begging for my mercy," Flint added.

"Frankly, saying things like that only supports Graham's idea," Bole noted. "I mean, come on, saying you want him on his knees?"

"I don't mean it like that!" Flint barked defensively. "I hate him!"

"You know, we don't care if you like blokes, right?" Bole answered in a reasonable tone of voice. "Frankly, it bothers us more that you might like a Gryffindor. A lot more. I mean - a Gryffindor? Really?"

"I don't like anyone!" Flint yelled. "And if you don't shut up, I'm going to bombarda your ugly mug so that your mother won't even want to look at you!"

"Ha!" Bole uttered. "You're one to call me ugly. Have you looked in a mirror lately? Or do they all scream in terror when they see you?"

Callidus raised his eyebrows. He knew that the enchanted mirrors often had interesting responses (and more often than not, Hogwarts mirrors liked to nag Callidus to use his hair degreasing potion) but he had never heard of a mirror screaming from the sight of someone's face. He wondered if it was true.

"Those mirrors are bloody stupid, and they're lucky I don't smash then all to bits," Flint declared. "Besides, that only happened once and it was because I had the dragon pox."

Flint's friends snickered. "So, are you just going to admit that you like Wood or not? I mean, I'm not into blokes or anything, but Wood isn't awful lookin'."

"I said shut up about it!" Flint roared again. "Let's just play gobstones. Or are you afraid you'll lose the next round?"

"Against you?" Bole smirked. "Not likely. Hey, you still got some slime on your face." He gestured to Flint's cheek.

Flint swore and tried to wipe it off.

"Just use a cleaning charm," Montague suggested.

"No! I hate how they feel! Like bloody sandpaper on my skin," Flint complained stubbornly. When Flint finally managed to clean off all the slime, he played (and lost) another round of gobstones against his friend, leaving him with yet more slime on his face. Callidus would have found it more comical, except he was cold enough to be fantasizing about the large fire in the Slytherin common room, rather than being stuck out here watching Flint lose at gobstones.

Flint and his friends played a few more rounds of gobstones, and Flint even managed to win once, though Montague claimed it was just luck.

"I still won and you got slimed!" Flint bragged triumphantly.

"Whatever," Montague muttered, before using a cleaning charm on his face and wincing from the discomfort.

Finally, Flint's friends said they were done and ready to go inside.

"I got something to do first," Flint informed them. "I'll meet you back at the dungeon later."

"Again?" Bole asked. "Are you secretly meeting up with Wood or something?"

"No!" Flint yelled angrily. "It's none of your bloody business!"

His friends laughed. "Sure. We'll see you later, Marcus."

Flint just grunted in reply. The trio shared a look. If Flint was going off somewhere alone, it could provide the ideal opportunity to use the potion on Flint. Flint's friends returned to the dungeons while Flint wandered off in a different direction. The trio followed him, grateful for the chance to finally be going inside.

They entered one of Hogwarts' side doors, and boys had to carefully ensure that they opened and closed the door silently to avoid drawing Flint's attention. They trailed behind him along the corridor and up a flight of stairs. After rounding a corner, they spotted a gangly looking third year waiting for Flint inside the shadowy area of an alcove.

"Do you have it?" Flint questioned menacingly.

Callidus raised his eyebrows. It seemed like something shady was going on.

"Yes," the boy quailed, handing Flint a parcel.

"Good." Flint snatched the parcel from the boy's hands.

"How long are you going to keep doing this for? My mum is getting suspicious," the boy whinged.

"As long as you want me to keep your secret a secret. Why? Are you telling me that it's time to tell everyone that you're -"

"Shh!" the third year insisted. "Not here! Someone might hear us."

Flint snorted. "No one is here but us. Be here tomorrow with the same package."

"But what do I tell my mum? She doesn't understand why I keep asking her to send me biscuits."

Callidus frowned. Biscuits?

"It's your mum's fault for making biscuits that are so bloody good. I'll stop asking you for biscuits when your mum no longer makes good biscuits."

Callidus's expression became incredulous. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing; it was just too ludicrous. Flint was actually blackmailing someone in exchange for biscuits? How did this situation even arise? It was ridiculous.

"Come back here tomorrow," Flint ordered the third year. "It has to be right after classes, before Quidditch practice. Now scram! Get outta my face!"

The gangly boy wilted and quickly scuttled off, leaving Flint alone in the alcove. When Flint believed he was alone, he ripped open the package and began stuffing his face with biscuits.

"So good," he moaned with mouthful of biscuits still in his mouth, and Callidus cringed. He looked over at Harry and Draco and they were wearing the same expression. Eventually, Flint finished the entire package of biscuits. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his robe to remove wayward crumbs before leaving the alcove. The trio didn't bother to follow him. They had seen enough.

"This might sound a bit weird, but I really want to try those biscuits," Harry confessed, when they were certain that Flint was gone.

Draco scrunched up his nose. "Frankly, seeing Flint eat may have put me off food forever."

Callidus snorted. "Such delicate sensibilities."

"Shut up. It was disgusting," Draco retorted, but there was no real heat behind the words. "Let's check the alcove. We should probably put the potion where it won't be too obvious or someone will notice it."

Callidus and Harry nodded in agreement. The alcove in question wasn't particularly interesting. It was arch-shaped, with a pointed top, and the stonework was fairly plain. However, it did contain a stone bench, and a vial or bowl of potion could easily be tucked away under the bench, where it could go unnoticed. Satisfied with the results of their investigation of Flint, the trio returned to the the Slytherin dungeons, looking forward to discovering how the friendliness potion would affect Flint.

On the following day, Callidus did not want to put off his potions research any longer, so after classes, he headed towards his lab after taking out a few more books from the library. He was feeling optimistic about the finally creating the right container that would vapourize his potions, and he hoped that the information that Madam Filodoxos had given him would provide the breakthrough that he needed. Furthermore, as he had said, he really didn't want to risk the chance of incurring Flint's possible wrath. Flint might not have been the brightest lumos in the school, but he was dangerous for similar reasons that Norberta was - brute strength, quick speed and aggressive instincts.

Some of the materials and ingredients that Madam Filodoxos had suggested were so unusual and interesting that Callidus quickly lost track of time. Before he knew it, it was evening, and Harry and Draco were probably back from Quidditch practice. He looked over his books and notes with a sense of longing. He really wanted to do more reading so that he could finally solve the problem of the vapourization bomb. But on the other hand, he really wanted to know the results of the friendliness potion. Had it been effective on Flint? Or was the potion still too strong? Since the potion was created by using a love potion as a starting point (which had to be toned down to be very mild and generalized), it was hard to say how it would affect humans.

In the end, Callidus decided he might as well return to the common room and find out the results from Draco and Harry. If the potion didn't turn out quite right, at least he would know that it still needed tweaking. Callidus knew that the potion would probably benefit from more tests on human subjects. But because the effects were ultimately benign, he wasn't quite as worried about it. It wasn't as though a potion with very temporary effects that caused people to feel more affectionate, could really do much harm.

Packing up his books and notes, Callidus made his way from the lab to the common room. He thought that Harry and Draco would already be back, but to his surprise, he met up with them in the hallway.

"Cal!" Harry called out brightly, waving.

Callidus raised his eyebrows. "You two look happy. Can I take this to mean that the potion was a success?"

"It - was - awesome!" Draco declared, looking utterly pleased.

Harry grinned. "Practice was so much fun today."

Draco chortled. "And everyone was so confused by Flint's complete change of tone."

"What was Flint like? The potion worked well?" Callidus inquired.

Harry and Draco nodded. "Yeah," Harry told him. "We placed the potion a bit behind the stone bench, and after that other boy left, we vapourized the potion before Flint had a chance to eat his biscuits."

Draco grimaced. "I would have thought that inhaling a bunch of shimmery vapour would have caused Flint to be more suspicious, but he somehow decided that it would be a good idea to sit down and eat the entire package of biscuits. Disgusting."

"I think the potion was affecting him even then, because I swear, he looked even happier than usual this time as he was eating his biscuits. Merlin, I really wish I could try one." Harry sighed wistfully. "Those biscuits must be miraculous if they could make someone so happy."

Draco made a gagging noise. "As I said. Disgusting."

Callidus's lips quirked upwards. "So - Flint -?"

Harry nodded. "So after that, we headed down towards the Quidditch Pitch since we had practice. I was really hoping that Flint would go easy on us because I'm still sore from last practice."

"I told you to to use that cream that my mother bought me," Draco admonished.

Harry frowned. "The cream smelled like flowers! I didn't want to smell all - flowery!"

"There's nothing wrong with being covered by a pleasing odor. My mother says a refined wizard must show his elevated tastes," Draco retorted.

"I don't think I want to be a refined wizard," Harry answered stubbornly.

Callidus rolled his eyes. "Just think of it this way, Draco. If you're the one who smells like - er - flowers, then you're the one who will appear the most refined in comparison."

Draco's expression brightened. "That's true." He beamed. "Good point, Callidus. Though I must say that it still does me credit to have my companions show some degree of refinement."

"Erm -" Harry looked uncertain. "Sure."

"You were telling me about Flint?" Callidus reminded his brothers/friends.

"Yes, so Flint. We went down and got dressed for practice," Harry continued to explain, "and when Flint arrived, he didn't exactly look happy. I mean, he definitely looked a lot more happy when he's eating those biscuits. So Draco and I were kind of worried that the potion might not have worked."

"I couldn't handle another brutal practice so soon," Draco interjected.

Harry nodded sympathetically. "I thought I'd be stuck with open sores if we had to have another practice session like the last one. My hands and thighs were so raw last time. Anyhow, so Flint came over towards us - the team, not me and Draco specifically - and usually at this point, he starts insulting us, and telling us that we're pitiful worms that he has to whip into shape."

"Who does he think he is to presume to talk to us that way? If he weren't the captain of the Quidditch team, I'd never tolerate it," Draco muttered darkly.

Harry ignored the comment. "But this time, Flint didn't insult any of us. He just told us to get our brooms and get out on the pitch. I think the rest of the team was a bit confused, but - I mean - Flint's actions weren't so unusual that everyone would really notice. It wasn't until we were actually up in the air that Flint became noticeably more friendly. I mean, usually, when we're practicing, he has this furious look on his face - like he thinks that everything we do is a disappointment."

"As if he could have a better team than us," Draco grumbled.

"But this time, he didn't look angry at all. He still wasn't smiling or anything. But he didn't insult any of us! And what's more, he told me that my flying was passable!"

Callidus arched a black eyebrow. "He said your flying was passable?"

"Yeah!" Harry affirmed. "From someone like Flint, that's like - unimaginable praise."

"He said my flying wasn't bad," Draco added. "But what does he know? My flying is amazing. But it's true that hearing something like that from Flint was unusual."

Harry grinned. "Everyone else was getting so confused. Pucey kept asking him if he was feeling all right, or asking if he had hit his head or something. But I think everyone was relieved to have an easy practice session."

"It's a lot easier to show off my skills when Flint isn't screaming at us," Draco remarked. "All in all, I'd say your potion was a success. This new version of Flint is much more tolerable than his normal self."

Harry nodded in agreement. "I wish Flint were always this way." He turned towards Callidus. "Any chance we could have more of that potion?"

"I don't know if I can justify making large batches of it," Callidus replied. "Slughorn would get suspicious if a large number of his ingredients started to disappear."

Draco hummed. "We might be able to pay for the ingredients. You could consider it part of your potions trade."

Callidus raised his eyebrows. "If it's a business arrangement, then I can make it happen. For you two, I won't charge for the labour. If you're willing to buy the ingredients, I'll make you the potion."

Harry's expression turned excited. "Really? This is great!" He looked over at Draco. "Could you imagine if all our practices were this fun?"

"Are you sure it won't affect your skills if you relax your practices?" Callidus wondered.

Draco scoffed. "Don't you worry about that. Our team is going to crush the rest of the other houses. They don't stand a chance."

Harry smiled. "It would be pretty nice to win."

"We will win," Draco fiercely asserted. "We will definitely win."