38 – The Silver Chalice
When Snape arrived at Slughorn's classroom, there was a long line winding out of the doorway. Dumbledore was at the entrance. "Everyone, please be patient. We are taking extra precautions for today's Christmas Challenge."
There was endless chatter in the hallway. Snape craned his neck to see if Lily was in the line, but he didn't see her, not even Sirius or James. The students were chirping about the reasons for any precautions being taken. "What's he making us drink?" someone asked.
Snape immediately felt a sweat break out on his forehead. He was holding his Christmas scene from Voldemort, having covered it with a silk handkerchief; no need to show anyone what he was bringing in until the last minute, and it appeared that many of the other students had the same idea, trying to go for a wow factor with the judge. Speaking of which, Miss Rouge Arrow wasn't to be seen either.
"Dumbledore? What are you making us drink?" someone asked again near the front of the line.
"No worries, my young wizards and witches. This is for added protection due to a curse that has recently unearthed itself."
"What curse?" asked Remus. "And how did it get into Hogwarts?"
"A curse that needs to die. And the fewer that know about this, the better," said Dumbledore.
Remus muttered something under his breath.
"I appreciate your understanding for why this needs to be confidential," said Dumbledore, a tad coolly.
Snape was now sweating profusely. Was Dumbledore protecting all of them from the Dark Tourist? If that was the case, everything that Voldemort had planned would be rendered useless.
When he reached the doorway, he could see the amber outline of Miss Rouge Arrow inside the classroom. As in the past, she was completely blurred, having gone deep undercover for whatever assignment she was doing with the aurors. "Is this really necessary?" Snape asked Dumbledore. "Do I need to drink this?"
"Oh, I don't think so, Severus. I can't imagine the curse being directed to any of our innocent students, but I don't like to second guess powerful wizards, especially those who have an agenda that doesn't consider total well being for all fellow humans. So please take a sip."
"Er—so you're sure?"
"It will only take a second." It was the first time that he'd heard Miss Rouge Arrow speak. She handed him a silver chalice that had a clear liquid in it. "Only a sip is needed."
The liquid, whatever it was, had a strong aroma, and when it hit his nostrils, he immediately felt sick to his stomach. It reminded him of a more potent version of fire whiskey. "What is this?"
Miss Rouge Arrow didn't answer; Snape guessed that she was examining his every move.
What Snape did next, took both Miss Rouge Arrow and Dumbledore by surprise. He took a giant gulp, letting the clear liquid practically set his throat and stomach on fire. It tasted awful, and he felt a rush of blood to the head, immediately followed by a coughing spout.
"That's enough Severus!" said Dumbledore reaching for the chalice. "She said to take a sip, not a gulp."
Miss Rouge Arrow looked in the chalice, and though Snape couldn't read her facial expressions hidden beneath the blurry amber hue, he was pretty sure that she was upset.
"Take a seat, Severus," said Dumbledore.
Dumbledore whispered to her. "Is there enough for the other students? Do you have any more?"
"I only had what the Fitzwilliam Museum gave me," she said quietly. "Some of the students might not be protected."
Snape took a seat and was rather proud of his quick thinking to diminish the supply of whatever had been concocted to protect against the Dark Tourist (or at least that was presumably the curse they were protecting everyone from).
After a few more students came in, Miss Rouge Arrow motioned to Dumbledore that the chalice was completely empty. She, Slughorn, and Dumbledore quickly gathered in a circle and were discussing this rather intently—Snape guessed they were trying to determine if they should let any remaining students into the room unprotected.
Just then, Lily and James walked into the room, approaching the circle of three—Dumbledore stopped them. "Wait here for a second, Miss Evans and Mr. Potter." He turned back to the circle, and they continued discussed for several minutes. Lily gave Snape a quick look and started to ask, "What's going on?" but she thought better of it and turned to James instead.
Finally, after deliberating for what seemed like a half hour, Dumbledore made a little speech to the class. "Thank you all for bearing with us today. It has come to our attention that an ancient curse has recently been used on the Hogwarts grounds, and we wanted to make sure that everyone has been protected against this. I'd like to personally thank you, Miss Rouge Arrow, for bringing the anti-….the anti-"—Dumbledore coughed several times—"the anti-venom berry potion."
"Anti-venom berry?" asked Remus. "Seriously? Anti-venom berry?"
"Yes!" said Dumbledore. "It's an ancient curse, and it was recently used on a student here at Hogwarts."
"Who?" asked Remus.
"That's enough," said Dumbledore. "This matter, as stated before, is confidential."
Snape had never heard of a venom berry curse, and he watched Dumbledore closely. Was he bluffing? Did he know what he was about to do, and was he simply trying to lure him in further and catch him in the act?
"Because we have run out of the potion, Miss Rouge Arrow, Professor Slughorn, and myself will be watching over the class today to make sure that someone hasn't secretly planted this curse in any of your ornaments. Lily, James"—he placed a hand on Lily's shoulder—"we'll especially be keeping careful watch over you. You can take a seat now."
Lily led them to a seat at the opposite end of the classroom. Snape absently thought about the day of Carpe Retractum, when she'd intentionally sat next to him so he wouldn't be alone.
"Okay, class. The big moment is here," announced Professor Slughorn. "I have put all of your names into a hat, so the order of demonstration is randomly selected. Lily, my dear, why don't you choose the first name."
Lily closed her eyes and stuck her hand into the hat. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Slughorn.
"Severus, m' boy. Wouldn't you know, you get to show off your ornament first."
Snape stood, not having the foggiest clue of how he could pull this off.
