Chapter 15: Aconitum Napellus
-James... James, I think I heard Filch coming this way...
-Shut it a bit, or we'll get caught. James whispered, pulling his wand and a piece of parchment out of his pockets, which he gently tapped. -I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. He pushed his glasses back on his nose, scrutinizing the marauder's map that had opened in front of him. -No one in sight Pet 'stop it will you, you frighten chicken nugget. He growled, still looking at every corner of the map.
-Hey! We have already gotten ourselves two weeks of detention after Halloween's prank his the pumpkins, I wish I could breathe a little before we find ourselves forced to be in detention forever! Peter whispered quickly, nervously twisting his hands. -I'm sure Miss Norris is there somewhere, spying on us! I can feel her James!
-We can't get caught if you shut up for once, come Pet'. James sighed annoyingly, wishing his friend could concentrate a bit. -Miss Norris is here, look. He said, showing him a point on the map on the second floor. -We are under the invisibility cloak and we have the map, now, please, do concentrate okay, I need to focus. He said, taking out a second piece of parchment from his robes before frowning at the complexes calculations and spells Sirius had hurriedly written down.
-Why didn't you take Sirius with you for this? Why must I be here? He's the best with Nonverbal spells and he's so much better than me for this kind of thing. Whined Peter taking the map from James' hands to look carefully at it, searching the dot that would show him where the caretaker was and making sure the cat was still motionless on the second floor.
-Maybe, but only you will be able to sneak under the door with your Animagus form. James reminded him. -Sirius is perhaps the best with Nonverbal spells, but it's not he, who would get us under that door to open it, his bear-like dog would be a little bit too noticeable don't you agreed? On the other hand, no one will pay attention to a rat in the dungeons, so, are ready yet?
-Yes Yes. Peter grunted, far from being pleased to be actively involved in James's plan. He was usually designing the mischiefs with the other three, but in general, he stayed behind with Remus to orchestrate everything and let James and Sirius take all the detentions night when things didn't go the way they had planned it. -Why do you need all this dangerous stuffs and especially aconite, why aconite? What are you gonna do with this stuff? Beside poisoning ourselves I don't see how it's gonna be of any help to us. Said Peter, shaking his head.
-Some folktales say that lycanthropy can be cured by making ingested leaves of belladonnas or aconite to those who suffer from it and...
-You're not going to make Remus eat that? Peter squealed, horrified. -James, I really think that this is a bad idea, he will be furious if you want him to swallow that!
-I'm not going to make him swallow that poisonous thing who are you taking me for? Sighed James. -Think a bit Pet ', will you. I'm sure if we dug our heads enough, we could be able to develop an ointment or a potion or something else, something that could relieve his pain more quickly before or after the full moon. Something that would alleviate his suffering evens it's for a moment only. He cannot continue like that, he's not even able to fully recover before the next full moon. The last months had been a nightmare for him, I'm tired of seeing him suffer incessantly and here we are, looking at him with our arms crossed, doing nothing, it makes me sick.
-Stop being so dramatic, May I remind you that we became Animagi illegally to be with him in his long nights of loneliness, I think that he's already grateful enough with this. We can't do anything else for him right now, James.
-Right, we became Animagi without the help of anyone at the age of fifteen, if there is anyone who can help him even more, it's us, and no one else. James answered Peter, looking at a group of third-year Hufflepuff out of their Potions class.
Peter glared at him, unconvinced by James's words and actions. Remus was indeed sicker before the full moons; it was true and they all feared that it would eventually break him or worse, kill him, but they couldn't do anything about it. There has been no cure so far to relieve the Werewolves, either before or after the full moon. Nobody was interested enough in their fate to make any attempt to help them.
Sighing and looking all around the dungeons, thinking that it was not James' brightest idea to date to ventured into enemy territory in broad daylight to steal from a professor personal store a bunch of ingredients all more dangerous than each other only to try to brew an experimental potion to help Remus. This was going to turn badly he just knew it.
James was top marks in Transfiguration, not in Potion even though his father was an acknowledged expert on the subject, he strongly doubted that his friend's experience would lead to anything, especially if Sirius was involved in the making of that potion.
-I don't think it will work at all, this is not the first time we tried something like this, James and I'm sure that we're only gonna make him sicker, it will have been of no purpose at all. Peter tried to resonate his friend. -I don't think he would approve of the fact that we are hiding in the dungeons ready to steal dangerous things from a professor… I don't feel it at all James, really.
-It's precisely the risk that makes it so much fun! James told him, laughing. -And we're better off not telling him, not now, you know the Prefect inside him has a tendency to feel guilty when we brake so many rules. Well, enough with the chitchat, a bit of concentration now. James said, raising his wand in front of him, taking Peter by the arm to make sure he followed him in front of a little wooden door that looks just like an ordinary broom closet.
James looked at Peter, asking him to transform into his Animagus form, and it was with a long sigh that he complied, patiently waiting for James who had his nose tucked on his piece of parchment, trying to lift the protective barrier around the Professor's personal ingredient store. Slughorn. -Okay, I think it's good, let's just hope Pads did not mess up those spells, otherwise, we'll be in big troubles. He muttered mockingly, seeming delighted at the risks they were currently taking. -Your turn Pet ', let's go.
Wormtail let out a squeal and sneaked under the door, trying to focus as much as he could on what he had to do. It was hard in Animagus form to have consistent thoughts. James and Sirius had mastered the exercise wonderfully since they had to control a Werewolf every night of full of moons, but for him, it was more difficult.
He had needed all the help he could get from his friends to succeed in transforming himself safely and he was struggling to keep his human thoughts when he was transformed. His senses were multiplied and everything around him seemed disproportionate, distorted, not seeming to belong to the same reality as him. The others had told him that he would get used to it, that the feeling of numbness would eventually disappear, but he doubted it.
He sniffed for a long time, climbing on the shelves, bypassing jars filled with herbs and other things he'd rather not identify, finally reaching the closest shelve to the door. In a superhuman effort, the little rat threw himself on the door handle to open it, finding himself instantly projected against a vial filled with green liquid, falling to the ground with the inside spilled all over him, turning back into his human form, as James was closing the door behind him.
-You could have waited until it was completely open! Peter shouted, disgusted by the viscosity of the non-identity liquid dropping through his hair. -You didn't have to open it so quickly! What the –
-Why didn't you turn back into a human once you were on the inside? Why did you stay as a rat? James replied quickly. -No need to stay in Animagus form Pet', I had disabled all the charms, all you had to do was open the door for me. James sighed, helping him to get up, wiping the green substance away with a flick of his wand, taking the broken glass on the floor that contained the liquid label. -The urine of... I can not read the word it's too –
-Don't tell me okay. Squealed Peter before James could have finished his sentence. -I prefer to stay in perfect ignorance of what it really was okay, and please, don't tell Sirius, or he'll joke about this for months. He moaned before starting to look around him. Professor Slughorn really kept all sorts of things in this shed, all being more curious than the others, and Peter was convinced he had seen a mermaid's head in the bottom of one of the shelves when he was still transformed.
-Well, the teachers are ready for a possible massacre of werewolves. James grunted, climbing up the small ladder to find a very big pot on the highest shelf, filled with aconites, the purple flowers of the plant seeming in very good condition. -I don't know what he was going to do with all of this, I'm sure we can relieve him of these a little bit. There is even Aconitum napellus, the deadliest variety.
-He will realize it, James, he'll know someone had brake into his store and it will be a scandal, James. Said Peter, trying to make James change his mind. -The teachers will believe someone with bad intentions has discovered Remus' secret and is trying to poison him. It's not a good idea….
James waved briefly at Peter who rolled his eyes not paying any more attention to him as he continued to look at the shelves, gathering in vials he had brought some plants he thought could be useful. He grabbed a jar full of Dittany and took a small part of it. The healing powers of this essence were miraculous, it could only help. There was also powdered silver, Valerian roots, moonstones (if he took one, Slughorn would never notice he had so many!) and so many species of aconites it was mind-blowing. His brain was spinning fast as he tried to take everything he thinks he would need the most hurrying because they couldn't stay long in there.
His father, Renowned Potion Master before he became head of the Auror Department, had a friend who had the ambitious idea of creating a Potion that could help lycanthropy. He had told his father about his research and his unsuccessful attempted to create it, wanting advice from another Potion Master. When James had heard them speak, a bubble of hope had formed in his chest and he had quickly copied the list of his father's friend ingredients while he was looking away in order to study them.
He had not told anyone about it, not even Sirius, fearing he could get carried away and decided to do some dangerous mixture that he would like Remus to swallow, thinking he was helping him. The list he had copied was incredibly long and complex, with annotation all more complicated than the others and even worst, he had not been able to write them all down. He had wanted to keep that for himself and do tests when he was alone in his father's old lab, but he was running out of time now.
After seeing Remus in such a bad state after the last full moon, he had been convinced that he had to do something, anything to alleviate Remus's suffering and e had to do it right now. He could not stand it anymore and it was more and more terrible. -So, I think I have everything. Finally said James, making Peter jump. He smirked before putting the invisibility cloak back on Peter's head to hide with him.
- I hope you have everything you wanted because there is no way I'll come back here. Peter whispered as they came out of the store, James slowly closing the door behind them, reactivating the spells set up by the professor to not arouse suspicion.
-Oh please Pet', it was nothing at all and it took us less than ten minutes, stop to worry about it. James groaned as he dragged him into the Great Hall with him, not noticing that the bottom of their shoes was no longer hidden by the invisibility cloak, nor having noticed the silhouette hiding in a corner that did not miss a single minute of their output from the ingredients store.
Sorry for the long wait but sometimes, normal life doesn't always go as we wanted. Hope you had enjoyed! ^^