After an extremely uneventful history of magic lesson, Harry made his way down to Snape's office for their first experiment with the Dementor Ash. His own cauldron of Ash was safely locked up at Dumbledore's house, under the best preservation magic his mithril, Nicholas and Dumbledore were capable of.
Finding Snape's door open, he knocked politely then let himself in.
"Good evening Professor." Harry greeted warmly.
"Evening Potter." Snape replied distractedly, not looking up from his cauldron.
Cautiously approaching, Harry recognized the pale purple of a Pepper-Up potion mid brew, which was turning steadily redder as the mithril cauldron steadily stirred the potion clockwise. The professor had gone through several of his unique cauldrons since he had gifted the first one in his second year, the potions innate magical power having had an unforeseen corrosive effect upon the mithril.
Despite this, the decay was easy to predict and caused no issues with the potions, so long as Harry remembered to replace them every few months. For Snape, the cauldrons were Harry's most useful invention, since they had allowed him to go through spending the majority of his time brewing the same basic potions to brewing only when he wanted to.
A pleasant side effect was this allowed him to spend more time going over his students' classwork and homework, instead of rushing through them during his free time. While his mood hadn't noticeably improved within classes, the students had steadily found notes within their work on how to improve next time.
"Is that the new cauldron?" Harry asked excitedly, knowing full well it was.
"Obviously, hence the reason I am supervising its first potion. The Pepper-Up potion is in its most reactive state, as you should know, if the potion were to go wrong at this point the effects would be… dramatic."
The new design was primarily improved by adding a thin layer of copper inside the cauldron, in an attempt to decrease the corrosive effect. The only other major addition were the two clear quartz crystals impeded into the side of the cauldron, the first of which was the size of a galleon and would change colour based on the temperature of the potion within the cauldron. It's twin was a foot long panel that would display the time the cauldron had started, thanks to the mithril casting the Tempus charm.
Before he could ask Snape about the cauldron Daphne entered the room, moving quietly so as to not disturb Snape. Harry noticed she seemed agitated and her defence against the dark arts book was almost falling out of her bag.
"What's up?" Harry found himself murmuring, unwilling to draw Snape's ire.
"Hm? Oh, nothing… I just had Defence and it was… intense, that's all."
"Ah, I've heard students talk about how Moody was intense, apparently he turned Malfoy into a ferret." Daphne released a small giggle as she was reminded of that event, before she returned to her normal serious attitude. "Any warnings about what to expect? I've got Moody after lunch tomorrow."
"Yeah, he's probably going to be teaching you about the Unforgivables. He apparently doesn't know the meaning of tact." She replied tensely, still visibly unnerved.
"If you two are quite done, we can now begin our session, unless you would rather stay here and continue your conversation." Snape cut in sardonically, drawing the pair's attention.
"Sorry professor." Daphne replied meekly, while Harry only grinned unapologetically.
"You may leave your bag here if you wish Miss. Greengrass, I will be locking my door behind us. Potter, I will be asking you to leave your coat here, I will explain why later. The pair of you need only bring your wands." Harry had expected they would've conducted their experiments within the normal lab, so was surprised when Snape led them past the room and down yet another spiral staircase. For a wild moment he wondered if they were going down into the Slytherin common room before he realised they were on the wrong side of the entrance hall. Soon enough they were halted by a gate made of several thick bars dissecting the hallway.
"From this point onwards, we are going into restricted territory. I must insist you do not wander while down here, for your own safety." After making eye contact with both, Snape tapped his wand against the lock, which opened the gate long enough for the three of them to enter before clanging shut behind them.
"Should something happen, you need only tap your wand against the lock and walk straight through the bars. However, once outside you will need another teacher to let you back inside. This is where we conduct any dangerous or potentially hazardous magic, hence why you should be accompanied by a teacher at all times." As he talked he led them deeper into the dungeons, until they entered a circular room with several doors leading outward. Harry presumed the symbol on each door was used to to identify the room beyond, such as the cauldron marked door Snape had just opened leading to an otherwise nondescript potion lab.
"Now, some basic lab safety; No running and definitely no throwing objects, no eating or drinking and definitely do not consume any potions unless I have specifically instructed you to do so. Unlike your normal lessons, your school uniform will be insufficient protection meaning you will need to replace your school robe with one of the dragonhide coats at the back. Inside the pockets of the coats you will find a matching pair of dragonhide gloves, you will need to tuck the sleeves of your coat within those gloves."
Begrudgingly, Harry followed the professor's instructions, even if he felt his own dragon-skin coat should've been enough protection. When they returned Harry noticed Snape had also replaced his normal black billowing robes with a far more form fitting dark grey coat similar to their own.
"When we are working with potions we will need to keep the hoods on at all times, fortunately protective enchantments are included to allow our eyes to be unobstructed. Before either of you even thinks about taking off your lab coats I will be inspecting the pair of you to ensure that no dangerous materials manage to find their way onto you. Now, before every session I will ensure we have everything we need. As such, it is important neither of you try to bring in anything or try to take anything out of the lab."
Once they had both followed his instructions, he went inside the supply cupboard and returned with a log of wood and one of the miniature cauldrons, which was barely big enough to fit a tennis ball.
"Now, the only potions which use Dementor Ash use them in a cryo-thermal reaction, where the ash cools down the potion. The issue is that the potion needs to be raised to a significant heat to allow the ash time to bind to the ingredients, limiting the number of ingredients that can be used. For instance, a billywig stinger will become inert if added prior, but will refuse to dissolve if added after the ash.
"There are ways around this of course, such as brewing the potion in two halves then merging them when ready, but such a merger is extremely tricky and requires a tremendous amount of skill and coordination. However, if you were able to boil the ash at the beginning of the brewing instead of the end, then we would be able to venture into new territory." By the end of his speech, Snape seemed ecstatic, in his own subtle way.
"But sir, I thought it was impossible to use Dementor Ash as a priming ingredient?" Daphne objected.
"Nothing is impossible when it comes to potions. The main reason the ash is exclusively used at the end of the brewing is simply down to how expensive it would be to replace the ash if the potion went wrong after adding the ash. By waiting until the end, a potioneer can ensure the potion is perfect before adding the final, and thus most expensive, materials.
"There are many cases where changing the order of the ingredients can yield higher quality potions, however the skill it takes to brew them goes from moderate to possible only by the utmost echelons of the potion world. As with everything, clients and employers prefer to go with the lower quality but significantly cheaper option."
"So why would we be going into 'new territory' if people have done it before?" Harry asked
"Because we can explore significantly deeper into this well of discovery, seeing as we have enough ash to satisfy any curiosity. Due to the rarity and expense, people have been wary of financing any experiment involving ash. As such, almost every experiment that revolves around the ash can be dated to within 20 years after the discovery of the ash as a potion ingredient, or within 5 years after the invention of the Mopsus Potion."
Snape's next trick was to place a wooden log onto the table, which seemed to have a strange inner glow as if there was a fire inside.
"This is a log of eternal Gubraithian Fire, the Headmaster was kind enough to alchemically enchant it with some Phoenix tears. Arguably, this is worth more than the entire cauldron worth of Dementor Ash, due to the fact the Headmaster is one of the few people in the world capable of enchanting it. It will burn far hotter than the normal runic burners, allowing us to reach the temperature at which the ash will dissolve into the water."
"Surely the burners are capable of getting hot enough? After all, it's not like it can get hotter than the water without it all boiling away."
"If we were using water as the base then you would be correct, however the ash itself has a dissolving point of around 110 Celsius. As you should know, that exceeds the boiling point of water, meaning we will need to use coconut oil as the base instead of the normal water. On top of that, the mixture will not start at room temperature, the ash will freeze the mixture down to around minus 30 Celsius.
"As such, we will first need to heat the mixture up to first room temperature, then to the dissolving temperature. If we had the time, a burner would be able to reach the required temperature, however this log will allow us to finish this experiment before sunrise. Greengrass, if you would fill the cauldron with oil until it reaches the neck."
As Daphne followed his instruction, Snape walked back into the storeroom and returned with a tiny stoppered crystal vial clamped within a pair of tongs, containing a sprinkling of the ash. The outside of the crystal was covered in a thin layer of condensation.
Very carefully, Snape held the tongs in one hand and withdrew his wand with the other. The moment the levitation charm lifted the stopper out a thin layer of frost leaked out, completely covering the metal part of the tongs. Quickly, Snape tipped the vial upside down and emptied the ash into the cauldron. Instantly the oil began freezing, although without any water there was no ice. To Harry, it looked like the cooking oil had just turned into pale jelly.
"A very important step to remember when using any oil for the base is to cast a one-way Impervius shield over the mouth of the cauldron, otherwise you will have oil being spat at you. Aside from the danger of the oil, it can sometimes cause the other ingredients to also jump out."
With a wave of his wand, Snape formed the shield before crouching down and sending a spark at the log under the cauldron. Instantly the log caught fire and burned with an intense dark grey fire, although as the flames rose away from the log they gradually took on a dark blue tint.
Even through his protective clothing Harry could feel the heat starting to emanate from the fire, as the flames rose up to lick the cauldron. Inside the cauldron, Harry could see the outer edges of the cooking oil begin to liquify again, although the centre of the cauldron stubbornly resisted the heat.
As the oil gradually warmed, the amount of oil that had returned to a liquid state grew. Eventually, once all of the oil had turned into a liquid, Snape withdrew a thin metal ladle and handed it to Harry.
"If you could start to gently stir the potion clockwise, I will tell you when to stop stirring."
Following his instruction, Harry was fascinated to see the ash shift every complete stir, oozing out invisible tendrils of magic and infusing it into the oil. The moment the tendrils started to stagnate Snape instructed him to begin spinning counter-clockwise, which gave the tendrils new life.
Eventually he fell into a rhythm of; 5 stirs clockwise, 2 stirs counter-clockwise, 7 clockwise and 5 counter-clockwise before going back to 5 clockwise. With each cycle the ash lost most of its magic into the oil, causing a familiar cloudy texture to appear. The cloudy texture was eerily similar to the inside of his soul gem, which did make sense given they had both originated from dementors.
Once the ash had completely dissolved into the oil, Snape swept his wand along the log and extinguished the fire. "That will do Potter, we'll let the potion cool naturally."
"So, what will the potion do?" Daphne asked eagerly, learning over the cauldron to try and peer inside.
"I have no idea," Snape returned snidely, pulling Daphne away from the cauldron. "I imagine it would simply do nothing. After all, it is just oil and ash. However, it proves it is possible for us to try and create new potions using this combination as a base."
Back in Snape's office, after picking up his coat Harry was set to leave until Daphne stopped him.
"Hold up Potter, last night you told me that you would tell me your secrets once Professor Snape was here to witness my oath of secrecy."
"Wait just a moment, I said I wouldn't tell you my secret until you were under oath, not that I would tell you if you were under an oath. As in, when I feel like I can tell you, I'd ask you to go under oath, then I'd tell you."
"Well that's not fair. And completely useless, since I'm going to find out anyway, even if you won't tell me. So you might as well tell me now." Daphne replied determinedly.
"As fascinating as this interaction is," Snape broke in, "Might I suggest you place Ms. Greengrass under oath, even if you refrain from telling her your 'secret'. Then, should you decide to tell her, or she finds out, she is already under oath. Then, you two can go elsewhere to continue your squabble, marking students work is bad enough without being forced to listen to you two bickering."
When Harry sat down in the DADA classroom, he couldn't help noticing how tense everyone looked. A few were clutching their books as if it might save them from Moody. All too soon the distinctive clunk of Moody's metal leg echoed down the corridor as he stepped into the room, bringing the already hushed room to complete silence.
"You can put those away," He growled, glaring disdainfully at Anthony Goldstein who was clutching his book like it was a lifeline, "those books. You won't need them." As the students moved to put away their books Moody wrote his name on the black board.
"Alastor Moody, Ministry malcontent and your new defence against the dark arts teacher. I'm here
because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" Harry wondered if Moody had used the same speech for every class, since the professor seemed almost bored.
"Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. So, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"
"Three sir, the imperius, Cruciatus and killing. The use of any one of them on another human being is a life sentence in Azkaban." Padma volunteered.
"Good, take 5 points to Ravenclaw. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to be alert and watchful!
"As Ms. Patil rightly said, the first of the unforgivables is the Imperius curse. It gave the ministry quite a bit of trouble some time ago."
Opening a glass jar full of large spiders, he summoned one of them into his palm before muttering "Imperio."
A faint yellow cloud oozed from the wand tip and vanished into the spider, which instantly stopped scuttling and stood perfectly still, before it swung down off Moody's hand and jumped onto Padma's desk, who jerked away instinctively. Harry noticed Moody's normal eye was transfixed on the spider, even as the magical eye whizzed around to settle on the students. Meanwhile, the spider had woven a web and threw it over onto the next desk over in an extremely human-like gesture.
Walking on just it's front two legs, the spider then sauntered along its tightrope and onto Susan Bones' desk, who looked mildly distressed. As the spider began jumping from desk to desk, it started to perform a complicated jig, which got most of the class laughing. Harry noticed only himself, Moody, Susan and Zacharias Smith remained grim.
"Funny isn't it? I could have it keep dancing until it dropped dead from exhaustion if you lot wanted." That got the class to stop laughing, "Or if it's boring you, how about I make it drown itself or jump out the window? Total control, that's what the Imperius curse means, total control. The kicker is, once cast it is impossible to tell who is acting of their own free will and who's being forced to act.
"Years back, the ministry had a right job trying to find the difference. Even truth telling substances didn't help, as the human mind is unable to truly know it was under the imperius. I could cast the spell on half of you then ask you all under truth serum 'Were you under the imperius curse?' and every single one of you would tell me 'No.'
"However, it can be fought and I'll be teaching you how. Once it takes hold it takes real strength of character to throw it off, something not everyone has, but there is a brief window where even the most rudimentary resistance can defeat the curse. Better to avoid being hit with it if you can. Constant Vigilance!" He barked, making the class jump.
Tossing the spider back into the jar, he summoned a new one and swiftly enlarged it before dropping it onto the table. "Crucio. The Cruciatus, the pain curse." Even as he spoke the spider collapsed and twitched, convulsing awfully. A slight flick of his wand ended the curse, but the spider's legs still twitched jerkily.
"You don't need conventional torture if you can cast the Cruciatus. If you can imagine the pain, your victim will feel the pain. During the war, it wasn't uncommon for a witch or wizard to be tortured by the Cruciatus for a bit before an Imperio was applied, making it much harder to fight off." Harry noticed Zacharias flinched at this, a grim look fixed onto his face.
"Then you have the final curse, Avada Kedava." There was a rushing sound and a flash of what looked like a bolt of green fire jumped from the wand and into the twitching spider, which instantly stopped twitching and collapsed, dead.
"Instantaneous, unstoppable death. There's no counter-curse and no magical means of blocking. Indeed, for over two thousand years only one person is known to have survived it, and he's sitting in this room."
Moody didn't let the class' eyes stay on Harry for long, drawing them back to the front of the classroom as he continued his lecture.
"Luckily for everyone, the curse needs a powerful bit of magic, there are many who could feed their entire magical core into the spell and still come up wanting. The only other advantage you will have if you end up facing it, is that the curse is slow and predictable. During the war I've seen people out run the curse, although I would advise you see them as exceptions instead of the rule.
"Now, can anyone give me a way to defend against any of these curses?"
"There isn't a way, they're all unblockable." Terry Boot scoffed.
"Wrong! Potter, get up here." Frowning, Harry obliged the professor and joined him at the front of the class.
"Now, Potter, I'm going to fire three stinging jinxes at you. For this demonstration, I want you to imagine they are as unblockable as the Unforgivables. Got that?"
Without waiting for a response, Moody stepped forward and shot a light brown spell at him. Reacting quickly, Harry flicked his wand at a nearby chair and summoned it into the path of the spell, causing it to splash harmlessly against the wood. Instantly, Moody shot a second spell at Harry, which he neatly sidestepped. Before Moody could fire the final jinx Harry thrust his own wand forward and caught the professor with a disarming spell.
"Excellent! Take 15 points for Ravenclaw, 5 for each successful defence. Want to talk us through what you did for another 5?"
"Sure, so my first counter was to put something between myself and the curse, since all three will dissipate the moment they hit something. Although, the Cruciatus and killing curses are known to release a lot of energy into an object they hit, often resulting in the object becoming incredibly hot although it isn't unheard of for an object to explode on contact."
"Quite right, personally I'd suggest using something wooden if possible, seeing as they almost always burn to a crisp on contact, while any metal or mineral could get launched back at you." Moody added, before nodding for Harry to continue.
"Right, well my next defence was to simply step out of the way, since all three of the spells have a linear path, meaning even a few inches to the side is sometimes enough to let the curses fly right past you. My final defence was to act before my opponent could try and curse me for a third time. Even Lord Voldemort can't cast a killing curse without his wand."
"Perfectly said Potter, you may go back to your seat now. If you are just standing there and letting your opponent send three unforgivable curses at you without even trying to retaliate, then frankly you deserve to get hit. As Potter so rightly demonstrated, even the most basic jinx can be enough to stop an attack.
"In the real world, especially in battles like those in the last war, seeing an unforgivable is exceedingly rare. There is simply no point trying to use the killing curse when another spell might be just as deadly while being quicker and more unpredictable."
"Professor, why is it an Unforgivable then if other curses can be worse?" Padma asked.
"The Unforgivables are labelled Unforgivable because of the intent needed for them to function, not because of their actual effects. Even if the Cruciatus was only as effective as a simple tickling charm, it would still be illegal to cast. For the killing curse, you must want your target to die, purely for the delight in ending a life.
"Legally, it is impossible to cast the killing curse in self defence or to save another's life. The intent to cast the curse is inexcusable, and thus Unforgivable. The Cruciatus needs the intent to cause debilitating pain, pain such that your target will wish for death. As for the Imperius, that needs the intent to completely dominate your target's mind, not just to control. You must squash your targets freewill such that you force their desires to become your desires."
Things I think need explaining:
- The potions scene will probably be the only one of its kind, although I might show a few more experiments although they won't be as in depth, simply because I lack the chemistry and cooking knowledge to do it justice.
- Potion temperature: It was hard to decide on Imperial or Metric, because compared to wizarding Britain, England has only used metric for a very short time. However, eventually I settled on the units I am personally most familiar with. If you want, you can imagine it's only Snape (Someone raised in the Muggle world) who uses metric on a professional scale, thus why they were used in this chapter.
- Moody's lesson: As you may have noticed, I used both the movie and book lessons along with some of my own additions. Part of the divergence from canon is because he's already given a similar lecture to the Gryffindors and Slytherins, but was basically making it up on the spot each time.