Saying that you will do something is one thing, and actually doing it is quite another. Potter was prevented from brewing the antidote by mountains of assignments that had descended upon the students like pouring rain in the middle of a clear day. Every teacher considered it their duty to triple, if not more, their efforts to instil knowledge into the minds of the young wizards. It was a good thing that even the Quidditch teams did not have to face the difficult choice between diligent study and training—in view of the dangerous situation, and, incidentally, the Dementors had not retreated a single inch, the final matches had been cancelled. Since none of the three Houses raised any objections, the Cup remained in Professor McGonagall's office, as she was the Head of the House whose team had the greatest chance of winning that year, if it could not be said that they had already won. Moreover, the award ceremony was cancelled solely because of the one person who did have objections—Severus Snape. Perhaps this was how he hoped to spite the person who had turned his life into a nightmare (imagine that, a nightmare! The man had finally been forced to wash himself and was no longer allowed to torment someone—and that was already a nightmare! Hmph!), but he had no idea that the preferences of the Boy-Who-Always-Gets-Off-Scot-Free had changed… It was hardly possible to guess that Harry Potter himself might wish to leave the team…
And so, the final week of April was already underway, and Harry had not even found the formula for a potion that could eliminate the consequences of consuming spoiled Felix Felicis. He had even visited the library a couple of times, but such a potion was highly specific and was unlikely to be found in ordinary school reference books. The textbook, for example, did not contain any instructions at all on what to do, because for some reason the author believed that an antidote would only worsen the victim's condition in most cases. If that know-it-all had seen what a person who had experienced fermented Liquid Luck could get themselves into, he would have immediately included the antidote formula! Although… There were also people who would consider Miss Know-It-All's current situation perfectly tolerable and any attempts to change it foolish…
But Friday the 29th had already arrived. The following day had been set aside for the final preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Fortunately, because of the abundance of guests—practically the entire Delacour family was coming—Harry and Flamia were spared the difficulties associated with staying at the Burrow: there was simply nowhere to accommodate them, and so a Portkey had been prepared for them for Sunday morning. However, Saturday could not be peaceful anyway: they had to complete all their homework for Monday, since the celebration would last until the evening… Someone might even have described this wedding as a feast during the plague, but anyone who had already lived through a similar situation would undoubtedly convince everyone that in such times it was necessary to find a reason for joy, otherwise you risked not living to see a brighter future—even if you survived, what would you become?
And so, after lessons ended, another raid on the library was carried out. Except that, for some reason, there were no books on the required subject… But an antidote had to exist! Flamia, however, ventured to suggest that it had not yet been invented, although in such cases there were usually notes saying: "Warning! An antidote has not yet been invented!" Besides, if that were true, they would not be able to save Hermione on their own, because inventing a neutralising potion for fermented Felix was the sort of task for which one could receive an Order of Merlin, never mind ordinary awards in the field of Potions… In general, although Harry did not want to do it, they had to ask Slughorn for help. But it was already late, and they decided to postpone the visit until the following morning.
Immediately after breakfast, Potter, accompanied by his girlfriend, set off in search of the teacher. To his surprise, Horace Slughorn had not yet left his room and greeted his unexpected guests in his pyjamas and dressing gown. The young man was not embarrassed and immediately got down to business:
"Professor Slughorn, could you help me with an antidote?"
"Harry, you are my best student! Of course I will help, but what has happened that you cannot handle it yourself?"
"Do you remember that during our first lesson you gave Miss Granger and me a vial of Liquid Luck each?"
"Well, yes, of course! And what happened? Did one of you take too much? Mix it with an incompatible ingredient? Keep it somewhere warm?"
"Judging by what happened to my portion of Felix, the vials really were exposed to heat. But I stored mine properly, which means something must have happened to them while they were still in your possession."
"What are you saying! That cannot be! I still have several portions in the cupboard; could they be spoiled as well?! I placed a special thermal conditions charm on it… Merlin, it was disrupted! Someone was far too careless while lighting a fire… Although, to use such a heating spell… Still, something else is more important right now. As I understand it, you never used your portion. So it was Miss Granger who suffered?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I only realised it when I decided to find out what might have happened to the potion—I had my own reasons for deciding to take it… Two and a half months have passed since then, and I do not even know what this might lead to."
"So you do not know the dose she took… That is very bad."
"Professor, not only do I not know the dose, I cannot even find a clue to the antidote! All the authors of textbooks either ignore the subject, considering it sufficient to warn of the possible danger, or write that they will not reveal the secret of the antidote because the cured person would suffer too great a shock. And what exactly is spoiled Felix Felicis?"
"The thing is that it is a kind of magical poison carrying a highly sophisticated curse. Those who refuse to reveal the secret of the antidote are right to some extent, because the poison's effects are complex: both contact-based and purely magical. By preparing the antidote, you will only stop the source, but you will not undo the consequences that have already occurred. That will require intervention in the person's soul, deep psychoanalysis… Not everyone can withstand that. But most importantly, the antidote may only worsen the situation. If every trace of the potion is not removed from the body, a powerful relapse will occur, and the victim will not survive."
"So, if we do not learn the dose, it is better not to attempt to create an antidote?"
"Precisely, my boy. You will have to find out exactly how much potion your classmate drank. And you must think carefully about how you will then be able to help her return to the real world."
"The real world?"
"Miss Granger's consciousness is currently disconnected, although one would never know it by looking at her. It is a kind of toxic intoxication in which knowledge and skills remain, but the person's character and reactions to what is happening become distorted. If we cannot help her, things will only become worse… However, it has happened more than once that victims of Felix's treachery continued living under their new conditions, especially since you yourself have noticed how difficult it is to identify the cause of the changed behaviour. Now go; idle conversation will not help matters anyway…"
The young man did not feel like returning to the room immediately. He suggested simply taking a walk around the castle. The girl agreed, but immediately began discussing the conversation that had just taken place (it was always like this… they came together, but only Harry did the talking):
"Harry, did you notice?!.. A powerful charm had been placed on the cupboard! It is strange that Slughorn was not particularly concerned! Of course, if there were students like Neville is now among his pupils, that could still be understood. After all, sixth-years study spells of that kind, and Neville is a walking disaster. But it is unlikely that anyone younger would know SUCH heating spells, let alone use them ACCIDENTALLY…"
"Yes, it looks like someone else made an effort as well… And missed the target again—unless Hermione was the intended target. If someone knew about the upcoming competition, assuming that I would be among the contenders for victory would have been the height of stupidity. It is more likely that Slughorn himself was supposed to be the victim—potions like that are not simply handed out…"
"Exactly! That means the saboteur's target was Dumbledore!"
"The saboteur?.. You are probably right… But who could have done it?"
"Well, we definitely know one candidate…"
"The Ferret!!! Although I do not think he expected THOSE consequences…"
"Indeed… I will have to sneak into the sixth-year girls' dormitory to check how much Liquid Luck the Swot has left, assuming there is any left at all…"
"You?"
"Well, not you! The moment you are allowed in there, you will start misbehaving!"
"Oh, come on! So, in your view, I am a shameless male? And here I thought, Flamia, that you understood that no one exists for me except you…"
"And since no one else exists, there is nothing to discuss! The matter is closed!.. But we will not manage anything today. It is almost lunchtime already, and we still have to complete all our homework for Monday, and we have to get up early tomorrow…"
"As though we are going to bed early…"
"And you say you are not a male!"
"Only your male, my angel!"
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