Chapter 151. Good News That Makes Harry Excited!
"That bottle of potion hadn't been back for long before Severus unravelled its secrets, and he said he could easily replicate it."
Dumbledore led everyone along the narrow corridor, the brown floorboards creaking under their steps.
Dim yellow light spilled from the ceiling onto them, casting shadows—some short, some long—that stretched to the room at the end of the corridor.
"However, there is one point that makes us very hesitant..."
"According to Severus, most of the ingredients in that bottle are very common and can basically be bought on the market."
"But the most central, most important ingredient in it is rather troublesome."
Dumbledore halted at a window on the right, his expression lifting with pity even as the gaze he cast inside flickered with anger.
"It is a bead of blood, congealed from that girl's blood."
"Her blood seems to differ from ordinary people's, and when added to the potion it produces marvellous changes."
"The potion thus made, when fed to those creatures, not only allows them to keep their reason, but also lets them retain the strength they had when they were in a frenzy."
Listening to Dumbledore, Duncan moved close to the dully coloured glass and tried hard to peer into the room.
The room's décor was very cosy, the walls sky-blue, pretty landscapes hanging upon them, and cute dolls placed on the chairs.
But there was not a single mirror in the room, not even anything reflective, and the windows had been specially treated so they cast no reflection of a person.
Olivia sat on a chair, smiling all over her face, her red lips parting, now and then raising a hand to gesture, pulling silly faces.
She seemed to be telling amusing stories from her past to someone lying on the bed at her side, trying to cheer them up.
Duncan edged a little nearer, his forehead touching the cold pane, and he barely made out the person shrouded in the room's dim corner.
Her body was pitifully thin, leaning weakly against the bed's headboard, the lower half of her body curled under the sky-blue quilt.
Yet apart from creases caused by the way it was piled, the quilt's surface was almost as flat as a steel plate, without the slightest rise or fall.
She looked like a human skeleton whose flesh had been devoured by a demon.
Her wrinkled skin sagged loosely, tracing the jagged shapes of bones and every joint in the body.
Seen from a distance, it was like a bundle of dry sticks stacked in the corner.
At this frightful sight, Duncan lifted his head in shocked uncertainty.
"Professor, how is she..."
"Those wizards decocted potions with her blood, and fearing she would die, they even fed her some dreadful draughts!"
"Her flesh was constantly ravaged by those people, and slowly she became like this," Dumbledore said in a low voice.
The old man who was usually kind-eyed was now like a furious fire-dragon, his eyes narrowed, his wizard's robes stirring without wind.
"Those people truly do not deserve to live in this world!" Duncan's tone held some sadness.
"Will she be able to recover?"
Dumbledore's hand rested lightly on Duncan's shoulder, and he gave a slight nod.
"Severus says she can be nursed back slowly."
"However, the process will be very long, and very painful as well, and I hope she has sufficient resolve to hold on and get through this ordeal."
"Poor child..." Tina wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and recalling what Dumbledore had said earlier, her eyes opened a little wider as she said urgently, "You just said that making the potion requires this child's blood? Are we also to be like those people and continue hurting this innocent child?"
"I certainly am unwilling to do that," Dumbledore replied without hesitation, his brows drawing together.
"Any person with goodwill who sees her will surely not wish to hurt her again!"
"But that potion only works with her blood added... that is what makes us hesitate."
Tina gazed silently at the girl on the bed who was like a skeleton, her expression sorrowful.
She might be a little older than Duncan, but she ought to be running under the sun, and nestling in her parents' arms.
Yet those detestable wizards had turned her into this dreadful state!
In those days of being shut in a cave and made to be with those demons, who knows how much suffering and torment she endured.
"We must not do that..." Tina murmured softly, her tone growing firm as she made up her mind.
"Dumbledore, we must not hurt her any more!" Tina raised her head and looked at Dumbledore with grave seriousness.
"We rescued her from the hands of demons; we must not let her undergo those horrible pains again!"
"Our thoughts are the same, Tina," Dumbledore said with gentle nodding.
"But do you have a way to keep those maddened magical creatures under control?"
"In the short term we may be unable to solve this difficulty."
"No problem, Professor!" Duncan raised his hand.
"I turned them all into balloons; so long as we turn them back at mealtimes, then change them back again before they go berserk, there shouldn't be too big a problem!"
"That is good," Dumbledore said with relief.
"Let us work together; I believe we shall certainly find a solution."
Hardly had he finished speaking when the tap-tap-tap of hurried footsteps sounded not far away.
It echoed along the corridor and reached everyone's ears clearly.
Professor McGonagall and Snape came striding quickly, their expressions and bearing like warriors returning in triumph.
Professor McGonagall's face showed delight; Snape, as always, kept a stiff face, but the corners of his mouth could not help but lift.
"Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall called out, unable to wait until she had come up to them.
Dumbledore glanced at the side room from the corner of his eye and put a finger to his lips with a soft hush, signalling Professor McGonagall to lower her voice a little.
Professor McGonagall nodded again and again; though her voice dropped, the joy within it only grew stronger.
"We have found a workable way!"
"I shall correct that: it may be useful," Snape added in an even tone.
"It may also fail; after all, it is only a hypothesis of mine."
Professor McGonagall cast Snape a silent glare, as if to say, with everyone so pleased, must you dampen our spirits?
"Oh?" Dumbledore asked in doubt.
"What method have you found?"
"After returning, I quickly studied that bottle of potion and those materials seized in the cave," Snape said, his face blank but his tone somewhat pleased.
"Those people are simply like stupid trolls; they do not understand potions at all, and only know how to follow blindly in their predecessors' footsteps."
"Their brains might as well be ornamental, for all the use they serve!"
"Be concise, Severus," Dumbledore reminded helplessly.
The others also looked at Snape in the same way, hoping he would get to the main point more quickly.
"Very well." Snape smacked his lips with some reluctance.
"I discovered that their potion recipe was merely cobbled together from information found in ancient books—it is riddled with holes."
"Give me some time, and I am certain I can perfect it; then perhaps that girl's blood will not be needed."
"About how long do you need?" Dumbledore asked at once.
"That cannot be said for certain," Snape replied.
"Improving a recipe is not so simple; I need to experiment slowly."
"Very well, Severus, I hope you can be as quick as possible."
"I will," Snape said after a pause.
"Also, you have not forgotten what you promised me, have you?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Of course—only for this term."
"Excellent."
"At most a week, and I can complete the improvements."
Snape turned to leave; he seemed rather excited, and as he went he almost broke into a run.
"Professor, what did you promise Professor Snape?" Duncan asked curiously.
Dumbledore answered with a smile.
"Severus has applied to serve as your Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Oh?" Duncan's eyebrows lifted.
If Harry were to hear this news, he would surely be very happy, wouldn't he?
Besides Potions, he would now also see his dear Professor Snape in Defence Against the Dark Arts.
The time for the two of them to love and hate each other would only increase!
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