Just as Arthur was idly fishing, Snape showed up.
He hurried out from the castle only to find Arthur relaxing by the lake with a fishing rod in hand.
The way Snape looked at him carried a trace of bitterness.
He had been toiling in the dungeon, painstakingly brewing a new potion.
And this guy? Not only did he skip helping, he was out here fishing with his little girlfriend!
Arthur felt a chill under that stare.
"What's wrong?"
"I've finished the potion. Now I need a few test subjects."
Arthur: ?
"If you want lab rats, go buy some. If you can't buy them, grab a few in the Forbidden Forest. Why are you coming to me? Do I look like a lab rat?"
"Pfft—"
Hermione, reading quietly nearby, couldn't help laughing at the exchange.
Only then did Snape notice there was someone else present.
"I have private matters to discuss with Arthur."
He turned a pointed look at Hermione, signaling her to leave.
She understood at once, got up, and walked off.
Once she was gone, Snape continued.
"What I meant was… an intelligent test subject."
"…You need a person?" Arthur frowned as the implication sank in.
"How else would we know the potion's effect on humans?"
Now it was Arthur's turn to give Snape the look one gives an idiot.
"Maybe you should check in on those two biologists you've been controlling. If you haven't given them clear orders, by now they might've already grown enough Lily cells to make two full Lilys."
"What do you mean?"
Snape was genuinely baffled. He'd been buried in potion experiments and had hardly paid attention to the two poor souls under his Imperius Curse.
"I mean—they've probably been cultivating Lily's cells non-stop. Enough to test your potion thoroughly."
Arthur hadn't expected Snape to actually finish brewing his so-called Potent Reversing Draught already.
Nor had he expected him to ignore the outside lab so completely.
If he'd communicated with those biologists even a little, he wouldn't have come up with this "human test subject" nonsense.
"Come with me," Snape said abruptly.
Without waiting for a reply, he started toward Hogsmeade.
Since Hogwarts had anti-Apparition wards, they'd have to leave the grounds before Apparating.
From the headmaster's office, Dumbledore caught sight of the two walking off together.
He said nothing. For Snape, who spent all his time cooped up, a little walk was probably good.
Little did he know, this trip might end with Snape having a child on the way.
They arrived at the countryside warehouse.
It was tidier than the last time Arthur had visited—likely the work of house-elves.
House-elves, after all, couldn't stand idleness.
Their fastidious hands were all over the spotless laboratory.
Inside, mountains of petri dishes were stacked high.
The two unkempt scientists were still at it, preparing even more.
Such was the flaw of the Imperius Curse:
it guaranteed obedience, but without specific limits, they would mindlessly follow the order forever.
"Have them stop," Arthur suggested.
Snape nodded, flicking his wand to halt them.
They walked up to the pile of dishes.
"Look. Every single one holds Lily's cells. If you wanted a football team, you'd have enough here to represent every country in the World Cup."
Arthur's sarcasm earned only a helpless grimace from Snape. This wasn't what he'd wanted at all.
"Alright, enough jokes. What do we do next?"
"Simple. Add your potion, adjust the dosage, and restore the cells to their earliest state. Then have these two induce them to divide into egg cells."
"That's it?"
"Of course not. You'll still need a host mother. The child can't grow in your belly, can it?"
Snape absorbed the explanation in silence, then got to work.
With the two scientists, he spent the afternoon tinkering with dilutions.
Arthur, meanwhile, wandered the lab, bored out of his skull.
He even pulled out his spellbook and started messaging Hermione remotely.
Since the potion could rejuvenate a full-grown human by decades, using it on mere cells meant diluting it hundreds of times over.
Fortunately, dosage was only a technical hurdle.
By the end of the day, they had their optimal ratio.
With that done, Snape left the scientists to proceed with the next steps, then walked back to Arthur.
Arthur casually waved and conjured him a glass of Coke—
a modified version of Aqua Imaginaria.
Arthur's version could create any drink he could imagine.
Only drinks, of course—no instant Elixir of Immortality.
"So, who's going to be the mother?" Arthur asked, unable to resist prying.
Snape, in his youth, had actually been something of a handsome lad.
Arthur didn't believe he'd never had admirers.
Some girls even liked the brooding type.
"Not your concern. You'll see her soon enough."
That reply made Arthur blink.
Snape already had someone in mind—and from the sound of it, he planned to bring her here.
"Then at least wash your hair before you meet her." Arthur smirked.
Maybe it was because the Potters had built their fortune on shampoo sales.
Or maybe it was because Lily herself had once tousled his hair.
Either way, Snape's greasy locks were notorious.
"What? Smell? Please—his herb stench was far stronger."
"Mind your own business," Snape muttered, annoyed.
Then he pulled out a scroll and a stone.
"This is the potion's formula. And your stone."
Arthur accepted the scroll, but pushed the stone back at him.
"You keep it. Since your child will be grown from Lily's cells, their lifespan will never match a normal person's. Use the Stone to make up for it. Consider it my gift to them."
"No need. I've already used your Stone to brew enough potion for several people to outlive even Dumbledore."
That gave Arthur pause.
Of course—the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate prize of alchemists.
Even a potioneer like Snape would be tempted.
Now that it was in his hands, he must have dissected every secret from it.
Arthur said no more, tucking away the stone and standing up.
"Shall we go back for dinner?"
"Let's. They'll need two more weeks at least. I have preparations to make for her."
"Her? What's her name?"
"…Liya."
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