"My lord, let me handle this matter! I'll definitely find that bastard and bring him to you!" Bella said, standing up and looking confidently at the noseless man, and Alan breathed a sigh of relief.
Apparently, that time she didn't… wait! I forgot that this cube, when activated, immediately goes invisible until it's hit or the magic runs out, and that function doesn't work for me as the owner. And how could I remember that… if I only saw how this toy works once, and barely paid any attention to it, eh… my head is full of holes. Though… if a mage like Bella concentrates on her surroundings, she might well be able to see me, but, remembering how furious she was, I doubt she'd notice anything. Alan thought sheepishly, but he didn't bother worrying about it.
"Hmm... Okay, I'm entrusting you with this task, but if you dare fail the mission...!"
"My lord! I will definitely find whoever is distributing those artifacts and..."
"Don't kill him, but bring him here. Such talented artificers shouldn't be wasted on that old man's side."
"As you command, my lord!" the woman babbled excitedly, her gaze fixed on the Dark Mage like a puppy seeing its parents for the first time, catching his every word and glance.
Hmm... what did she see in him... He glanced at the self-proclaimed Voldemort again and sighed in disappointment. Women have strange tastes these days. Maybe Liches are all the rage? And this Dark Lord... he's a complete and utter disappointment. What was the point of tearing his soul apart? It would only damage the magical core, preventing it from functioning at its full potential. Besides, after that, he wouldn't be able to progress beyond Master. Becoming an Archmage is a fusion of the spiritual, magical, and physical aspects of a wizard. You could even say it's a kind of rebirth for a wizard, a completely different level of power, and this idiot simply ruined his own development...* The young man thought with disappointment. After watching them for a while longer, Alan heard nothing more of interest, so he returned to his body and simply went to bed...
The very next day, early in the morning, Alan stood in the training room, holding a jar of dark green mixture in his hands, and as soon as he opened it, a minty scent filled the air.
"This is such masochism, I hope I don't get used to it," he grumbled, throwing his head back and starting to consume the contents.
A few seconds later, his face twisted as a powerful heat surged across his chest, his previous pallor giving way to a flush, and veins bulged all over his body. Alan's figure was surrounded by a dark green aura, the force of which caused the floor to crack. If he hadn't foreseen this, there would likely have been a huge hole in the floor by now, and he himself would be lying on the ground floor.
"If I hadn't been through this before, I would have definitely passed out from the pain. Damn baptism, I never thought I'd have to go through this again..." he hissed, gritting his teeth, clenching his fists so hard that his nails dug into his flesh. But he didn't even feel the pain, because the heat in his chest only intensified, almost completely engulfing his upper body and slowly descending.
What Alan underwent was called "baptism by fire." It burned away almost all the fat and impurity in the body, strengthening and renewing the body down to the skeleton. Not everyone dared undergo such a process, especially mages, known for their weak constitutions and low pain tolerance. Typically, only warriors practiced it, and his teacher was a true knight in robes. But only thanks to this potion was he able to regain his limbs.
Half an hour later, the pain was replaced by a slight refreshing feeling and a minty smell, which made his pale face twist.
"Now I understand how shrimp feel when they're thrown into boiling water while still alive..." he muttered ironically, sweating so much that his shirt was practically wrung out. Yet, even through all the discontent, a barely visible smile could be discerned on his face, as he finally took the first step toward his peaceful life and former strength.
With difficulty, he raised himself and pulled his bag toward him, and in an instant the floor was covered with a variety of food. After his baptism, he had lost almost all his strength and looked like a skeleton covered in skin, so he needed to recover quickly and then begin training.
The Strengthening Potion itself worked by gradually improving the physical fitness of the user, even if they did nothing at all. But if they also exercised during this time, its effectiveness increased proportionally to the effort expended.
The potion could only be taken for a month, after which it turned into a poison that slowly destroyed the body, starting with the skeleton, making the bones so brittle that only a gust of wind would be enough to destroy them.
That's why, even after the recent torment, Alan immediately, having had a hearty meal and regained his strength, began training to squeeze the maximum out of the potion...
For the next two weeks, Alan hardly left the training room, except for forays for food and ingredients.
During this time, he had more or less regained his human appearance and no longer looked so much like a malnourished person, with muscles even showing in some places. As a result, he could now move freely through Diagon Alley without his cloak, without attracting much attention.
Those two weeks passed rather leisurely for him: there were no guests, and he was able to go about his business in peace, remaking two more recipes from his world that also promised to bring in considerable profit, as they were primarily for women. The first was the Rejuvenating Potion, and, as the name suggested, it rejuvenated a person for twenty-four hours to the optimal age they desired, and then returned them to their original state. Of course, the potion didn't make one immortal, even if they drank it for the rest of their life.
Of course, Alan also knew the recipe for a real rejuvenating potion that made a person thirty years younger, and it could only be taken once in a lifetime, but some ingredients were missing in this world or simply hadn't been discovered yet, and finding a replacement for them would require a lot of time and experiments, which he was going to conduct at Hogwarts on three lab rats and one animagus.
The second potion had a rather simple name—the Beauty Potion—but, unlike those sold at Madame Pomfrey's, it worked holistically, affecting the entire body, slowing the aging of the skin, making it more elastic, soft, and cleansing it of imperfections like blackheads and pimples; stopping hair loss, making it stronger, richer, softer, and easier to style; not to mention its effects on the body itself, such as burning fat, enhancing regenerative abilities, whitening teeth, and correcting imperfections of the human body.
This was just a small list of what this potion could do, but the most important thing was its duration of effect—exactly one week. And it was this potion that Alan once made a small fortune selling at his magic school, which was mostly attended by children from wealthy families, and for them, spending a few dozen gold pieces was nothing.
After another tiring workout, Alan was about to take a shower; after all, it was much more pleasant than using a Cleansing Charm, but he didn't have time, because there was a knock on the door and the image of a silver-haired man appeared before his eyes, behind whom stood two more mages, also dressed in rather luxurious outfits.
I hope he brought the ingredients...
After cleansing himself with magic and throwing on a shirt, he descended the stairs and threw open the door. He was greeted by Lucius's shocked face, his mouth opening and closing.
"Come in, why are you frozen?" And only after these words did Malfoy come to his senses.
"What happened to you...?" They had last seen each other about three weeks ago, but in that short time Snape had changed too much. Not only had he grown taller than Lucius, but his appearance had also changed dramatically, as if several years had passed since their last meeting. Just the muscles alone, which he could easily see through the shirt, which was too big and therefore perfectly emphasized the wizard's body, were worth it.
"The effect of the Strengthening Potion," he replied with a smile, sitting down at the bar table. "I take it they're on 'that' issue?"
"No, not yet," the aristocrat shook his head, still staring at Alan, while the two men standing behind him exchanged puzzled glances. "These are my good friends, Matthew Goyle and Jonathan Crabbe," he said, shaking his head and introducing the two wizards, taking a small purse from his inside coat pocket and handing it to him. "This is what you asked for."
As soon as the object was in Alan's hand, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Thank you, just in time," he said, quickly putting it in his pocket and smiling contentedly. He then pulled out several vials of red and purple liquids from his pouch. "And these are for you. I hope they come in handy."
"This…?"
"I created them myself: the red one is a general-restoration potion, and the purple one temporarily boosts magical power without any side effects. As for the first one, I don't know how well it works on wizards, but one of them almost brought a Muggle back from the brink of death. As for the purple one, it boosts magical abilities by half for about an hour," Lucius's eyes widened in shock again, but this time the two other wizards joined him. "I'm confident they work, but they still need further testing, and I hope you can help me with that, and I'll be in your debt. If everything works out, you'll get the first batch for free, and I'll sell the rest exclusively to you until I open a shop, but even then, you'll be first in line. And you know: all that paperwork is a real hassle, not to mention registering and patenting these potions, and getting a license to sell them. All in all, this would take at least six months of work, even with Professor Slughorn's help. I'm sure you know that."
"Wait, you created a potion that can increase a mage's magical abilities by half without any side effects?!" Lucius exclaimed, unable to contain himself, grabbing Alan's hand and squeezing it tightly.
However, such potions were few and far between, as they were too harmful to a wizard's body. After ingesting one, a wizard's strength would double or even triple (this, of course, depended on the potion). However, afterwards, the user would suffer a powerful rebound that could leave the wizard bedridden, and if this occurred in the heat of battle, certain death awaited them. Therefore, almost no one used them, fearing what would happen next.
"Calm down, I'm ninety-nine percent sure there are no side effects, but there's still one percent left, that's why I'm asking you to test it," only after these words did Lucius manage to come to his senses and, embarrassed, quickly let go of Alan's hand.
"Ahem! Ahem! Please forgive me. Of course, I'll help my good friend," Malfoy said, coughing and smiling, making Alan want to punch him, but he held back. "By the way, about your Strengthening Potion..."
"Of course, I can sell it. I just happen to have one more good jar left."
"Jar…?"
"Yes," and a liter jar of dark green mixture appeared in Alan's hand. "A thousand Galleons and it's yours, well, of course, if you're not afraid of pain…"
"I, the future Head of the Malfoy family, and some kind of pain?" He lifted his chin haughtily and pointed his hand at the empty table, where a pile of gold appeared a moment later, and then snatched up the jar.
"Well, whatever you say, I warned you. And also, you have to drink it all in one go."
"Got it. Since that's all, we're leaving."
"Of course, have a safe journey," he waved as the departing mages walked away, barely managing to contain his smile. You'll definitely need it...
Lich* - in modern fantasy, a necromancer magician who became undead, according to some versions after death, according to others instead of death.