Chapter 18 “ Potions
Harry and Lupin arrived back at Grimmauld Place late at night. Harry had not realized how long they had been at the vault. He was incredibly relieved when he stepped into the house, although, he was very hungry.
Mrs. Weasley scurried in and threw her arms around both Harry and Lupin.
“I was so worried!” she shrieked. “Where were you! Ron only said that Remus came to collect you and you left!”
Lupin took her by the shoulders and led her to the kitchen where he explained everything over a cup of tea and some dinner.
Mrs. Weasley was very pleased with the news and continued to embrace Harry as he choked on his soup. Harry was finally dismissed to go to bed when he fell asleep on his toast.
He headed upstairs, jam on the side of his face, and immediately went to sleep.
~*~
Harry awoke the next day with determination. He wanted to finish the business of the Horcruxes quickly to save as many lives as he could. The photo of the Watvey family was on his bedside table, as a constant reminder.
The first thing Harry did was explain the happenings of the previous night to Dumbledore as Lupin retold the event to the Weasleys, Hermione, and Tonks.
Dumbledore was incredibly pleased with the news.
“You did it, Harry. You found out how to destroy it!” he sighed happily. The portrait had shown signs of worry lately with the prospect of Harry continuing on his own.
Dumbledore asked Harry how the search for the cup was going.
“I haven’t really looked into it, Professor,” Harry admitted, ashamed of his lack of effort. He silently resolved to work every waking moment to find it, until he heard Tonks calling him for his, Ron’s, Hermione’s, and Ginny’s first Potions lesson. Harry knew his lessons were important for his success.
He joined his fellow students in the kitchen, where he found Tonks apologizing to Mrs. Weasley as she gestured towards a putrid smelling beige substance covering the floor. With a wave of her wand, Mrs. Weasley cleaned up the mess.
“Morning, Harry,” Tonks greeted cheerfully.
Ron immediately brought up the events of the night before.
“How did you know?” he asked breathlessly.
“Lupin did most of the work,” Harry said. He didn’t feel like talking about it, and Hermione seemed to understand.
“Shh, Ron,” she grinned. Ginny ran to give Harry a hug.
“You could have died, I hope you know,” she said angrily as she pulled away from him and hit him in the chest. Harry smiled in spite of himself and pulled her in again.
“I was safe; we just went to Gringotts!”
“Enough chat,” Tonks said in a business-like voice.
Each of them had a cauldron, but only Tonks’ was full with the liquid she had removed from the floor.
“I’m going to teach you a great potion that most Aurors have had to use in their careers, except for me,” she started eagerly. She handed them each a piece of parchment with the instructions on it.
“It is complicated to make, but very quick if done right. It is called the Mutamento - the potion of change.” She pulled out sacks of ingredients, and she had her students take what they needed for the first ingredients on their list. Harry rummaged around for dried beetles.
“What do you mean by change?” Ginny asked curiously.
“Well, put it this way “ as a Metamorphmagus, I have never needed to use it,” Tonks said brightly.
Harry loved this idea. He thought that it could really help him against Voldemort. He had a sudden mental image of changing noses as Voldemort applauded.
“Cut the beetles very finely. You should barely be able to see an individual piece.”
After about a quarter of an hour, Harry was satisfied with the size of his beetle slivers.
The next step was to peel off the skin of a water-gnat and boil it in the saliva of a healthy bullfrog. It took a while to locate these ingredients, and even longer to peel the water-gnat.
By the fifth ingredient, Harry’s potion was a murky orange. Ron’s was scarlet, Ginny’s was a milky light blue, and Hermione’s was clear, dark blue.
“Harry,” Tonks said urgently, “go easy on the Solentos! Ron, the Scomparti goes in AFTER the Facenda!”
Hermione was now flipping through ‘Witch Weekly’ with her simmering potion beside her as the other three struggled.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny left the ‘class’ with potions in different shades of blue. Tonks was a way better teacher than Snape had ever been. She had given them advice rather than yelling and sneering. While Hermione’s was without a doubt the best, Harry felt proud about his potion. Tonks told them that it only took two days before the potion would be ready, and that Mutamento can be stored for later use.
By this time, it was already late afternoon. Mrs. Weasley had shooed them from her kitchen so that she could get started on dinner. Harry decided to spend this rare moment of silence with Ginny. Ron hauled out his Wizard’s Chess set and guilted Hermione into playing with him. Harry and Ginny watched and talked together.
“Hey, Harry,” she said, putting her head on his shoulder. “Next time you go on some great adventure, bring me with you.”
Harry was very hesitant about this. He had feared for her life so many times that dragging her to where the dagger lies did not seem like a good idea.
She raised her head and looked at him.
“Is that a ‘yes’?” she demanded. When Harry didn’t answer, she continued. “Harry, I know you have this heroic thing about you, but you know I can handle myself!”
Harry hated when people talked about his ‘saving-people’ thing.
“I know you can,” he said weakly, “but I couldn’t handle you getting hurt.”
Ginny laughed softly and ruffled Harry’s hair.
“You’re bringing me along, don’t forget.”
Harry smiled too, and gazed into the eyes of the love of his life, the person whose fate meant more to him than anything in this world.
Harry Potter and the Seventh Search by snufflesismyidol
Chapter Notes: A little relief...