[HP] Flower of Eternal Life

The next morning, Severus Snape came to Esther's room again, carrying a huge box with him besides the same breakfast as yesterday.

Esther jumped off her bed and went straight to the suitcase that was placed on the ground by the other party. After opening it, she was pleasantly surprised to see all the things she wanted, including several glass rods and a few silver short knives. She thought they were Will not give her a knife.Anyway, she could at least have something to do, and being in this room with no communication with the outside world was driving her crazy.

She walked to the dining table, finished her breakfast quickly, and then thanked Severus Snape, who was standing frozen by the window, leaving only her back, and started her work impatiently.

Although the materials were limited, they were enough for her to make a happy potion. She decided to ignore the Death Eaters who didn't seem to intend to leave, and devoted herself fully to the preparation of the potion.

Esther, like her elder brother Abner, has been fascinated by the magical field of potions since she was a child.Their home in Spider's End has been filled with the slightly bitter fragrance of herbs all year round, and the first thing Esther remembers is watching their mother, Luna Snape, concocting magic with Abner. medicine.When my mother was working, her expression was gentle and serious, with a sense of solemnity and sacredness that Esther admired, as if she was doing something extremely important and meaningful.Esther likes such a mother very much. She feels that the potion endows her mother with such an incomparable sense of beauty. Since then, she has also been attracted to this subject.

Since Esther was seven years old, she was allowed to make potions by herself under the supervision of her parents. When she finished a bottle of death water or sedative perfectly, she always received gentle praise and encouragement from her parents, and these potions could be provided to The potions shop in Diagon Alley, the rewards constituted most of her pocket money, and having these Galleons and Silver Sickles meant she could buy more crystal bottles and raw materials.She thought she might open a potions shop in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, and of course work at St. Mungo's Hospital as her brother planned.

An hour and a half passed in the blink of an eye, she turned off the alcohol lamp, carefully bottled the potion, and placed it on the shelf of the bookcase against the wall.

"My work is over." She said to the back of the young Snape who had been motionless for an hour and a half as if he had been petrified, and then walked back to her bed and sat at the farthest place from him. Down.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other party pause in front of her cauldron for a moment and then emptied the entire cauldron. Then he magically put everything back into the box, and walked towards the door with the box and tray.

"I need some bird and snake eggshells." Before Snape left, Esther made his request, but he didn't know which nerve touched the young Death Eater, and he turned back like an electric shock. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her, and said coldly: "Felix Elixir is not allowed."

Esther smiled peacefully, raised her left hand and gathered her temple hair behind her ears, and responded softly: "If Felicity Elixir can let me escape from this room, it can only prove that your defense measures are too poor. Professor Snape." She called him that on purpose, and as expected, she got a look of disgust as if he was staring at a lunatic.Tom must have noticed that this young man had the same surname as hers, so he arranged for her father to take care of her daily life.

She can't wait to see the young man and see what kind of mentality he is playing with her like this.

-

The conversation that lasted late into the night last night almost drained all of Albus's energy, and he didn't wake up until almost noon.The dormitory was empty, and even in the common room, there were only three students sitting around playing wizard chess.He sat down in a soft armchair against the wall, and stared at the empty built-in fireplace not far away, lost in thought.

He hadn't seen his family and classmates for a long, long time. He didn't know how his family would feel when they knew they were missing. He didn't know if the Gryffindor team could win the Quidditch Cup this year. He didn't even know if he could return to his original world in his lifetime.

Only confusion and deep burnout remained in his heart.

This feeling is like he is sitting on a small boat without oars, but surrounded by endless sea area surrounded by thick fog. Engulfed by the incoming waves, or drifting to some deserted island.

The girl with the pale silver eyes appeared in his mind, and he wondered if she was safe, would Voldemort hurt her?At Hogwarts, at least he was still with Rose and Will, he was safe, but Esther was alone in enemy territory—he didn't dare think about it any further.

"...Ash." Albus Potter never called the girl by her nickname, even though she had grown up with him, and she sometimes called herself Al.As long as he closes his eyes, the memories of that summer night will float up from the depths of the sea of ​​memories like bubbles and slowly spread out before his eyes.The starry night sky, the gorgeous fireworks, the night wind mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees, the cheerfully singing stream and the quiet smile of the girl.

——All these made his heart ache.

Albus took a deep breath, opened his eyes, got up from his seat and walked towards the door of the Gryffindor lounge.Yesterday's conversation was not over yet, he had to go to the members of the Order of the Phoenix to continue discussing countermeasures, even if they were just a group of 14-year-old children, they would never remain indifferent to the suffering in front of them.

-

Albus found Rose, absorbed in reading, in the library, who gave him a nervous, stiff smile when she noticed his presence.

"What are you looking at?" Albus looked suspiciously at the various books piled up on the long table occupied by the girl, including "Advanced Spells", "Recognition and Response to Black Magic", "Fairy's Treasures" "... These various books made Albus more and more confused.

Rose shook her head, turned the book she was reading upside down on the table, pressed her temple with her right index finger, and said distressedly: "I'm looking for a way to destroy the Horcrux, but I don't have much useful information. , to be precise, the current harvest is zero.”

Albus was a little surprised by Rose's actions. He sat down opposite the girl, and then said in a low voice, "But there can't be books about Horcruxes in the school library, right? It's definitely ⋯▸!"

"I know, but it's better to turn the pages of the book here than to be in a daze. I can't stand the current state of living in panic." Rose's chocolate-colored eyes were wide open, looking a little hollow, Ah Busi even found dense bloodshot eyes in the whites of her eyes.

He sighed softly, stretched out his hand to hold his cousin's slender palm, and said gently but firmly: "Stop, don't torture yourself like this, rather than looking for a needle in a haystack here, maybe we should think carefully with Will whether there is any What missing information."

Rose seemed to want to refute him, but soon realized that what he said was right, the two returned the book to Mrs. Pince, and then walked towards the school infirmary together.

Will's condition has improved a lot, and the plaster cast will be removed in two or three days. Seeing the two friends coming, he happily waved his uninjured arm and asked them to sit down.

"How did your conversation go yesterday? I was going crazy waiting here."

Rose shook her head, and replied weakly: "Even Professor Dumbledore said that he has no confidence in defeating Voldemort, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix left as if terrified."

"Rose tried to find a way to destroy the Horcrux from the books in the library, but found nothing, so we came here to sort out the main points about Voldemort and see if we can get some useful information." Ah Busi sat down in his chair and stroked his messy black hair.

Will frowned at his words, and asked in bewilderment: "But why do you want to find a way to destroy the Horcrux? Isn't it enough to use Gryffindor's sword?"

A terrible silence fell, and Albus looked at Rose in amazement, who opened his mouth comically: "I forgot! I can't believe that we didn't mention Greg from the beginning to the end yesterday." The sword of Ryffindor!" She pulled her curly red hair with both hands, looking like she was about to collapse.And Will seemed to understand something, sat up with a serious expression, pulled Rose into his arms and whispered: "Okay, okay, everyone will have a big forgetfulness, right? Don't worry about it." He was like It was to stroke the girl's back gently like a puppy.

Only then did Albus realize how much pressure Rose was under. She has always been thoughtful, but she is also an extremely emotional girl. The place where she worked desperately, trying to find a solution to the problem, but the reality would only bring her setbacks and blows again and again.At this moment when even he can hardly bear all this, what is this girl thinking?He never even cared about that.

Guilt engulfed him, but he couldn't say anything, he could only watch it all in silence.

Sudden tears blurred his eyes.

-

"By the way, do you still remember about the locket?" When the three of them calmed down and sat around Will's bed again to check the previous list, Will suddenly seemed to remember something. He seemed to have spoken.

"Slytherin's locket? Is there something we forgot to mention?" Rose looked up at the blond boy, her eyes still red.

Will nodded, and replied in an uncertain tone: "I vaguely remember that Uncle Ron mentioned that there are two lockets? One of them is fake, and there is a note or something in it..." He used Looking for help, Albus tried hard to recall the information related to the locket, and then three letters jumped into his mind.

"RAB!" he yelled frantically, jumping up from his seat, Madam Pomfrey's scolding came from outside the curtain immediately, and Albus had to apologize to the dedicated school doctor through the curtain.

Apparently Rose also had an impression of these three letters. She opened her eyes wide, then lowered her voice and said excitedly to the two boys: "RAB I have an impression, it has something to do with Sirius Black!"

They didn't wait any longer, and rushed to the principal's office impatiently, but got no response. Fortunately, Professor Minerva McGonagall, who had just returned from off-campus, happened to pass by and told them that the principal was in the auditorium.

The serious witch looked at the two children and said softly: "I have heard about you from Albus, but I think it is enough for you to come this far. I don't want you to be involved in danger, Phoenix The society's actions will not be based on threatening the lives of children."

Albus and Rose exchanged a look, and finally decided not to say anything. They thanked the witch who cared about them, and quickly rushed to the auditorium.

Professor Dumbledore was sitting on the head of the teacher's chair in the renovated Great Hall chatting with the Potters beside him, Sirius Black and Remus Lupine were also with them.

The two children came up to the chief, eagerly telling Dumbledore that they had important information for him, and then Rose drew out her wand and cast the Listening Charm on the surrounding area, and Albus began his speech.

"Professor, we completely forgot to tell you yesterday that Gryffindor's sword can destroy Horcruxes, but fortunately Will reminded us." Albus was full of excitement and joy, at least the information they provided had more information Really helpful isn't it?

"Gryffindor's sword?" James Potter quickly turned his attention to Dumbledore, he seemed to be infected by the children's expressions, and looked a little excited, "Professor, do you know where the sword is kept? "

However, in contrast to him, Albus Dumbledore's expression was not joyful. The old man gave a soft "ah", and then said: "We have lost it, because only the real Gryffindor can keep it." Take it out of the sorting hat." His expression was neither happy nor sad, even a little numb.

There was silence, and then Sirius Black cursed abruptly: "Damn it, did he take the Sorting Hat to get the sword? Merlin, I laughed at him before!" He slammed the table hard fist, and the muffled sound made Albus flinch.

"Even if he can't get the sword, as long as the Sorting Hat is in his hand, we won't get the sword." Remus Lupine said softly with a gloomy expression.

As if to make the bad news worse, Professor Dumbledore suddenly said: "Actually, I don't think Gryffindor's sword itself has the power to destroy Horcruxes, it's just a sword made by goblins." A sword, and a Horcrux is far stronger than that." He paused, his wise blue eyes fixed on Albus's, and asked softly, "The goblin's sword has a stronger force that absorbs everything it touches. The power of power. Mr. Albus Potter, I hope you will think again, has the sword of Gryffindor you speak of been in contact with any powerful force?"

Albus thought quickly, what else had he heard about swords?All the information is useful, what details should he not leave out?

Suddenly, Rose's gentle voice intervened in the conversation between the two, and with a look of sudden realization on her face, she said, "If my memory is correct, Uncle Harry once used it to kill the Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets. The basilisk, the basilisk that dies if you look directly at it, and petrifies if you look indirectly."

"Then this is the root cause. The basilisk's venom can indeed destroy Horcruxes." Professor Dumbledore nodded. He slightly raised his head and locked his eyes on a chandelier on the ceiling, and fell into deep thought like no one else.

"Is there a secret room in Hogwarts?" Lily Potter, who had never said a word, looked around everyone in surprise, as if it was the first time she had heard this rumor, and her husband answered her: " It is said that it was the secret room established by the founder of Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, to exclude Muggle-born students in Hogwarts, and only his descendants can open it."

"Actually, only people who can speak Parseltongue can open it." Rose corrected his omission with a slightly pale face. Her expression was a little desperate, but she continued, "But obviously we can't find it casually." Someone who speaks Parseltongue, and I can't remember where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is."

Another road was blocked, Albus shook his head to recover himself from the heavy blow, then turned his gaze to Dumbledore, and said cautiously: "Sir, in fact, we still have There's a message, about Slytherin's lockets—" Albus continued, noticing that all attention was turned to him: "Actually, there were two lockets, and there was a Knowing Voldemort's behavior of hiding Horcruxes, he replaced the real locket with a fake locket, and the abbreviation of that person is RAB." He turned to look at Sirius standing opposite him, Ask softly: "Mr. Black, do you have any relatives whose initials are RAB?"

☆、Chapter 13