When the potion in front of him, which he had been cooking for almost a week, had taken on a grayish purple hue, Snape finally waved his wand, sprinkled the blood-bark vine powder he had prepared, and stirred it clockwise four times.
The purples of the past began to boil and shrink, and layers of precipitation dissolved, and a clear, transparent water flooded up from the bottom of the cauldron, creating a cloud of pale green smoke over the formed potion.
Snape dispersed the mist with the tip of his wand and sealed the clear, colourless potion into three potions - an early Christmas present from Dumbledore and Regulus, a potion-making job.
Of course, it took him half a month to prepare a gift in return, and he was sure he could pour it down Regulus's throat to slow the recurring symptoms of hidden mummification.
Snape had to admit that it was Merlin's mercy that Regulus had survived this far, and that, judging from the last unmarked Legilimency, he really did not remember anything. The only memories that can barely be called vivid are the dark waters of the lake and his own screams of pain.
Finally there was an Oriental man in vague white with a slender figure, and Beverly, her little body leaning against the doorframe, her face largely hidden by a bushy cornflower in her bosom, her eyes indifferent.
Lifeless black and white and dense cracks creep into Regulus' memory. When the picture was frozen here, the soft light was shining down from the girl's head. The bunch of blue and purple flowers in her arms became the only color in his memory. So fresh that it seemed to melt away, dripping into every corner of the mind.
It was the first thing he saw when he really woke up.
Looks like the Dark Lord gave this Black a nice treat.
Snape packed the potion bottles together, opened the door and walked down a side hall on the first floor. As he entered Regulus, who had just been chatting with the old headmaster in rapport, shut up at once, straightened up and nodded demurely but politely at Snape. "Professor Snape."
Dumbledore was still smiling, sprinkling sugar into his teacup, dense white particles shaking from his silver spoon like the snow outside. "Sit down, Severus. Black or green tea?"
"Neither." Snape glanced at the apparently freshly filled and well-stocked sugar jar at his opponent's hand, rejected the stomach-tingling offer, and put his potion down on the table.
"So soon." Dumbledore surveyed the three clear potions and looked at Snape with an inscrutable smile through his shining blue eyes. "I knew you were the right choice."
Snape put on a smirk that was not remotely pleasing to the eye and replied, "I hope your instincts will hold up for the New Year."
"Why not try it now? Regulus." Dumbledore did not hesitate for a second to turn the subject back to the silent young man, with the expression of one of those grandfathers who coadies a child to drink his medicine. "We all hope you will get better soon."
Snape forced a silent sneer at the headmaster's avoidance, and the trademark deadpan quickly invaded his face, obscuring all emotion except his slightly overraised eyebrows, which revealed his expectation of Regulus's reaction to the medicine.
Regulus remained motionless for a moment, then opened a bottle of potions with Dumbledore's grandfatherly smile and drank with restraint.
As soon as the decoction touches the tongue leaf, an extreme bitter and acrid taste explodes in the mouth. The torturous sensation fluttered at every end of the palate nerve, up to the throat and the crown of his head, and wanted to poke a hole in his throat and breathe fire. For a moment, Regulus wondered if his sense of taste was about to die. It's a good thing he drank slowly, or he would have choked to tears.
"The effect of Bloodbark vine, are you all right?" Snape's eyebrows were raised higher, and there was a slight upward curve in his otherwise tight-lipped mouth, which made his concerned words sound pale, even vaguely gloating.
Regulus squeezed the involuntary twitch on his lip from the sudden, intense stimulation, then took his last sip of the potion, straightened his back and nodded to Snape. He wanted to say something, but his poor health had deprived him of any further pretence, and he could not even adjust his face or smooth the wrinkles between his brow.
The lingering, irritating smell of the blood-skinned vine was still gnawing at his poor stomach and throat, making him feel a little queasy.
Dumbledore conjured a box of powdered tea and honey candies from his pocket and dropped one into his mouth. "Want some? Nothing puts you in a better mood than a little sugar after a pill."
Regulus whispered a quick thank you, took a sugar in his mouth, and then took another sip of tea. The dull, broken taste slowly revived in his mouth.
"Thank you. Is it hard to find this potion material? The butterfly is not a pure creature, and the porpoise is certainly not." "Asked the old headmaster casually, looking aside at the Potions Professor.
"Yes." Snape went along with him without thinking. Then he remembered Aurora reaching for the butterfly that had fallen on his hand, and he couldn't figure out if the little girl was really not afraid or if she didn't know it.
The girl's hands were cold and soft from her long stay in the forest, like some dewy flower that had no temperature.
Down the long hair is very light color, in the dark forest dim bright eyes.
"Not too bad." Snape corrected himself, then steered the conversation back on track. "Once every three days. If all goes well, your prolonged lethargy should improve in the next few days."
Regulus nodded again, then swallowed the nearly melted candy. "I'd like to go to the bathroom. Excuse me."
"Of course." Dumbledore pointed out the door to the public washrooms. "Straight to the end."
Regulus was quick to his feet and a little jumbled on his way out.
Snape looked back at the headmaster, waiting for him to say why he had sent Regulus away.
...
Regulus turned on the tap in front of him, and cold, clear water gushed over his hands. He washed his face with clean water, took A handkerchief embroidered with R.A.B. from his pocket, and rubbed it at it.
The burning was still in his stomach. He tried to vomit but couldn't, and the sweat crept back up his forehead.
He had been awake for more than two years, but more often Regulus felt as if he had been immersed in a dream. He could not remember who he was, whether he had any family or not, and the whole world was strange to him, except for the black lake, the empty cave, and the twisted blur of human figures that must break into his dreams every night.
Regulus has always chosen to live in the Muggle world because, according to Beverly's master, he was originally a pure-blood wizard and if he returned in a state of amnesia, there would be many people who would want to kill him. The Dark Lord may have fallen, but his people have not been completely destroyed.
To others, Regulus himself is one.
Since he is rumored to be dead, he may as well keep his fake identity. There are so many of them, and so many of them alike, that if you show up enough, no one will recognize you.
But in the seemingly endless interludes of slumber, Regulus would be at a loss as to what he had been doing and where he was going. He seemed suddenly disconnected from the world, much of which was hostile to him.
The day Dumbledore found him, Regulus had indeed been struck by an unrivaled affinity. But he soon discovered how complex and deep Dumbledore's gentle ease was, which made him instinctively wary of telling him much - fortunately Regulus himself remembered very little.
The wind crept in through the window, and Regulus went to the porch steps and looked out at the stretch of grey-blue hills beyond the castle, their peaks dulled by snow and fog, the Forbidden Forest as far as the eye could see, and...
The little girl by the lake.
Regulus remembered her, a year ago in Diagon Alley. The friend in the photo Beverly brought back, a Hufflepuff student, Aurora Field.
She sat in the snow, one hand wrapped around her folded knees, wrapped in a heavy caramel winter coat and a yellow and black scarf around her neck. Her long, pale blond hair fell casually on her shoulders, the ends of which brushed against the snow, and the bits of snow tangled in her hair, as gentle as frost flowers floating in the shallow sun.
The girl's appearance was quiet, her light brown eyes warm, and her flowing eyes strangely calm and gentle. Long, frozen red fingers were tapping rhythmically on the rocks by the lake, holding a pale yellow wand with a concise pattern.
Slowly, the dark green water began to ripple, and something was trying to break free from the bottom.
The scene gave Regulus a strange thrill. His head began to ache, and the ripples rippled round and round and smashed against the lake, dropping a sharp residue that crushed his nerves sharply.
Regulus had a vague feeling that he had seen something like this before. He was standing in the middle of a craggy rock, the black water rising like mad, and something was about to break out of the water and rush towards him.
'Come on! Regulus cried out blankly, causing the girl to turn her head strangely and look at him across a little snow-covered meadow.
With a crash, the creatures in the lake revealed their true colors. It was a half-mermaid with the common features of man and fish, with dark blue-green skin covered with scales and a single eye on its forehead. A mouth full of sharp tusks, long and pointed hand bones, light green webbed membrane connected between the fingers, color similar to water grass.
"Hello, Regulus." Aurora curled her eyes at him with a lovely smile. "Are you here to see Beverly? She'll be with you in a minute."
The half-mermaid came closer to the girl, looking from her with her eyes to Regulus, who was pale, and making a strange cry in her throat.
"You stay away from it." Regulus's hand was shaking. He followed his instinct to touch his wand and realized that he no longer had one. "It's dangerous," he said.
Aurora was stunned for a moment, seeing that his mood seemed a little wrong, and his face was too pale, so she stood up and comforted him. "It's OK," she said. "They are actually quite docile, and as long as you don't make aggressive gestures, they won't hurt you."
She rummaged in her backpack nearby. "I think... I should have something to feed them."
A package of homemade original dried fish made by house-elves.
Aurora picked up a small fish trunk and placed it on the wet stone in front of the half-mermaid. The half-mermaid sniffed, quickly grabbed it and put it in his mouth. He moved forward a little, staring at the next fish trunk in her hand.
"You see, that's it." Aurora smiled at Regulus. "Would you like to come over and try?"
Regulus was silent for a moment. He saw that the half-mermaid really had no intention of harming the girl, but was only interested in the dried fish in her hand.
"Do you feed them?" 'he asked.
"No." Aurora shook her head and tossed another dried fish. "I've only just found out about the half-merpeople here. Walkers and Bill told me about them."
Then she looked at the young man who had been standing nearby, thought for a moment, and pointed to the free space of the rock where she was sitting. "Why don't you come and sit down? You look very pale to me. Don't stand still."
Regulus paused without objection and walked over to stand near Aurora. "Are you going out with Beverly today?" "Yes, it stopped snowing today and everyone went out to play." She threw another dried fish at him, and the half-mermaid watched Regulus cautiously, not picking up the food.
Aurora stood up and patted the scraps of meat off her clothes. She reached for the webbed claws of the half-mermaid and held out dried fish to it. The other grabbed at him, still staring at the intruder with a throb in his throat.
"It looks like he's interested in you." Aurora mused, then waved at him and said mockingly, "It's all right, really, just come and say hi to him. Or I'll watch him stare at you, and he won't even eat. She's a very young girl, by the way."
Regulus's mouth moved, as if unable to digest the joke.
He walked slowly, at a controlled distance that made him comfortable, half mermaid staring at him, licking the bits of dried fish from his mouth, and sending Regulus into a chill.
He thought for a moment and decided to go.
But before he could speak, Aurora came first, took Regulus by the hand and walked toward the lake, waving her wand to draw the half-mermaid closer.
The girl's hands were small and soft, as if they had no bones.
"Don't be shy." Aurora said solemnly. "There's nothing wrong with being a gentleman and making the first move on a lady, is there?"
It depends on the kind of lady... Regulus was suddenly struck by a sense of helplessness, in every sense of the word.
The scales of the half-mermaid were very smooth, and because they had been submerged for years, they had the slimy, slippery feel of an aquatic plant, as if they were touching a moss-covered stone.
Aurora's warm brown eyes narrowed with laughter as the half-mermaid brushed against Regulus's wrist in a pleasurable manner. "You see, she does like you." And then with a mock sigh, "Oh, girl."
As she spoke, she dropped a piece of the dried fish from her hand and chewed it.
Regulus's hand stiffened as Aurora's personal pronoun for the half-mermaid changed, and he looked at the little girl strangely. "Aren't you a little girl, too?"
Aurora shrugged her shoulders and continued her half-truths. "Well, maybe there's an old man in me who has no place in his old age."
Regulus,...
She really felt so, watching around her "peers" have or across the same or the same house of love or object of admiration, Aurora slowly took advantage of Hufflepuff's collection of gossip, only listen to the story and never try. Perhaps because of the lingering effects of her "professing" of Professor Snape in public, Aurora, despite her mild personality and handsome appearance, has few male admirers.
But it seemed to suit her.
Compared with her energetic classmates, she is as relaxed as an old person sunbathing in a rocking chair. So it's not entirely for nothing that she and Salazar's 1,000-year-old diary were able to wrestle -- well, unilaterally crush -- each other.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm in the wrong place or I'm dreaming." Aurora muttered, holding the dried fish in her mouth and casting her unfocused gaze toward the edge of the dense forest.
Regulus paused. "You feel that?" Just like he has one.
Then a deep, rich voice said darkly, "Perhaps a modest increase in the amount of work you do will help you come down to earth?"
Aurora shook and the fish in her hand wiped out the ground. With a cry, the half-mermaid seized the dried fish on the ground, and plopped into the water, leaving a clear, slightly aquamarine ripple.
"Professor Snape." The little girl broke off a smile, and turning round, she saw the tall black figure standing behind her, staring down at the two men with an impassive face. "What a coincidence," she continued.
The other person did not move, standing erect and looking at them like a sculpture. Regulus withdrew his hand from the girl's, stood up and nodded at him without saying a word.
At one point, the scene is awkward, with two adults who can't make small talk, a little girl trying to figure out if she's really getting more work, and the air is eerily quiet.
It was not until the appearance of Beverly and Dumbledore that the deadlock was broken.
"Looks like we missed something interesting. Why are you all standing here?" The headmaster looked at them with a smile.
Aurora hesitated. "Because of the fresh air?" Snape glanced at her.
Dumbledore smiled clearly. "Indeed. Fresh air is good for your mood." Therefore, it is usually necessary to talk with the principal, who is not moving. No matter how ridiculous you choose to start the conversation, he can keep a calm and decent attitude to continue the conversation with you.
It's not awkward at all. How nice.
"Why not go with the other students?" Dumbledore pushed his glasses and cocked his face in the direction from which he had come. "They seem to have gathered together in a lively discussion. There may be topics of interest to you."
"Uh." Aurora picked up her knapsack, glanced warily at Snape and, seeing that he was not about to say any more about the homework, rushed out, took Beverly's hand, and waved goodbye to Dumbledore. "You're right, we're on our way."
"Ah, there is no shortage of joy in a child who is full of life." Dumbledore waved his hand and sighed.
Snape watched the two children disappear around the corner of the corridor as fast as they were running for their lives.