This time, Snape was quicker than Murphy.
He used only a few ingredients and quietly murmured some spells. Soon, a pot of pitch-black potion appeared in his crucible.
It resembled thick tar or ink. Strangely, when Snape poured the potion into a crystal bottle, the entire pot flowed into the small bottle without spilling a drop.
Now, the potion changed from pitch-black to a kind of grayish-white yet transparent color.
Before Murphy finished his third potion, Snape placed his potion on Murphy's desk.
"Come, taste the flavor of despair."
Despair Potion.
This was a formula Snape learned while following Voldemort. It plunged a person into deep despair, as if experiencing the darkest moments of life. It was one of the most terrifying potions he knew, targeting not the body but the spirit.
When Murphy had used a strange method to counter his Living Death potion, Snape suspected it wasn't an antidote but a way to transfer the potion's physical effects.
But the effect of the Despair Potion couldn't be transferred; it had to be endured by the drinker.
No one could withstand such despair, not even Dumbledore.
"Despair?"
Murphy frowned. The ingredients Snape used were hallucinogens. Was he creating an illusion of despair?
He had never seen such a potion. How to make an antidote?
A Joy Potion? It could induce a sense of happiness, similar to Muggle stimulants, but its happiness was false. It made one susceptible to others' commands. What if that was Snape's aim?
Murphy decided against creating an antidote.
There was something similar in the original story, a potion Voldemort used to protect his Horcrux, the Slytherin locket. Even Dumbledore didn't know how to counter it. It seemed unlikely Murphy could solve it in ten minutes.
He summoned the same ingredients Snape used, following the same steps and order.
Snape frowned. What was Murphy trying to do? Replicate the Despair Potion? But without knowing the spell, he couldn't possibly succeed.
Yet, Murphy placed six magic power meters beside the potion and another set beside his crucible. He observed the meters while stirring the potion with his wand.
"Tom, what is Professor Murphy doing?" Harry asked from below.
"He seems to be monitoring the magic power changes in the potion..." Hermione replied, familiar with the magic power meter from wand experiments. Murphy often used it to test magic properties.
"Is the professor trying to replicate the potion by controlling its magical properties?" Tom suddenly asked.
Magic dimension theory was initially used to decompose and understand spells. Different spells have different magic properties, and those with the same properties produce similar effects. If a potion's essence was similar to a spell, having the same magic properties might produce the same effect.
"Why replicate this potion?"
Murphy observed the meter changes, carefully adding basic spells to the crucible to infuse the potion with different magic properties.
He also recalled Snape's lip movements while making the potion, using a Total Recall spell to retrieve the faint sounds he had heard but not processed, and found Snape's incantation.
"Cinis animae, putrida vota, irrita desideria, amor et separatio, indignatio et ira, ad imum barathrum descendunt et in lutum nigerrimum convertunt…"
He recited the spell.
The solution in the crucible turned to a muddy black, then to an ashen white.
Snape was astonished; Murphy had replicated it!
Though not perfect, he had only watched Snape do it once!
How did he manage? And how did he know the spell?
Meanwhile, Murphy mixed another potion he had completed into the Despair Potion and put it in a crystal bottle. He then picked up Snape's potion, touched it to his own bottle, and placed his bottle on Snape's desk.
"Come, taste the flavor of despair," he said.
His eyes were half defiant, half mocking, and also held a resolve that was unnerving.
He echoed Snape's earlier words.
"Professor Snape, I'll go first."
Murphy drank his potion and closed his eyes.
Tom understood, "There's no solution to that potion, so the professor made an identical one for Snape to drink. Now, it's a contest of who has stronger resistance."
Snape looked at the potion on his desk, frowning.
Murphy's potion wasn't perfect, but he had added a "Memory Potion."
Despair Potion plus Memory Potion.
If he drank it, Snape had an idea of what he'd face.
Did Murphy not fear it?
Did he have no regrets or moments of despair in his life?
The Despair Potion could amplify such moments, plunging one into unparalleled pain, like being cast into the abyss, draining all the strength to escape, sinking into hopelessness.
How could he dare?
"Professor, you can wait until the ten minutes are up before drinking this potion," Professor Sprout reminded. "If Professor Murphy collapses or loses consciousness within that time, you win the duel."
Though not fond of Snape's character, Professor Sprout, his longtime colleague and fellow Head of House, hoped he would win over Murphy.
But Snape just stared at her blankly.
Yes, that was the smartest way.
But... Murphy's look before drinking the potion was like a needle, pricking him.
Was he mocking something?
Thinking I wouldn't dare?
Not dare to face those terrible memories?
Not dare to face my weaknesses?
Not dare to face... Lily?
Ah, yes, I've always been a coward...
I didn't dare confess my love, fearing rejection.
I didn't dare get close, fearing isolation.
I hid in my corner, thinking mastery of more spells and higher status would make me worthy
of her.
I even didn't dare to truly understand her.
Because it would scorch me.
I am a coward.
Yet... his hand trembled as he reached for the potion, gripping it tightly.
"But, memories are the only way I can see you now."
With resolve and a mix of fear and longing, Snape picked up the crystal bottle containing the potion Murphy had replicated. This moment wasn't just about winning a duel; it was about facing his past, his regrets, and the depths of despair that had haunted him for so long.
In the hushed silence, with all eyes on him, Snape raised the bottle to his lips. His journey through the darkest corridors of his mind was about to begin.
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