Harry Potter Histories: Lily Evans and the Wolfsbane Secret

Chapter Two - The Most Pestilent and Putrid Potions

The remaining weeks before she was due to go to London were quite uncomfortable for Lily. Petunia refused to speak to her and spent most of her time shut up in her room upstairs. When she did go out, she left the house so quietly that her sister hardly realized she was gone.

Lily could deal with being shunned, however. It was her parents who were the worst. Although she knew they meant well, she couldn't help being aggravated when her mother tried to hint (for the tenth time in a given day) how nice it would be to see "that Potter boy" again.

"I'd be delighted to have him over for tea," she would happen to mention to Mr. Evans just as Lily was coming down for breakfast. "Or even better, dinner. God knows what his family is feeding him, he looks deplorably thin."

As if this wasn't enough, after a few days she began adding in, "So deplorably thin. Hopefully he'll find a nice girl to take care of him, yes, I do hope he'll find a nice girl to do that."

After two weeks she would immediately follow this comment by saying, "Lily, could you be a nice girl and get Mummy a bit of butter and a spreading knife?" Lily was half-expecting to wake up one day to find her mother showing her designs for wedding dresses. But Mrs. Evans finally seemed to give up hope around late August. When they went out to dinner for Lily's birthday, she didn't mention James Potter once.

Finally the day arrived when Lily had to go to London. Her stuff had long since been packed. She was bringing a massive truck filled with old books, her clothes, her cauldron, and various other odds and ends she would need over the course of the year. She also brought a cage to hold her cat, Mephistopheles. She hated putting him in there, but she couldn't get him on the train otherwise.

Since her fifth year her parents had let her go alone as a "test of her independence." She loved riding through the countryside watching the hills roll by as the train chugged slowly towards the great city. Along the way she saw a massive flock of birds burst out from cover and soar across her view, a sight so arresting she thought it almost magical.

At last, she arrived at the noisy station. Black puffs of smoke rose up into the sky and threw shadows over the platform. As Lily walked out past the turnstiles she reviewed her schedule. First stop on her list was Diagon Alley, where she would buy a new bundle of school supplies. Next on her itinerary was a stop at her aunt Muriel's home for a brief visit.

She was supposed to give her aunt a present from her parents, which was inevitably a bottle of fine wine from France. Her aunt was, as she always reminded the other members of the family, "a connoisseur."

Finally, it would be back to the station and Platform 9 ¾, where she would be off for another year at Hogwarts, the place Lily loved more than any other in the whole world.

Diagon Alley was exactly as she remembered it, a boisterous winding street with dozens of incredible shops on either side. Every store--from Eeylop's Owl Emporium to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor--seemed to burst with wizards and witches, especially at this time of year.

"Ten percen' off the sticke' price!" a man shouted at the corner. "Ten percen' off!" He was wearing a grandiose set of deep blue robes with golden stars and moons embroidered over the fabric and waving a banner whose letters glittered with unnatural light. She would have been more tempted had she not known Madam Valmar's sticker prices had a tendency to suddenly change just as one walked towards the register.

Of course, she supposed it could be worse. She had heard the clothing shops in Knockturn Alley not only changed sticker prices; the labels could perform their own Memory Charms, convincing the buyer that the price was what they had seen when they'd first picked it off the shelf.

She ducked into Flourish and Blotts to pick up her books. Mephistopheles curled down under a nearby table, only to be jolted out a second later when he spied an enormous and--to him, at any rate--rather appetizing specimen.

"No, not Wompy!" a voice cried out. Behind a massive stack of books that were trembling slightly and on closer inspection appeared to have mouths, a graceful figure appeared. Lily had always envied Alice Lochrin's natural ease of movement. Alice was Lily's oldest and truest friend at school.

"Sorry, Alice, but you know how he likes to chase after mice."

"He'd better not catch him, though," Alice answered warningly.

"I suppose you'd better hope Wompy's reflexes haven't slowed down over the summer."

Alice snorted. "Not a chance. I just hope he doesn't run circles around your cat and get Mephy all dizzy." Mephy was Alice's favorite put-down nickname for Mephistopheles, which she had coined in the third year. The cat still hissed whenever it was addressed to him directly, almost as if he could understand that it wasn't complimentary.

"Have you got all your books?" Lily asked. By this time Alice was reaching up to grab the highest book on the trembling stack, which growled at her but then began purring tranquilly when she stroked the spine.

"Ah, not all of them yet..."

"Well come on, hurry up then. I have to get through shopping a bit early, I need to see my aunt in town afterwards before getting to the train." Alice grinned and handed Lily her list.

"You go from the bottom, I'll go from the top." The two girls moved around the store shelves, quickly gathering all the volumes Alice needed. Lily was relieved to find that none of her other books appeared to be living.

"Why so much stuff?" she asked as they stood in line. "You must have half the magical library at Hogwarts this year."

"Oh, well, the 7^th-year Auror-path stuff is pretty advanced...you saw how many Defense Against the Dark Arts books I needed." Indeed, Alice had one whole bag filled with tomes such as Crucial Counter-Hexes and Recognize and Retaliate: The Best Defense is a Good Offense.

"Some of them are optional reading, too, but I just wanted to make sure I do well this year," Alice went on.

"You're going to be quite an Auror," Lily said. Alice looked quite pleased at the comment. They paid for their books and walked out of the shop together with several heavy bags on each arm.

"Say, Lily," Alice began shyly.

"Yeah, what?"

"Do you think--is it alright--I mean, would people laugh if I went out with someone in the 6^th year?"

Lily stared at her friend. Was she really asking her for romantic advice? When the only boy she seemed capable of attracting was James Potter, whom she had loudly told two years ago she would never date?

She fumbled with her words. "Erm, what do you--well, I guess it's--I mean, I wouldn't make fun of--" Apparently this wasn't the answer that Alice wanted to hear, as she began pouting.

"I mean, who is it?" Lily finally asked, hitting the important question.

Alice blushed and, after a quick look around to make sure no one was listening, whispered, "Frank Longbottom."

"No! Not that quiet boy who gave you the flower after--" And the two girls pressed their heads together and began talking excitedly as they strolled down the street.

An hour later they were still discussing Alice's burgeoning relationship with Frank Longbottom as they gathered up all the supplies they needed for Potions in the Apothecary. As usual, the shelves were stocked full of various and sundry powerful magical substances, ranging from sweet-smelling herbs to some exceptionally foul substances. All together the place seemed to smell like a refrigerator gone to rot, full of spoiled vegetables and bad eggs.

"Now who's the one with the full load?" Alice joked, head poking around the pile that Lily had dumped unceremoniously into the cart. Amidst the common forest herbs and various animal byproducts were a few exotic items that were quite expensive. Lily had wanted to acquire some for ages--particularly the unicorn hairs and acromantula venom that were supposed to be incredibly potent additions to any number of potions. She even had a few ideas for mixtures that she had never seen in any book of potions.

"Oh, I just thought of some experiments I'd like to do," she answered noncommittally. Alice groaned. Lily's penultimate experiment last year had resulted in strange orange flames burning out half of the Gryffindor common room.

"It won't be like last year," she insisted, remembering how she had become a pariah at school due to her responsibility for the event known ominously as the "Fourth Floor Stink."

"Just don't mix toad-spit and Fire mushrooms together ever again, Lily. Please. You destroyed my favorite armchair, and just when we were old enough that we could bully people into making them give them up."

Lily tried to calm her friend, but Alice continued to stare suspiciously at the pile, as if trying to spot the characteristic dark green labels that indicated a vial of toad-spit. She turned around as a voice from behind startled her.

"Pardons, pardons. If it please--"

"We're not interested," Alice said hastily, but the man continued on as Lily turned around to examine him. He had a thick frame and a somewhat hunched appearance, although perhaps this was caused by his overly large and overbearing shoulders. His face, however, was drawn into an unctuous smile.

"If it please," he continued. "I produce this powder--" He removed a small container from within his robes and opened it to reveal a dust-like mix in all the colors of the rainbow. "With just a pinch of this pepper, one can produce Draughts of Pity, Prosperity, even Popularity. 'Tis a most potent part of the most pestilent and putrid and panegyric potions that can be prepared. One parcel puts you out but a pittance--"

His lips contorted oddly as he spoke, as if struggling against some curse, and suddenly Lily realized what was wrong with him.

"Lexico Normalis!" she said, tapping his upper lip with her wand.

"Oh, thank you, dear girl, thank you! I hate it when they force me to use the Alliterati Charm, it feels like there are eels crawling in your mouth telling you what to say." He wandered off happily, not approaching anyone else in line.

"What was that all about, do you think?" Alice wondered. Lily shrugged. It didn't seem in character for the Apothecary's owners to require their employees to use an Alliterati Charm on themselves.

"I swear, this place gets stranger every year I come back," Lily said. Before she could puzzle out where the stranger had come from or what he could have been selling, she suddenly heard a loud rumble from behind them. A panicked-looking clerk suddenly rushed out from the back, flinging off his soiled apron.

"Avalanche of enchanted shrunken troll heads! Everybody run!" he screamed, before mass hysteria broke out. Lily spared one quick glance backwards at the large gray soccer-ball-sized masses that were tumbling down the aisles and exploding into bursts of smoke and stone before she joined the mass running outside.

***

It took a while for things to settle down. They had needed several powerful shield charms to slow down and trap the troll heads, which despite being quite dead managed to remain extremely malevolent. Apparently the frightened clerk had set them off by placing heads that belonged to enemy tribes too close together, which had resulted in the whole pile tumbling apart.

The store itself gave off the impression of an abandoned building, with windows smashed and ingredients strewn all over the floor. Alice and Lily paid for the ingredients that they had taken while fleeing the store, and then continued back to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Well, I reckon that's everything--"

"Oi! Just the girl I wanted to see!" a boisterous shout sounded from behind them. Lily put her hand to her forehead as if she was suddenly experiencing a nasty headache and groaned.

"Black," she said, without a trace of affection.

"Well, she got me alright," he said, cracking a smile in Alice's direction. Lily couldn't help but notice her friend return it. As enamored as she was with Frank Longbottom, it was apparent that she was not immune to Sirius's charms.

Sirius Black was about a head taller than either of the girls, with dark locks of hair that framed a clean-shaven face. In Lily's mind the first words that came were "ruffian and troublemaker." Unfortunately, most other girls seemed quicker to think "rugged and handsome."

"As it happens, Evans, you're just the girl I wanted to talk to--not that I don't enjoy your company as well, Alice, if truth be told you're usually a good deal more pleasant to deal with--"

Lily coughed. "Er, yes, anyways, digressions aside. You know, Lily, that a certain mutual friend of ours happened to visit you during the summer to deliver a bit of news to you."

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well, when he came back I asked him what had happened and he seemed remarkably recalcitrant and short on detail. 'Oh, nothing, just told her and gave her the badge.' But you know, I couldn't help noticing how said friend was away for quite a bit longer than it would have taken to do just that."

"Brilliant, I didn't know you could read a clock, Sirius. Good to see you learned something new over the summer--"

"Lily, Lily, you wound me," Sirius announced dramatically. "I only ask because I suspect there's a story there. A story that, for some reason, James wouldn't tell me. And I'm afraid if you won't tell me either, I'll have to start being very suspicious. Have to start wondering what kind of, em, private matters could seal both your lips."

Alice turned to Lily. "You and James finally--"

"No," Lily interjected quickly. "James and I didn't do anything." Then she registered what Alice had said. "And what exactly do you mean 'finally'?"

Sirius turned to Alice with a look of some interest and said, "So you noticed too, huh? Always said those two were destined for each other, it's sometimes like she's the only one that can't see it, eh? I tell you--"

"Oh, get off it, Sirius. If you must know, my parents invited him in for tea. That's the only thing that took an extra bit of time, thank you very much. And from now on, keep your imagination out of my relationships." Lily grabbed Alice by the arm and tried to drag her off.

"So," Sirius said casually as they walked off, "You're calling it a relationship now."

"What?" She spun around angrily.

"I'm only saying, you called it a relationship. You and James, I mean. Hm. James and Lily, Lily and James. I'm not sure which order sounds better. I like the ring of it either way, really--"

Lily drew her wand, and Sirius backed away hastily, almost tripping on a cart full of melons. Its goblin owner angrily dressed Sirius down, to her immense amusement, and by the time he managed to extricate himself he had somehow ended up buying a barrel of apples.

"Listen, Sirius, I'm not in the mood for your first-year sense of humor right now. But if we really must talk about James's visit, I actually have a few questions of my own."

Sirius shrugged some of the hair out of his vision and bit into an apple. "Wow, he's actually right, these really are the best apples I've ever tasted--"

"Don't change the subject now. I want to know why James came. He gave some puffed-up excuse about all the owls being sick, but don't think I bought that for a second."

Sirius's first attempt at an answer came out something like, "Brrrrooo, tthhiiilllsss tttrrrrbboooo."

"No, it's true," he said after swallowing the bite. "There's something strange about the owls, that's what Dumbledore told us when he visited at James's house. He said he wanted to personally deliver the badge since they were having some trouble with the letters. You must have noticed, all our school letters came on Hogsmeade owls this year. Bit late, weren't they?"

Lily paused to consider the answer. It was true, the owls had come a bit late this year.

"I wonder what's going on," she muttered.

"You're not the only one. I talked to Hagrid, saw him down at the Leaky Cauldron. He says apparently the owls are afraid of something in the Dark Forest, something bad. He says the Ministry even sent a special hunter to Hogwarts this year to sort out whatever's there."

"A...hunter?"

"Yeah. I forget what Hagrid called him. He had a strange name, Whacky Ring Fur or something. Apparently he's living in the Forest trying to track whatever's in there. I figure it must be some dark creature, or else why would even birds be scared to fly over it?"

Lily turned to Alice, who seemed troubled by this news. Care of Magical Creatures was one of her friend's best subjects, and she would probably know about anything that could frighten owls.

Alice, however, only shook her head. "I've never heard of anything like that. But it could be he's telling the truth, I've heard from other people that their letters came late too, it did seem strange this year."

Lily paused to remember her other questions.

"But wait--if Dumbledore wanted to personally deliver the news, then why didn't he come himself to see me?"

"If you can't answer that question for yourself, I'm not sure you deserve that badge," Sirius said.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, her eyes flaring at the perceived insult to Lily.

"Dumbledore didn't come, because James asked if he could do the job himself. Apple?" He held out the barrel towards Alice, who took one somewhat reluctantly.

"It's not like they're bewitched, you just saw me buy them," Sirius said. Alice was clearly remembering the prank during their fourth year when James and Sirius, along with their friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, had bewitched all the apples at Halloween dinner to be filled with Ton-Glue. Lily still remembered trying to yell at them while her tongue was stuck to the top of her mouth and they laughed uproariously.

"Honestly, brightest witches in our year, but sometimes I think you can't see the werewolf right in front of you," he said.

"I thought the saying was 'dragon right in front of you,'" Alice said.

"Really?" Sirius cocked his head to the side. "Funny, I'm quite sure it was--but maybe I'm mistaken, I do get confused."

He seemed to dismiss that concern. "In any case, I haven't gotten anything yet, and it seems you ladies are fully prepared. I'll see you on the train."

"Hey, Sirius--"

"Yeah, what, Evans?"

"Thanks." She paused, and then finished awkwardly, "For the--the truth." He just shrugged.

"And don't let me catch you trying to set off any Dungbombs on the train!" she shouted after him. He turned back and gave her a look as if to say, Oh please. I'm not an amateur.

"That boy is hopeless. And I can't believe you were smiling at him like that, when you just told me you liked this Frank Longbottom--"

The rest of their conversation as they left Diagon Alley was filled with Alice's vehement denials and protestation.