Chapter 1233: All for Nothing
Chapter 1233: All for Nothing
"Perhaps, we shouldn't have killed them."
In the living room, Narcissa averted her gaze from the bodies on the floor and looked at the golden potion in her hand. Her pale lips quivered slightly, and a hint of gloom passed through her eyes as she glanced at Bella.
"Why not? They were nothing but pests." Bella nonchalantly replied, unconcerned about the two bugs she had just squashed underfoot. "You should have realized they were in cahoots from the start."
"But... I mean, we haven't confirmed if this is really a Felix Felicis potion." Narcissa clutched the golden potion tighter in her hand and continued, "And they might have had other connections. I'm thinking they could have known other talented potion masters. It would be better to spend some money than for us to grope around in the dark."
"They've been lying from the very beginning, and I saw right through them." Bella spat on the corpses at her feet and scoffed, "These fools always like to treat others as idiots. But I must admit, I quite enjoy their foolishness."
Narcissa fell into a brief silence, knowing it was pointless to argue with Bella further. There would be no changing her mind; not even she herself could do that.
"Maybe we should go back to Britain and have Severus help us authenticate these Felix Felicis potions," Narcissa suggested.
"No," Bella contradicted, "This is definitely Felix Felicis, I'm sure of it."
Bella took the potion from Narcissa's hand, well aware of her sister's intentions. She knew Narcissa wanted to give it to Draco, which would be a complete waste.
"Wait—"
Before Narcissa could stop her, Bella had already taken the potion away.
"The Felix Felicis potion must be used where it is truly needed," Bella fixed her sister with a stern gaze and warned, "Our goal is to eliminate Dumbledore. If he doesn't die, you know what will happen. Even if Draco survives, he won't be able to bear the Dark Lord's wrath."
"I... I mean, this bottle might also be a fake." Narcissa looked anxiously at Bella, "And I believe we can definitely get our hands on more bottles of Felix Felicis. We can just give one to Draco later."
"I hope you're not being foolish, Narcissa." Bella put away the potion and issued another warning, "Do you know what will happen if our plan fails?"
As far as Bella was concerned, sacrificing Draco was a small price to pay if it meant killing Dumbledore. Moreover, they did have the opportunity to obtain more Felix Felicis potions.
"What should we do now?" Narcissa asked, changing the subject.
"Burn this place down."
Before leaving, they altered the appearance of the two corpses and set the entire house ablaze.
"We should assume new identities and continue acquiring Felix Felicis potions. Oh, and we'll need to find another translator since neither of us understands German."
Narcissa believed that as long as they were willing to pay enough galleons, they would definitely be able to buy Felix Felicis potions in the European wizarding world.
Bella didn't object. One bottle of Felix Felicis was not enough to share among the Death Eaters who had agreed to go to Hogwarts to ambush Dumbledore. They needed to obtain more potions, especially since they couldn't be sure of the authenticity of the one they had.
Narcissa, who had originally intended to choose new disguise targets for the two of them, soon realized they might be in some trouble.
For some reason, they were being tracked. Perhaps their actions in acquiring the Felix Felicis potions had drawn too much attention, or maybe it was because Bella had killed quite a few wizards. In any case, someone was on their trail.
Bella took some time to successfully subdue the wizard who had been tracking them. However, when they tried to interrogate him, they realized they couldn't understand German, let alone conduct an interrogation. Communication was a problem.
"Wait—"
Before Narcissa could stop her, a jet of green light had already shot out from the tip of Bella's wand, engulfing the unfortunate wizard who had been tortured by the Cruciatus Curse and leaving him dead.
"You didn't have to kill him," Narcissa said helplessly as she looked at Bella. "He was most likely an employee of the Ministry of Magic. Killing him will only anger the German Ministry of Magic and bring us no benefit. Why make things difficult when a simple Obliviate charm would have solved the problem? Now you've drawn the Aurors' attention, and they will suspect us."
Even though they could use the Polyjuice Potion to change their appearances, they would still be tracked as long as they continued to acquire Felix Felicis potions.
And now, Bella had gone and killed someone, likely earning the wrath of the entire Ministry.
Narcissa realized it was time for her to leave.
That night, Bella and Narcissa fled Germany.
Narcissa's guess was correct. The man had been an employee of the German Ministry of Magic, and his disappearance caused the German Ministry to target them.
Fortunately, the two of them had disguised themselves with the Polyjuice Potion and left Germany promptly, evading capture by the German Aurors.
The next day, a wanted notice appeared in the German wizarding newspaper.
"I told you we didn't need to be so radical," Narcissa said, her eyes filled with resignation as she looked at the front-page news.
Not long after, their true identities were exposed, and to make matters worse, rumors spread that they were persecuting potion masters.
This caused Bella and Narcissa's plan to acquire Felix Felicis potions to fall apart completely. If they revealed themselves now, they would attract immense trouble, even in the black market. Now, much of Europe knew that the victims' families had joined forces to offer a sky-high bounty for their lives.
The news spread like wildfire, causing many famous potion masters to go into hiding, fearing they would suffer the same fate as the previous unfortunate souls.
This forced Bella, who had painstakingly gathered intelligence and was prepared to visit those potion masters one by one, to abandon her original plan.
The successive setbacks only served to aggravate her temper further.
Especially after they had fled to several other countries and encountered similar situations, the two of them realized that acquiring more Felix Felicis potions would be extremely difficult.
"What now?"
"Let's go back and find Snape to appraise those Felix Felicis potions." Narcissa, unable to bear looking at the innocent potion master who had died a horrible death, put away the potions, "If these potions turn out to be useless, we'll have to come up with another plan."
"I hope your plan works," Bella said as she raised her wand and started a fire. Ever since she had traveled around Europe, her fire-starting skills had improved immensely.
...
"You shouldn't have contacted me at this time."
Severus Snape was in a foul mood as he faced the unwelcome visitors at his door.
"Sorry, Severus, but we really need your help."
Narcissa's expression was filled with apology as she was keenly aware that they were at a critical juncture. Many things could lead to Snape being suspected by Dumbledore, and aside from him, she truly didn't know who else to turn to for assistance.
"What is it?" Snape glanced at Bella's cold face and asked, "If it's about..."
"We just want you to help us appraise some potions." Bella interrupted impatiently, placing a box in front of Snape.
"Appraise potions?"
Snape had already guessed something, but he remained calm and opened the box in front of him. As expected, there were some golden potions inside.
"I need you to help us appraise these Felix Felicis potions and distinguish which ones are genuine." Bella stated their purpose for seeking out Snape.
"Severus, we couldn't tell them apart, so we had to come to you." Narcissa quickly added, "Felix Felicis?"
"Yes."
"I think these are all Felix Felicis."
"What do you mean?" Bella frowned and asked.
Snape picked up a bottle of Felix Felicis, glanced at Bella, and added, "A failed product of Felix Felicis."
"So, the Felix Felicis is not a fake, but a failed product?" Bella asked, her face darkening.
"Yes." Snape nodded, "There's a saying that the potion master who brews Felix Felicis usually has to be the first to consume it to avoid other users being poisoned by it."
"And these two bottles are obviously failed products made during the brewing of Felix Felicis."
"Why?"
"The color is off. Now, be quiet and don't interrupt me." Snape was clearly unhappy with Bella's questions and picked out the visibly flawed potions with his eyes.
"We shouldn't bother Severus anymore." Narcissa pulled on Bella, signaling her to stop causing trouble.
"I'm asking why the potion masters didn't throw away the failed products." Bella asked her question.
"Maybe they're meant to be used as poison. It's challenging to antidote, and brewing Felix Felicis is expensive. Failing to produce it is something an ordinary potion master can't afford." Snape glanced at Bella and continued to pick up the remaining Felix Felicis potions, examining them one by one, and then discarding a few more failed products.
"Where did you get these potions? Why are they all failed products?" Snape pressed his lips together and continued, "Maybe you should consider using these potions to poison Dumbledore."
"What about the other three bottles?"
Bella frowned slightly, also worried that all the Felix Felicis they had obtained were failed products.
Narcissa held her breath, equally concerned that their efforts over the past half month had been in vain.
However, the last three bottles of Felix Felicis, shimmering like molten gold, gave them some hope.
"Where are you going?" Narcissa asked in confusion.
"To get some rats. No one can guarantee that these potions aren't failed products." Snape explained impatiently, "So, I must first test these three bottles of Felix Felicis on rats to see if they can kill them."
"Wait here; I'll go get some rats for you." Bella stood up and left without another word.
As Bella's figure disappeared from view, Narcissa turned her gaze to Snape and couldn't help but ask, "How's Draco doing?"
"He's fine. He's working hard to fix the Vanishing Cabinet. I think it won't be long before he gets it working again." Snape whispered in comfort, "So you don't have to worry. As long as he doesn't mess up, his plan will definitely succeed."
"What if he can't fix it?" Narcissa asked softly.
"He'll fix it. You should have confidence in him." Snape frowned.
Narcissa fell silent. She knew that Snape would help Draco, but she still didn't feel confident, especially since their target was Dumbledore, a nearly impossible task.
It didn't take long for Bella to bring back a large number of rats.
Snape took some of the Felix Felicis from the bottle and dripped it into the rats' mouths.
Soon, the first rat died, poisoned by the Felix Felicis.
"You'd better be prepared for the worst." Snape warned.
The second and third rats couldn't withstand the potion either and perished.
"These Felix Felicis are all failed products. It looks like your efforts were for nothing." Snape waved his wand, clearing away the dead rats.
Bella glared at Snape and suddenly turned to Narcissa, "Take out the one you've hidden. I know you've kept a bottle of Felix Felicis for yourself."
Narcissa bit her lip and took out a box containing a bottle of Felix Felicis.
"Try this one."
Bella pushed the last bottle of Felix Felicis toward Snape.
This time, the rat not only survived but also seemed to be invigorated.
Snape waited a few minutes to ensure the rat wouldn't die, then dipped his finger into the potion and tasted it.
"Well?" Narcissa asked anxiously, her eyes full of anticipation.
"This is indeed Felix Felicis, and it should be effective." Snape looked at Narcissa and asked, "Do you need me to give it to Draco for you?"
"No, I don't need your help. I plan to use this when dealing with Dumbledore." Bella seemed satisfied with the result, but the only problem was that she didn't intend to give it to Draco.
"Bella."
Narcissa looked at her sister in shock as she snatched away the potion.
"Do you remember what I said?" Bella put the potion into her pocket, her voice cold as she spoke to her younger sister, "Narcissa, Draco can only survive if Dumbledore is killed."
"But we only have one bottle of Felix Felicis. It's not enough for the both of you." Narcissa tried to persuade Bella, "Giving it to Draco is the right choice. Only by fixing the Vanishing Cabinet can the plan..."
"I remember you saying that Slughorn has more Felix Felicis." Bella suddenly interjected.
"Are you thinking of sneaking into Hogwarts to steal Felix Felicis from Slughorn?" Snape suspected that Bella had gone mad.
"Yes. Isn't Felix Felicis supposed to bring good luck? As long as we use it..." Before Bella could finish her sentence, Snape interrupted her.
"Are you treating Dumbledore like a fool? And how do you plan to sneak into Hogwarts?"
"You don't have to worry about that."
"No, doing that will completely mess up my plan." Snape scoffed, "Don't treat Dumbledore like an idiot, and I don't think you can sneak into Hogwarts without being noticed."
"I... I'll do it." Narcissa suddenly spoke up, knowing that she had to make a case for herself, or even if they got their hands on more Felix Felicis, Draco might not get his share.
"We'll only take the Felix Felicis and use the Obliviate spell to make Slughorn temporarily forget about it. Severus, I know you can help us, right?"
(End of Chapter)
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