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Chapter 161: Garlic Cross
Chapter 161: Garlic Cross
Albert picked up the package sent by Hagrid and headed back to the common room with his roommates.
As soon as Lee Jordan crawled through the hole, he reached out and took the package from Albert, asking curiously, "What do you plan to do with these things?"
"Garlic crosses," Albert replied as he prepared to head back to the dormitory first.
"You know how to make those?"
Fred looked at the two of them as if they were idiots. "Why would you think he can't make garlic crosses when he successfully created protective bracelets?"
"Of course, I know," George mumbled.
No one wanted to admit they were a fool.
Hurrying back to their dormitory, Lee Jordan took down the garlic that was hanging by the window to dry.
"First, we peel the garlic and turn it into a paste. Then we soak it in alcohol to infuse the allicin from the garlic into the alcohol," Albert recalled the crafting method and continued, "In the meantime, we can toss in a cross made from a guardian tree. The process should take... about a day."
"Just tell us what to do, and we'll do it," Fred said as he started helping with peeling the garlic.
George took out a mortar they used in Potions class, intending to use it to crush the peeled garlic.
"Wait, I have a better idea," Albert said, raising his hand to stop George. Under the watchful eyes of the trio, he used his wand to transfigure a newspaper into a simple garlic press.
The three boys gathered around, curiously observing the contraption Albert had crafted with his Transfiguration spell, and asked in unison, "What is that?"
"A garlic press," Albert explained offhandedly. He placed the peeled garlic into the press, turning it into a paste, which he then put into a wide-mouthed glass bottle.
"Cool!" George's eyes lit up, and he eagerly took the garlic press from Albert, indicating that he was happy to help with pressing the garlic.
After fiddling with it for about ten minutes, they finally turned all the garlic into paste.
"What's next?" Lee Jordan asked, looking at the garlic paste in the wide-mouthed glass bottle.
"We inject alcohol into the garlic paste," Albert said. He stirred the mixture with a glass rod, ensuring the alcohol and garlic paste were thoroughly combined, and then sealed the wide-mouthed glass bottle.
"Is that it?" The three of them found it a bit unbelievable that it was so much simpler than they had imagined.
"Yep, next, we wait until tomorrow to continue the process," Albert said, wrinkling his nose slightly at the garlic smell in the air. "Also, remind me not to do this kind of thing in the dormitory next time."
"I'm kind of excited to see what kind of alchemy artifact we'll create this time," George said, a little thrilled as this was his first time participating in making an alchemy artifact.
"Alchemy... artifact?"
In the end, Albert didn't tell them that the so-called garlic cross was not an alchemy artifact at all.
It was better to let the boys hold on to their innocent dreams.
The next steps were a bit tedious. They had to melt beeswax with warm water and add alcohol, separated from the garlic, into a flask. They also needed to add an appropriate amount of olive oil and cook the cross that had been soaked in alcohol for a day along with the rest of the ingredients.
Of course, they dared not do this in their own dormitory. What if the whole place reeked of garlic and they couldn't sleep afterwards?
The next day, Albert and the others moved their crucibles to the lakeshore. The strong garlic scent that permeated the air as they cooked made several curious students in the vicinity beat a hasty retreat.
"Anyone who wears this thing will probably never get a girlfriend in their life," Albert remarked, pinching his nose as he used a pair of tongs to remove the garlic-infused cross from the flask.
"Do you think anyone would really want to wear this stuff?" Lee Jordan was the first to express his doubts.
"I'm more curious if it even works," Fred added, also keeping his distance.
"I guess it's supposed to ward off enemies with its smell." George backed away a little, muttering, "I didn't expect the scent to be so overpowering."
This was unavoidable. After all, Albert had repeatedly concentrated the essence of the garlic they had grown and brought with some alchemical process.
"What about giving this to Filch?" Fred suggested, still holding a grudge against the caretaker.
"Filch will definitely throw it away," Albert vetoed Fred's proposal. Giving this to Filch would only result in their hard work being discarded; it would be a waste of their efforts.
"If you want to get back at Filch," Albert said, pointing to another small bottle, "the residual beeswax also has a strong garlic scent. You can smear it in the corners of Filch's office. I'm sure it will give him an unexpected surprise."
"That's a great idea!" The twins' eyes lit up, and they eagerly grabbed the bottle and opened it, only to be overwhelmed by the pungent smell of beeswax.
"Wait until after the end-of-year feast to do it," Albert reminded them.
"We know what to do." The twins exchanged a mischievous glance, their eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Okay, let's pack up and go find Hagrid," Albert said.
"Why are we looking for Hagrid?" Fred and George asked warily.
"Of course, to test if the amulets we made can effectively repel dark creatures," Albert said matter-of-factly. "Hagrid should know where to find some low-risk dark creatures."
"Oh, that makes sense." The trio nodded in understanding.
After all, now that the amulets were complete, they needed to find a subject to test their effectiveness.
Albert took out a rope made from a unicorn's tail and threaded it through the hole in the cross, turning it into a necklace. "Who wants to try wearing it?"
"No, thanks!" George shook his head vigorously.
"Are you trying to choke us with the smell?" Fred shot Albert a disapproving glance.
Lee Jordan simply pretended he hadn't heard the question.
Seeing their unanimous refusal, Albert sighed and stuffed the garlic cross back into the wide-mouthed glass bottle, sealing it to contain the pungent garlic odor.
The four boys packed up their equipment and made their way toward Hagrid's hut.
“What are you lot up to?” Hagrid asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he caught a whiff of the strong garlic scent emanating from the four boys while they were handling animal hides in front of his cabin.
"Garlic crosses," Albert replied with a smile, holding up a wide-mouthed glass bottle. "We've just finished making these amulets, and we're here to see if you have any dark creatures we can test them on."
Hagrid took the bottle from Albert and opened it, only to be assaulted by the overpowering garlic smell that escaped. He sneezed several times before asking, "Garlic crosses? What are those?"
"They're amulets that emit a garlic scent to protect the wearer from dark creature attacks," Albert explained.
"I don't know if they'll protect against dark creature attacks, but I'm sure no vampire would want to come within ten steps of anyone wearing this," Hagrid teased, unable to resist. He recalled the alcohol and beeswax he had sent to Albert earlier and could guess what they had been up to.
"Do vampires really hate the smell of garlic?" Albert asked curiously.
"Yes, garlic is like a cesspit to them. Disgusting," Hagrid explained dryly. "But I reckon even non-vampires would stay as far away as possible from this thing. Its smell is truly... awful."
"What about dark creatures, then?" Fred piped up.
"You're not thinking of going into the forest with those, are you?" Hagrid eyed the Weasley twins warily, his suspicion not unwarranted given the twins' history of sneaking into the forest.
"No, we don't plan on going into the forest anytime soon. It's too dangerous. That last incident really scared us," Fred quickly assured, covertly kicking George beside him. The latter caught on and immediately chimed in, promising that they wouldn't venture into the forest again.
Hagrid eyed Fred and George skeptically, clearly not entirely convinced by their assurances.
"I don't have any dark creatures here, but I know where you can find some. Follow me!" Hagrid led the four boys along the edge of the forest toward Professor Kettleburn's cabin.
Professor Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, was currently residing on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, tending to his beloved magical creatures.
It was said that the Care of Magical Creatures classes would be held in an open area near Professor Kettleburn's cabin.
As Hagrid led Albert and the others toward the cabin, they spotted Professor Kettleburn feeding his Snidgets with Flobberworms.
"What is it, Hagrid?" Professor Kettleburn asked, looking up from his task.
"Well, there are a few students here who've made some amulets, and they're hoping... hoping to test them on your Grindylow," Hagrid explained, glancing at Albert and the others behind him.
"Amulets? You don't mean garlic, do you?" Professor Kettleburn eyed the group of first-years, his keen sense of smell already picking up on the strong garlic odor emanating from them.
"This is it, Professor Kettleburn," Albert said, handing the bottle containing the garlic crosses to the professor.
It had to be said that it was a finely crafted piece.
At the very least, it didn't look too ugly.
"Oh my!" Professor Kettleburn finally understood why the boys reeked of garlic. "Don't open it here; my little darlings aren't too fond of that smell."
"Do you think it will protect me from dark creature ambushes?" Albert asked eagerly.
"I'm afraid the effect will only be mediocre," Professor Kettleburn explained. "While it's true that some creatures instinctively avoid garlic and will naturally stay away from it, it's not an absolute guarantee."
"What about using branches from a guardian tree?"
"Yes, I suppose it might work on vampires, but don't expect too much from it," Professor Kettleburn said, though he still lent them a Grindylow. As soon as Albert took the cross out of the bottle, the unfortunate Grindylow began to back away, clearly overwhelmed by the pungent smell.
"Congratulations, you nearly knocked out the Grindylow with that stench," Hagrid said, pinching his nose in disapproval.
"Thank you, I didn't expect it to be this effective," Albert couldn't help but marvel, now understanding the true nature of these so-called garlic amulets.
"What are you going to do with it now?" Fred asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"I plan to create a treasure map and hide it inside one of the library books, so that whoever finds it can go on a hunt for the treasure," Albert revealed, as he had already thought of a way to dispose of these amulets.
"From now on, this amulet shall be known as 'Vampire Repellent,'" Albert announced to the group. "It is the legendary amulet said to protect its wearer from vampire attacks."
The boys' faces twitched at this bold claim.
Albert certainly had a thick skin to make such a statement, even though these amulets might actually be effective against vampires.
"I'm suddenly curious to see the expression on the face of whoever finds the treasure map, discovers the long-sought treasure, and realizes that the legendary amulet that protects against vampires turns out to be this thing," George said, finding the whole situation amusing.
"I must say, you have a twisted sense of humor," Fred mumbled. "But I like it. I wonder if the poor student who finds the treasure will be so furious that they pass out."
"I'll help too," Lee Jordan said excitedly. "We can say it's a treasure hidden by generations of Hogwarts students, and I'm sure many people will be interested in it."
Hagrid stood there, dumbfounded, never expecting Albert to play such a prank on the students, setting up a trap for them to fall into.
He imagined himself borrowing a book one day and finding a treasure map hidden inside. Even if he didn't believe it entirely, he would still be tempted to explore and see if he could find the treasure.
(End of Chapter)
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