Chapter 541: Detoxification
Chapter 541: Detoxification
In the golden glow of the fireplace, Slughorn raised his glass to toast with Liam and the others. However, Liam, upon receiving his glass, nervously used his rings to activate Alchemy to check the contents, completely ignoring the professor's toast. He still remembered that in the original text, Slughorn had brought out a bottle of poisoned wine.
However, Liam couldn't recall which type of wine Slughorn had chosen in the original text, let alone identify which bottle on the professor's table was the poisoned one. There were several bottles of each type of wine, making it impossible for him to determine which one was toxic. In such a situation, he couldn't just tell the professor that one of the bottles was poisoned; that would be impossible to explain.
For the same reason, Liam couldn't make a big fuss about checking the wine for poison. Instead, he used his rings to perform a subtle Alchemy check once he had his glass. Concerned that a change in the plot might make the poison more potent, Liam, to ensure everyone's safety, slipped a broad-spectrum antidote pill that wouldn't harm the human body into the wine bottle when Slughorn opened it in front of them, while Slughorn was distracted.
Finally, after five seconds of using Alchemy, a black light flashed from his rings. He immediately shouted, "Don't drink it, the wine is poisoned!" But before his warning could even finish, he heard a glass shatter on the floor.
It turned out that Ron, who had been feeling neglected by Professor Slughorn, had eagerly seized the opportunity to drink legally and had gulped down the wine in his glass before Liam could warn him. As a result, he became the only one to fall victim to the poison.
After being poisoned, Ron's glass slipped from his hand and he slumped to the floor, his limbs convulsing violently, foaming at the mouth, his eyes bulging, and his face rapidly darkening.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, crouching down to check on Ron. Ron was twitching, struggling to breathe, his skin turning blue, and his veins becoming visibly purple against the blue skin. The only adult in the room, Slughorn, seemed to be in shock, stammering, "How—But—"
"Move aside", Liam pushed Harry aside and knelt next to Ron, pulling out a bottle of golden elixirs from his Spatial Bag and forcing it down Ron's throat. This highest-grade elixir, mixed with Life Force, had an immediate effect. After the entire bottle disappeared into Ron's mouth, his terrifying Gollum-like breathing stopped, his breathing returned to normal, and his body stopped convulsing.
After checking with his wand for a few seconds, Liam let out a long sigh of relief. He had thrown an antidote into the wine bottle as a precaution, though to ensure it was harmless, its effects were not particularly strong. Fortunately, the pill had worked, weakening the poison's effects, so while Ron had looked terrible, his internal organs were not severely damaged.
"At least he's in better shape than he would have been. That means I did something good", Liam thought to himself. If Ron had died or suffered irreversible damage today, he would have felt guilty about it for the rest of his life.
Taking advantage of the chaos and everyone's attention on Ron, Liam quickly used his rings to activate another Alchemical Array to eliminate the traces of the antidote in the wine.
"How are you feeling, Ron?" Liam stepped back as Harry immediately shouted at Ron's face.
"I feel like I almost died", Ron said weakly, managing to open his eyes halfway. "Honestly, Harry, this is the worst birthday I've ever had."
In the morning, the Hospital Wing was quiet, the sunlight filtering through the curtains and softly illuminating the patients. Only Ron's bed was surrounded by people. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting by his side. They had waited outside for over an hour, peering inside whenever someone entered or left. Madam Pomfrey only let them in at nine o'clock, and Fred and George arrived at 9:10.
"Where's Liam? I need to thank him for saving our brother", Fred said, placing a large gift on the cabinet by Ron's bed and sitting down next to Ginny.
"Headmaster Dumbledore called him over, hoping to analyze something from him", Hermione shrugged helplessly. "He warned us about the poison in the wine just a few seconds after getting his glass, but Ron drank too quickly."
"My brother is just—" Ginny, who had just learned the details of what happened, rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Can't he eat a little slower?"
The Weasley family members present felt somewhat embarrassed after hearing Hermione's words, realizing that this disaster could have been avoided if Ron hadn't been so hungry.
Meanwhile, in the Hospital Wing, everyone was gathered around Ron, discussing the events of the day, while Liam was being questioned in the Headmaster's Office.
"Liam, how did you discover the poison in the drink?" Dumbledore, seated in his chair, asked Liam seriously.
"I've been researching this recently, Professor Dumbledore", Liam replied, having prepared his answer. "Ever since Mr. Weasley was bitten by the Viper, I've been thinking about how to deal with poisoning. Initially, I wanted to create antidotes, but I found it too difficult for the victim to quickly identify the poison's effects and take the appropriate antidote at the moment of poisoning. Even the most commonly used broad-spectrum antidote, Dungstone, is produced in shockingly low quantities. So, I decided to develop an antidote that could be mass-produced and effective against most poisons on the market."
As he spoke, he pulled a small bottle from his Spatial Bag and handed it to Dumbledore. The bottle was so tiny it was more like a capsule, containing a small amount of colorless, transparent liquid.
To create the antidote, I naturally collected a large number of poisons for comparison. Today, when I was about to drink from my cup, I detected the smell of the poison from this bottle. The poisoner was clever, using the sweetness of Honey Mead to mask the bitter taste of the poison. Additionally, Filch's detector couldn't identify the poison, allowing this dangerous substance to be brought into the school. Fortunately, I had been researching these poisons recently, so I could keenly pick up on the subtle bitter scent hidden beneath the rich sweetness of the honey, allowing me to detect it.
"Indeed, very fortunate", Dumbledore said, taking the small bottle and tapping it with his wand. "However, I hope you will keep these poisons secure, ensuring no one else comes into contact with them."
"Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore", Liam replied, putting the poison away. "I always carry this Spatial Bag with me, ensuring it is always under my control."
"That's reassuring", Dumbledore nodded and continued, "May I ask about the progress of your antidote research? Death Eaters are immoral individuals, and we may need antidotes to counter their frequent poisoning attempts."
"I've achieved part of my goal. After extensive research, I developed an antidote that can neutralize most poisons on the market, and it also has a strong mitigating effect on the remaining poisons", Liam said, still somewhat unsatisfied with his two years of research during his free time. "The potion I gave Ron today is the result of my research. It's less complex to brew compared to similar elixirs, but each bottle still costs over 30 Galleons, which isn't much cheaper than what's available on the market."
"That's already impressive", Dumbledore said. "I'm willing to buy ten bottles from you at 40 Galleons each."
"A processing fee of three Galleons per bottle would be sufficient, Headmaster", Liam smiled, politely declining the high offer. "However, I need your help to gather the raw materials. Many of these materials are difficult for a Muggle-born wizard like me to obtain."
"Of course", Dumbledore nodded. "That's the least I can do. Although you are my student, I am truly grateful for your help. You've done us a great service."
Just as they finished their discussion, the fireplace flared, and the Weasleys' parents emerged.
"Headmaster, our son Ron—", Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she rushed out of the fireplace and directly asked Dumbledore.
"He is in the Hospital Wing, but he is fine", Dumbledore reassured her. "And you should thank Liam. Thanks to him, your son received immediate help today."
"Thank you so much, Liam", Mrs. Weasley said, hugging Liam tightly and sobbing after Dumbledore explained the events of the day. "If you hadn't been there today, I can't even imagine—"
"It's okay, Mrs. Weasley. It's what I should do", Liam comforted her. "I believe anyone with the ability to help would have done the same."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
