Chapter 639: Diviner's Grass
Chapter 639: Diviner's Grass
The next day's exams covered Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Arithmancy. Liam completed all three exams smoothly. Among these, Arithmancy was unique because the written and practical portions were combined into a single exam. Additionally, very few students chose to take this course, so the exam was scheduled for the afternoon, after the practical exams for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Herbology.
By the time the exams were over, it was quite late. Fortunately, the school was aware of this situation and had prepared a simple dinner in the Great Hall for students who had missed their evening meals due to the exams.
However, Liam had little energy to enjoy the food. After hastily eating a beef burger and drinking a glass of milk, he immediately slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran upstairs. Hermione, noticing this, finished the last bite of her salad and followed him.
"You can eat more slowly. There's no need for you to accompany me right now. I can handle this on my own today and don't need any help", Liam said, turning to Hermione as she jogged to catch up. "You can go about your own business."
"You're brewing a very important potion related to death. How can I not come and see this? My own tasks today are far less important than this", Hermione said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking at Liam seriously.
Liam inwardly marveled at her dedication and thirst for knowledge. After spending a lot of time with her, he realized that while Hermione was indeed smart, she wasn't exceptionally so. Her success was due to her constant curiosity and the perseverance she showed in pursuing her goals.
When they arrived at the laboratory, the helmet containing the elixirs was still floating in mid-air, surrounded by a series of tiny runes that flickered like stars in the night sky.
Upon entering the helmet, they saw that the liquid inside was still slowly swirling, just as it had been when they left. However, unlike the previous day, the liquid now emitted a shimmering silver glow, resembling crystal mud.
"This is the final step", Liam said, taking out a small glass vial from his pocket. The vial contained a small amount of black liquid, just enough to cover the bottom.
This liquid was Voldemort's blood, which Liam had collected from his sword after their battle. It was the most crucial ingredient for this potion.
When Voldemort's blood was added to the cauldron, the liquid began to boil again. However, it quickly settled after a few seconds. The appearance of the elixirs had changed completely, now resembling a pot of black asphalt, but with a smoother texture.
After making a few gestures, all the runes disappeared, and the helmet slowly descended to the ground. Liam then took out a green jade rod and inserted it into the liquid. Instantly, the black liquid began to spread up the jade rod, turning it into a piece of jet.
"Ah, it worked", Liam smiled, then reached into his spatial bag and took out forty-nine small, brown, grooved seeds, each about the size of a grain of rice, and dropped them into the elixirs in the helmet.
Instead of being dissolved by the black liquid, the seeds underwent a series of magical transformations. To Hermione's disbelief, a cluster of plants that looked like they were carved from black jade quickly sprouted from the helmet.
The plants had a unique appearance, somewhat resembling mugwort with serrated leaves that looked like a bird's feathers or the legs of a multi-legged insect.
"What is this?" Hermione asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You should tell me what you've been doing these past two days. I only sensed that you were brewing a very important elixir, one that held the power of life and death. But now it seems this elixir has a different purpose and isn't meant to be consumed."
"You guessed right." Liam said, summoning the Rose Madonna and pointing it at the cluster of Plants on the helmet. The Rose Madonna immediately released a beam of pink light that enveloped the Plants. In the pink glow, the Plants, which had consumed all the Elixirs inside the helmet, floated out and began to slowly weave themselves into something.
"This is the Diviner's Grassseed I brought back from the rear of the Fuxi Tomb in China." As a grass man gradually took shape, Liam turned to Hermione and explained, "After obtaining the Dark Lord's Blood, I finally had all the necessary elements for the spell. This method is a Maoshan Secret I learned from my master, Uncle Kiu. It ensures that we can remove the Dark Lord's soul fragment from Harry without harming him."
"Really? That's fantastic." Hermione clasped her hands to her chest and pumped them excitedly. She knew that Voldemort's final trump card was his Horcruxes. As long as they existed, he would continue to be reborn. Harry, an accidental Horcrux created by Voldemort, was the most difficult one to deal with among all his Horcruxes. So this news was definitely a good sign.
"Of course it's real." The Diviner's Grass, floating in the air, was woven into a black grass man the size of a human. As the grass man took shape, Liam made a gesture to put away the Rose Madonna. "Let's go see Headmaster Dumbledore now."
With a few more gestures, the grass man quickly shrank to the size of a palm and fell to the ground. Liam stepped forward and picked it up.
"There's something I've been wondering about." On their way to the Headmaster's Office, Hermione asked, "You've felt different since the end of last term. How should I put it? You seem a lot more outgoing."
"Do you think that's a bad thing?" Liam asked, walking ahead.
"No, not at all. I don't think it's bad. Actually, I prefer this new version of you. Your previous way of hiding yourself felt a bit too restrained." Hermione replied quickly. "I just find the change in your personality a bit too drastic, almost unnatural."
"As long as you don't dislike it." Liam shrugged. "As for why I've changed, it's because I finally have the power to stand on our own in the Wizarding World."
"Right, you made the Rose Madonna back then." Hermione immediately understood what Liam meant. "But was it really worth all the effort? Being vigilant and hiding yourself for years must have been very difficult!"
"It was very difficult, but it was necessary, Hermione." Liam stopped and turned to look at her. "Our background means we have no clan to back us up in the Wizarding World, and we're not the favored students of any powerful Wizard. We don't have a strong bloodline to boost our power. So we have to rely on ourselves. Fortunately, we found a way to become stronger, and now we finally have the strength to make our voices heard."
"That means we can truly put our second-year plans into action, right?" Hermione said. "Even though we've waited for years, we now have more to do. But I'm glad we can finally pursue our initial dream."
"Indeed! Achieving a childhood dream is always something worth celebrating." Liam began to recall the time he and Hermione spent as exchange students in Brazil at Castrobrusso, and the goals they set in their temporary dorm on the Hogwarts Express. "It's truly our good fortune to have reached this point."
(End of Chapter)
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