Chapter 64. A Month and a Half Later
A month had passed since that day. It had been a rather difficult month. Except for weekends, Severus had no time to rest at all. In addition to sorting through the junk in the Room of Requirement — as it turned out, that was the name of the room he had found on the eighth floor near the Headmaster's office — he was also transferring knowledge from the library into his Grimoire. That required touching a book and waiting three seconds, but there were an enormous number of books, so he had to spend almost two weeks in the school library alone. He also had to remain as inconspicuous as possible. There were still books left in that room, and he hadn't finished sorting through the junk yet, even though he had sorted through more than half of it. In short, there was far too much work, and he had no choice but to push himself to his limit to finish as quickly as possible.
In addition, he spent his Saturdays with Bella. By their fourth date she had become a little more open, and even though she behaved as usual, his sharp eye did not miss the changes in her behavior and character. For example, when he casually mentioned Voldemort in a bad light, testing the waters, she did not react as strongly as she used to, and was more reserved. Still, Bella would not let him get too close, even though she did not mind holding hands, which meant they were drawing closer with each passing day. He did not want to rush things and scare her off, so he tried to be just as restrained, even if he occasionally slipped in slightly lewd remarks and jokes to loosen her up.
But things weren't all good. Three of them had returned to school, and at dinner they were already glaring at him with undisguised dislike. When James noticed the looks Lily kept directing at his sworn enemy, jealousy flared up in him again.
And starting this week, they gave him no peace at all: constant letters challenging him, open attempts at provocation, and Pettigrew trailing after them like a rat. It all stoked his irritation, and he had even considered killing them and burying them beneath the willow, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts. Annoying as they were, they were still only children, and until they crossed the line, as they had with the werewolf that time, he wasn't going to touch them. A few half-bloods who had recently shown up and suddenly decided to become his lackeys also helped drive the irritating Marauders away, at least during lessons and breaks.
Still, he felt that even his patience would soon run out. Then he would truly turn that nightmare into reality. The full moon was coming soon, and everything was falling into place too perfectly. One could say fate itself was giving him a chance to fulfill his dream.
But what happened yesterday had completely erased his irritation, because he had finally received almost three hundred thousand Galleons from the Ministry of Magic for the potions he had sold. It was an astronomical sum for a single month, even for an aristocratic family, and it was only the beginning. The next month promised many times more profit.
Of course, he was sure the recipes would surface soon, but he doubted Magical Britain would calmly allow someone else to sell them and steal their business. He was almost ready for that. He was already working on an advanced potion that quadrupled magical abilities, even if it came with a side effect: one minute of weakness. He was also working on a potion that doubled physical capabilities, and with the second one, he could negate the side effects of the first, at least physically. Even that would be enough for a quick retreat.
On top of that, he had started a small project: magical glasses, a fairly common item in his own world. The idea had first come to him when he saw the magical eye of that captain from the Ministry of Magic. At the time, he had decided to put it off, but a month ago, after seeing the Black House, he remembered it again and decided to try making his own using runes from this world. It would be good practice, and he could also repay the McMillans for helping him at the very beginning. If he had not received that necklace, perhaps he would never have gotten close to Nagini, and that day she would simply have crawled away and eventually become just an ordinary snake.
The glasses would not differ much from that eye. With them, he could see through walls, illusions, barriers, invisibility spells, and even artifacts. They would provide a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view and, on top of that, protection from Legilimency. At the same time, they would not transmit images through the eyes, but directly to the brain, which would allow even the blind to see.
But those were merely his grandiose plans. Whether it could actually be accomplished with the runes and materials available in this world remained to be seen. He intended to implement at least half of what might prove immediately useful, then gradually incorporate the rest, much like how brooms got new models every year.
He worked on all of this mostly during his days off and at night, and even Nagini began to worry, because he barely slept. He constantly used invigorating charms on himself to ward off exhaustion. At the end of the month, on a Sunday, he found a massive lock on the training room door and a note that read: "The key is with Nagini."
When he went to Nagini, he found her looking smug, twirling a set of keys on her tail while eating grapes. When he asked why, she launched into a lengthy tirade about how worried she was about him, even shedding a tear. She had used her harshest arguments. He was even slightly amused, but he still had to agree, because he knew perfectly well that constantly using those charms on himself was harmful. So Sunday became a true day off, and he spent it with Nagini, who looked extremely pleased with herself.
Another two quiet weeks flew by at that rate, and Christmas approached, another holiday in this world. It was customary to give gifts to friends and loved ones, to decorate houses and Christmas trees. Essentially, it was just another ordinary holiday like Halloween, one that held little interest for him. He had far more important matters to attend to.
But fate had other plans. One night, the foursome known as the Marauders, using the Invisibility Cloak Severus had confiscated, snuck into the Slytherin Common Room. Of course, the entrance required a password, and the door barred students from other houses, but with Polyjuice Potion, they passed without incident. James had overheard it from a Slytherin entering the Common Room. They had only one goal: to punish the damn 'crybaby' who had supposedly ignored their love letters that proposed a meeting behind the school.
Of course, Severus wouldn't have punished them too harshly for that, even though they'd been harassing him for the past month and a half. He would have gone easy on them. But Sirius's words, "Let's kill his snake so he understands who he's dealing with," along with Potter's agreement, finally pushed him over the edge.
The next day, a deer, a dog, and a rat were found stuck to the ceiling of the Gryffindor Common Room, while Lupin, lying naked on the sofa, recognized his friends.
As it turned out, someone had cursed the so-called innocent children. Now they would have to spend an entire week in their animal forms, and they would also lose all memory of the last seven days.
Of course, Severus had been very magnanimous. He wanted to arrange a week-long tour of the animal world for them: one would go to the zoo to join the other deer, another would go to the dog pound, and the third would go to a pet shop. Lupin was the only voice of reason still trying to talk Potter out of doing something stupid, so Severus decided to spare him, but Lupin still did not escape punishment. Nagini, kind-hearted as she was, talked him out of being so cruel, even though she had no idea he had also wanted to change their gender.
Because of this, Severus decided to prepare gifts for each of them, since he considered the punishment too light. They had encroached upon one of the creatures dearest to him, and after December 25th, all the students would get two full weeks of vacation. How could he allow them to simply rest after all that?
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