Wolfsbane

"Gaunt. Come with me."

Edmund had barely started eating in the Great Hall before Professor McGonagall took him away to her office.

Snape and Harry were already there. Snape stood over the hamster, trying again and again to undo the transfiguration.

"Mr. Gaunt," McGonagall said sternly, "please explain why Marcus Flint has five broken ribs and why Draco Malfoy has been subjected to such an unpleasant piece of transfiguration."

She sat behind her desk with a severe expression. In truth, she was furious. A Quidditch pitch brawl was bad enough, but Flint was unconscious in the hospital wing, and Malfoy was shaking on her desk as a hamster. When the hamster saw Edmund enter, tears actually gathered in his tiny eyes.

Still, McGonagall knew Edmund well enough by now to believe he was not the type to bully others simply because he was gifted. She forced down her temper and waited for an explanation.

Harry, meanwhile, kept staring at Malfoy. His mood was excellent.

Snape noticed and swept a cold look over him. Harry immediately arranged his face into something blank.

Snape had no patience for a foolish Potter right now. His attention returned to Edmund.

"Gaunt," he said, voice dangerous, "do you believe defeating Slytherin students is the proper way to display your talent?"

Edmund glanced at Harry in surprise.

"You did not tell them?"

"Tell them what?" Harry asked, baffled.

"What happened on the pitch."

"I did."

"And the word Mudblood?"

"Er... I did not mention that."

McGonagall and Snape both went still. Snape most of all. The moment that word was spoken, his face became almost animal in its fury.

"What do you mean, Gaunt?" he asked softly. "What about Mudblood?"

Edmund's expression did not change. He repeated what Malfoy and Flint had said on the pitch. Even McGonagall could not endure it.

"Good heavens! How could they say that to Miss Granger? Fifty points from Slytherin. No, one hundred."

To Harry's astonishment, Snape offered no objection. He only stared coldly at the hamster on the desk.

Edmund had expected this result. He rose.

"Now that both professors understand what happened, I will leave if there is nothing else."

He looked ready to walk out. McGonagall stopped him.

"Gaunt, this transfiguration is extremely advanced. I cannot undo it immediately. Would you restore Mr. Malfoy first?"

"Undo it? There is no need."

Snape's cold voice cut in.

"In my judgment, Malfoy will recover tomorrow. Let him remain as he is. He should pay for the word he used."

Since Slytherin's own Head of House had said that, McGonagall did not object. She found Malfoy's behavior thoroughly disgusting as well.

With nothing left for him to do, Edmund pulled Harry out with him. Even after they left the office, Harry still looked stunned.

"That's it?"

Had Snape punished him so often that he was disappointed not to be punished?

Edmund returned to his dormitory, lay on his bed, and thought through tomorrow's private lesson.

Cho and Hermione knew several spells, but they used them too rigidly. Their timing and precision were poor. Edmund planned to create moving targets for them.

Harry was different. He was not as studious as Hermione. After a summer away from school, he had probably forgotten a good portion of last term's spells. His combat instincts were not bad, but his foundation was weak.

After setting the next day's plan, Edmund checked his daily sign-in reward.

[System]

Daily sign-in reward acquired: Wolfsbane Potion.

Wolfsbane Potion (Purple).

He thought for a moment. As far as he knew in this timeline, the potion had not yet been properly introduced to the wizarding world.

He could publish it.

If handled well, it might even earn him an Order of Merlin and raise his standing in the wizarding world.

A house-elf appeared in front of him with a soft crack.

"Mr. Gaunt, Barr is happy to serve you."

The elf bowed deeply. This was the house-elf from the London manor Nicolas Flamel had given him. Edmund rarely visited the manor and usually stayed with Aelia, so he had not used Barr often.

"Prepare the ingredients on this list for me."

Edmund handed him a sheet of parchment. Barr accepted it with visible excitement. Ever since Edmund inherited his contract, the elf had not been given much to do, and that had left him miserable. Now his new master finally had a task for him.

Barr bowed respectfully and vanished.

Watching the elf come and go so freely, Edmund felt a little emotional. Hogwarts had powerful wards that prevented wizards from Apparating into or out of the grounds, but house-elf magic was not bound by those restrictions.

Every magical creature had its own special qualities. Used well, they could produce unexpected results.

Before long, Barr returned with the materials Edmund needed. Edmund opened his trunk and entered the small villa's laboratory inside.

Wolfsbane Potion did not require expensive ingredients, but its heat control was extremely demanding: calming flower, fig skin, withered moonwort touched by wolf blood, rat tail, and several stabilizing agents.

Following the recipe, Edmund began brewing step by step. After several attempts, he mastered the process.

He looked at the finished potion in his hand and rubbed his chin, considering how to extract the greatest value from it.

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