Broken Legs and Brewed Potions

The memory of the nightmare all too recent scurries under my skin at the bitter walls of the dungeon; bearing an unwelcome resemblance. The liveliness of a spring sunset was alien to the dimly lit potions' room.

Hunched over "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection", my attempts at distracting myself from the pains by studying, already memorized material, are in vain. A scared six-year-old me screams out from the back of my mind at every minute sound. I say that as if the restless cauldron wasn't the only sound around.

Pushing the book away, I curse my right side for not allowing me to pace. My eyes wander to the cauldron. Centered on a circular table, the cauldron is placed just so as to bathe in the moonlight needed for the potion inside. Or at least, it would if it wasn't twilight. Patience straightened from being in a hospital bed less than five weeks ago, I resist the urge to test it without him.

Footsteps echo the halls as my heart beats out of my chest. Half of me mentally jumps for joy while the other wants to crawl into a ball as the door swings open. Opening the door, Snape's resting bitch face barely registers surprise as he notices my presence.

"I thought we agreed to meet after your flying exam?" Snape's snide voice asks, moving towards both me and the cauldron.

'I couldn't wait, is it ready?' I pass the note up to him. Taking it, his pale face grows more ghastly from the white glow of the potion,

"Just needs its final ingredient," Steering the potion, Snape reaches a hand out to me. Taking it, I push myself up and let Snape help me the rest of the way onto the table. I hate my height. My right leg hits the chair as I squirm my way into a sitting position. I couldn't help but wince as it whined, "still sore?"

Nodding, I extend my finger over the cauldron as it bubbles.

"Well it was very intelligent of you to take on the Whomping Willow alone," Snape's sarcasm could be detected by even Anne as he picks up a needle.

"I hope it was worth it," Snape's comment attempts to distract me as he punctures the tip of my finger. I do too. The prick from the needle can barely be heard over my leg as a few drops of blood fall into the milky white liquid.

As red meets white, the drops are enveloped within and the bubbling settles. For a moment, both Snape and I wait in silence; keeping hope that this isn't a dud. And we keep waiting as the milky white grows dim. Sigh, of course, it didn't w-

My thought is cut off as the potion begins to move again. A searing red dot bleeds back onto the surface, then another, and another, until three dots raise to the surface. Centering the pool, these drops of blood form a triangle. Stationary only momentarily, the dots begin to circle. Around and around they go, steering the rest of the potion with it.

As the circling speeds up, the otherworldly red dots begin to separate. Farther and farther they split as their speed ever increases. The center begins to fold into each other as the force of the spin begins to cause the cauldron to wobble.

As the blood drops distance themselves from each other, the whirlpool grows. Deeper and deeper the whirlpool reaches as the individual dots are no longer distinguishable; merging into one spinning ring. Drops of the potion begin to slash out as the centripetal force worsens the wobble.

The walls of the cauldron are no longer enough to hold the violent concoction as Snape takes action. Drawing his wand from the sleeve of his robe, he points it at the potion. A tendril of green ethereal energy swims out of the tip of his wand. Enveloping the cauldron, it seems to force the cauldron still.

Now at the height of its speed, the ring of blood reaches the boundaries of the cauldron's walls. At that moment, the drops dive into the whirlpool. As if the potion was in some state between solid and liquid, the drops draw the rest of the liquid.

Both falling into the whirlpool and forming the whirlpool itself, the potion begins to fold in on itself; collapsing like a star going supernova or a failing black hole. Draining itself into the center of the vortex, the milky liquid regains its glow as it congregates into a sphere. As the sphere slowly floats into the air, Snape casts a cylindrical shield from the walls of the cauldron to the skylight. Rising higher, the now bright ball stops in the middle of the air.

Snape and I can only sit there in awe as the drops of blood bleed an ancient pattern similar to runes. Before I'm able to make out this pattern, the sphere drops. The once perfect sphere plops back into the cauldron; as if turning back into a normal liquid. Peering into the cauldron, the once vibrant white liquid now dyed a pale purple; sitting at half its old volume.

Dispelling the shield charm, visible sweat beaded on his forehead as he collected some in a vile. Having done this many times before, Snape doesn't even have to ask for me to feel its Mana.

The potion remains the same. Its color keeps the purple of natural Mana but the white of mine and the moons fades it. Only the lack of that slight hint of red, you'd say it was the same color as its physical one. Well, that and its overflowing Mana.

Nodding, I accept the vial from Snape. Cold hits the tips of my fingers and slides down my throat. A slight metallic tang joins the tangy flavor. Similar to the feeling of syphoning, the Mana separates from the liquid. Unlike with syphoning, the Mana doesn't fight my will. It doesn't use everything in its power to get out or fight my will to enter my soul, it willingly fills it and makes it it's home.

'Does everything look good on your end? On mine it's working fine,' my hand scribbles hesitantly as Snape examines a vial of his own.

"We fixed the Mana issue and Mana's nature of not wanting to go into a soul, but it seems new issues have arisen," Snape's flat tone causes my pulse to quicken at the unexpected news.

Popping down off the table, my right lashes out at me as I limp over to him, 'what are they?'

"I'd speculate that once the potion is brewed it becomes an artificial soul of sorts, not generating the Mana but storing it."

'Like a battery rather than a generator,' My analogy only brings a snear to Snape's face. 'It's a muggle thing.'

My explanation only elicits a scoff and an eye roll, "As I was saying. Due to it forming an artificial semi-soul, the potion needs to use some of that Mana to sustain itself. This creates a nonpermanent battery storing the very thing it needs to keep itself made."

'If that's the case then why don't we just use Mana beads? They seemed to do a good job in not losing Mana.'

"That could work to extend the shelf life of it but we still have the other issue," Snape grumbles at the fact that he didn't think of it first, "but that doesn't fix the other issue.

'What's the other issue?' I gulp at the idea of finding another ingredient.

"Although the study of Mana is a relatively new field, there are a few undisputed facts. Mana doesn't want to be contained. Its nature is to be free and unchained. Well, I say undisputed but your existence refutes the idea that Mana cannot be put back into a soul," Snape's explanation turns into a lecture as he continues to grab the vial of the potion.

'What does that have to do with a flaw in the Mana Potion?' I ask, getting impatient with his ramblings as I slide a few of the vails into my sack.

"Although your blood stabilized the Mana and allowed it to target your soul, probably due to your vampiric heritage, it didn't completely. As time goes on, the Mana within the potion leaks."

'That's great!'

Snape's eyebrows narrow at my exclamation, "And how exactly is it?"

'Oh, I mean that it isn't that bad of an issue. I can use this… Unstabilized Mana Potion in small batches and refill every month or so until we find a fix,' As Snape reads my note I check the time on my pocket watch; finally deciding to hook it through the loops of my pants, ' Oh, it's about time for Cimsy to give me my blood pack and if I don't go to her she'll wander the school looking for me.'

Not wanting that past incident to repeat itself, I scramble quickly to pack my bag. Sectumsempra continues to revive my old broken bone as I limp away while Snape watches.