Potions

A groan escaped Harry's lips as he awoke on the hard stone floor of the prison cell. It had not done very much at all for his joints. Bellatrix had explained before he fell asleep the previous night that sleeping mats were rare and she preferred the hard floor to the fleas and other creatures that inhabited the mats.

He opened his eyes and found Bellatrix watching him from her standing position above him. Apparently she wanted to get started on his training as soon as possible. Harry was hungry however. "Any breakfast in this joint?" he asked as he sat up and propped himself against the wall.

"In a few hours." she answered. "Meanwhile, there are a few mental exercises that we should get you started on. They are absolutely necessary if you wish to perform some of the special tasks I'll be teaching you. Until you can perform these new talents at a moment's notice, you'll have to do these mental exercises every morning and every night."

Memories of Snape's Occulmency lessons were suddenly prominent in Harry's mind. He shoved them aside owing to the fact that Bellatrix seemed to be much more pleasantly disposed than Snape was. Harry wanted to clear a few things up first though. "Before we began, could you tell me what I'll be learning?"

"Of course." she readily consented. "I have composed a list of certain things that you will find useful when escaping from this island and then after that, for the rest of your life. You'll be learning some wandless flying and hovering charms. These don't last very long, but can save a life. Occulmency and Legillimency naturally. Have you met my niece? I think her name is Nymphadora."

Harry answered affirmatively.

"Good. You'll be learning a simple equivalent to the talent that she possesses. This will help in disguising your appearance for short periods of time. We'll practice Scrying, a handy technique for spying. Shield charms are a must. A few simple wandless charms and spells and then some extremely valuable invisibility charms and last, but not least, I'll teach you the rare art of 'turning.'"

"Turning?"

"It's a similar spell to that of Apparition. You can only travel up to one hundred feet or so, but it can give you an instant advantage over an enemy in a fight."

"That all sounds useful." Harry said, now catching her excitement as well. "Let's get started then."

She knelt next to him and took the arm with the Warlock rune on it. Before he knew it, her finger was on it and the strange feeling he had experienced the night before returned. "I want you to clear your mind. Don't necessarily ignore your concerns, simply set them aside for now. Focus on the rune and the sensations it is causing. Try to concentrate your power."

Harry closed his eyes and began meditating. Eventually, Harry was able to cast his worry, anger, and fear out of his conscious mind and concentrate on the rune as Bellatrix had instructed him to. He could feel power seeping into his body at an appallingly slow rate. That was probably normal though.

This continued for what seemed to be both an eternity and a only a moment until a stray thought interrupted Harry. "Would he be able to perform this exercise if no one was touching his rune?" This caused him to worry and his concentration slipped. The power he had felt fled.

He opened his eyes and found his cell mate on the other side of the cell wolfing down what appeared to be breakfast. Apparently she had not been touching his rune for some time. Bellatrix looked up when he moved. "Two hours is amazing for a novice." she commented.

.....

Several weeks later, Snape sneered at the backs of a first-year Potions class as they all hurriedly exited his classroom to escape him and to enjoy their weekend. Not a single one of them had any aptitude for his subject.

The professor was pulled away from his thoughts when Remus Lupin entered the classroom. Apparently his scheduled meeting with the Headmaster was complete. "Why do you want to see me?" the werewolf asked.

"In my office." Snape said as civilly as he could manage.

The two men mad their way towards Snape's office and entered. Before closing the door, Snape made sure that no one was in the general vicinity and then placed several anti-eavesdropping spells around the office.

They both sat down and Snape began. "Albus asked me to brew some extremely large amounts of the Progenic Potion. He intends to administer it to as many prominent family representatives as he can."

Remus winced. "I know, he gave it to several Order members as well. It tastes horrible."

Snape smirked. "Of course it does."

"You were saying."

"I decided to secretly keep a rather large amount of that potion and modified it somewhat. The modified brew specifically searches for the House of Polairix rather than naming any and all houses the drinker is descended from. If anyone of the right descent is found, their hair is supposed to turn silver. They don't even have to be the heir to the House like the original potion requires. They just need to be related." Snape said.

"Are you suggesting that we administer that to Harry or other people Dumbledore hasn't?" Lupin asked carefully.

Snape rolled his eyes. "No. With the help of a house-elf named Dobby, I spiked the drinks and several dishes for multiple meals. Every student in this school has had multiple doses of that potion and none of their heads have silver hair."

Lupin was confused as to what Snape's intentions were. "Why did you do that?"

"Because it's the easy way to test candidates quickly." Snape said impatiently. "All the prominent families of the wizarding world have multiple children that are related to them in Hogwarts. Not one of them reacted to the potion. So I did more research on the House of Polairix and the Earl of the North. The Dark Lord had some interesting tomes in his collection and I believe that I've found the answer."

"What is it?" Lupin asked eagerly.

He watched as Snape stood up and retrieved a large tome from his bookshelf. Snape opened the book to a certain page and set it down in front of Remus. "That is a portrait of the last man to hold the earldom of the North."

A tall man clothed in silver robes stood proudly in the picture. The charms that had made the drawing mobile had worn off, but he still looked as imposing as he must have been when the picture had been made. When Remus noticed the man's eyes, he gasped. "Those are Lily's eyes!"

"Yes, that's what I surmised as well." Snape said. "She must have been a descendent of a squib somewhere along the road."

"We can prove that Harry is the Earl and that all the prophecies are still valid!"

"We can't." Snape said shortly.

"Why not?"

"The potion I used isn't recognized as a valid means by which one's ancestors can be traced. The eyes are just eyes. Anybody can have green eyes." Snape retorted.