Part 5

Well, readers, I know my content was too short and it was kind of frustrating. So I have decided to increase the content of per chapter and also change my writing style. Hope you enjoy it.....

" Severus please bring me the snake fangs. Will you? " Eileen asked Severus while she was stirring the cauldron. Thick pink smoke came out of the mixture inside. The smoke filled the whole room and they were having trouble breathing but they did not complain as they were excited. It was Severus's first day of potion-making and she did not want to overburden him. So she decided to start with the easiest and basic potion she knew i.e the cure for boils.

"Mom, what are we making. " Severus asked eagerly. He was kind of enjoying doing all this. He even forgot about the Dark Arts. He felt close to his mother and closer to magic, the two things that he loved the most.

"Just the cure for a boil, dear. The most basic and simple potion." She said to him lovingly.

" Can't we make anything more...well, anything more magical, you know. The Muggles already have a cure for that."

" Just because something seems ordinary it does not mean it's not magical. Even the sun is magical. It was created by the greatest magician of all time."

"Who is it, Mom?" He asked her eagerly. His eyes twinkled with the excitement and the joy he felt."

"God. " Eileen said with emphasis.

"God. " Severus said thoughtfully. It was a new word for him for he never went to church as his mother did not like the priest's and his father did not have time to go. His mother hated the muggles who pretended to be wizards/witches and so did Severus. So he missed out on most of the things that the other normal kids did.

No one even played with him because everyone thought he was strange and awkward. He always wore clothes twice the size that made him look awkward. His only friend in the whole Spinner's End was Lily Evans who lived near his home. She was the only person who truly understood him and wanted to associate with him. He liked her a lot but still, he did not want his parents to know this, not even his mother though he could not explain the reason. He was just not comfortable around them.

"Okay, now Severus. Let me teach you how to make it. " His mother declared.

"What.....Oh." He snapped back to reality.

His mother paid no notice and carried on.

" Add crushed snake fangs to your cauldron and stir.Slice your Pongous Onions finely and place in the cauldron, then heat the mixture.Add dried nettles.Add a dash of Flobberworm Mucus and stir vigorously.Add a sprinkle of powdered Ginger root and stir vigorously again.Add pickled Shrake's spinesStir gently, so as not to overexcite the Shrake's spines.Add a glug of stewed horned slugs.Add porcupine quills.Finally, wave your wand over the cauldron to finish the potion."

She told all this from a notebook which she held in her hand. She brought this notebook from Hogwart's and had carried it since her first year.

"Now, Severus give attention to this. Never add the porcupine quills without removing the cauldron from the fire. It will melt the cauldron and make the mixture fall on you which will only worsen the boils."

Severus nodded his head and asked " Now, how to test it. "

"Well, excellent question Severus" Eileen applauded.

Eileen took out her wand and pointed it at Severus. "Furnunculus" She chanted.

"What... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh....." He screamed with fear as boils came out in his whole body. His whole body burned with pain and puffed up. He looked at her mother with nervous eyes.

"No need to be afraid, Severus. Everything's under control" Eileen assured her and offered him a cup of the potion.

The potion looked unappetizing. Severus turned his face in disgust.

"Well, no need to be fussy. Just drink it up." Eileen said in an irritated voice.

Severus held the cup in both hands and carried it to his lips. The smell was revolting. He looked at the blue liquid and closed his eyes. He held his nose and gulped down the potion.

The effect was instantaneous. He was shocked by its effect. He had never seen anything work so fast. He was amazed by the potion and decided to try making it.

"Mom can I also make it? " He enquired.

"No, I said you earlier also, you cannot practice magic outside Hogwarts."

"But you just did it, mom. " Severus asked her confused by this no magic allowed thing. She just did what was prohibited by her.

She gave a loud laugh hearing him talk this way. "I said it is prohibited for you i.e. an underage wizard. You don't even go to Hogwarts."

"When can I go to Hogwarts, mom." He asked her expectedly.

"Well, to be true, I don't know. You are already of age. Soon, I guess."

Just at that moment, a white owl crashed into the window.

Severus was really excited. "Mom is it from Hogwarts."

"No. It is from the Ministry. They are demanding my presence in the Ministry after two days."

"Why Mom? " He asked though he already knew the answer. He knew he had to face the consequences of his actions. He was more mature than the other kids of his age. Well, hardship teaches you a lot.

"It says, For the purpose of welfare of the laws of the Ministry. You are summoned to appear in front of the judges of the Wizenmagot at sharp 12 p.m on 16 May." She reads out from the roll of paper. The paper was yellowish in color and had an old parchment type feeling. It had a symbol in the bottom which was like an "M" with a wand passing through the center and its tip glowing. The owl that carried the message was completely white in color and had an arrogant look about it. It was sitting in the corner of the table and eyeing a mouse that quickly scurried under the table. The owl kept looking at that place hoping for it to come out.

"Well, Severus now to tell your father." She said with her voice a little nervous. Severus hoped that everything would go as he envisioned i.e. his father would let them go without any trouble but Eileen knew it was too much to hope for. Magic was prohibited by her husband and she knew he would not take this lightly.

"Mom, do I need to go with you. " Severus asked her confused as he was the one who caused all this trouble but she was the one who needed to go to the Wizenmagot. He knew that it was the court for wizards and witches as his mother often used to describe it to him or the criminals who got caught there.

"Well, I don't know Severus. They mentioned nothing about you. I guess not." She said to him absentmindedly. Even she was confused by the summonings of the Ministry. It was the Ministry that they were talking about not the Muggle law-keepers. The Ministry doesn't make mistakes. It was quite uncommon.

"Mom. What will happen to me." Severus was a bit nervous. He knew he did wrong by using the spells in the Muggle world though it was for self-protection still, it was wrong and he knew that.

"Nothing Severus. They called me and not you. You don't need to be afraid." She reassured him. She did not want him to do anything stupid. Also, she was less afraid of the Ministry than of his husband. She was nervous about the issues that would come out tonight and she was correct in believing that.