146 Let's change that arm

Once the funeral was over, most people left amidst weeping and sad looks, while others stayed behind staring at the tombstone, lost in their own thoughts.

-Should I loot the grave, take the Elderberry Wand and throw it deep into the Mariana Trench? -He considered for a moment Soisen before dismissing the idea as ridiculous, "The wand is made of wood and would end up floating in the water instead of sinking," he chided himself as he slapped his forehead for not seeing something so obvious.

He'd have to tie it to a rock or encase it in concrete before throwing it!

But sensing powerful protections interlocking in place, they made him give up on the idea. Without that legendary wand, Voldemort would not muster enough courage and confidence to face Potter in a singular duel.

And speaking of the protagonist of his own story, he also stared at the tomb in the company of Ron several feet away from him. After a while, he declared without seeming to be aware of his surroundings his intention to leave Hogwarts and set off in search of the rest of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

Yes, go ahead, talk about the dark lord's greatest secret out in the open, what does it matter.

Fortunately, he watched as Potter determinedly waved a letter in front of Ron and recognizing it as the one he sent to the Headmaster with the location of all the remaining Horcruxes, it seems that Hermione's absence did not affect the performance of the suicidal wizard duo from Gryffindor.

Fun fact, due to her interference, it turns out that Hermione was not included in Dumbledore's will, as no one came looking for her to give her the book containing the tales of Beedle the Bard.

It seems that with the letter in her hands and clear objectives, there was no need to include an intelligent person.

It is true that the Ministry thoroughly examined everything and delayed the delivery, but when Ginny later wrote explaining how surprised she was that someone like her older brother would receive something from Dumbledore, it was confirmed.

Now, what little was left of the school year was pretty grim not to say it ended a month ahead of schedule due to the unfolding events.

It was shocking that Hagrid came looking for him a few days before he left to pull him aside and ask him privately if he could still keep his job in a bundle. Of course, he let him stay if he so wished and to put his mind at ease, he assured him that from now on he would pay him his salary as the owner of the place, which after learning how much it was, he could only curse Dumbledore in his inner thoughts, knowing how much he was taking advantage of the half-giant with such a tight salary despite the strenuous work he was doing and how much he had to eat.

Without even hesitating, he raised his monthly salary an additional one hundred galleons.

Although Hagrid was actually secretly rich with all the unicorn hair he collected in the forest and other materials, he did not usually realize the true value of these things. The fact that he wove and used a unicorn hair cloth to clean the oil lamp he used to use proved it perfectly.

For him, coins were much more useful to spend.

Mind you, Soisen was very clear that he would not allow any more acromantulas, explaining the risk they pose to students. Instead, he asked him to properly teach Fluffy to patrol the outer grounds of the school and keep an eye out for potential intruders.

He never understood why the fawn was never seen again after the first year.It was huge!

Hagrid was very moved with care and began to shed a few tears. If Soisen hadn't found an excuse to run off, he might have tried to hug him driven by emotions.

I don't want to break some ribs, thank you!

Although with the potion he took there shouldn't be any danger, it was better to be cautious....

And speaking of potions, he was able to successfully finish the potion promised to Snape, which looked pretty bad if he had to be honest despite being its creator. The liquid was a cloudy amber color like whiskey and had a concentrated tangerine scent, but it writhed and shook as if the bottle was full of centipedes.

However, between this version and the one that looked like blood tar with the smell of rancid blue cheese, I was sure Snape preferred the tangerine.

The expected moon phase arrived and Soisen stood as a witness to the ritual they performed in a secluded and discreet location, in case any mishaps occurred and he needed to take him to St. Mungo's.

Snape placed parts of some creatures in a magical formation that looked slightly familiar with his Transformations studies and drew lines on his marked arm with a strange plant paste that left behind a dark yellow color. The lines seemed to follow some sort of mysterious pattern, as it seemed to need to be very exact and Snape had to stop and redo some parts to get them drawn correctly.

Making sure everything was in place, he began the ritual as he muttered what he understood must be the necessary chant and the parts of the creatures around him caught fire out of nowhere, reducing themselves to ashes that flew under the influence of magic to the yellowish lines to be absorbed. The Dark Mark seemed to have become inebriated and was unable to react to whatever was going on, at which point Snape waved his wand and amputated his own arm in one decisive motion.

Did I say that Snape is doing the ritual with a bare torso? It wasn't even necessary for the ritual, but he made it clear that he doesn't want to stain his robes with blood nor does he want it to become an obstacle to the growth of the new arm.

Soisen grimaced unpleasantly, no matter how trained he is, losing an arm will always bring significant pain as demonstrated by the grunt the potions master let out as his brow sweated and the veins in his neck visibly tightened.

Once the severed arm touched the ground, the yellow lines came to life and turned all the flesh and blood into a tiny tree with withered leaves and a Dark Mark that seemed to have formed naturally on the surface of the trunk. Only if one paid close attention would one notice the vague similarity the trunk bore to an arm.

-The potion..." Snape said no nonsense and reached out with his now single arm to take the vial that Soisen held out to him without delay.

He ripped the cork from the bottle with his teeth and drank it all without leaving a drop behind. Not intending to be delicate, he threw the empty bottle away where it cracked loudly against the cold stone and bit into a cloth-wrapped stick that Soisen had prepared beforehand.

A pool of blood had already formed on the ground and Soisen had in hand another potion to restore the lost blood and another herbovitalizing potion.

Snape soon gritted his teeth as the potion took effect, unable to contain his voice from the pain.

Just like in a horror movie, the severed bone was the first thing to be rebuilt as various nerves and blood vessels sprouted like roots and held them firmly in place. Muscles twisted a couple of times before they were properly organized and skin very slowly covered the entire arm. Later, nails grew on the fingers and for that they had to break the delicate, newly formed and quite sensitive skin.

Compared to the rest of the body, the new arm was too pale skinned and looked like the arm of a delicate young girl. It would be a while before the features evened out, it would gain strength and he would get used to using it with dexterity.

Snape spat out the biting stick and carefully checked his new arm. Opening and closing his palm, twisting his wrist, flexing his arm....

-Good potion.