Chapter 112: Moste Potente Potions
A few hours later...
Jon finally understood why Snape had been so desperate to “escape” earlier!
Shopping in Diagon Alley with a completely inexperienced girl was nothing short of a nightmare...
Natalie Pavlov knew almost nothing about the wizarding world, yet she was curious about everything.
And the hardest part was that when faced with those innocent, wide-eyed questions, it was nearly impossible to refuse her.
Jon spent the entire afternoon explaining the basics of the wizarding world to Natalie.
He couldn’t help but feel relieved that most of the shops in Diagon Alley were closed that day. Otherwise, just introducing each shop and its wares would have taken them until nightfall.
Still, Jon stayed cautious.
Whether he was helping Natalie buy textbooks, potion bottles, or a brass scale, or when she picked out a dark-brown Eurasian owl as her pet, he chose his words with care, never letting slip that he had met this little girl—or her family—before.
When everything was finally purchased and he escorted Natalie back to Newham, Jon remained just as careful, always letting the girl lead the way.
After all, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Snape might be using her to test his “intentions.” Best to play it safe.
...
That day, for the second time, Jon arrived at the small flat in Newham, East London. As soon as the door opened, Natalie dashed inside with several shopping bags in hand.
“Thank you, Jon!” she called back with a cheerful wave.
“Goodbye,” Jon replied weakly.
It was already late. He quickly used a nearby phone booth to call home, then hailed a taxi to King’s Cross Station.
By the time he returned to 86 Eastleigh Road, it was nearly eleven o’clock—though thankfully, Eric had driven out to Southampton station to pick him up.
“What’s wrong, son?” Eric asked curiously, seeing how exhausted Jon looked.
“Nothing...” Jon said helplessly.
Visiting Sergei Pavlov was no longer an option. He was now the parent of a Hogwarts student, tied to the wizarding world in countless ways. Contacting him again could risk exposing Jon’s secrets.
The identity of Varian Urien would also have to be used less. Snape was probably already suspicious of that mysterious background.
Still, the day hadn’t been a total loss. Jon pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket.
It was the information Sergei had given him—details about some of his old contacts.
Jon carefully tucked the parchment into the innermost compartment of his suitcase
...
For the rest of the summer holidays, Jon stayed obediently at Eastleigh Road in Southampton, no longer running about.
Each day, he shut himself in his rented room and brewed potion after potion.
The most important one was a highly restricted potion under strict Ministry of Magic control, with an extremely complex brewing process...
Back in first year, he had memorized two recipes from Moste Potente Potions: one for Polyjuice Potion, and the other—his current goal—Veritaserum.
Veritaserum was a truth serum. Just three drops would force someone to reveal their innermost secrets. The potion had to mature for half a month, followed by another month of careful adjustment.
In most cases, it was highly effective. But it wasn’t foolproof—some experienced wizards carried antidotes to Veritaserum and even dosed themselves regularly, which made its results unreliable.
The ingredients included Berlockia grass, Half-Knotgrass buds, Icelandic Yuris stalactite fragments, and Newt serum, among others... Most of these materials were very expensive, making the potion costly to produce. But for Jon now, money was hardly an issue.
First, he crushed the Berlockia grass into a green pulp and stored it frozen.
Next, he cut the Half-Knotgrass buds into one-centimeter segments, soaked them in Newt serum, and simmered them over a low flame for 30 minutes every ten hours—repeating this for an entire week.
Finally, he ground the stalactite fragments into powder, placed them together with snow weasel heart tendons in a flat glass dish, and soaked them in clean water for two weeks.
Once these three steps were completed simultaneously, the solutions would be poured into a cauldron, heated, and stirred with glycerin for five minutes. The mixture should have turned a mottled purple-green...
This purple-green liquid was called the initial solution of Veritaserum in Moste Potente Potions, and it was the most critical component.
If powdered Jobberknoll feathers were added as a catalyst and the mixture matured for a month, it became Veritaserum. If sugar was added instead and left for two weeks, it became a potent antidote to Veritaserum.
But something went wrong!
Twice in a row, Jon failed while preparing the three solutions.
For some inexplicable reason, they refused to dissolve in glycerin. Instead, they precipitated out, turning quickly from purple-green to an eerie black.
Which meant the potion was a complete failure!
And each failure wasted half a month of effort—since the solution made from stalactite fragments and snow weasel tendons could only be preserved for ten minutes before losing all potency.
“Could the instructions in Moste Potente Potions be wrong?” Jon wondered, going over every step to find the cause of his failure.
Ever since he first began brewing potions two years ago, he had succeeded every time, thanks to experience and instinct. Veritaserum was the first real obstacle he had faced.
Should he ask Snape for guidance once term started? Snape was certainly an expert on Veritaserum... But that would also expose the fact that Lockhart had once helped cover up his borrowing of Moste Potente Potions in first year.
Jon sighed. For now, he could only wait until school resumed and check the library to find where he had gone wrong.
Even so, he hadn’t been idle. Aside from Veritaserum, he had successfully brewed several other potions—ones that even students with OWLs in Potions found difficult.
For example, the Recovery Potion, which could restore a wizard’s strength in large amounts;
the Rebirth Potion, which could make recently dead plants sprout and grow again;
and the Confusion Potion, which when scattered could temporarily dull and disorient both humans and magical creatures.
He had bottled and carefully organized all these potions, storing them neatly in his backpack for emergencies.
...
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