The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 361: The Light of Inspiration Flashes Again and Again
Anthony repeated carefully, "Your mother's basement."

"Technically, it's mine now, but I'd rather not think about it." Sirius shrugged. "Anyway, this isn't stealing, so don't worry. Not that I'd feel too guilty about stealing from that old witch."

"No, I mean, it sounds like something from ten years ago."

"At least fifty years," Sirius corrected, turning the bottle so that the golden liquid flowed slowly inside. "Maybe hundreds of years. The box it's in is so old that it's about to fall apart."

Anthony became even more worried: "Does the potion have a shelf life?"

"what?"

"Just like... just like milk will go bad if left for a long time, and corpses will rot if left for a long time," Anthony explained, "will there be any changes in the potion if left for a long time?"

Sirius tilted his head and thought for a while: "I guess there won't be any significant changes."

"What's the reason?"

"The longer a love potion is left out, the stronger it becomes," said Sirius. "It's probably the same with Felicis Felix."

Anthony didn't know whether to be amazed at his profound knowledge of love potions, or to point out the logical fallacy of generalizing, or to question the potion education at Hogwarts. He looked at Sirius's fanatical expression and knew that he couldn't persuade him to give up the idea of ​​drinking the expired potion.

"Well," he said at last, "in that case I'll drink first."

Sirius finally turned his gaze from the Felicis Felicis to Anthony's face and asked, "What's your reason?"

Since I wasn't poisoned by the basilisk, I'm probably not too afraid of poison - great, Anthony, another logical fallacy of generalizing from a single example.

"Because I'm curious?" Anthony said. "Besides, if I faint, you can at least swim with me back to Italy."

Sirius smiled and handed the bottle to Anthony, "Okay, deal. One sip should be enough."

Anthony pulled out the cork and smelled it carefully. It was not sour, not smelly, and had no special smell. He put the bottle mouth to his mouth, carefully poured a little into his mouth, and swallowed it.

Sirius stared at him: "How is it?"

Anthony blinked his eyes: "It's not bad to drink." A warm feeling rose from his stomach and slowly flowed to his whole body... He felt that his mind was clearer than ever before. Suddenly, the broken branches, the faint traces of magic, the swollen stream, the nearby unicorn, and all the clues collected on the road seemed to show a vague connection. Although Anthony still didn't know where the hidden hiding place was, he believed - no, knew - he knew that they would definitely gain something today. He handed the Felicity Potion to Sirius and felt great.

Sirius didn't hesitate at all, he raised the bottle and took a sip. After a while, his face lit up and his eyes sparkled with confidence.

"That's wonderful, isn't it?" Anthony asked, smiling.

Sirius replied, "Excellent!" He recorked the bottle and put it back on the cloakroom shelf, then stepped over the motorcycle that was parked across the corridor and picked up his backpack. "Let's go, Henry."

Anthony followed him out of the tent door. It was already dawning, and birds were chirping overhead. Sirius strode off into the woods, not bothering to pack up the tent.

The ginger cat emerged from the bushes, looked at him suspiciously, then turned to look at Anthony. Anthony smiled at it and walked towards the woods, knowing that Sirius must have felt the same way as he did: it would be better to leave the tent here. He didn't know why, but he was quite sure that this must be the best choice for them.

They walked briskly, passing those places where they no longer needed to be suspicious. The Felicia led them back to the stream, which was still flowing fast, but with a few large rocks exposed. Anthony and Sirius jumped on and easily reached the other side. They walked for a while further west into the darker woods.

"We're getting close," Sirius whispered. These were the first words he spoke since they had left the house. His face was in shadow, but Anthony could see his eyes were shining. He didn't seem nervous, just excited.

Anthony walked up to him, looked around, and agreed, "Yes."

"Right?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Of course," Anthony said, following Sirius. For some reason he suddenly felt that now was a good time to use necromancy, so he did so.

He quickly passed by the dead squirrels and birds that responded to him eagerly, concentrating on looking for some sign, some signal... He passed by the vengeful mouse in the backpack... He passed by the vengeful chickens that fell on the branches and the cats that were climbing trees... Suddenly, the undead magic touched something extremely powerful. In Anthony's perception, it was like a burning fireball, so bright that it dimmed the surrounding corpses.

He used his necromancy to caress the corpse, feeling the faint magic in the bones tremble in response. It was smooth, white, hard, and bright, a beautiful skeleton that couldn't be better... Its flesh and blood were something else entirely, burning with surprise, anger, resentment, and unwillingness, having almost exhausted all the parts that could be used for necromancy... Anthony opened his eyes. It was the skeleton of a unicorn. Here was a unicorn that had died a violent death.

The felon urged him to move in that direction, so Anthony adjusted his backpack and walked in the direction he sensed.

Suddenly, Sirius grabbed his arm: "Where are you going?"

Anthony turned back in surprise. The moment their eyes met, they both understood that the Felixir was pointing them to different places.

"How could this happen?" Anthony asked.

"I don't know, but I want to go this way." Sirius pointed to the woods on the right and said with certainty, "I know I can meet something there."

Anthony pointed to the left: "I want to go this way."

"Well, alright. See you at camp later." Sirius let go of him and stepped back slightly.

Anthony hesitated. He didn't want to be separated from Sirius in the forest, especially when there was a good chance that Voldemort was nearby. But at the same time, he had a very strong feeling that the left side was the right path, and if he didn't follow his instinct today, he would never have such a good chance of finding who they were looking for again.

"I'll go with you," said Anthony. "Perhaps the Felix Felicis is really expired."

"Don't," said Sirius, "I know it doesn't."

"Let's go," Anthony said, and he took the lead and walked to the right. The Felicis was still pointing to the forest on the other side, which made him feel uncomfortable with every step he took, as if his stomach was tied in a knot, which became tighter and tighter as the distance got farther.

Sirius pulled him back, his face serious, "No, Henry, this won't work. If the Felicis says you should go that way, then you'd better listen to it."

"Maybe I'm allergic to Felicis," said Anthony. "It doesn't matter, Sirius, let's go, or Voldemort might escape again."

"He won't," Sirius said firmly, then frowned slightly, "Well, seriously, Henry, the Felicis Felix has been telling me to stay away from you. Maybe - maybe if you come with me, you will be seriously injured, or even killed! Maybe that's why our potions point to different places."

Anthony immediately thought of another possibility.

"All right," he said obediently, "I'll go the other way, then. Be careful, Sirius."

Sirius seemed relieved: "Don't worry about me, I'm very lucky now."

"I guess I'm going to be a deserter. It feels bad."

Sirius grinned, "See you later. Tell me what you got over there."

……

Anthony trudged through the woods alone. He let the cat follow Sirius (and promised the cat a lot of high-quality sweet white wine for this), but left the ghost chicken and ghost mouse with him, asking them to explore the surrounding situation for him, and asked them to hide in the gap between death and life as soon as they found someone who might be Voldemort.

There were no birds singing, no insects chirping, and not even a hint of wind. It was not until the evil spirit mouse climbed onto his arm that Anthony realized what the chicken and mouse meant by "there are many living creatures nearby" - snakes. Snakes were living in the grass, hiding in the bushes, and coiled on the branches. These cold living creatures quietly occupied the forest, swimming slowly between the branches.

But Anthony was not worried. On the one hand, the potion suggested that there was no danger here, and on the other hand, he guessed that snakes probably had no appetite for people who had been dead for a long time. He reached into his pocket and rubbed the head of the evil spirit mouse.

Suddenly, the mouse under his finger disappeared, and the warnings of the ghost chicken and the ghost mouse sounded in his mind at the same time. The answer is just ahead. Anthony walked lightly. In the perception of the necromancy, the body of the unicorn was extremely bright. Anthony walked around the rocks and saw a small open space in front of him. The dead unicorn was lying there, its fur was gray and dull, and it had lost its luster. Its horn was broken off and stuck in its own neck. The fur around the wound was tangled and coagulated with silver-white blood. A man wrapped in a black cloak sat on the ground with his back against the body of the unicorn. It was unclear what he was doing.

Anthony held his breath and used necromancy to test the other party. The soul smelled bland. He moved closer and barely associated it with chicken salad (without salad dressing) that had passed its expiration date. Compared to the last time they met, Voldemort was obviously in a much better state, but to be honest, it was still not very appetizing. He remembered the oyster meat that he couldn't pull out last time, and tried to push the soul.

The man shuddered, raised his head, and looked around in panic. He asked in a hoarse voice: "Professor Anthony? Professor Dumbledore?"

"Professor Quirrell?"

(End of this chapter)