Harriet Potter and the Alpha in the Dungeon

Chapter 47 - Of and With

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Severus and Harriet had quickly formulated a defensive plan as soon as they had learned that a rash of curse-containing letters had been delivered to magical Britain's innocent residents.

Healers and aurors urged the minister to allow them to treat the affected, but Severus did not waste his time.

Instead, he confronted Maggie's animal friend with a scowl.

"I will ask you only once and if you lie to me...I will find out....Have you sent the cursed letters?" Severus asked the scarred rabbit while the animal stood across from him in his office as Maggie and Harriet napped in the nearby room.

The rabbit leapt into the air and changed back to Ingrid as she scowled, "What benefit would sending flimsy curses to strangers possibly offer me? I have come to help the child and have been allowed to stay.......I have no other desires."

"The curse these letters contain is anything but flimsy." Severus scowled in disagreement.

".....Then tell me, son of my son, how is it that a simple paste can prevent and cure its effects?" Ingrid asked.

Severus scowled at the witch for a long moment before he commanded, "Show me."

"Show you what?" Ingrid glowered.

"Show me how you healed us." He ordered.

"Very well." Ingrid frowned, "As I mentioned, I used a simple paste. I will teach you if a lesson is what you seek, son of my son, but the paste will be worthless if it is made by your hands."

"My doubts about that are quite high." Severus scowled, "I have few talents in this world....However, a knack for potions happens to be one of them......I'm quite skilled at the art of brewing."

"Brewing and skill have nothing to do with it." Ingrid smirked, "You are of the magic, son of my son, but you are not with the magic. It seems that no one is any more.....I can show you the recipe a hundred times and you can make a thousand jars of paste, but no curses will be broken from your efforts."

Severus frowned.

"I will make the paste alongside you to aid the suffering." Ingrid went on, "If you are intent on wasting your time, you can follow my actions."

After Severus nodded, Ingrid narrowed her black eyes at him before she slowly added, "........Your father was a great king......Perhaps you will be too one day."

"My father was no king." He frowned.

"A man has many fathers, son of my son." Ingrid scowled.

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Ingrid stayed true to her word and tirelessly made vat after vat of the purple paste she had used to treat Mr. and Mrs. Snape.

Beside her, Severus followed her recipe perfectly and painstakingly imitated her every technique.

Under Severus's orders, Ministry employees delivered the mixture to each household in wizarding Britain, along with a warning to carefully screen all received mail.

The afflicted were the first ones to obtain the medicinal compound.

Both Severus and Ingrid's pastes were used, but the results remained the same.

Severus's paste failed.

Ingrid's paste proved to be effective.

It displeased Severus that for the first time in his life, he had encountered a magical mixture which he could not produce.