In The Shadow of Love

Chapter 42: Anne's Potions

Taking Highwing to Feldcroft made the trip much faster, Sebastian following close behind on his broom with a stormy expression. He didn't know why Anne had wanted them to check her potions kit, and it made dread fill him as he wondered about the different scenarios. Was she getting worse? Was some medicine not available to her? What was going on? Why was no one telling him anything other than vague details?

If this was how Ominis felt all through their 5th year no wonder he was angry with him.

They landed outside the house before sunset, unlocking the door and going inside. The potion kit was luckily easy to find, having been untouched since Anne had left so shortly after Solomon's death. It almost looked like she'd hardly used some of the vials since his passing, the dried remnants of potions still remaining at some of the tubes.

"She didn't say what we were looking for." Diane said thoughtfully, looking over all the vials. "Do you have any idea, Sebastian?"

He shook his head. "She always told me to stay away from her potions kit. Even when I didn't touch it. I wouldn't mess with her medicines like that."

Diane glanced over to him in surprise. He had never touched it? "She must have misplaced something to think you touched it." She said thoughtfully, but Anne was smart. She may be in terrible pain, but that didn't do anything to her mind.

"Yeah." He said thoughtfully, looking over different vials.

Ominis was looking at vials too, moving his wand over them carefully before picking some up and smelling them curiously. They smelled like the different medical potions he'd learned about recently in potions class, nothing out of the ordinary.

He got to one and nearly gagged, trying his best not to drop it as he coughed.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Diane asked in concern, moving to him and carefully taking the vial from his hand. It had a dark purple bit of potion dried at the bottom.

"It smells terrible." He said, his voice raspy as he recovered. "Like no potion I've known."

Diane looked down at the vial in her hand and smelled it too, starting to cough as well as it made her head spin.

"Alright, enough smelling the damn thing!" Sebastian said, taking it from Diane before looking down at it in concern. "What do you think is in it?"

"I have no idea." Diane said, looking at the tube with a thoughtful look. "But we know someone who would."

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"Dried potion, huh?" Garreth looked at the vial curiously. "Yeah I'm sure I can figure it out. I'll just have to take a few samples. It may take a while though, I should have it done by the end of the day."

"Thank you, Garreth." Diane sighed with relief that he was able to figure out what it was.

"Not a problem. By the way Diane, how is your herbology class going?" He looked over to her with interest.

Ominis bristled a bit beside Diane, giving a dark scowl to Garreth.

"Oh it's going very well, I have a new project I'm working on. If I'm lucky it'll grow well for my finals." Diane smiled happily.

"Oh that's great to hear. I was wondering if you've been making some more rare herbs lately." Garreth said innocently.

"You need herbs for your potions, don't you?" She said in amusement.

"Bingo." Garreth grinned.

She sighed in exasperation. "What do you need?"

"Asphodel?" He asked anxiously.