I'm not at your orders

tears of mandrake

The smell from parchment paper and dried herbs invaded Sirius's studio, and in which light rested languidly on the surfaces of the oak desk, the books on the shelves and his yellowed notebook on which he transcribed herbology notes, as was his wont. His bony, age-streaked hand held with firm grip the goose feather he cadently dipped into the ink and then resumed his writing with fluidity. His notes reported the growth in size of the Lysandra plant, a species of the Viperalia group and particularly poisonous to humans, and therefore carefully stored in his private greenhouse, access to which was only allowed him and...

-Nori-  the young beta entered with a certain noise in the studio, holding a small pottery vase filled with soil and out of which a few green olive tufts leaked:- You're back early. Did you find a tame mandrake?- his eyes never moved from the pages of his notebook, given the usual presence of his pupil in the studio.

-not exactly. I just gave it a blow at the top to knock it down- Sirius eyes flipped from his writing to the young man, as if to confirm what he heard:
-don't give me those eyes, i'm joking. I know I must not damage it-
-sometimes I worry your jokes hide a kernel of truth. Anyway, we have a task to do-

Once in the greenhouse and equipped with reinforced earmuffs and Nori with vials, they placed the vase carefully on a counter, exchanging shrewd glances:
-ready?- asked Sirius:
-tell me again why am I doing this?-
-I've already explained to you that mandrake tears can cure earaches, although their screaming is lethal, and Marcus's daughter would badly need them at the moment-
-I know that part...I don't understand why am I the one who  has to pick up the tears and always risk losing a finger-
-don't be silly; your fingers can resist the bite of a mandrake. Mine can't-
-yeah, sure...-
-come on:  on the count of three, I pull it out of the pot-  resigned, Nori took up position, ready to collect the mandrake's tears in the flask in his hand once exposed to the air, although he expected a gradual count from Sirius, which did not happen:

-three- he extracted the mandrake in one swift gesture, filling the quiet atmosphere of the greenhouse with the whimsical cry of the plant, which appearence resembled a deformed baby's face:
-hurry!- said Sirius, both anguished by that wailing, although that task was not so simple as they well knew.
The tears were so small and hollowed out in the hard rugged skin that it made the undertaking particularly difficult to accomplish:
-be a good boy, c'mon...- those soothing words were of no help to Nori, for at that moment his little finger was seized by the mandrake's small but resilient grip, causing him to instinctively curse loudly. That tortuous operation ended seconds later once Nori had managed to gather those much-coveted tears and free himself from the plant's bite, with the clear mark of his teeth remaining on his skin:

-God...-
-very good Nori, as you can see, you're still with all your five fingers - Sirius lauhed after immediately place the mandrake back in its pot, satisfied with the result: - now i'm going to preper the anti-inflammatory drops for Arya; hope you can take them directly to her later-
-and what about this? -  Nori raised his hand with his red injured finger:

-you're a strong beta. You'll heal in just 2 minutes - said Sirius with a subtle smile: - and then you're always in worse shape when you get back from training camp, a poisonous mandrake scratch what can it be? -
-very funny- he touched his sore finger and with his eyes followed the botanist in the act of getting his medicine ready, with pots, ampoules and powders to give him to all intents and purposes the appearance of an alchemist at work. In no time at all, he carefully measured and combined the ingredients in a copper pot heated by metal plates, finally pouring in the mandrake tears and stirring for a few minutes: