Courage {Neville Longbottom} (ON HOLD)

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Kefira had her legs crossed beneath her as she sat on her bed, glossing over several pages in her Potions book. To stay at the top of her game in class, she was doing all sorts of research in order to keep brewing something better every time she was in Slughorn's presence. Finally, he was taking note of her talents in the class, although Kefira had to admit, it didn't make her feel better to see Harry do poorly again. The girl didn't know what she wanted besides recognition for her work, but maybe in her head, she had been a bit too hard on Harry. He appeared awfully stressed out as of late and while she wanted to ask, he was so wrapped up with Ginny and his own friends that it was difficult to get him alone.

If she dared asked him in front of Hermione and Ron, she was sure one of them would attempt to answer for him or he would just brush it off and claim he was fine. He was very similar to that of Draco Malfoy, two boys trying to keep a strong appearance for the sake of those around them not becoming suspicious when in reality, they could use all the help they could get. Kefira decided if they didn't want the help of others at the time that she couldn't force them to take it. Instead, she would just focus on herself, Neville, and her closest friends. 

As she sat contently reading over a few lists of ingredients, her mind was swirling with possibilities of starting to brew up her own types of Potions. After all, while the Weasley Twins were known to be star students during their time, more known for their pranks, they were exceptional when it came to brewing things for their pranks and products. She assumed if they could do it for the sake of fun that she could come up with her own special something. The question remained though what purpose would her potion serve? What did she wish to see it accomplish?

She needed to sort all of that out before she started trying to make a list of all the ingredients to collect. Kefira could only hope that some sort of idea would spark, although her focus seemed to take a keen interest in the healing potions and such. Perhaps that would be within the realm of her calling, just like how there weren't enough doctors in the muggle world, there wasn't enough healing to go around in the Wizarding World. People were still suffering in plenty of ways, her thoughts trailed back to Professor Lupin and how lycanthropy seemed to dictate a great deal of his life. 

While wolfsbane had been a brilliant invention, it was not a cure and it was incredibly expensive to make, not to mention time-consuming. Most people who suffered from lycanthropy struggled to find work, which meant that they wouldn't really have the money to make a regular purchase of the brew. That certainly wasn't fair and what if they weren't near somewhere to purchase it. 

They needed something that was readily available, something that wasn't so expensive, and something that would actually work, instead of temporarily placing them in a sleepy state.

Flipping through several pages, Kefira's eyes landed on the chapter where the discussion of the wolfsbane potion came up invented by a gentleman by the name of Damocles. Kefira wasn't bashing the man's work as she read over the complexity of brewing the potion, but while it seemed effective in relieving symptoms, it wasn't made for people suffering from lycanthropy. 

Besides the expenses and the complexity of brewing it alone, the person had to take it every day, a week prior before the full moon. That was too much to keep up with, she figured anyone suffering from lycanthropy would have difficulty keeping up with such a schedule especially since they would normally feel ill around that time anyway. Perhaps it was easier for Professor Lupin to manage it while he was working at the school, mainly because he didn't have to brew it or pay for it.

Professor Snape had been the one to make it and it wasn't like he was allowed to charge his fellow co-worker at the time, although Kefira was certain that he probably would have if he could have gotten away with it. Not to mention, Professor Lupin had a safe place to go and had people looking out for him. Did other werewolves have that? Did Lupin have it now? More than likely, the answer was no. So Kefira decided to spend the majority of her time focusing on wolfsbane potion, wondering if there was a way she could accelerate the brewing time or perhaps make other improvements to the brew.