Growing up Pureblooded

The Secret Lab

It took very little time for Draco to realize that it was a good thing he had agreed to spend the Easter holiday with his cousin. Aries was doing much better physically, but he seemed to move about the house listlessly, never taking much interest in anything. He did anything Draco suggested, but he never suggested any games or activities of his own. He congratulated Draco on taking his place as Seeker, but he made virtually no response when Draco emphasized that it was only temporary, and they everyone would be glad to have Aries back in the autumn.

Late one evening during the first week of the Easter holiday, Aries and Draco were playing a game of Exploding Snap on Aries' bed when Mopsy suddenly Apparated into the room. She bowed low to her young master. "The room Master is requesting is ready," she informed him. "Finally!" Aries exclaimed, showing a hint of enthusiasm for the first time in ages. As far as Draco knew, it was the first time since Marius's death. "What is it, Aries?" he asked eagerly. He felt that anything that could distract his cousin from his ongoing feelings of guilt and grief had to be a good thing.

Aries rose to his feet. He was still rather wobbly after his prolonged recuperation, but at least he was no longer confined to his bed. He stuck an arm under his pillow and removed the Philosopher's Stone before turning to Draco and grinning widely. "How about I show you?" he said, and Draco nodded. "Mopsy, take us over to the laboratory," Aries commanded. The house elf grabbed each boy by the hand, and the three of them vanished.

They reappeared in a dimly-lit room Draco had never seen before. Three long workbenches stood in the center of the room, and the stone walls were lined with shelves containing thick volumes in dead languages, a bewildering variety of rare and expensive potion ingredients, and numerous cauldrons of various shapes and sizes. "Where are we?" Draco asked. "This is old Uncle Phineas's private laboratory," Aries explained. "He was quite the potions expert, apparently, and conducted numerous experiments right here in the house. It's enchanted so that only the owner of the house, or those he admits, can find it or enter it. I don't know whether Uncle Marius even knew about it, but Mopsy certainly did. When I asked her whether there were any place in the house where I could work on some experiments in absolute privacy, she told me about the room. It was in a terrible state, but she's been cleaning it up for me." He turned to the house elf. "Thank you, Mopsy. You may go. We'll call you when we need you to take us back to our bedrooms. If anyone looks for us, tell them we're sleeping." "Yes, Master," Mopsy replied, and Disapparated with a loud pop.

Draco looked around the laboratory in astonishment. "Aries, this place is brilliant! I bet even old Snape would kill to have a laboratory like this." His cousin snorted. "I bet Snivellus would kill for a lot less." "True," Draco agreed. "So what experiments did you have in mind?" An unearthly light shone in Aries' eyes. "We're going to brew the Elixir of Life," he said solemnly. Draco frowned. "Who's ill?" "No one yet," the boy replied. "But I don't want us ever to be caught unawares again. We're going to brew a large batch of the Elixir, and we'll each keep a flask on our person at all times. We'll store the rest here in the laboratory, and I'll command Mopsy to be on alert to bring us a flask if she ever hears of any family member who is suffering from a potentially-mortal illness. If we're unavailable, she'll bring it to Dad, and on down the line." "It looks like you've thought it all out," Draco said, impressed at the amount of work Aries had put into this, even whilst bedridden. "Have you told Uncle Sirius about the Stone?"

Aries shook his head. "It's far too dangerous. If anyone ever learns that the Stone is here, they'll undoubtedly try to steal it. That was Dumbledore's mistake. If he wanted to hide the Stone successfully, he shouldn't have told anyone where it was." "Good point. So we're the only ones who know?" "Us and Mopsy," Aries said. "But Mopsy is under strict orders never to mention the Stone to anyone, under any circumstances. Since I'm her owner now, she has to obey me even over Dad and the rest of the family." Draco pouted. "That's convenient. You're so lucky. I wish I had an elf of my own like that." Aries frowned at his cousin. "Think about what you just said, Draco."