Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

Since Quincy's return, I never had a chance to speak with the Beauxbatons students, although I wanted to. The reason was simple: they usually kept to themselves or didn't even leave their carriage. The atmosphere was clearly against them as many students, even those who didn't really talk to me, also thought they were behind the disappearance of Quincy. Simply put, the air was filled with gunpowder, and the tiniest spark would be enough to ignite the conflict. 

On the other hand, I had multiple talks with Viktor as we began planning how to board the ship and what to look out for. Those who were with me were working on gathering everything they may need and devising spells or potions to help them swim through the dark, cold water, reaching the ship safely. The only question was when it would happen and whether everyone would have time to prepare. So now I was also looking to buy time and not start something before we were ready to jump ships. Literally. 

"Have you ever thought about what the second test will be?" 

"Hm? Where did that come from?" I asked, looking up from my homework we were about to finish, sitting in our Common Room, enjoying the warmth coming from the nearby fireplace. 

"I was pondering it, and I think I know what the second hurdle will be."

"Oh? I'm listening!" I answered, putting my quill down and thinking about our collected clues. 

"Here!" She pulled out a book from her bag of holding, putting it before me. "I already translated most of it and marked the pages where these exact ingredients come up!"

"Are you sure it would be about that? They could be about anything!"

"My instincts are telling me, yes! A hundred percent yes! And don't forget, one of the people who made up the tasks was Flamel himself! There has to be a challenge dedicated to alchemy!"

"Fair point. What did you find?"

"A handful of recipes require either of our ingredients or just one! Not to mention, there has to be a third one we don't know about! The thing is, all the potions that have both of our stuff are defensive potions."

"Defensive... potions? First time hearing it!"

"Salazar Slytherin categorized potions differently than the norm." She explained, and I felt like I was in one of Professor Slughorn's classes. "He pushed for them to be recognized in the following order:

Offensive Potions.
These were, in his mind, the ones that were used to attack or hurt their target. Be it one that is thrown like a bomb or after consumption, giving the wizard some extra powers. I am sure you already guessed, but most poisons do fall into this definition!

Defensive Potions.
In this category, they gave the user buffs and helped them avert dangers. Be it something that gives you stone-like skin or hides you from enemies, their goal is to protect the user against spells, potions, or their effects.

Support Potions.
He put everything else into this category, writing that any tonic that deals with healing is considered part of this class."

"It sounds way too vague. I don't like it."

"Me neither!" She chuckled, nodding, "Not everything he came up with must be perfect, no? He was a great wizard, but he wasn't God! They say that even Merlin made mistakes! Ahahaha! But in his books, he referred to them as like, so I had to read up on how he looked at it!"

"So, to pass the second test, we will have to create a potion that will help us get through it. Got it!"

"Um, most likely. Not only that but the defensive potions that require these are all hiding one specific attribute!"

"What do you mean, hiding? Shouldn't be support- You know what? Forget it. Please, continue!"

"Ehehe!" With a cute giggle, she kissed my cheeks, thinking the same thing, "Yeah, don't stress it, his categorization is horrendous, no wonder nobody wanted it! He was a human, after all! Reading his notes, it felt like he was trying to one-up Ravenclaw but failed to do so."

"Probably would have cursed you if you told this to his face."

"Good thing he is dead, no? Anyway, Conrad, check this out!" She pointed at the index page, where she circled multiple titles. "Yours is present in four potions! All of them give you a kind of invisibility!"

"Only selected things could see me... like how the thestrals are, yes?"

"Bingo!" She nodded while her finger moved to another row. "Mine is against smells! It would mask our scent, and there are seven such potions! Now, I also looked at the spells that have both; guess what!"

"What?"

"Ha. Ha."

"Sorry!" I grinned, enjoying watching her roll her eyes and still giggle, "They mask both things?"

"Exactly! Now. I went ahead and made a guess what the third one could be!"

"Hearing?" I assumed, and she nodded with a proud smile.

"Yep! I found two potions with both of our ingredients, which mask the user from all three primary senses... and, here is the kicker." She grinned, flipping to the two potions recipes. "Both of them have a third ingredient that pops up in them: the tail of a Sighban."

"A what?" I asked, looking at the codex, but no images were drawn on the pages before me. 

"I already looked it up!" She added, closing this one and picking out a bestiary from the library, "It is a small, rodent-like creature!"

"It looks like a squirrel mixed with a chicken."

"Yeah, and it has exceptionally sharp hearing, so it is hard to find one! But!"

"There is always a but, hm?" I chuckled, making her smile, tapping the book's description.

"It has an unhealthy obsession with wine."

"An alcoholic chipmunk?"

"Ahahahaha! Nooo!" She laughed, filling the room with her voice that made me smile even more, happy that she was back with me, "Anyway! When in danger or feeling they are getting caught, their tail detaches like a lizard's! And we need that! Also, there was a note in the old codex that the tail would only be a useful ingredient if the Sighban itself sheds it under heavy stress! Otherwise, it won't be usable!"

"I see... hmmm... Sounds tricky! Are we sure this is the third ingredient?"

"No. We are not." She shrugged, leaning back and biting her lips. "This is only my conjecture!"

"I know how to make sure of it!" 

...

....

......

I sent word to Victor the following day, asking him to meet me again in private.

"Have you figured out your clue yet?"

"..." I saw him hesitate to tell me, so I took the first step.

"Mine was thestral hair. Quincy's was spider venom. Is yours a tail, perhaps?" This had an effect as it made him flinch, picking out his own parchment and showing it to me.

"I guessed creature type but couldn't narrow my search."

"Damn... Quincy was right; the riddle in yours most likely points to the beast she discovered! Especially this part: 'So slim and frail,

A sudden scare, I drop my tail.' This has to be it!"

"I thought lizard."

"Close, but this one is a Sighban! Look it up!" I answered, giving it back to him. "We are pretty sure of it!"

"You... sure?

"Yep! We are!"

"Thank you... Conrad."

"Don't mention it!" I chuckled, watching him tower over me. "If you can control your partner, you can bring him along too. We won't mind. But we want to cooperate."

"I'm listening."

"We think that the second task will have to do something with potions. Or at least it will help us complete it! Now, I don't know you, but Quincy is an excellent future Potion Master! She was the one who decoded the possible recipes ahead of time, reverse engineering it from only two components!"

"Make sense why Beauxbatons kidnap her."

"Um." I nodded, agreeing, not wanting to explain to him that that part was merely a coincidence and other reasons led to it happening. "And the deal is that the potions that can be brewed from one ingredient are just one of a third useful! Combine all three, and you get the best one!"

"You want to work together? In the tournament?"

"I didn't hear any rules forbidding it!" With my hands stretched out, I answered, "We can fight in the finals if you want to duel, but let's get there first! By pooling our resources, we can face the second task with all the advantages we can get. That is worthy of cooperation!"

"Agreed." He answered plainly, shaking my hands. "I get ingredient soon."

"Don't rush it now; we have time. Plus, it is almost time for the Yule Ball!"

"And?"

"Besides being a fun event, we will open it with a dance." I explained, surprised at how calm he was. "As champions, it is our task to give a show."

"And?"

"Aren't you nervous? Or excited?"

"No. It is formality that I do. Duty. No risks."

"Well... okay. What I wanted to get to is that the Beauxbatons won't be able to avoid it, and they will have to appear. So be ready and don't take it lightly. I don't trust them!"

"I see. We will ready." He nodded at me after a bit of thinking, thanking my help once again before leaving. 

"Do you really think they will stir up some trouble? After all that happened?" Quincy asked me after Victor was out of sight, and she transformed back from her owl form. 

"I don't know... but I can easily see that our Headmaster or someone else will nudge it towards anarchy and chaos. The heavy air around us right now is in the perfect state to set everything ablaze. So be alert, Quincy! I don't trust either side!"