"Sorry, Anne..." Diana apologized sincerely after the party. Aaron looked equally apologetic.
The three of them were sitting in the garden around a wicker table, where three glasses of iced honey lemon tea rested. The soft glow of incandescent lights from the living room blended with the moonlight, casting a calm, silvery hue.
Anne gave them a bright smile and waved her hand casually. "No need to apologize! Honestly, how many people my age get promoted to Hogwarts Prefect and end up with half the Ministry of Magic showing up at their house? I'd say that's pretty special. Plus, I got to meet so many people! That can't hurt when it comes time to apply for the Ministry after graduation, right?"
Her cheerful response made Aaron and Diana's hearts swell with affection.
"Do you plan to work for the Ministry in the future, Anne?" Diana asked gently.
"Which department are you thinking about?" added Aaron.
"I'd love to work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation!" Anne replied with enthusiasm.
Diana's face lit up. She was clearly delighted by Anne's answer, though she tried to stay composed.
"Really? You've thought this through? That department can be pretty dull at first. Lots of paperwork, frequent travel, and you might even get posted overseas," Diana warned carefully.
Anne nodded firmly. "I know. The beginning of any career is hard, but I'm confident I can handle it. And being able to explore magical communities around the world has always been one of my dreams. I've also studied so much about business and trade, I want to put it into practice."
Diana and Aaron exchanged a meaningful look. Then Diana stood and gave Anne a hug, kissing her on the cheek.
"You're amazing, Anne," she said with a smile, tousling Anne's hair.
Aaron chuckled and nodded. "Your dream is a lot bigger than mine was at your age. Back then, all I wanted was to raise ten magical creatures. I managed it right after graduation, and it got boring real fast."
That made both Anne and Diana laugh.
They sat in the garden, enjoying the night breeze and their chilled tea, chatting casually.
"Is Margaret heading back to China tomorrow?" Anne asked.
"Yep. Your lessons with her are done, so of course she's returning," Diana replied, lifting her glass with a smile. Margaret's high praise of Anne had clearly left her in a good mood.
"What time in the morning? I'd like to see her off. She's been a great teacher, I've learned so much from her," Anne said.
"10:20 a.m. at Heathrow, Terminal West," Diana answered.
Anne nodded thoughtfully.
"Oh, by the way," Anne added, "I'd like to use the potion lab at the estate tomorrow afternoon. I'm planning an experiment, but it's a bit dangerous. The protections on Aaron's home lab aren't strong enough."
Though Anne sounded casual, the word dangerous and the fact that it surpassed the protective capabilities of Aaron's lab made Diana and Aaron both instantly alert.
They usually gave Anne freedom to explore her magical interests, but this time, they asked immediately, and in unison:
"What kind of experiment?"
Anne didn't hesitate. She retrieved an old leather-bound notebook from her bag. The final pages had sheets of parchment glued in, with bold red ink scrawling one massive word: Incredible. Beneath it, in tiny, shaky script the size of a fly, was the word dangerous, barely legible.
"It's this experiment," Anne explained. "The author of this notebook, Croton Sharpe, was a brilliant magi-botanist from over 300 years ago. But he wasn't your average, by-the-book researcher, he loved experimenting with magical plants to discover their practical and hidden properties. I admire him a lot. I first saw his name in a book at the Hogwarts library, and later Fanny found me this notebook as a gift."
She then pulled out another thick parchment notebook, her own. Inside, Anne had carefully copied Croton Sharpe's notes word for word.
"There are thirteen experiments in this notebook. They get more complex as they go. I've already completed the first twelve, and I've learned so much about magical plants and potions from them. This last one is the final step. I've spent ages gathering the ingredients. In fact, some of the materials I asked you both to help me find were for this."
She looked at them seriously. "I want to complete this final experiment. But these two words here, 'Incredible' and 'Dangerous', never appeared in the other twelve. That's why I'd rather do it at the estate's lab. The Rolan estate has powerful, ancient magical protections. I think it'll be safe."
Diana and Aaron exchanged another glance. As parents, they were proud of Anne's passion and intellect, especially in something as complex as magical plants and potions. But this experiment clearly exceeded their expectations, it was far more advanced than anything they'd imagined.
They each took turns flipping through the notes, trying to understand the steps and the goal of the experiment. But, truthfully, neither of them fully grasped it.
Aaron cleared his throat and looked to Diana, this was her call.
After a brief pause, Diana said, "The lab at the Rolan estate does have strong magical wards. But Anne, since this Croton Sharpe felt the need to label the experiment dangerous, I need you to be extra careful. Could I have Gooka accompany you? He's worked at the estate for nearly 40 years, he knows every corner, and he can manage the protective enchantments."
Anne lit up. "That would be perfect! I was hoping for someone to assist. I've memorized all the steps, but it's always better with help."
"Alright then," Diana said with relief. "I'll have Gooka tidy up the lab tonight. It hasn't been used in ages."
Aaron ruffled Anne's hair. "I had no idea you'd gotten this good at potions and magical botany. Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of half of what's written here."
The next morning, Anne saw Margaret off at the airport and returned home to prepare for the experiment. After over an hour of sorting materials and magical plants, she arrived at the Rolan estate.
Gooka was already waiting.
"Miss Anne," he said with a slight bow. "The lab has been prepared. You may begin whenever you're ready."
Anne handed her case to another house-elf nearby. "Could you grab me a light snack first? I still need to collect a few magical plants from the greenhouse. Leave the case in the lab, but don't open it."
Gooka nodded respectfully and gestured to the other elf, who scurried off with the case.
As Anne and Gooka approached the estate gates, another house-elf named Lekko came running up, carrying a massive silver tray.
"Miss Anne! Your snacks!"
The tray held an assortment of warm cookies, puddings, and tiny cakes.
"Wow, this is amazing. Thanks, Lekko," Anne said, picking up a butter cookie and popping it in her mouth. "Still as delicious as ever. Great job."
Lekko blushed furiously, his large ears turning beet red.
"Miss Anne praised me? Lekko loves Miss Anne most of all!" he mumbled bashfully.
Anne laughed, taking two small bags of cookies and a pudding. "Alright, that's enough, don't get carried away. I still need to fetch plants from the greenhouse."
The Rolan estate wasn't especially large, at least compared to Hogwarts. The castle stood halfway up a low hill, with dense forest behind it and a manicured lawn sloping gently down to a clear lake. Two stone paths led from the castle gates, one toward the lake, where a small fishing cabin stood, and another toward the greenhouse.
The greenhouse sat in a sunny, well-watered spot behind the cabin. It had nearly doubled in size since Anne became passionate about magical plants.
As they walked, Anne asked Gooka about the history of the estate. Gooka was delighted that his young mistress showed interest, and eagerly launched into stories.
After finishing her snack, Anne and Gooka each carried two pots of magical plants back to the lab.
Inside the circular lab at the top of the castle, Anne laid out all her materials. Two large windows let in the evening breeze. The enormous worktable at the center was now covered with ingredients and magical flora.
Anne flipped through her notebook to ensure nothing was missing. In truth, this felt less like a potion experiment and more like using potion-making techniques to test how magical plants reacted with different substances.
At the heart of it were two magical plants.
One was a strange species with only two dark green leaves and a thick central stem, called Lokkitch, named after the wizard who discovered it in a mountain cave. It could only be propagated by cuttings, and the piece Aaron had sent her from the Alps had finally taken root.
The other looked like a dead weed, called Withergrass, discovered by Croton Sharpe in Florida. During the day, it appeared lifeless and dull, just another withered plant by the roadside. But at night, it came alive. Its leaves are filled with energy, transforming completely.
Anne had never seen this plant mentioned in any other book. It existed only in Sharpe's notebook, and even then, he'd included seeds and pressed samples. Of the 60 seeds she salvaged, only 30 still had magical potential, and just two had successfully sprouted.
Sharpe had poured a staggering amount of time and revisions into this final experiment. Anne counted over 30 versions in his notes, and many of the materials were now restricted or banned.
For someone of his caliber to revise an experiment that much, and label it incredible and dangerous, meant something. Anne had decided long ago: she had to recreate it.
And now, seeing everything laid out, her heart raced with anticipation.
She nodded to Gooka.
He activated a protective ward, shimmering magic encased the worktable in a transparent dome.
Anne pulled on her dragon-hide gloves, goggles, protective coat, and a self-made mask.
It was time to begin.
⚡︎━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ❖ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⚡︎
If you're enjoying the journey so far and want to read ahead, you can check out 25+ advance chapters on Patreon: Patreon/Crimson_Lore