Lily Potter and The Harming Potion

The Room of Requirement - 20

Lily, Hugo and Alice were underneath the invisibility cloak, Lorcan and Lysander were outside the door of the Room of Requirement, and Cameron was walking behind the three under the invisibility cloak. Lily was nervous, more so than she thought she would be. She held her wand in shaking hands. They arrived on the seventh floor corridor. The door appeared before her and she knocked three times, like she had seen Louis do before. All seven of them entered at once. 

"Lumos," Lily whispered. Light filled the tunnel. She walked along the familiar tunnel. No one dared to speak. They could be caught. At the end of the tunnel, Lily saw light and put out her wand. There were sounds she had only heard before behind a barrier. It was gone now, she could step into the room unharmed. What she saw shocked her. 

It was a potion chamber. They were very expensive to build and maintain. There were only a few in the world, and apparently Hogwarts held one of them. Within it was the curly-haired witch Lily had seen before, Louis, and Salia. 

Salia seemed pouty and upset. "Mum, are you sure it's going to work?" 

"Hush, child. They'll be here soon enough... in fact, they have just arrived!" The witch cackled with glee. "Come out, come out, where ever you are!" Lily saw no choice but to reveal herself. She shed the invisibility blanket and stepped into the light. Her friends did so as well. Louis looked at them, horrified.

"We're here to stop you! Whatever you're doing with the harming potion is wrong and-" The witch laughed again. 

'Do you think I care about right or wrong? A first year student cannot stop me. Any student can't stop me. I am more powerful than anyone alive! And my daughter here, she'll be the next in line." Salia looked at them, smug.

Alice stepped up. "Petrificus-" The curly-haired witch blocked her spell with a simple wave of her wand. 

"How pitiful." She flicked her wand and giant cages crashed down from the ceiling. The seven of them were trapped. Lily rattled the bars. The rest shouted angrily. "Silence!" the with waved her wand again and Lily's friends grasped their throats. 

"No!" Lily's voice echoed through the room. She fell to the ground. Anger consumed her. This witch had no reason to torture her friends. She had to stop her. The cage rattled. She heard a pop and saw that the lock had fallen off. Lily slowly pushed the door open. The witch watched her with a curious look in her eyes. 

"Mother!" Salia whined. "Get her!" Instead, the witch shook her head. 

"Telekinesis," she whispered. "You would be a good addition to the collection." Lily took a few steps towards her. Louis was shaking his head vigorously. Tears fell down his face, but he was silent, just like the others. The witch used her wand and a cauldron of a clear, smoldering liquid floated slowly towards Lily. 

'I don't believe that I have introduced myself yet. I am known as Cathmoor. You do not need to know more about me, because you are about to die. Drink this cauldron and your friends will be free. Do not drink it and you will be free, but your friends will die." Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Of course she knew what she would do, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. 

"I will drink it. But, I'd like to say a few words first. If I- if I die, just make sure that everyone knows that I love them so, so much." Salia rolled her eyes at that. Lily paused and then continued. "Once I drink this, I will say the word, and you will go." Her friends nodded. They had never practiced anything like the situation they had been in, but they did know what she meant when she said what might have been her last sentence. 

Lily stepped up to the cauldron, staring into its depths. She took the up that was next to it and filled it to the top. She drank the whole thing. It was sour and painful going down. Lily quickly filled another cup and downed it too. That was when the pain started kicking in. It felt like she was being stabbed by knives all over her body. It took all of her willpower not to scream. Lily filled up another cup, and another. After five cups, she was beginning to feel numb. That was when she said it. 

"Go." As Lily downed her last cupful, the six first years sprang out from the cages. She collapsed to the cold, concrete ground. Her vision was fading at the edges. She fought to keep her eyes open to see the battle, but it was too late. Her eyes closed and the pain went away.