Drink without borders

He was in Hagrid's hut, drinking tea for the second time, as he considered it impolite for the half-giant to refuse when he was so enthusiastic.

-So, how is our project coming along?

Hagrid immediately became excited and began to explain all the steps he had accomplished so far.

-It wasn't easy to get the demiguise to show some love to the fire snail, but the results have certainly been excellent. I think with a few additional crosses and a few generations, it should be enough to accomplish what you said. I already have a few pairs prepared... In fact, the book you gave me has been inspiring and has helped me a lot to speed things up -he took a sip of tea and muttered under his breath- Although there are still some things I don't understand....

-There's no downside? -Soisen raised his eyebrows somewhat suspiciously.

-Actually, I may need a bit more money than expected," Hagrid admitted somewhat sheepishly, "Some of the creatures have been fighting with each other and, well, they won't be able to play their part anymore. We need to replace them and they eat quite a lot.

-No problem, I'll send you a bag of galleons soon so you can sort it out," Soisen was willing to invest because he knew how lucrative it would be once it came to fruition.

-Actually, there is one other thing. I did the best I could, but in my experience, the most appropriate, nutritious and cheapest thing to do would be to adapt the digestive system to eat fire bush seeds. Anything else and they won't be able to do what you asked me to do, as the characteristics of the creatures conflict.

-Fire bush seeds? -Soisen reflected, "That's good enough.

It was a common ingredient in some potions like fire breath potion or antidote for rare poisons, so there would definitely be demand for it after the fact. When Pomona finished researching the properties of the plants she gave her, she could include some firebush cultivars in the greenhouses she bought.

They spent another half hour talking and Soisen left after assuring Hagrid that he was still interested in the project, maintaining his funding.

Hagrid assured him that by the summer he should be able to have everything in place.

-Soisen!

On his way to the castle, he heard someone call out to him and after looking around, he saw that it was Hermione, who seemed to have run into Potter and Ron. When he saw his friend, he pushed the two of them away and walked over happy to be able to run away from the "ambush" he received.

-You saved me!

-What happened? -he asked intrigued. The golden trio no longer existed since their intervention in the troll attack and Hermione was no longer pushing other Gryffindors to do homework, so her contact with the other two was almost non-existent apart from sharing a class and meeting in the common room.

-They've been trying to convince me to give them a hand with their Transformation homework for ten minutes! -I told them that instead of wasting time on Quidditch, they should spend it on homework if they need it so badly. But it's like trying to reason with a wall!

-Wait, Ron made the Gryffindor quidditch team?

-Not at all, his broomstick flying leaves a lot to be desired, only Harry made it. But Ron attends every practice to watch from the stands, so it doesn't make much difference.

-I see. I was on my way to the Library, do you want to come with me?

-Are you still looking for information about animagi? Professor McGonagall already warned us that the process is complicated and dangerous. If you want to try to become one, you should wait a couple of years and you have to register with the Ministry," Hermione reminded him.

-I'm not going to try to become an animagus, Hermione," Soisen told her, "Today I will explore the forbidden section looking for something interesting, nothing else.

Trying would mean he could fail. He was going to make it when he considered himself ready and got advice from Nagini, as for registering with the Ministry as an animagus once he succeeded... not going to happen, not when the list of animagi was public. He preferred to keep an ace up his sleeve, even if it meant that being discovered could land him in Azkaban for a short period of time.

As long as he didn't run into aurors like Moody, he was confident in taking them down and removing recent memories of the incident. As soon as he learned the memory spell.

He had checked the relevant laws and found the Ministry's authority almost laughable in that regard. Besides, he was curious as to what his animagus form would be, the same curiosity regarding the corporeal form of his Patronus.

In short, getting some mandrake leaves and the necessary potion during the summer wasn't going to give him much of a headache. The only thing he couldn't control was the thunderstorm, but he could always look up on the weather map where one was brewing and go there with Nagini's Apparition. He wasn't going to wait for the perfect storm every month, that would be stupid.

-The forbidden section? I'm in! -Hermione was interested in the hard to get books and had been reading several since Soisen got each of the three of them a pass.

-What are you reading today?

-I want to finish the tome on counter-curses for blood curses," Hermione replied, "By the way, when do you plan to start the training you told us about? I don't want to spend the rest of the year dealing only with Lockhart's problems! I need to learn something useful from DADA.

-You know I'm busy, but I don't think it will take too long.

Even though Lockhart would open a dueling club, the experience they could get there was limited and simply couldn't compare to the intensity with which he practiced with Nagini. He would give it a try, but he didn't hold out much hope for her.

-What are you planning this time? -Hermione straightened up and slipped into her secretary mode without realizing it, carried away by last year's habit.

-Butterbeer.

-Soisen! -Hermione exclaimed, "We're minors, we can't drink!

-It's not what you think," Soisen looked at her amused, "Tell me, did you hear about butterbeer when you were still in the Muggle bubble?

-Of course not, adults only have regular beers.

-There you go," he pointed.

-You mean... -Hermione's eyes widened as she understood what he wanted to do.

-Yes, let's make a Muggle version of butterbeer. Without alcohol, of course!

-But... we don't know what it tastes like. And the Ministry won't give us any trouble?

-We're not using magical ingredients and we're making a normal drink.

Which part can give them problems? They're not breaking the Statute of Secrecy or anything like that.

Hermione reflected and realized that they weren't really breaking any kind of magical law, what's more, since they would be making a version with their own recipe, they didn't even need to pay royalties.

-What about the taste? -he asked doubtfully.

-The flavor will be a mixture of caramel and vanilla, we are still fighting with the proportions. Not only that, but to prevent people from avoiding it to avoid getting fat, no sugar will be used, but stevia.

-Stevia? -Hermione didn't remember the plant being mentioned in Herbology.

-Known as sweet grass, it is a powerful sweetener 300 times sweeter than sugar, and despite its incredible sweetness, it doesn't have a single calorie. What's more, it doesn't even cause tooth decay.

-If it's so good, why do we still use sugar in the Muggle world?

-The sugar mafia, of course. Stevia has no addictive traits like sugar and they make sure to discredit it, spread false rumors and do whatever they can to increase its cost of production.

-How do you know all this?

-My mother," Soisen looked sideways at her, "I think I already told you that she controls the family diet at home, she likes to use stevia most of the time. She only uses sugar or honey in specific recipes and they are rare to see.

-Does she use them in brownies? -Hermione asked sharply.

-Who knows? -Soisen smiled mysteriously as he walked into the library.