chapter10

There was endlessness to be had, now that Grimmauld Place had revived its family.

Harry wrinkled his nose at the description on the page in front of him, but the house had been pretty insistent about this book, so he turned reluctantly to the cauldron and the table stained with green in front of him.

He had to brew a potion. And he had to use things like salamander blood and chicken livers. Apparently they were all there under Stasis Charms, which Harry could break just by touching them with a finger, but ew.

(Harry did sort of wistfully wish that the chickens had still been alive, so he at least could have eaten them).

The doorway creaked, and Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it," he muttered, and reached for the pan of water he had boiled over the fire and let cool to make the potion's base.

It did turn out to be sort of fun to combine the ingredients, once he had decided that he could pick up the livers with his hands wrapped in some of the old towels that were so common in the house. The blood stank, and the potion bubbled, and there was a sound like a burp when he added what was apparently powdered moonstone, also from the Stasis Charmed cabinets. Then he tipped in a few petals from a daisy in the garden, and—

And the potion exploded.

Harry ducked away with a screech, his arm tucked around his face. A second later, he heard bangs as the pieces of the shattered cauldron clattered against the walls and the shelves, but not near him.

He lowered his arm and saw that the house had raised a wooden wall in front of him, right out of the floor!

"Did you do that?" he asked the house.