Chapter 32 Dumbledore's Challenge

"I can't do this! I can't just erase myself from her memories! It would kill her… it would be like murdering her with my own hands!"

Sanguini didn't even know how he had left the Badminton Estate. Staggering along the way, he found his best friend, Worple, and begged him to buy some blood for him while nearly breaking down.

"Because of me, she finally found something worth living for in this world! And now you want me to take that away from her? I can't do it! I'd rather kill myself!"

"I'm the only one who stays with her, and the only one she accepts! You have to help me… help her, Eldred! Please! I know you only approached me at first to write that book about vampires for fame and fortune! But I know now… we're real friends, aren't we?"

Worple shoved a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Potion bought from Knockturn Alley into Sanguini's mouth, finally shutting him up.

"You're absolutely hopeless!"

Sanguini slumped into a chair. After drinking the potion, the vampiric features on his body gradually faded, and he returned to his human appearance.

"I know... I know I'm a hopeless idiot... But I have to do this! I must!"

There was no more hesitation, dejection, or fear in his expression… only a resolve stronger than ever as he locked eyes with Worple.

Worple stared back at him for a good ten seconds before finally sighing in resignation.

"Fine, fine! Choosing you as the subject for my book was the worst decision I ever made!"

"Now that she knows you're a vampire and doesn't care, can you marry her?"

His straightforward question caused Sanguini's brain to go blank for five seconds. After he returned to his senses, he stuttered out a reply, "N-no... I-I haven't... And even if... even if we really... Her family is so wealthy, her parents would never agree to..."

"You told me her parents don't like her, and she doesn't like them either. She has no attachment to her family, right?"

Worple stared at Sanguini and asked.

Sanguini nodded hastily.

"Then make her disappear from the Muggle Society… properly!"

As a member of Horace Slughorn's Slug Club, Worple was far more cunning than Sanguini.

"If she vanishes from the Muggle side first, the Aurors will have a hard time finding out about any breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy. After that, you two can do whatever you want, and no one will care."

"But how do we make her 'disappear' properly?" Sanguini said hesitantly, "If it's about Memory Charms... neither of us is skilled enough for that. We'd need a master of Occlumency..."

"Why use Memory Charms?" Worple scoffed, "Death is the best way to disappear."

Sanguini froze, staring at Worple with wide eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, you dolt. Making Muggles believe someone is dead isn't that hard for wizards."

"The easiest way is to get a bottle of Draught of Living Death… nothing works better than that!"

Hearing this, Sanguini finally reacted!

"You're a genius, Eldred! No… you're even smarter than Merlin himself!"

He jumped to his feet, pacing excitedly around the room.

"Yes! Exactly! We can stage a fake death for Patty's family and make them think she's dead! Then, after the funeral, we'll sneak her away!"

"That way, she'll escape that place for good, and the Aurors won't suspect a 'dead person' of breaking the Statute of Secrecy!"

"Let's go! We should start preparing right away!"

Worple just stared at him.

"And where exactly are you getting the Draught of Living Death?"

Sanguini stiffened.

He was a penniless poor man who had survived on petty theft. Because of his identity as a vampire, he could not find a proper job in the Wizarding World.

"Eldred, could you... maybe..." Sanguini looked at his friend awkwardly, "Deduct it from the money you promised to share with me after the book's done?"

"Still deducting?! Blood-Replenishers! Blood-Flavored Candies! And all sorts of other nonsense… you keep saying you'll pay me back from that money?"

Worple was practically pointing at Sanguini's nose in fury, slamming his hand on the pile of unsent letters on his desk.

"That book isn't even finished! I haven't earned a single Knut from it, and I still have to write letters to all kinds of famous people in the Wizarding World!"

"This one, to Lucius Malfoy! This one, to Horace Slughorn! And this one, to Barty Crouch! And this one, to Albus Dumbledore! I'm not Gilderoy Lockhart with his fame and fortune! I have to beg them for endorsements, and I still have a mountain of work to do!"

"I'm out of money! I can't afford to buy you another Draught of Living Death! While that potion is not rare, it's not cheap either!"

After hearing what he said, Sanguini did not beg any more. After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and nodded, "I understand. I can't just keep relying on others to help me. This is my problem, and I'll find a way to solve it myself!"

After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

Watching his resolute back, Worple didn't need Merlin's underpants to guess that he was about to do something reckless. He grabbed Sanguini by the collar.

"Wait… what are you planning?"

Sanguini said through gritted teeth.

"Some vampire organs are high-value contraband. If I go to Knockturn Alley, I should be able to sell something for a decent price!"

Worple felt a headache coming on.

'This idiot was dead serious. He was ready to sell his own organs if it meant saving that girl!'

"Stop, stop, stop! You don't need to go that far!" Worple rubbed his temples, blocking his way.

"In a few days, my old Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn, invited me to one of his Slug Club gatherings. I'll bring you along… he's bound to have some Draught of Living Death lying around."

Sanguini looked at him awkwardly.

"Mr. Slughorn would just... give us a bottle for free?"

"He won't give it to us. But we can steal it."

The scene froze at this moment, Sanguini, Worple… the whole world seemed to stand still.

Afterwards, this memory world belonging to Sanguini was fast-forwarded.

But even without seeing the rest, Severus and Harry could guess what happened next.

Sanguini visited Patty a few more times. Afraid of losing control again, he made her keep a clove of garlic in her drawer… something to repel him if he ever succumbed to his vampiric instincts.

He didn't tell her the full plan, only asking repeatedly if she truly wanted to escape. When she confirmed it, he promised her…

"I swear, I'll take you back to those flower fields you loved as a child. We'll visit your grandfather's grave together."

Later, he and Worple succeeded.

They stole a bottle of Draught of Living Death from Slughorn, but by sheer misfortune, they took the enhanced variant.

Sanguini fed it to Patty one night.

The girl, who had long stopped caring about life or death, trusted him completely and drank the potion without hesitation.

However, they had underestimated the interpersonal relationships of Muggle nobles, especially a duke's.

Patty's 'mysterious death' caught the attention of the Muggle Prime Minister.

As an exception to the Statute of Secrecy, the Prime Minister knew about wizards and magic. The bizarre circumstances of Patty's death, who is neither fully alive nor truly dead, made him suspicious, so he contacted Minister for Magic, Millicent Bagnold.

And then, everything spiraled out of control!

Aurors arrived at Badminton Estate. They immediately identified the Draught of Living Death as an unusually strong variant and concluded that a wizard had attempted to poison Patty.

The case was reported extensively by various newspapers and magazines, and a letter of condemnation from the Muggle Prime Minister to the Minister of Magic was also made public. The entire British Wizarding World was in an uproar over the incident.

And the instigator of all this, Sanguini, was unwilling to give up even at this point!

He remembered his promise to Patty.

They knew that the Draught of Living Death they had stolen was problematic and no ordinary wizard could brew the antidote.

Then, one day in Diagon Alley while buying Blood-Replenishing Potions, they saw Harry and Severus's unusual student-teacher dynamic.

When Severus later brought Harry to Badminton Estate and stayed, they saw an opportunity… to use Harry to force Severus into brewing the antidote and help them steal Patty away.

But as Sanguini had assured Harry, that whether Severus truly cared about his student or not, whether he'd comply to save him, they never intended to harm him.

However, the outcome was clear.

They never even got the chance to confront Severus or deliver their threats.

After witnessing Sanguini and Patty's story, Harry and Severus's consciousnesses returned to reality.

The disorienting shift between memory and the present left Harry dazed for a moment before he realized only a few seconds had passed in the real world!

Severus was still seated in the high-backed chair, his fingers crossed, his expression deep in thought.

'A pair of desperate, lovestruck teenagers.'

'A potion scandal tangled in politics, law, and Wizard-Muggle relations.'

'This is the challenge Dumbledore had given me.'