"Welcome fourth years to Care of Magical Creatures. Now, as this is your first class back, we won't be dealing with anything too dangerous or exciting just yet. Before you all you will find quite a few specimens of Streelers. Now, can anyone remind us what a Steeler is? Ah, Mr. Hagrid. Please, tell us about this interesting creature." Lilith pulled instinctively on the dragonhide gloves she usually wore, happy that they were graded to both Auror and Handler specifications. She eyed the large shelled slugs as they moved around the enclosure, the ground where they traveled through burned and withered by the acid they were famous for leaving behind in their wake. Then, of course, were the dangerous spikes that dotted the creature's shells, all filled with toxins that really cemented into her mind that Magicals were stupid. These creatures destroyed the environment and were dangerous to the health of anyone or anything nearby. So why not import them across the Mediterranean as some sort of pet. Sparing a glance at the quite tall, but much younger Rubeus Hagrid, Lilith could see that he did find them interesting, but probably not as exciting as an Acromantula or a dragon. Lilith buried her pain at said thought, before looking at the aging Professor.
There were two names that became infamous in the field of magizoology at the dawn of the twentieth century. There was, of course, Newt Scamander, writer of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a text he had by this period expanded on three times already as he made some less than appreciated treks into the Indian Subcontinent a few years prior. A proponent of the rights and protections of magical creatures, he was a maverick that tended to run afoul of the law of several different countries in a desperate attempt to save an endangered species. One of the Magical World's first International Naturalists, though some people give him a different title, though not one the often timid man would ever call himself by. On the other end of the spectrum was the man in front of her, the current head of his infamous family. Theseus Ross, whom Lilith knew was some relation of Minerva McGonagall, who was currently a fourth year Gryffindor but who wasn't taking the Care elective, looked to Lilith like the Magical World's equivalent of Allan Quartermain. If there was ever a dangerous magical creature terrorizing any foreign region of the dwindling British Empire, a Ross wouldn't be far behind to test their skills and cut them down. Though if the records for the family were anything to go by, the Ross family did suffer some nasty losses too. Theseus had made a name for himself in the African Continent for a time, before rumour had it he became disgusted with the way the British treated the locals. His last great adventure took him to Australia, where he was seriously injured and was soon forced to retire.
Having lived past his prime, Lilith could see how that would make him a proper candidate for the position of Professor for Care of Magical Creatures, though if his boisterous nature at the Feasts and his current habit of sneaking a shot from a flask of what Lilith assumed was liquor was anything to go by, then the man was barely holding onto his sanity in what was essentially the most boring job for an ex-adventurer. He did give Moody a run for his money in drinking consistency, which was saying something. Well, both Moody's. Even after being rescued from a ten month stay within a trunk, the ex-Auror man was still very much a raging alcoholic, though damn it if he didn't know how to take down a Death Eater. He would often drop by to see Sirius at the London Townhouse when he wasn't being impersonated by a Death Eater. With the younger Hagrid being finished with the refresher on the lesson of the day, the old man with short white hair and several nasty scars on his face spoke up. "Well done, Mr Hagrid. 15 points to Gryffindor. Now, it is those very sharp and deadly spikes that we will be dealing with today. Professor Slughorn needs a good fresh supply to use in some nasty potions that will be in Madam Prewett's cabinets for the whole year, so we best be collecting a good amount. Make sure you all are wearing dragonhide gloves and grab some vials with rubber membranes. Pair up and get to one, while you all make sure not to get poked in the back. Our Chief Healer won't like getting any patients directly from my classes."
Lilith's eyes searched the students and watched them all pair up quickly, with the Slytherins already having their groups settled. Sighing to herself, Lilith made it to the one Steeler that was some distance away from the rest, looking at the current spikes on its shell and the best angle to approach it with minimal chance of getting tagged from it and the other meandering slugs. "Hello Lillian Potter. May I join you?" Lilith felt her heart stop beating as she turned and looked into the eyes of a fourth year Ravenclaw girl. Her hair wasn't the near platinum blonde of her dearest friend but the eyes… she knew those silver eyes that saw more than anyone should see. "Uhh, hi. Sure, I would love to be your partner." The girl's eyes seemed to widen, especially as Lilith was certain they saw that she was telling the truth. After all, how couldn't she? There was no chance this was the future Pandora Lovegood, as she and her husband shouldn't have been born yet. Which would make the dark blonde girl currently standing beside her Luna's Grandmother. The girl's following smile was all too familiar to Lillian's heart. "Thank you. I am Cassandra Moon. A pleasure to meet you." As the two knelt down and started to extract the toxin safely, Lilith felt her heart beating wildly. On the one hand she was next to her best friend's grandmother. On the other hand… she was a bloody Seer who could divine her true name just from looking at her. Just… great.
As the class wound down with no injuries, Lilith went to Cassandra's side. "Do you mind if we talked for a moment?" Cassandra nodded. "Sure." Getting some distance between her and the other, Lilith focused hard on the spells Snape taught her. As soon as the privacy wards were up, she turned to Cassandra, panting softly. "You can't call me by that name. My name is Lilith von Schwarzwald." Cassandra blinked at her. "But it's wrong. Wait, it's only sort of wrong? It's weird. I am certain you are Lillian Potter." Lilith pulled some strands of her red hair away from her eyes. "Believe me, I know that! But you can't use that name for me. The Potters are a known family with very few members. I can't have them looking into me being a possible relative. So could you call me Lilith? Please?" Cassandra searched Lilith's eyes. "I … don't feel right saying that name when I look at you." Lilith sighed and looked up at the sky, counting to ten in German. It was a habit she picked up from her body's memories. She lowered her eyes back to the slightly uncomfortable girl. "How about a nickname then?" Cassandra beamed. "As in us being friends?" Lilith gave her a genuine smile. "I would love to be your friend, Cassandra, but us being friends means you have to be careful about what you say about me. Including my true name."
Cassandra, sensing the truth, brought up Lilith's hands and squeezed them in front of her eyes. "Ok, How about if I call you Lily and you can call me Cassie." Lilith winced slightly. "Ugh, sure. But I hope you can forgive me if I don't use yours yet. You know, Slytherin's being Slytherins and all." Cassandra nodded. "Sure. Uncle Leo was a Slytherin when he was at school. He told me a few things about the house in case I would be sorted there, even though me and Grandma both told him I was a Ravenclaw." Lilith chuckled. "Let me guess, a typical wizard ignoring a Seer's intuition?" Cassandra smiled at her. "Exactly! I am so happy that you know. It normally takes forever for someone to believe me." Something seemed to catch Cassandra's breath and her eyes filled with tears. "You're hurting, aren't you? Because of what you did? I can see you hurting on the Equinox and further." Lilith pulled her hands out of Cassandra's, remembering that Seers tended to have visions through physical contact. Luna suffered a few of those during their years together. "I am. But if it means something to you, this moment right now has made the pain worth it. So, Cassandra, what can you tell me about the sort of Magical Creatures you like?" The two left the area after Lilith dropped the wards, even as her heart ached when Cassandra spoke about Dragons. The Seer proved her talent as she wisely changed the subject soon after.
-✦-
Lillian knew something was wrong with her. The feeling had started soon after the night that Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley got caught smuggling out a dragon via some Dragon Handlers atop the Astronomy Tower. The sensation had been like a building dread inside of her heart, a yearning to hold something in her hands and to treasure it with all of her soul. As time passed, the dread grew deeper and far more painful. Lillian had to drag herself out of bed in the mornings and her attention had started to wander, her eyes often looking up at the blue sky. The moments she watched as Neville played with Hedwig, something inside of her told her that she should have had something like that. A connection with another living being, full of unwavering devotion and love. That somewhere out there was a creature that longed to be with her and to enjoy the rest of its life by her side. She knew that in her core. The feeling of absolute joy and company should have been hers. For the longest time Lillian thought she was driving herself mad with jealousy, not understanding why she was so emotional. Her time at the Orphanage had taught her to be cold and unfeeling, to ignore everyone and everything that didn't care about her. Which was everyone. So why? Why was she feeling this way now?
She learned why when one morning she felt dead inside. Depression, or what she knew to be depression later in life, was nothing new to Lillian. Lillian Potter hadn't been raised in a home with a loving family, hadn't learned that she was magical at an early age and hadn't known the feeling of any sort of human warmth for years of her life. Though if Lillian was fair, she was certain that people even living in the midst of luxury could feel depression. That simply wasn't her experience. Feeling her stomach aching from hunger and having to fight off bullies who thought she was an easy mark, Lillian knew depression all too well as she often contemplated what being done with the empty void of a world she was born into would be like. Would it be an euphoric release of every ounce of her suffering as she embraced the possibility of an afterlife that would be a thousand times more welcoming than the life she was in? Or would it be a void of nothingness, a numb and senseless existence that would eat away at her conscious thought until she became one with the abyss? Lillian had delved into such dark and unpleasant thoughts before as she struggled to control the hopelessness of her youth with the rage she felt at the world. The feeling that she awoke in one Spring morning felt like she had suffered the latter thought experiment.
Food was unappetizing, the words of over a hundred children felt muffled in her ears as something felt utterly wrong with the world. Oddly enough, it was her wandering down the side of the Hogwarts Grounds to the side of Hagrid's Hut that revealed to her the truth. She could hear voices from the Hut, familiar, irritating and obnoxious voices that she learned to hate and revile within a week of knowing them. None of those voices mattered to her. It was the voice of the Half-Giant, filled with pain and remorse that drew her to the hut to listen in just beside the window. "Come now Hagrid, it was the best place for Norbert to be. How could Charlie have known that the little dragon would go crazy?" Hagrid blew into what Lillian hoped was a tissue. "You don't understand! Dragons don't behave like that for no reason. Norberta had to have had a reason to leave the Preserve. Something was calling her away and the Handlers didn't get it. They constantly tried to get her used to the other Norwegian Ridgebacks but she refused to be a part of their group. If she had stayed here, she would have been able to tell us why she wasn't feeling well."
Neville's voice soon followed. "Well, there is nothing to be done now, Hagrid. She's gone. All we can do is mourn her passing. Besides, I am sure you will find a creature to call your own one day. Like me and Hedwig." Hagrid took some time to respond. "That's unlikely, Neville. You and Hedwig have a Familiar bond. It's how she can always feel where you are and can tell what yerr thinking. It's all about magic, you see. Magic that flows from the wizard, or witch, to the familiar and back. No, I doubt I will ever get to experience that." Lillian's heart felt as if it had turned to glass as he described the connection between Neville and Hedwig. As Lillian stumbled her way back to the castle, the inside of her chest felt as if it was tearing itself apart, arcs of magic jumping across her finger tips. A Familiar. A Familiar that had magic flowing into and out of it from its owner. She remembered the day that Norbert, or was it Norberta now, was hatched. Hagrid had been kind enough to invite Lillian to his hut for the event. The little dragon hatchling had given Hagrid a taste of its flames before it's eyes fixed on her. Lillian had thought that it sensed that she was a Parselmouth and had been comforted by it somehow. The creature scampered to her side of the table and Lillian had caressed the creature's back, getting it to purr like a cat. That feeling had warmed her heart and stuck with her for days.
Had magic bound them together at that moment? Lillian closed her eyes as she reached the landing to the Dungeons and allowed herself to look inside. She felt her way through her magic for the odd dead feeling. The moment she touched it she was flooded with feelings. A yearning to be sent home, to be with her other half. A yearning to curl up and feel those soft and squishy fingers on her scales. Lillian shuddered visibly as she collapsed as she experienced something she would later learn was the death echo of a Familiar. "Miss Potter!" A careful hand lifted her up as black eyes stared into hers as tears covered her cheeks. "What has happened, Lily?" Lillian hated when Snape called her that. It felt like he wasn't talking to her but her mom. Right now, however, she didn't care. "I… think … I had a Familiar… and it died this morning." Snape's eyes widened as Lillian shuddered, her mind getting pulled into the death echo as her world started to collapse. She remembered hearing Snape trying to call her name but she couldn't respond. She was dead. She should be dead. Why was she alive? Why? For a brief moment she stared at glowing red eyes before her world faded to black.
-✦-
Lilith's lungs took in a deep breath as she awakened, her eyes feeling swollen and her cheeks covered in tears. The familiar ache of her body after an episode of magical backlash followed soon after, as her mind settled into the present, thoughts of a different life buried once again, where she hoped they would remain. Lilith personally doubted they would stay that way, but she could always hope. She knew she wasn't that fortunate. As she tried to move, her vision was covered by the face of an older woman, her grey hair still showing traces of the red that the Prewetts were famous for. "What time is it?" The woman smiled at her, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Six in the morning, dear." Lilith allowed the witch to scan her with her wand, before she sat up. Teresa Prewett, the current Head Healer of the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, sighed. "How many of these episodes have you had in school so far?" Lilith thought for a second. "This is my second, I think. First one was on the 1st of September." The Madam gave her a soft glare. "And you didn't come to me on the 1st… why?" Lilith cringed a little. "I didn't think the shift in the ambient magic would be high enough to matter, nor the magic I was using for wards. Guess I was wrong."
Teresa sighed as she pulled out her clipboard and started writing on a piece of parchment. "Well, I hope it goes without saying that I want you to take it easy and that on the next significant day, please report to the Hospital Wing. Now, as to what treatment we can provide you. Standard lotions and spells to reduce pain and backlash didn't seem to work last night. I would like to try a higher dose for the next time this happens. The higher dose will likely leave you lethargic in the morning, even with a flushing potion or Pepper Up. Are you willing to go through with it anyways?" Lilith sighed but nodded. "Sure." Pulling on her vest over her white shirt, followed by her robes, Lilith took the offered vials of Pepper Up to counteract last night's medications, grimacing at the taste. "You do know a cup of coffee works better, right?" The Healer chuckled. "I will be sure to have some ready for you next time, though with the way rationing is going on with the other imports, it is hard to say what supplies we can get. Now, if the higher dosage of medication fails, we will have a lot more to talk about before I can release you. For now, you are good to go, just keep your use of magic down as much as possible." Lilith muttered under her breath. "Tell that to Professor Dumbledore." Madam Prewett's eyes followed her as Lilith moved towards the main doors, before she stopped and looked at the sleeping figure on the bed, recognizing Prewett's aide.
"What happened to her?" Teresa moved up, looking at the sleeping form of her apprentice. "I am afraid that the experience was a bit much for Poppy here. Those who study to be Healers tend to be a bit empathic, a quirk of their magic. The pain that radiates off of you, plus your screams, were too much for her, I am afraid. She took a Dreamless Sleep potion and I called a Mind Healer to give her a look over later today." Lilith looked at the Chief Healer. "I am so sorry." Teresa placed her hand on Lilith's shoulder. "Now none of that. Whatever the source of your affliction may be, you are a patient and we will do what it takes to care for you. Poppy will be all the better a Healer from this experience, even if she won't see it for a while. There are far worse patients than you out there that we can't help and those moments will weigh on her mind just as much if not more so. Now go on and get some fresh air and then breakfast. The season won't be as kind soon enough." Lilith nodded and left the Hospital Wing for the Great Hall, her thoughts on the younger version of Lillian's Healer and the burden she was on her. The woman had been watching over her the days after the loss of her Familiar, though the reason as to why she was there was never spoken. Dumbledore didn't want to ruin Hogwarts reputation over the death of a Familiar to some orphaned girl, not when he had a Dark Lord to smoke out of hiding.
The Healer of Lillian's time had remained kind to her over the years, even as Lillian returned to her care, sporting injuries from the few Slytherins that continued to try and beat her down into submission, a situation that caused a great deal of concern from Madam Pomfrey and numerous arguments with both Severus Snape and the Headmaster. Dumbledore would call Lillian's scrapes nothing more than children playing a bit hard, but Lillian knew what rough play was. In order to prevent the bullying from continuing, Lillian had taken to learning how to Duel, requesting lessons from both her Head of House and from Professor Quirell. Both had eagerly taken her under their wing, teaching her all about the subtleties of rapid and silent casting. Quirell had been the better teacher of the two that first year, though he mostly focused on getting her stance and physicality right. Even at Hogwarts, Lillian's body had remained thin and nimble, despite the overabundance of food. She found the kids that stuffed themselves to the point of passing out not worth her interest. Her lessons eventually proved invaluable after her fourth year as she kept Slytherin in line, becoming the so-called Slytherin Princess. Though the term spread to the other houses, no one but the Slytherins understood what the term truly meant.
Lilith looked at her hands as she walked through the corridors, reliving the memories of the von Schwarzwald training sessions. She had hoped to do the same thing again within Slytherin, to keep the bullies under control and the King or Queen of Slytherin honest. Unfortunately, her inability to use magic freely made it far more difficult, though she wasn't a Slytherin for nothing. She would have to make do, placing wards all around the Common Room and making sure that the younger years remained safe in their beds. If Rosier was challenged, she had no doubt who would replace him. The question was less about the current potential rulers of Slytherin but the rightful Heir. She needed to prove to Tom that what Rosier was doing was wrong, that there were subtler and more effective means of exerting influence. As long as his legacy remained clouded, she could do that. The moment he became aware of his rightful place and used it to maneuver and manipulate his way to the top of the Slytherin pecking order, it would be too late. Lilith clenched her fist and made up her mind. If her actions in the defence of the Slytherins landed her in the infirmary again, then so be it. She had work to do.
-✦-
"Riddle, are you able to aid us with our Transfiguration assignment?" Riddle closed his notebook where he added the last locations he had searched on the third floor, before looking at Nott and Malfoy, trying to bury some of his annoyance. While he could be doing something better with his time, the two of them did pay him to help get their assignments up to Outstanding scores. If he wanted to be safe in the summer or afford an Inheritance Test from Gringotts, he needed the money and couldn't be too picky about what assignments he could help them with. "I am." As the two heirs sat down and took out their materials and Tom started to correct their assignments, the fringe benefit of his work started to pay off, as Abraxas wasn't known for keeping quiet while Riddle worked on their assignments. "According to my father, Lord Rosier is still trying to delay the vote on the censure. Every time that Lord Potter calls for it, Rosier manages to delay the vote by threatening to devote the other legislation up for consideration. Though his strategy failed with the attempt to keep the DMLE from increasing its available budget."
Heir Nott sighed and turned the page on his new parchment as he transcribed Tom's corrections in his own handwriting. "Which has been creating even further animosity between the Light and Dark Factions. Lord Longbottom has taken great issue with the attempt at defunding of the DMLE and has been trying to push bans for the use of certain spells as a counter offer. The man especially has it out for Lord Black." Malfoy shrugged. "Not much of a surprise, really. The man's still mad that Lord Black reneged on the agreements that had been negotiated for when Callidora Black married into the family. Though his questioning of Rosier did prove that several Old and Ancient European Families had declared Blood Feuds against Grindelwald and his allies. Few can act on them right now but Rosier's assertions that Grindelwald would unite the European Wizarding community ring false now." Nott chuckled. "Speaking of Blood Feuds, when do you think our Lion in Green will strike at the Deputy Headmaster? Von Schwarzwald looked ready to hex him after the last practical demonstration. I swear I thought she was about to cry after Dumbledore had her cast the spell with her wand."
Tom's mind stopped recording their gossip on Wizengamot matters when Lilith's name came up. The memory from the recent class was one that brought out conflicting feelings within Tom. On the one hand, Tom wanted to strangle Dumbledore and all the other students who laughed at Lilith. Like always, Lilith would complete the practical portion of the class slowly and diligently, without her wand, and leave it on her desk to be evaluated by the Professor as she redirected her attention to her books. The fact she could do the spell proved that she had mastered the lesson. But Dumbledore refused to leave her alone. He would arrive at the front of her desk and dispel her work before demanding that she do it again, this time with her wand. In the last class, Lilith actually did as he asked and Tom could see why she refused to use her wand. The Transfiguration of the rat into a hedgehog went as intended, but magic seemed to leak and coil around Lilith's wand. The man was decent enough to award her the full grade for that class, but the damage had been done. Tom was certain he alone noticed the drops of blood that landed on the desk from the edge of her sleeve before Lilith vanished them. She had vanished from sight for the rest of the day.
But what had struck Tom about the whole incident was the way Lilith looked at Dumbledore after that. What others assumed was Lilith struggling not to cry, Tom saw it as something else. That wasn't shame, injury or sadness on her face. It was rage. Pure, violent rage. He could admit that there was a time he felt that rage before. When he was in the Orphanage, one of the older boys that loved to bully everyone had found one of Tom's snakes. During many of the excursions to some more rural areas near the coast, Tom had sheltered a few of the coldblooded creatures within his shirt and taken them back to the Orphanage, both to spare them the cold of winter and to have some company. Yet this kid had managed to find one of them, who had been hunting for mice, and killed it without a second thought. Since some of the kids knew of his love of snakes, they literally tossed the mangled corpse in Tom's face. The sight of one of the snakes he had been happily talking to for weeks, dead and lifeless, as the boy responsible laughed at his misery was too much for Tom. He knew now that his magic had reacted to his feelings as the flames from the chimney flared and caught the boy's clothes on fire. For the longest time Tom enjoyed the sound of the kid's pain and agony, before exhaustion caused him to stop. The boy was taken to the hospital and lived, though he was horribly disfigured from the flames.
Tom would replay that memory in his mind over and over again, though it wasn't to relive the euphoria of causing the boy to suffer for his actions, though it was certainly a fringe benefit. It had been to understand just how close he came to taking a life. Would he have done it if he wasn't as weak as he had been magically? Would it have been a source of dread and remorse as the Priests often preached, a sin that needed to be forgiven by the will of a divine force? Or would it have been an extension of what he felt just before, the exhilaration of the power he wielded over all the kids who dared to call themselves his betters? Tom didn't know and there was a part of him that told him that it might not be worth finding out. He thought back at the murderous rage he saw in Lilith's eyes and wondered if the same thoughts and feelings dwelled within her mind. Did she fantasize and enjoy the idea of killing Dumbledore as Tom sometimes did, or did she bury the desire beneath shame and fear as so many others had done? Tom wasn't sure, but he was certain of one thing. He would love to know just how much alike Lilith and he were. Maybe they could be more than just classmates. Maybe… she could be a partner, one worth revealing more of himself to. Maybe… he wasn't alone.
-✦-
Lilith stood in one of the many corridors of the Hogwarts Library, looking over the selection of texts dealing with Defence Against the Dark Arts and seeing the differences in approach between Headmasters Dippet and Dumbledore. While the Dark Arts course had been changed into the Defence course sometime in the last century, which happened in Beauxbatons as well, Dippet clearly understood the importance of knowing the Dark Arts in order to fight them. While texts such as "Magick Moste Evile" weren't anywhere to be seen in the General Section, she had seen a copy in the Restricted Section when she inspected it using her Cloak. Yet, even in the General Selection, the options of Dark Arts texts were far more available now than she could remember in Hogwarts, even under Voldemort's reign. As Merrythought was currently going over the various shields that could be used to counter standard curses and jinxes, Lilith had thought this was as good a time as any to prove a point. Pulling out a book on Defensive Shields and another on the average jinxes and curses used by Dark Witches and Wizards, Lilith made her way to her usual table before she spotted several books moving rather quickly, a mop of dark brown, if not black hair right behind them.
Dropping her books onto the nearby table, Lilith moved to prevent the inevitable, as the boy took a turn and the books shifted. Catching several before they hit the floor, Lilith sighed as the little boy recovered his balance, familiar grey eyes looking at her with surprise. "Oh! Thank you, Fraulein von Schwarzwald!" Lilith gave Orion Black a genuine smile. "No problem at all, Herr Black. Where are you taking these to?" The boy pointed to a table with three other first years, several from prominent families. A young boy with brown hair reminded her very much of Tracey Davis with the way his smile always seemed a little playful, while the other boy with blonde hair made her think of the Greengrass family. If her memory served her well, the Davis and Greengrass families were old allies and neighbors, which made their constant companionship a forgone conclusion. The only girl at the table, however, had olive skin and piercing amber eyes, her dark black hair held together by a clip. Like Lilith, the young Alessia de Francesco from the town of Todi was a refugee of Grindelwald's war, her family deciding it was far too dangerous for her to stay in Italy. Something in her eyes made Lilith think of Blaise Zabini, which could mean this was his grandmother, the infamous Lady Zabini. Though Alessia's eyes seemed to show a harshness to her, there was something that Lilith knew all too well hiding just underneath. Fear of being left alone.
Placing the books on the table, Lilith bowed her head softly to the two boys. "Herr Greengrass, Herr Davis." The two bowed back as Lilith gave Alessia a knowing smile. " If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ask, Signorina de Francesco ." The young girl blushed at being addressed in Italian but nodded. "Grazie, Signora von Schwarzwald." Lilith looked over the books. "Studying for Potions?" The four kids nodded as Orion sat on the open chair. "The next potion is in pairs and we are worried about getting it right. According to Lucretia, it's a bit difficult for first years as we could get the ratios wrong." Lilith looked through her memories of first year. "Ah, the basic Sleeping Draught. If you get the ratios wrong, you could end up with something close to the Draught of Living Death. Quite the escalation. Would you like some help?" The four shrugged and Lilith took that as a yes. Looking over the books Orion selected, she pulled out two and went back into the book shelves, coming back with two more, her earlier selection of books underneath them. "The main difficulty in getting Dreamless Sleep right is how well you get the ingredients to dissolve and mix with the rest. First you need to make sure you are using a Pewter Cauldron and that it's properly cleaned on the inside. Then you need to prepare the ingredients in a way that gets the most out of them."
Lilith walked them through the preparation, with all four writing down notes. "If you use these methods, you should get your standard dose. Careful with the Wormwood. The higher the amount, the longer the person will be sleeping for." As the kids started storing their parchements away, Alessia looked at Lilith's books. "Dark Jinxes and Curses?" Lilith looked over and smiled. "Merrythought has us going over shield spells in fourth year. Some shields only hold up to certain spells. I want my assignment to be accurate. The writer of this book was a Champion of the Dueling Circuits. She had a good grasp of which shields worked against what curses, especially when you consider differences in power from overcharged spells." Alessia nodded. "Papa is one of the ICW Peacekeepers. I remember him and Uncle practicing a lot of nasty spells. Aunty and Mama weren't happy when they came back covered in injuries." Lilith chuckled. "I can imagine, but it's good to practice with the real thing, or spells that behave similarly. Not every spell is as fast or as effective as a stunner." As Lilith helped the store the books away, the young Greengrass boy came up to her. "Why did you help us? We can't be that useful, especially with what's happening with Rosier."
Shaking her head, Lilith replied, being aware that the other three were listening close by. "If I could, you four would have nothing to do with the schwine. As for helping you, I did it because I could, not because it would benefit me necessarily. Besides…" Lilith's eyes dulled for a moment as she remembered her first year at Hogwarts, and the betrayals she endured. Her eyes regained some of their usual light as she returned to the moment. "... I would have wanted friends and classmates that helped me out when I was younger. Going it alone isn't easy, especially when you have no idea how the world might end up. Slytherin is at a difficult time now and you four need to look after each other and the rest, before things get worse with Rosier." The young boy looked at her with surprise before he bowed his head and rushed away, the other three following close behind. Lilith sighed, slipping the last two books into place in the Library, before going to Madam Bulstrude to check out the two books from earlier. As she stepped out of the Library, she spied a few of Rosier's friends eyeing her. By the time they turned the next corner, Lilith was gone, having vanished beneath the cover of her Invisibility Cloak.