Chapter 248. Paris Catacombs. Part 4. Amorphensia and Return.
Amorphensia was one of the most poisonous plants in the world.
The flower resembled a rose, only slightly larger, with translucent petals that gave off a warm violet glow. That light illuminated the entire lower half of the cave, allowing the group to move through it without fear of tripping or stepping on anything unexpected.
The most poisonous part of the plant was not the strange gas or the petals, but the seeds hidden at its center. Swallowing even a single millimeter-sized seed could send a Grand Archimagus to the grave if they failed to take an antidote in time, or lacked strong immunity, a rarity at that level of power.
The flower was often used in poisons to increase lethality and add to the victim's suffering, but with proper processing, it wasn't hard to eliminate that effect, leaving only the poisonous base that Severus needed for the potion.
Finding Amorphensia in these dense jungles wasn't particularly difficult; besides being a source of light, it could be spotted at every turn.
But Severus decided not to stop there. Instead, he ventured deeper into the cave to examine the other herbs growing there and observe how they had changed under the flower's influence.
Amorphensia had one unfortunate trait: parasitism. Any herbs planted nearby would transform to resemble it, yet they didn't lose their original properties; they simply became poisonous and began sharing their nutrients and magic with the Amorphensia, while their own growth ceased.
As he had learned from Flamel, the old alchemist loved conducting experiments by planting various herbs here, both common and poisonous, and returning after some time to see what they had become.
These very thickets, which had turned the Amorphensia field into nearly impenetrable jungles, were his handiwork.
That was precisely why every plant in this place had violet hues.
The source of this "feature" lay in the buds on the roots, or more precisely, in certain magical parasites living inside them. The parasites were completely harmless to humans, but it took hundreds or even thousands of years for them to develop in such a weak magical environment. Severus hadn't studied this field in depth before, so he couldn't say for certain.
For this reason, Severus wasn't worried; he held no interest for this flower. Besides, its main weakness, like that of other plants, was fire, and it would take a wizard only a fraction of a second to reduce this place to a scorched wasteland.
The jungles themselves were not especially large. In just a few minutes of walking in a straight line, they reached the highest and most lush point: a tree over ten meters tall with a remarkably thick trunk, comparable to a column. Its violet foliage had many sharp edges and resembled holly, the kind of shrub or tree typically used for wand-making or home decoration.
"This… is amazing!" Flamel exclaimed in awe, studying the tree he had planted at the start of the century as an experiment. He had never expected simple holly to turn into this. "When I planted it, I was prepared to see an ordinary shrub, but… not this…"
"There's nothing surprising about it. On the way here, I told you nearly everything I know about this plant, but there was something I left out." Noticing the old man's intrigued look and his wife's equally curious gaze, Severus pointed at the tree, or more precisely, at one of the branches to the left. At the sight of it, the wizards' eyes nearly popped from their heads: black scorch marks were clearly visible on a couple of leaves and on the tip of that very branch.
"Do you mean to say…?"
"Exactly. This tree can move, and that trail," he said, pointing to the trampled grass, "came from it." At this, Perenelle tensed at once and stepped closer to her husband, drawing her wand. "Usually, Amorphensia doesn't allow other plants to grow on its territory at all. But trees are the exception — once it takes them over, it helps them grow to a certain size, then uses them as protectors."
"Calm down, dear," Nicholas said gently, patting her shoulder, his expression returning to its usual serenity. "I assume that if we don't attack it, it won't attack us, and that's why you asked us to proceed carefully." It was more statement than question. Severus nodded slightly and turned back to the tree.
"That's right. But the moment I pluck even a single flower, hundreds of roots will burst from the ground and try to impale me.
"The roots of Amorphensia are incredibly sharp. They can pierce straight through solid rock, and even Protego won't save you from that kind of barrage." The elderly wizard felt cold sweat break out on his back as he remembered how he'd once plucked a couple of them himself. "But then, why…?"
"You brought them all sorts of plants every few decades, plants they could use for their own development. That's why you stayed alive. You were simply lucky." Perenelle's face went pale at the realization that they could have died at any moment had it not been for Nicholas's foolish experiments. "Their 'intelligence,' if you can even call it that, is roughly on par with animal instinct. You harm them, they harm you. You help them, they turn a blind eye to certain things and treat you more leniently," Severus explained calmly as a plant resembling nettle appeared in his hand. He scooped up a small patch of earth, set the plant into the hole, and covered it back up. *If you know how to care for a plant like this properly, you can grow an incredibly powerful ally. But that will take at least a hundred years, and it's unlikely to help me in the coming battle. Still, for the future...* With that, a dozen or so different herbs materialized around Severus and flew off in all directions.
"You're trying to earn their trust," the elderly wizard guessed at once, watching as Severus bent down to one of the Amorphensia flowers and plucked it without uprooting it completely, leaving a short stem above the ground. "Correct. It's the simplest way to preserve all of them, and I can always destroy this place if something goes wrong." A vial of red liquid appeared in Severus's hand, and he poured it over the stem. "General Restorative Potion; it should help speed up regeneration," he explained calmly, feeling two curious gazes on him.
Tucking the empty vial into his pouch, Severus looked at the final ingredient with a gleam in his eye, a tremulous excitement stirring deep in his soul. He had finally gathered all the necessary herbs. He could begin brewing the potion.
"I see. And how do you plan to take them all with you?" Nicholas asked with a mocking smile, reminding him of his earlier words.
"For now, I can't. First I need to create a suitable artifact, and for that I'll need resources from the magical market, and not the simple kind either." He placed the ingredient into a small box, bent down, plucked another flower, and poured the potion over the stem again. "Most likely I'll need golden sand, white reagent, and..." He frowned slightly and shook his head. "A simple alchemical diamond won't be enough here. I'll need to think of a more suitable core..."
"I believe I may have something in my collection." Catching Severus's interested glance, Flamel went on thoughtfully, "Several centuries ago, I was trying to create an indestructible crystal that I could use as a repository for magic. I never finished it. I found a more suitable crystal at auction and shelved the project to pursue more important matters."
"Then I won't be modest. I'll gladly take a look." Severus accepted the offer without missing a beat. He had far more important things to do than scour the market for the right crystal, and since Flamel himself had offered, it would have been foolish to refuse.
"Then I suggest we head back."
"I agree, though it's a shame Apparition doesn't work down here," Severus sighed wearily, knowing they'd have to leave these caves on foot thanks to the anti-Apparition charms established by the French Ministry of Magic.
"Can't wait to get to work, I see." The alchemist nodded in understanding.
And Flamel was right. At that moment, Severus wanted nothing more than to return to the hotel as quickly as possible, to begin preparing for the ritual, and to share this wonderful news with Nagini…
The return journey, unsurprisingly, took a little longer than the descent. Flamel and Perenelle had to renew the charms they'd cast, and Severus helped strengthen them to keep Muggles from accidentally wandering inside again. He also cast his own invention, magic-repelling charms, over the area, not wanting a repeat of the incident with the Amorphensia.
When they finally reached the surface and headed for the exit, they ran into a considerable number of Muggles strolling through this "kingdom of death." The fact that people could walk through such a place with happy smiles, admiring human remains, left Severus with many questions about their mental state.
But the very Muggles who had created this "miracle" of art raised even more questions.
Even the sight of a beaten dark-wizard fighter at the exit of the little green house no longer particularly surprised the three of them. It caused only a moment's bewilderment, nothing more.
After putting some distance between themselves and the crowd of Muggles, they said their goodbyes, agreeing to meet again in a week, when Severus would have finished brewing the potion. And so they went their separate ways…
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