Dangerous light glinted in Snape's dark, hollow eyes. He said softly, "Pardon me, I must have misheard. Would you care to repeat yourself?"
"Alright, fine," Anthony said, setting down the crystal vial, still unable to suppress a smile. "My original thought was to try and introduce a little Necromancy into the mix. To act as the so-called 'half-dead curse' or the completely dead one. But clearly, that isn't going to work." He paused, waiting for Snape to look down his nose and pontificate.
But Snape only said, "Go on."
Anthony said, "Since the effect fades upon cooling, I assume you've already tried reheating it…" He glanced inquiringly at Snape and received an impatient nod, "…as well as every other method known to make anyone who drinks it wish they were dead. But see, Necromancy is essentially a ready-made curse. I suppose that's why Professor Dumbledore thought I might be of some use. Speaking of which, how many animal corpses are in your potion ingredients?"
Snape's lip curled in disgust at the phrasing. He answered sullenly, "Predominantly, it is the eel genus, unicorn horn, and bat wings. Some variants add dragon's blood, stonefish vertebrae, or Murtlap tentacle juice."
Anthony decided it was best not to ask how Snape had come up with these particular combinations. Meanwhile, he couldn't stop picturing some truly horrific soups.
"Alright…" He considered it. "How many combinations have you tried?"
Snape gave a curt jerk of his head toward the potion storage cabinet in the corner. "One hundred and forty-two." Somehow, Anthony detected a sliver of smug pride in the dry tone.
"Wow," Anthony said. He stood and walked over to the small cabinet.
It held crystal vials of various sizes. Some shimmered with a silvery-white light like a new moon. Others clung thick and sticky to the glass, glowing an ominous blue-purple. Anthony even spotted a pale brown bottle containing not a liquid, but a swirling column of black smoke. A label on the wooden cabinet door read simply: 'Unicorn'.
"What's that?" Anthony asked, pointing to a rather large bottle in the corner. The liquid inside reflected a strange, metallic black-green.
Snape said impatiently, "If you are merely here to point at the failed experiments due to your lack of…" He saw which bottle Anthony was indicating, and his words faltered.
Anthony explained, "I can sense a bit of Necromancy in that one."
"Basilisk venom and unicorn blood," Snape said reluctantly. "True unicorn blood."
"Why?" Anthony asked, surprised.
What he really wanted to ask was where Snape had gotten unicorn blood. But then he immediately remembered: Snape was, after all, a Potions Master, Hogwarts' Potions professor, not to mention what those pure-blood Slytherin students might bring him. He undoubtedly had ways to acquire things that would make the Ministry scream.
"Basilisk venom has a reputation for being able to curse any curse," Snape drawled, his tone heavy with implication.
"Wait, so you wanted to use the basilisk's curse to curse the unicorn's curse?" Anthony shook his head. "Merlin, that's a mouthful. If I recall correctly, I heard you weren't in favour of Professor Lockhart's treatment plan for Mr. Malfoy?"
Snape clearly understood the reference. He sneered. "A very flawed analogy, Anthony. No one has yet found a remedy for unicorn blood. But there is a confirmed, concrete treatment for basilisk venom."
"What is it?" Anthony asked, curious.
Snape made no effort to hide his disgust at Anthony's lack of potion knowledge.
"Have you heard of phoenix tears, Anthony?"
Anthony carefully buried the mental image of Snape strangling Fawkes and admitted honestly, "No."
"I am not surprised," Snape said mockingly. "Had you ever read that paper on the comparison between unicorn blood and phoenix tears… Phoenix tears possess a reputation for healing all things, Anthony. A little thought would suggest that might include a basilisk's bite."
"But Professor Flitwick said…" Anthony trailed off, trying to recall if Flitwick, when lecturing on poisons that corrupt the soul, had said 'incurable' or merely 'exceptionally difficult to cure'. He finally shrugged. "Never mind. You're the Potions professor."
"Precisely," Snape said icily, his tone laced with a strange satisfaction.
"So then," Anthony said, bending to look closely at the one potion that gave off the faint resonance of Necromancy, "why is this one a failure?"
Snape feigned shock. "I don't know, I would have thought it was obvious from the colour, Professor Anthony?"
Anthony looked at the black-green liquid and was momentarily speechless.
"You know that's not what I meant, Snape," Anthony said. "I'm asking what aspect of it failed, aside from the colour," he added hastily.
"Likely for the same reason you can sense your little… magical trick," Snape said, seeming annoyed as he made the reluctant admission. "The basilisk's curse is too potent. It even neutralised the part of the unicorn blood that sustains life."
"Did you try diluting the… right, forget I asked." Anthony shook his head. Snape was giving him that look again, the one that wished for a 'T' grade.
Anthony couldn't help but recall Flitwick's argument about basilisk venom corrupting the soul.
"The basilisk's curse may be too strong," Anthony repeated thoughtfully. "What about the material that mimics basilisk venom, then? An extract from seven species of venomous snakes, or something like that?"
If Snape was surprised Anthony knew about basilisk-venom simulants, he didn't show it.
"That was an avenue of failure," Snape said. "It has been conclusively demonstrated to possess no curse-breaking properties."
"But it does reliably make someone more… half-dead," Anthony pressed. "I'm just wondering what would happen. Would the unicorn blood's healing properties be weakened by the snake venom?"
Snape's dark eyes fixed on the vial containing the mixture of basilisk venom and unicorn blood. He answered slowly, "In any case, attempting to combine unicorn blood with snake venom can only ever…"
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