Chapter 10: Living Twice

Author's Note: Story depicted may be unpalatable to sensitive readers for its portrayal of Hermione and Ron's relationship. Hermione may also not be likeable to readers. Some readers might consider the characters a little OOC. Some organisations and Ministry of Magic departments are made-up.

It would help readers following this chapter especially to view it as a 'cinematic' experience whereby there are shifts in perspectives, as well as shifts between flashbacks, the past, the present, dreams and reality within the space of one chapter.

Footnotes follow chapter.

Emphasises are italicised and book titles are underlined.

From the Blood of the Gorgon

Chapter 10 – Living Twice

Two hours. It had been two hours since Severus took the potion and locked the door to his bedroom. It had been two hours since he downed the silvery mauve brew and dropped the glass. It had been two hours since he staggered to his bedroom and locked himself in. Make that two hours and one minute, Hermione mused while pacing in the living room of his Canary Wharf flat. Aside from the fact that she was attempting to set a record for the wearing down of floorboards, Hermione was worried. Would the potion work? As far as she knew, the counter-curse potion was untried and untested. Would the potion have any side-effects? Or would it kill him instead? Would it successfully remove the curse of the dark prima materia in Nagini's venom? Would all the ingredients in the potion work as they ought? Was the Mount Tai in Northeastern China from the waters were procured the right one? Did its waters really have restorative properties? These were the thoughts running through Hermione's mind as she waited for a sign – any sign that Severus was still alive, that the potion was taking effect, that they had not royally screwed up. In a bid to calm herself, she sat down and reviewed the events leading up to these two hours of agonising silence.

A fortnight ago, after Ron stormed out of her flat with a string of utterly false accusations, Hermione and Severus initiated their plans to conduct as much research as possible in the potion that the ancient Chinese wizarding historians claimed Empress Hsi used to remove a similar dark curse from her daughter. The herbs, which Hermione easily found in a Chinese wizarding apothecary at Covent Garden were famed for their neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, anti-parasitic, life-prolonging qualities, as well their ability to undo the neuronal cell dysfunction and cell deterioration caused by dark magic even in the western wizarding world. Hermione found it striking that in contrast to the western world where Muggles were kept in ignorance of their magical counterparts, Muggles in China, though wary of their wizarding brethren, lived fairly peacefully alongside witches and wizards. As the owner of the Covent Garden apothecary informed her, relations between Muggles and wizards in China had traditionally been harmonious. Many wizards and witches were ancient Chinese emperors and empresses, and they instituted policies of integration whereby both Muggles and wizards would learn each other's ways. As an upshot, wizards in China adopted their Muggle counterparts' habit of doing most of their activities manually instead of magically so as to minimise misuse of magic. Likewise, Chinese Muggles came to adopt wizarding method of brewing potions (which they called medicines) as a form of healing. Indeed, all of the herbs she picked up from the apothecary were introduced to the ancient Chinese Muggles by wizards.

"Perhaps we should be a taking a leaf out of the book of the ancient Chinese wizards and Muggles," Hermione reflected as she trained her eyes on the book shelves in Severus's living room.

Two hours and five minutes, and he was still locked in his bedroom. She shook her head and sighed. "If only I had known about the properties of these various herbs earlier, I could have alleviated his suffering. After all, I know his symptoms and I know what went into the brew he used to starve off the dark prima materia in Nagini's venom. I know what side effects to treat, and it would be a matter of time before I discovered these herbs," she thought with a rueful sigh. If she had known about these, she could have been cognisant as to their uses and their properties, and she would not have had to read the book on curses before coming upon the recipe.

Come to think of it, it was strange that she should have noticed the series on curses at the bookshop when she had never noticed them before. It was also strange, and somewhat eerie that the series had previously been owned by Albus Dumbledore's father. Yet in spite of that, the books had not been inherited by Albus Dumbledore, otherwise they would have been donated to the Dumbledore Collection in the wizarding section of the British Library. Even stranger yet was the fact that the books had been written by one Cotefredus Agilolfing, who was a Merovingian Dukes of Alamannia. More startling was the fact that Agilolfing was not just any Merovingian Duke, but one who ruled the historical territory of Bavaria on behalf of his Frankish overlord.

Hermione could not help but wonder – Was it a coincidence that the books on curses had been owned by Albus Dumbledore's father, or was it fate? Was it a coincidence that Albus Dumbledore was distantly related to the Merovingian Dukes of Alamannia, or was it fate? Was it a coincidence that Albus Dumbledore sent Severus Snape to these Agilolfings, or was it fate? Was it coincidence that the Agilolfings of Bavaria, descendants of the Merovingian Dukes of Alamannia, had looked after Severus after his escape from death at Nagini's fangs and the effects of his potion turned him to a child, or was it fate? Was it coincidence that Severus's potion to counter the poison and the dark magic in Nagini's venom turned back time for him and reduced him to a child, or was it fate? Was it a coincidence that Severus had taken up law in this new life to make himself, or was it fate? Was it a coincidence that he had been despatched as a pupil to her legal Chambers, or was it fate? Was it a coincidence that she had been having the dreams of his dodgy death, or was it fate? Was she perhaps fated to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of his body from the Shrieking Shack in the aftermath of the war against Voldemort?

"Perhaps it is fate. Perhaps it was all fate," she mused wryly, crossing and uncrossing her legs in nervous trepidation.

Two hours and eleven minutes, and he still gave indication of coming out of his room. She took the opportunity to review the various constituents used in the potion recommended by Cotefredus Agilolfing's Curses III to ease the throbbing of her heart in her ears as she waited for some sign from Severus that he was all right. The recipe, which she had remembered by heart, called for cordycep sinesis, mulberries, crushed betel nut sap, essence of bracket fungus, powdered dragonfly wings, the waters from the Turquoise pond of Mount Tai, the nectar of the Peach of Immortality from Mount Tai, and the powdered red jade that was naturally mirrored immortality. She and Severus had spent a week deciphering the notes on the various ingredients, consulting ancient Chinese texts with the aid of translation charms for hints as to what the modern day identity of the more obscure ingredients. It took them a week to gather all the ingredients in between juggling work at Chambers, and the courts. It took them another week to brew three vats of the potion. Hermione looked up at the clock anxiously and thence to his door. He still did not emerge. She hoped the potion would work the way it was supposed to. After all, every single one of the ingredients served to purge the body of both the dark prima materia by permanently neutralising its toxic effects.

Cordyceps sinensis, she knew, was an ascomycete fungi highly valued by both Chinese Muggles and wizards alike because of the medicinal properties of its dried mycelium. Better known as the caterpillar fungus or the vegetable worm for its ability to paralyse and kill the said creatures before causing stroma to sprout near their heads, the cordyceps sinensis while unremarkable on its own, gains all of its magical biochemical qualities after ingestion by caterpillars of the hepialid moths and vegetable worms. Hermione found it rather illuminating that the cordycep sinesis would only be useful after its mycelium had gone through the intestinal tract and overwhelmed the caterpillars' and worms' body cavities, for the digestive enzymes of these larvae would combine with the secretions of the cordycep's mycelium to reduce an anti-toxin biochemical that would suppress the human immune system from fighting the foreign intrusion of magic in the body thereby allowing the healing properties of both the cordyceps and the other ingredients to perform their tasks. That was one of the magical properties of the cordyceps – as evidenced by its ability to course through the body of the unfortunate caterpillar or worm, so will it heal the human body by pulsing the magical curative effects of the potion throughout the human body.

As with the examples of the caterpillars and worms that sprout finger-like stroma near their heads when they die from their body's inability to breakdown the resultant magical biochemical anti-toxin, a concoction with cordycep would work to expel the negative effects of any poison in the consumer's bloodstream. Indeed, as Hermione's initial experiments with cordyceps and mulberry demonstrated, the secretions of the fungal mycelium of the cordycep would result in the mulberry's production of resveratrol, which in turn facilitated the production of anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-flammatory and neuro-protective chemicals that would protect the human body from external bacterial and/or viral threats while the potion performed its restorative and curative functions. One of the functions of mulberry resveratrol observed by Hermione was its ability to inhibit the spread of neuronal cell dysfunction and cell death often caused by dark magic. She smiled thinly to herself at the things one always managed to learn when picking up the cauldron again.

Looking up at the clock, she found that two hours and seventeen minutes had passed, and he persisted in remaining in his room. Had she not promised him that she would allow the potion to take its effect in the privacy of his room, she would have sat with him and watched over him. As it was, she was left fretting over his fate in the living room. What if the potion was killing him instead of restoring him to health? No, she would not allow herself to contemplate such bleak thoughts. She had used the bracket fungus, which had been dubbed 'mushroom of immortality' by Tibetan wizards, who wrote of the fungus' ability to restoring the natural balance of the body without any unfavourable side-effects. Its immonomodulatory properties would contribute to the protecting and purging the liver of dark prima materia aggregation. She had devoted much of nights by repeatedly simmering and double-boiling it prior to decocting its essence so as to milk it if all its immounotherapeutic qualities.

Furthermore, the alkaloids in the betel nut sap would have worked in tandem with the bracket fungus essence in purging the dark prima materia from his body. As an added precaution, she had overridden Severus's initial objection to the inclusion of powdered dragonfly's wings. It may have been optional to the ancient Chinese who brewed this, but where Hermione was concerned, its inclusion could make a difference as to whether he lay in bed and grimaced in pain or writhed about the floor in excruciating agony. Calling up all the innate bossiness that was in her, she insisted on following the potion's recipe in adding powdered dragonfly wings to alleviate the pain that may be induced by the warring expurgatory properties of the counter-potion and the dark magic of Nagini's venom. Hopefully, when the pain of the curative process became too much for Severus, the powdered dragonfly wings in the concoction would imbue him with courage and strength. "Even if it could help him just a little, I would be happy," she told herself as she wearily flopped herself face down into the sofa.

A night of watching the potion softly simmering, and a fortnight of running around Diagon Alley, the wizarding Embassy of China, her solicitor's chambers, Crown Court, constant Apparation to far flung places, research and discussions with Severus had taken a toll on her and she realised belatedly she was weary. She glanced at the clock again and noted two hours and forty-two minutes passed. There was still neither sign of life nor smell of death coming from Severus's room. She turned around on the sofa to lie in a more comfortable position. In her eagerness to concoct a counter to that which was ailing Severus, she had allowed her obsessive workaholic streak to rear its ugly head. It was only now that she stopped fussing about with papers, court cases, law briefs, potions and whatnot that she realised she had pushed herself beyond the limit of her body. Verily, she had forgotten how tired she was. If it was not for the present indeterminable period of waiting on this Saturday afternoon where Severus was locked in bedroom likely hovering between life and death upon consuming an untested potion, she would not have felt so bone-weary.

Inactivity after long bursts of bustling always left her drained, and for the moment, Hermione was physically and mentally exhausted. What would happen if the potion succeeded in carrying out its intended purpose? Would she and Severus still have their working camaraderie they previously had as Head of Chambers and pupil? Would things be awkward between them because she was the only person who knew the truth behind Perseuss von Bastiae and Severus Snape? What if the worst should happen and the potion failed? He would die and that would be the end of it. Yet strangely enough, she did not want him to die. She sighed and closed her eyes. She did not know, and was too worn-out to consider these matters. She only knew she had grown quite attached to him. Somehow, she felt that being in his company was akin to being in the company with a kindred spirit who shared her tastes, beliefs, work ethics, and who understood her well enough to know when she wanted to be left alone and when she needed someone to talk to. She would not think on it, not now when she could not think straight. For the moment, there was nothing she could do but close her mind to idle speculation for a short while and rest.

* * *

"Every constituent in the potion had been tinctured, decocted and tested, save for the problematic components from the Peach of Immortality, the supposedly mystical waters of the Turquoise Lake of Mount Tai, and the powdered blood jade, if you think obtaining those things are simple, then you do it. I haven't the time today, I have to lead Lee again in Court Number Three in a murder by wizard's duel in half an hour," Hermione heard herself articulate sharply.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring at Severus who was seated beside her on a bench on the roof gardens above the courts. Wasn't she at his flat a moment ago waiting to see if their potion had worked? No, she must have slipped into a day dream. She was here at work, and there were tens of hundreds of things to do. But first she had to turn to the matter currently demanding all her attention. "Of those three items, we only have the blood jade, and even then, we do if it is naturally in the shape that it is," she said lowly, leaning her head forward. "I know the piece of red jadeite ankh is a representation of mirrored immortality, but can we be certain of its properties?"

"Well, Miss Granger," replied the pupil in a considering tone. "I already told you last week. That wretched old goat had given the blood jade to me as a portkey. This portkey, if you recall, is the very same portkey that sent me to Bavaria; my adoptive father has confirmed it. He bought it for the old goat in the old days when he met him on his Grand Tour. That infernal goat always enjoyed collecting magical artefacts steeped in symbolism. Did you think all the contraptions in his office were objets d'art?"

Hermione removed the horsehair wig from her head and steepled her hands at her lips. "Very well, seeing that is our only alternative, we shall have one of the jewellers in Diagon Alley appraise its magical value before grinding it."

"I have already done so," he remarked matter-of-factly, producing a slip of paper from his file and handing it to her.

"When did you..."

"I had my friend, Heinrich do so. As a student of advanced charms in the University of London he is the most suited to this task. Besides, he has a part-time job with Moira Stones and Gems Emporium. Full appraisal with none of questions and no charge." He shrugged delicately, curling his lips into a knowing smirk at his prospective employer.

His words drew a raised brow of astonished pleasure from his Head of Chambers as she read the appraisal. "95% magical, ability to ward off evil 78.8%, resistant to corrosion 87.5%, absorption off unguarded spells to wearer 98.8%, absorption of spells already cast on wearer 90%," she read aloud. "This is better than I expected. Now, about the waters from the Turquoise Lake and the Peaches of Immortality – I spoke to Warrington who has recommended a Chinese translator from the wizarding embassy of China to accompany me to Mount Tai."

Severus coughed and looked sideways at Hermione.

"What is it?" she asked, mocking his cough by cocking her head to one side.

"Kiss me, hard on the mouth," he deadpanned.

Her eyes flickered up briefly in incredulity. Mastering her first instinct to jinx him, she settled for rolling her eyes at his poor attempt at a joke. "Why should I?"

"The collection of the waters from the Turquoise Lake of Mount Tai may prove to be a simpler task than you anticipated," he began, taking three very large vials from his bag and placing it in the space between them.

"Is that..."

"Yes."

"When did you..."

"Last night. I Apparated to the place after finding a picture book of the place at W. H. Smith. The Taoist priestess at the Temple of the White Cranes and Scarlet Phoenixes was most helpful." He curled his lips into a catlike smile.

"Properities?"

"Soul cleansing, binding reagent and best suited to drawing out the spiritual potency of Ganoderma lucidum," he stated quietly, watching her disinterested expression intently.

"You are brilliant and resourceful! I have a good mind to keep you when your pupillage period is up," came Hermione's clipped reply.

"You had better," he muttered with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. The smile however died as quickly as it had surfaced. "The Peaches of Immortality however..."

"They weren't..."

"Not in season according to the priestess at the temple," he drawled in a deliberately quiet manner, masking his own disappointment. "It is expected to bear fruit in another four hundred and seventy-seven years."

"What?" gasped Hermione as she adjusted her cotton tab collar in disbelief.

"Apparently," he answered dispassionately as he consulted the contents of his file. "The tree puts forth leaves once every thousand years, and only bears fruit once every three thousand years. For best results, the fruit must be cut with a gold scythe."

"Bugger it!" she made a face and curled her lips contemptuously while tightly twisting the fabric of her silk gown in her hands. "How are we to extract the nectar from the stone of the peaches then?"

"That I do not know. I was told however the stones from the peaches are apparently sold in speciality markets."

"Any fool can pass off the stone of any old peach as belonging to the so-called Peaches of Immortality. Why do they even call it peach of immortality? It only purges the system of toxins and allows the subject to live a little longer!" commented Hermione irritably, as she clicked at her propelling pen.

"Exaggeration is part of human nature," he said silkily. "I am going to make a suggestion and you will not like it."

"Which is?" she waved a hand in an invitation for him to speak.

"We kidnap one of the goats from the Temple of the White Cranes and Scarlet Phoenixes; they are known to be notoriously old because the priestess feeds them the peaches," he said, studying the contents of his file with a show of great interest. "Since these goats swallow the peaches whole with the stones, it is likely that the stones may still be in the stomach. If they remain in the stomach, they become what we commonly know as..."

"The bezoars, from which we may extract the nectar of the peaches," she said, with a nod, realisation dawning on her. "Why kidnap the goat? Offer to buy one from the priestess and be done with it."

"I did. My offer was refused," he said smoothly without looking up from his papers.

"Bloody Bollocks!" Hermione tapped a finger on her cheek in thought. The quirking a brow in interest, she continued, "We are not going to steal a goat. We either go there give the goat an emetic, make it expel a bezoar or two or four or seven, or we try to find the most exotic, most high quality, most potent bezoar on the market in Chinatown."

"Ah well, you know..." he said with an odd twisted smile.

"There it is again." She pointed a finger at him. "Whenever a barrister goes 'Ah well, you know', it invariably means he has been pulling the leg of his learned friend. Please put me out of any further anxiety and tell me you have the blasted bezoar from the goat that is actually the stone from the peach of immortality?"

His thin mouth curled into a slightly mocking smile as he replaced the wig on Hermione's head. "Half an hour has gone by. You're due back downstairs."

Rolling her eyes, she drew herself up to her full height, her gown rippling in the cold breeze. "At least, let me know you have it lest I start bleating before everyone," she said, taking a step away from him.

"I have extracted several peach stones from the goats' intestinal tracts, with permission from the priestess, of course, and will begin the distillation process when I get my chap bail."

"Word of advice, Severus – never waste an effort at bail if it has already been denied twice," she said, moving off.

"Ah, but I have a way with messy domestic situations!" There was almost a laughing quality in his voice that Hermione would not have recognised in the potions master she knew at Hogwarts. He was so visibly different as Perseuss von Bastiae that had she not recognised his habits, she would not have known him for Severus Snape. The difference lay not only in his physically youthful looks, but also his outlook. Where he was previous always ready for attack and expecting to be attacked from every corner never relaxing under any environment or circumstance, he was now behaving in a fairly relaxed manner with her. Hermione attributed this to the different upbringing he had this time around with the Merovingian family. Where he once had to insulate himself from his parents violent and unpredictable outbursts by withdrawing inwards and never relaxing his guard, his upbringing with the Merovingians meant that he was now fully able to trust and no longer hypervigilant.

"Yes, yes, suit yourself," Hermione laughed. "Don't come crying to me if your boy's denied bail. See you later then."

"My place tonight? Half past sevenish?" He looked at her with something that could pass for uncertainty in his eyes. "We can run tests on the distilled nectar, and I will be cooking – my adoptive mother's recipe for spätzle."

"Right." She nodded, opening the door to stairwell before turning her professional face to him. "We might as well start with decocting the bracket fungus. Later, my young apprentice!"

* * *

She must have fallen down the steps for Hermione could not quite recall what happened next, or who rescued her or whether she had sprained her ankle. All she knew was that she was lying on something soft. Strange, she mused, I thought I was at court.

"Heus, hues, furcifer, iamdudum irraucesco clamore nec tu tamen expergisceris?" a voice murmured almost playfully.

"Good heavens!" exclaimed Hermione, finally realising where she was and sat up. She was more than a little relieved to see Severus near her. "I was mentally reviewing the brew, then I fell asleep and dreamt... never mind what I dreamt." Her hand flew to cover her mouth, suddenly remembering what she had been doing prior to her fatigue induced slumber. She had been at the Canary Wharf flat of her Chambers' pupil. "The potion! Did it work?" She grasped his chin and inspected his neck. "No wound, that is good, I suppose. Was the dark prima materia neutralised and purged?"

"In the spittoon." He indicated with a jerk of his head. "Even I do not know whether it was a success. Only time can tell. Worse comes to worse, we have twenty bottles of the vile brew. I can always take it again. If it does not work, then it's back to the elixir of life and the other concoction."

His expression belied the depressing train of thoughts of his words and she did not like it. So, she brought the conversation back to that which wanted to know. "Your memories, are they..."

"They're all back, unfortunately," he replied quietly with a grimace. "There are some things I rather not remember, but they are all back."

Hermione curled up with her knees tucked close to her chest and looked him in the eyes. "What will you do now? Go back to being Severus Snape? Wizarding Britain would have to know, and given the bureaucratic machinery, I am uncertain whether they will buy into your story of turning back time for yourself to reduce the rate at which the dark prima materia in Nagini's venom would have killed you. Then there is the other can of worms of assuaging the fears of the wizarding community that Severus Snape, truculent and acerbic greasy bat extraordinaire of Hogwarts is back. Or you could keep everyone in the dark, Oblivate me or cast a memory altering charm on me, and go back to being the twenty-five year old Perseuss von Bastiae. Which is it to be?"

"Do you know what I think?" A muscle twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"Is that a rhetorical question or a question to which you alone know the answer, in which case, your only purpose would be to make yourself appear nice and fierce while making the other party, say – a know-it-all KC, feel nice and small?" Hermione asked, observing him intently.

"As strange as it sounds," he began quietly. "I am content in this life, more content than I was as Severus Snape. I feel freer, with fewer chips on my shoulders."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "I see. Then go ahead and Oblivate me," she said, shutting her eyes tightly. When nothing happened, she opened one eye to find him looking at her with great amusement.

"There isn't any need to. Other than you, and my adoptive parents, no one knows I am Severus Snape," he explained. "You are a witch well known for your discretion, unlike someone I decline to name. I know you will not take out a full page coloured advertisement in the Daily Prophet announcing to all and sundry that I am who I am. I would rather live this life to the fullest. It is not everyday one is literally given a new lease at life. And with the bite of the naja naja, and the potion which stoppered death for me, I was able to lead another life completely unlike the one I was used to. No screaming volatile parents whose outbursts fell around my ears, no more fear of being attacked by my parents, rogue Death Eaters, Harry Potter fanatics, Dumbledore fanatics, or students who hated their strict potions master." He sighed and Hermione patted his hand as a form of encouragement, indicating that he should continue. "Well, I have already lived for misguided causes and blind devotion to a Chimera and a Sylphide as Severus Snape. Through the Dark Lord's order for my death, I had been granted a chance to relive my life. It is time I lived for myself and my dreams, and I shall do so as Perseuss von Bastiae."

"Excellent idea," said Hermione bracingly. "Dumbledore must have told you that in a dream."

"As a matter of fact, he did." Severus raised a brow in curiosity. "How did you know?"

"He once told me something similar in a dream. He even cited a James Bond film," recalled she, rolling her eyes. "Now, what time is it? You're blocking the clock."

"Half past four," he replied with a frown. "Why?"

"Damn it!" exclaimed Hermione, jumping up from the sofa and putting on her coat. "There's a vote at Chambers at five to determine whether we keep you or whether we shove you out when you complete your pupillage."

"When will I know the outcome?" he asked, looking up at her.

"I don't know. Come by my place, around eight, meet my children and maybe I'll tell you then," she said with tightly pursed lips and Disapparated with a pop.

FOOTNOTES:

Legal references are to British Law. American readers, please bear with me. My beta also made the suggestion that readers unaccustomed to the legal jargon herein pretend you are watching Rumpole of the Bailey or Sherlock Holmes.

'Heus, hues, furcifer, iamdudum irraucesco clamore nec tu tamen expergisceris' is Latin for 'Hey there, sleepyhead, I have been shouting myself hoarse for a while now and you still wouldn't wake up.'

Chambers refers to the rooms used by a barrister or group of barristers, especially in the Inns of Court. Barristers are not employed in a law firm but associate fraternally with each other, sharing out the burden of costs, in a set of chambers. They are each legally considered self-employed. Chambers are administered by law clerks, who receive cases from Solicitors, agreeing on behalf of their barristers, on fees and suchlike. Barristers are then the given details of their cases by the Clerks. Since they are self-employed, Barristers may either base themselves in chambers, like most lawyers, or otherwise

Ankh was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that originally stood for the Egyptian word for 'mirror' or 'image', but gradually became used to represent the word 'life'. Egyptian Deities are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the Egyptian Cross or the key of life. The ankh appears frequently in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of a god/goddess in images that represent the deities of the afterlife conferring the gift of life on the dead person's mummy; this is thought to symbolize the act of conception. Additionally, an ankh was often carried by Egyptians as an amulet, either alone, or in connection with two other hieroglyphs that mean 'strength' and 'health'. Mirrors of beaten metal were also often made in the shape of an ankh, either for decorative reasons or to symbolize a perceived view into another world.

Jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, pink, lavender, orange, red, and brown colours was traditionally imported from Burma to China. Some Asians call the red and/or brown jade 'blood jade'.

Hsi Wang Mu, the Queen Mother of the West, was the highest female goddess in the pantheon of the Taoist religion. As the ultimate embodiment of yin, Hsi Wang Mu was originally a creator figure. Linked with the embodiment of yang, Dong wang gong, Hsi Wang Mu engendered heaven and earth and all beings. Most scholars assert that the earliest description of Hsi Wang Mu was recorded somewhere between the third and second centuries B.C.E. in the Mountains and Seas Sutra (Shan hai jing). In the Shan hai jing, the Queen Mother is portrayed as a humanoid with tiger's teeth and the tail of a leopard; three bluebirds gather her food and carry her messages. Taoists, however, believe that this is a description of an emissary of the Queen Mother, rather than the Queen Mother herself. In later descriptions, Hsi Wang Mu is referred to as a beautiful and stately imperial ruler. She became the Keeper of the Peaches of Immortality on Mount Kun-lun in her palace by the Turquoise Pond. Hsi Wang Mu served as a model for female Taoist priestesses and adepts, appearing to them in dreams and visions, and protecting them at each stage of their spiritual life. Many popular local shrines as well as several Taoist monastic temples were dedicated to the Queen Mother; the great Taoist temple of Mount Tai has a turquoise pond in front of it, which in 1980 still went by the name of the Queen Mother's Pond. Hsi Wang Mu's great popularity may have been regarded as a threat to the masculine, hierarchic authorities. Interestingly, Hsi Wang Mu was a very popular goddess, particularly in northeast China, where she was attributed with ending a great drought in 3 B.C.E. For purposes of this story, I have played around this timeline.

Prima Materia or Materia Prima is the primitive formless base of all matter, according to Aristotle and the Alchemists, given particular manifestation through the influence of forms. According to the latter, lead could be turned to gold by reducing it to prima materia and imposing the form of gold on it. In the broadest terms the concept of the prima materia states that all particular substances are formed out of one and the same original substance. Considered in this way it becomes apparent that, in one form or another, this is a universal concept, possibly of an archetypal nature. The most prevalent notion of the prima materia to be found in modern thought is the atomistic theory which we inherited from the ancient Greeks. In this conception all material structures are composed of tiny building blocks of indestructible 'substance'. This substance is considered to be pure matter, and in an entirely materialistic paradigm this equates naturally to the concept of the prima materia.

Pupillage, in the UK and most Commonwealth countries, is the barrister's equivalent of the 'training contract'. It is like an apprenticeship where students build on what they have learnt during the Bar Vocational Course by combining it with practical work experience in a set of barristers' chambers. A pupillage is the final stage of training to be a barrister and usually lasts one year, being made up of two six-month periods (known as 'sixes'). The first of these is the non-practising six during which pupils shadow their pupil-master and the second will be a practising six when pupils can undertake to supply legal services and exercise rights of audience. At the end of the first six months a pupil must get their pupil supervisor to sign a certificate confirming satisfactory completion and send it to the Bar Council. The pupil will then receive a Provisional Qualification Certificate. At the end of the second six months a pupil must get their pupil supervisor to sign a certificate confirming satisfactory completion and send it to the Bar Council Education and Training Department. The pupil will then receive a Full Qualification Certificate. Although pupillage is used to describe the training for all barristers, there is little in common between different sorts of pupillages. Pupillage is recognised as a difficult and demanding time. Pupils must attempt to impress as many members of their chambers as is possible. They will also have to impress their clerks by competing as many cases as possible and still impressing solicitors.

The phrase 'first six' refers to the first six months of the pupillage whereby the pupil observes his/her supervisor at court, in conference and assisting with paperwork.

The phrase 'second six' refers to the second stage of the pupillage, or the next six months. At this stage, each pupil is responsible for their own case load. This will range from first appearance in the magistrates court and crown court to full trials. Some pupils may undergo jury trials, but this is very rare. The work will be allocated by the clerks at the end of the working day (frequently at 6pm or later) and the pupil will then be expected to prepare the trial for the following morning.

Hearings in court –

A barrister's appearance in court depends on whether the hearing is 'robed' or not. In England and Wales criminal cases in the Crown Court are almost invariably conducted wearing robes, but there is an increasing tendency in civil cases to dispense with them. The vast majority of County Court hearings are now conducted without robes, although they continue to be worn in High Court proceedings.

At a robed hearing, barristers wear a horsehair wig, an open black gown, dark suit and a shirt, with strips of white cotton called 'bands' or 'tabs' worn over a winged collar, instead of a tie. Female barristers wear either the same shirt, or a special collar which includes the bands and tucks inside a suit jacket. KC/QCs wear slightly different silk gowns over short embroidered black jackets and striped trousers. By contrast, solicitors wear a gown, wing collar and bands but no wig.

Hermione's 'my learned friend' joke has its roots in this fact – in court, barristers refer to each other as 'my learned friend'. Historically, this is a sign of mutual respect for the common heritage and position they occupy. It is also a reminder of the time when the Bar was small enough for all practitioners to know each other personally, which to some extent is still true; in an earlier generation, barristers would not shake hands or address each other formally, on the grounds that they were all 'brothers-at-law'. When appearing in court against a solicitor-advocate, even one exercising rights of audience in the higher courts, the barrister typically will refer to his opponent as 'my friend', that is to say without the 'learned' honorific.

A Sylphide is a beautiful nymph who mesmerises men who see her but who evades their love. Men who pursue the sylphide end up dying with a broken heart. The sylphide is often used to symbolise unrequited love, a love that is unattainable because of her illusory presence.

Nagini is a naja naja (scientific name) or spectacled cobra (common name).