HP/LOTM: Visionary - 377

Chapter 377: Ron Falls For It, Poisoned Wine

For some time now, Harry has noticed that Horace has been deliberately avoiding him. Every time Harry went to consult him, Horace would slip away. Harry had hoped to trap Horace during a Slug Club gathering again, but Horace, to avoid Harry, stopped holding meetings for several weeks running. This left Harry in a difficult bind.

Time quickly moved to March. Today was Ron's birthday.

The four Weasley children at Hogwarts gathered together to celebrate his birthday.

"Oh, Harry, you have some chocolate there. Take it to the kitchen and share it with them," Ron suddenly spotted the unopened chocolate on Harry's bed.

"Sure. Speaking of which, Romilda Vane sent me this on Valentine's Day," Harry replied casually.

The two brought the items to the kitchen. It was deep night, and the castle was very quiet.

Harry approached the painting and scratched the pear. After it let out a hearty laugh, the kitchen door opened.

"Pop!" Several streamers flew out.

"Happy birthday," Aiden and Ginny congratulated Ron simultaneously.

"Oh, how honored," Ron threw out several air kisses.

"All right, here are your gifts. Get them packed up," Aiden flicked his wand a few times in the air, and two or three gift boxes fell down.

"Oh, Ron, today is your birthday. Unfortunately, Dobby's wages aren't high, so this is all I can afford as a gift," Dobby presented Ron with two socks of different colours.

"Thank you," Ron accepted them solemnly and put them away carefully, leaving Dobby quite moved.

After eating the cake, Harry felt he'd consumed an absolutely explosive amount of sugar and declined the chocolate Ron offered him.

Then, while Ron bit into the chocolate and the dragon was discussing with house-elves about getting meat pies, Aiden caught a familiar potion scent.

"Don't eat that, there's Amortentia in it!" Aiden turned to try to stop him.

But he wasn't fast enough. Ron swallowed the chocolate in one bite.

The potion instantly fused into Ron's magical circulation. Pink hearts filled Ron's vision.

He directly threw himself at Harry beside him, extending his hands to grope at him.

"Oh, Miss Romilda Vane, you're so beautiful and charming, truly you make me swoon," Ron recited cheap pickup lines as he touched Harry.

"Ugh, I can't imagine what kind of girl would actually fall for him in the future," Ginny cringed.

"All right, you go back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry, take him to find Horace," Aiden made the arrangements, then left with Ginny.

"Come on, let me take you to find Romilda Vane," Harry said.

Harry dragged Ron, struggling toward Horace's office.

Along the way, the two encountered Lavender. Seeing Ron, she wanted to come forward and give him a birthday gift.

"Get away. Harry's going to introduce me to Romilda Vane," Ron rudely shooed her away.

The two walked off together, leaving Lavender alone in the corridor, helpless and wandering.

Knock, knock.

The door was knocked. Horace got up and opened the small window, seeing Harry.

"Sorry, Professor. If it weren't for something particularly urgent, we wouldn't have disturbed you," Harry tiptoed to look through the window.

"Where is Romilda?" Ron spun in circles behind him.

"What's wrong with Weasley?" Horace, seeing his condition, felt uncomfortable ignoring him and asked.

"He seems to have ingested an extremely potent love potion. I brought the antidote with me," Harry held up a box of chocolates.

Horace invited the two in and opened the window to let Ron clear his head.

"I thought you'd brew the antidote yourself, Harry," Horace said.

"I thought it would be better to entrust it to someone more experienced, sir," Harry complimented him.

Ron cooperatively clung to Horace, stroking his belly.

"Oh, Romilda, I will dedicate my life to you, I will love you forever," Ron said.

"Perhaps you're right," Horace nodded.

Harry came forward and pulled Ron off him, tossing him onto the sofa.

"I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding between us," Harry said. While Horace prepared the potion, Harry apologized to him.

"Oh, don't worry about it, child. Let the past be the past," Horace turned back and smiled at Harry.

"What I mean is, after so many years have passed, it's still constantly bringing up painful memories for you. I'm really very sorry. About... Voldemort," Harry said carefully, glancing at him.

Horace stopped what he was doing. "Don't mention his name!"

With a clang, Ron fell to the ground. Both turned back, and Harry quickly went to help him up.

Soon after, Horace finished preparing the potion. The red liquid was poured into a wine glass. He stirred it while approaching Ron.

"This love potion has been sitting for four months. The longer it sits, the stronger the effect, so the antidote's dosage is quite large. You might feel quite uncomfortable for a bit," Horace said, handing the antidote to Ron.

After Ron drank it, the expression of passion on his face instantly faded. His mouth curved from a high smile to a depressed downward turn.

"Bloody hell, what happened to me?" Ron frowned.

"Love potion, an extremely potent one," Harry explained.

"I feel like my head's about to explode," Ron said as he held his head.

"Well, it seems you need some spirits to refresh yourself. There's butterbeer, wine, and some excellent aged mead from the oak trees. I had other uses for it, but perhaps now is the right time to use it," Horace said.

Horace had just received two bottles of fine wine from someone. He uncorked them and poured out three glasses.

Then he came over to Ron's side with the wine and handed him a glass.

"Harry, take one for yourself over there," Horace said, leaning against his leg as he sat on the sofa's armrest.

Ron was quick and drained his mead in one gulp.

Immediately after, he convulsed and collapsed to the ground. The glass also fell and shattered into fragments.

"What happened?" Horace was shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"Ron!" Harry immediately came forward to support Ron.

"Professor, do something!" Harry urged.

"I don't know what's happened," Horace said, equally helpless.

Suddenly, Harry remembered the teachings from the Half-Blood Prince's notes.

He immediately rushed to Horace's materials box and searched through it.

Finally, in a drawer, he found the bezoar.

He quickly went to Ron's side and shoved the bezoar into his throat.

"Come on, Ron, breathe!" Harry urged.

After waiting a moment, Ron's convulsions gradually stopped, and he went still.

Horace sat on the sofa with worry on his face, the wine in his cup trembling constantly.

Harry leaned against the sofa, his hands and feet still ice-cold.

"Cough, cough," Ron sat up, holding his throat.

"Those girls wanted to kill me!" Ron said with lingering shock, then lay back down on the carpet.

Harry dragged Ron and rushed toward the hospital wing.

Ron's birthday passed like a rollercoaster ride of scares.