Blake turned his attention back to Quirrell. The Professor was charred and burned, truly a disgusting sight to see, but Blake felt no pity for him. Quirrell wasn't breathing any longer, and honestly? Blake was glad.
He staggered towards Harry now, who was also lying on the floor, and Blake's heart seized with terror at his friend's unmoving body, and he almost fell - but someone caught him.
"Here," Greengrass whispered. "Drink this." Blake gingerly took the potion and drank it, and felt his cracked ribs begin to heal, but the magical damage from the Cruciatus Curse was still there, and Blake still felt weak.
"Harry," he croaked, leaning on Greengrass.
"He's breathing," Greengrass said. "I already fed him the potion. He'll be fine."
Blake breathed out a sigh of relief, and promptly collapsed down to the ground. "The Stone, Greengrass… use it," Blake reminded her, before losing consciousness.
Greengrass shuddered, and watched Blake's sleeping form for a moment, before shaking her head, pushing any emotions back down. She didn't have time to waste, after all.
She approached Potter, and searched his pockets, before finally finding something. SHe took it out slowly, relieved that it was still intact.
The Philosopher's Stone, she thought. Astoria…
"Ms Greengrass," a voice from behind her spoke, gentle but firm.
"Professor Dumbledore," she replied neutrally, panic rising up internally. No! I was so close! Renshaw suffered for this, but now-
"What happened here?" he asked, looking at the Stone. Greengass looked firmly down, remembering what her parents had told her about Occlumency.
"Me and Renshaw realised that Quirrell and Potter and his friends were making an attempt for the Stone, and we theorised that the Dark Lord was involved, so we followed them here. Quirrell's dead, but Renshaw and Potter are unconscious. The Dark Lord survived, somehow. He burned at Potter's touch, but he left Quirrell's body and fled in some weird, spectre-like form. Potter was in pain from touching him though, and he collapsed as soon as Quirrell died. But he's alive and breathing - I gave him a Healing Potion. But, Renshaw-"
Greengrass cursed herself as her voice struggled.
"Quirrell used the Cruciatus Curse on him," she told Dumbledore, looking up, and she saw Dumbledore's eyes widen in shock. Greengrass felt no small amount of guilt, but also anger towards the man before her. "His physical injuries are fine, but…"
"I see," Dumbledore said. "That matches with what Ms Granger told me. You're excellent at Potions, aren't you, Ms Greengrass? One would wonder how you produced all of them," he asked, seemingly smiling, further enraging Greengrass, but she kept her voice cool.
"I think you know, Professor." Dumbledore smiled.
"The Room of Requirement is marvelous, isn't it?" But then Dumbledore's voice became steely.
"But I'm afraid, Ms Greengrass, the answer is still no," he said, looking at the Stone in her hand.
"Why?" she said, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "I only need a little - half a vial would be enough, and my family has no reason to use it for anything else! We don't need the money, we don't need the status, and you just saw me fight against him of all people!"
Dumbledore sighed.
"Ms Greengrass, I know your family do not have the highest opinion of me, but believe me - please. There's no way I would ever let an innocent, young girl die," for a second, Greengrass thought she heard his voice change tone, "if I could help it. But both I and Nicholas have told your parents - it wouldn't work."
"I know it won't work, Professor! But the Elixir's not just for that - it has to have healing properties, if not by itself than in combination with other ingredients!"
Dumbledore looked slightly more interested now.
"You want to make a potion to heal it?"
"Yes!" Greengrass said, slightly more confident now. "I've been researching this for 2 years straight now - there's so many ingredients, there has to be a way to make it work - and with something as potent as the Elixir of Life, I wouldn't even need a lot - a half vial would be plenty!"
Dumbledore sighed again, and Greengrass thought of something to say.
"Renshaw agreed to help me - he knows I don't want to use the Elixir of Life for anything bad, and was willing to risk his life to help me."
Dumbledore showed no reaction, but Greengrass felt her words were working.
"The last thing he told me was to get the Stone from Potter," she told Dumbledore, meeting his eyes, daring him to use his Legilimency to fact-check. However, both she and Dumbledore knew that was futile. After all, the Greengrasses were one of the few Sacred 28 that still kept the tradition of teaching Occlumency from young ages. If Dumbledore tried, he would certainly succeed, but not without her realising.
Dumbledore thought for a brief moment. The implication of what the girl had said wasn't lost on him, and it was the reason he didn't trust her - nor her family. The Greengrasses were typically a strictly neutral family. They didn't associate with anyone much, especially not in the war, and stayed isolated, refusing to cooperate with either side, although Dumbledore was aware of them offering sanctuary for particularly close friends or family on his side. Lord Greengrass in particular was someone he'd come to be wary of. The man was sly, manipulative, intelligent, and powerful - in the Wizengamot, barely anyone realised he was one of the ones pulling the strings from behind, and he often got what he wanted. The Greengrasses, even if they weren't necessarily Death Eaters, had no friends - only allies and partners and associates - and Dumbledore didn't like that.
Blake's support, however, was valuable. Despite warnings, the boy had rushed to the scene, both to help Greengrass and to help Harry too, it seemed. After all, he wasn't the selfless hero type that Harry was - Blake would've weighed up the pros and cons, and decided to help Harry even after that, and Dumbledore was glad of that fact. However, that also meant that Blake had lost faith in Dumbledore - by getting involved, Blake had decided that he didn't trust Dumbledore with his own safety, or Harry's, and that could be a problem. Is that because he knows his brother's likely to come to Hogwarts?
Either way, it wasn't like Dumbledore hadn't accounted for that - he'd considered that possibility ever since he'd gotten the news that Blake's little brother was magical too. A Gryffindor, it would seem, Dumbledore mused. It was only a guess, but Dumbledore had found his guesses were generally right - he'd been right about Blake, after all.
There would likely be opportunities to win back Blake's trust in the future too, but for now, this seemed like a good opportunity too. Especially considering Daphne only wanted a half vial, and to save her little sister, which was admirable. Allowing that could also pave the way for the Greengrasses support in the future battle against Voldemort - Lord Greengrass always repaid his favours, after all.
But it was still risky - the Greengrasses were highly intelligent, all of them, especially the one standing in front of him right now. If anyone could replicate the Elixir of Life, with their resources, money and intelligence, it would be them. Lady Greengrass herself was a Potions Master, was she not?
Dumbledore sighed.
"I'll ask Nicholas, and get back to you, Daphne. In the meantime, however, I must insist that you give me the Stone."
Reluctantly, Greengrass handed it to the Headmaster - but she was hopeful. Dumbledore had hesitated.
She turned her attention back to Renshaw, who was still unconscious on the ground.
"What happens now?"
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