Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 101: Two Bellas
"Just a few drops of blood would do," James said.
"You could have just said that from the beginning!" Bella huffed.
"What did you… oh, never mind. I don't want to know. Just bring your finger over this cauldron," James told her.
"Ouch!" She felt something stab her, and several drops of her blood fell onto the mysterious bubbling liquid.
"That will do," James nodded in satisfaction.
"What will that do exactly?" Bella asked.
"Kyu?" Primum floated next to her.
"Hold on." James poured all the liquid into a flask and handed it to her. "Just take a small sip, and you will see the effects immediately."
Bella glanced at him with suspicion. "Fine…" He had never given her a reason to doubt him, so she did as he said and took a small sip.
She felt something strange. "Wait… what is… there's something wrong with my eyes. I can see double."
"The disorientation will pass quickly, as your consciousness adjusts to the change."
"My con-...wait, I think it's getting better now…" Bella said.
"What change?. I have not...huh?." the other Bella said.
"Huh?" Bella glanced to her left and found someone identical staring back at her.
"Who are you?" the other Bella asked.
"I should be the one asking that!" Bella glared at James. "What did you do? Did you make a clone of me?"
"Hold on, I'm not a clone. If anything, you are the clone," the other Bella exclaimed, pointing at her other self.
"Calm down. Neither of you are clones. You are both Bellatrix Black," James told them.
"Care to explain a bit better?"
"Yes, you always give some half-assed explanation," the two Bellas said together.
"Kyu?..." Primum looked at the two identical girls, not sure what was happening.
"That potion can divide your consciousness in two while also creating a temporary body for it." He pointed to the Bella on the left. "You are the temporary body. The effects of the potion will last for around six hours. Once that time is up, the temporary body will vanish, and the consciousness will return to being one, combining the memories of both of you."
"So, I will learn everything that my clone does?" Bella asked.
"I'm not a clone! I'm the real Bella," the other one said.
"You are the real Bella. But your mind is inside a temporary construct that functions as...just, don't think too much about it." James recommended.
"So I can use this to be in two places at the same time. This is… great!" Bella said with excitement.
"Of course it's great," James said with pride. This was one of his personal creations. He had originally envisioned it so he could be twice as efficient when working. So he always had a batch of this potion ready to use.
"Kyu?..." Primum looked between the two Bellas with clear confusion in his eyes.
"Come here, Primum." One of them opened her arms.
"No, come here. I'm the real one." Bella did the same.
"Kyu…" He ended up flying toward James for help.
"Don't mess with the little guy." James patted his head.
"Kyu!" Primum complained.
"I know, women can be evil…" James whispered.
The two Bellatrixes looked at each other.
"Now what?"
"Now, it looks like your problem is solved," James said as he used his wand to dispel the temporary body, allowing Bella's consciousness to become one, once again..
"Whoa, give me a warning at least!... that felt weird. I remember being at two places at the same time." Bella grasped her head.
"You will get accustomed to it. It is going to be a bit worse when your other half has been away for several hours, but I'm sure you can handle it."
"Mmm… you're right." Bella looked around the lab. "Does that mean that I can come back?"
"That was always up to you." He pointed to an empty table. "You can take that spot if you want it. You'll find all the equipment you need in the storage area."
Bella looked back and saw that a large area behind the snake statues had several cupboards filled with all sorts of instruments.
"Where did you get all this stuff? Everything was destroyed in the fire."
"Some of it, I bought. The rest… I borrowed from somewhere." It took him a while to realize that Hogwarts had a room filled with things no one was using.
The Room of Requirement may not be useful as a laboratory location, but it is a treasure trove for cauldrons, glassware, and tools.
"You left a notebook on the table." Bella noticed the small book of notes while she was setting up her things.
"That is for you, of course. It has notes and tasks for you to follow," James explained while he moved to his stanchion and began to work.
"For me?" Bella began reading.
"This is incredible…" She was amazed at how detailed everything was. It contained some of the potions that she had already worked on, but written in the notebook were extremely well-explained methods for the complete brewing process, from preparing the ingredients, controlling the temperature, and even how to properly stir the cauldron.
She figured that even her useless cousin could brew a high-quality potion if he followed these instructions.
Her purple eyes moved to where James was. She could only see his back now, and he seemed to be distracted, working on something, as he usually was.
For a moment, it felt like she was back to the first day she saw him working during their potion class. There was something mesmerizing about it.
"Right! I almost forgot," Bella said suddenly. With everything that happened today, she had just recalled that there was something she wanted to talk to him about.
She left her station and walked closer to him. "James, there was something I wanted to ask you about."
"Mmm?" James turned his head around. "You may ask, but today I won't have much time to guide you personally. There is a project I wish to finish today."
"It's about what happened yesterday to Rodolphus and the other guys from my house…" Bella wasn't sure how to ask in a way that didn't seem like she was accusing him of anything.
"Oh, that. Yeah, that was me." James simply responded before going back to his work.
"..." Bella stood there in silence for a long minute. "Seriously?, You are admitting it just like that?!."
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