Sirius Black's Visit

After Tierra showed Hermione the instability of the "God-made Philosopher's Stone."

Hermione stopped asking questions and sank into deep shock and contemplation.

After an unknown amount of time, Horace Slughorn seemed to have finally reached the last stage of the brewing process. He drew his wand and gave the liquid floating in midair a deft flick—

The liquid instantly changed color, shifting from a muddled silver-gray to bright red, then to a translucent orange-red.

Upon seeing the change in the solution, Horace Slughorn swiftly took a test tube from his robes and waved his wand, transferring the translucent orange-red liquid into it.

"Ah, Tierra." Having finished refining the Alpha-36 solvent, Horace Slughorn finally noticed Tierra and Hermione, who had re-entered the Room of Requirement. "Look."

As he spoke, Horace Slughorn shook the test tube containing the translucent orange-red liquid.

"Excellent. Congratulations, Professor Slughorn," Tierra said, clapping softly. Then he shifted aside and pointed to Hermione standing behind him. "Hermione Granger. I'm sure you remember her."

"Ah, yes, yes, Miss Granger," Horace Slughorn said with a smile.

"Here's the thing. I believe Hermione's computational abilities are already sufficient for some of the simpler calculations involved in refining the Philosopher's Stone," Tierra said with a smile. "And Hermione intends to take the general admissions examination for Magic University in a few years. I thought perhaps you could guide her... um... let her assist you."

"What? A-another one? Another, another one?" Horace Slughorn asked in shock.

"Tierra... look, I—I still have to tutor Harry in Occlumency later... Hermione, Hermione may be—may be outstanding, but... but... but she's still quite a ways from being able to take part in the refining process... Perhaps later on she'll make things much easier for me, but... but in the beginning, she'll require a great deal of my