Sirius took a step forward, his face reflected in the glowing green potion, slightly distorted.
He licked his lips, his voice no longer trembling:
"I want to drink it. I want to feel the pain Regulus went through."
Neither Dumbledore nor Zhang Xiao tried to dissuade him. Sirius was an adult, capable of making his own decisions.
But before he drank, there was still plenty to discuss about the basin of potion.
"Professor, can this potion only be drunk?"
Zhang Xiao suppressed the idea of peeing into it and asked a question instead.
"Yes. An extraordinarily complex composite spell, a result that can only be achieved by weaving several spells together."
The light from his wand reflected off Dumbledore's half-moon glasses as he examined it closely.
"In fact, the spell Tom placed here probably prevents anything from happening except drinking."
That was magic at its most mind-over-matter: utterly unreasonable. Who knew how complex a spell had to be to produce such an effect?
"Then could we find some animals to drink it for us? As long as it gets drunk, that should work, right?"
Dumbledore chuckled:
"Zhang, although we discussed how Tom might have a problem here"-he tapped his temple-"that does not mean he would overlook something so simple."
Dumbledore turned in a circle, surveying the entire cavern:
"In fact, this potion is deadly poison to any creature except wizards or other humanoid beings with magical power.
"A single drop might be enough to kill an animal."
"The entire cavern has been meticulously arranged," he said reflectively. "From the need to swim here to the stone archway-if you had not so cleverly destroyed the stone door, Zhang,
"I am afraid one of the three of us would have had to satisfy it with blood. We all know that blood is