Shawn took the potion vial containing the blood sample and gave it a gentle shake, watching green fluorescence ripple through the red blood once more.
He pondered for a moment.
Leaving aside how troublesome the blood curse was, what had Snape meant by "candidates"? That was worth thinking about.
It sounded rather like a religion choosing some sort of "holy maiden."
Shawn did not dwell on it and asked another question.
"Do you have any suggestions, then?"
Snape had little interest in the blood curse, but he still answered patiently.
"The blood and bone marrow replacements you mentioned would only treat the symptoms, not the cause. You need to find an extraordinary treasure capable of shielding and isolating the soul, then tackle the problem on both fronts.
"While removing the curse from the soul, you must replace the blood and transplant the bone marrow at the same time. If you cannot block the subtle connection between the soul knocked out of the body and its flesh, the blood curse will likely erupt ahead of time."
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Shawn's eyes.
Snape must have done considerable research into souls. His analysis was more thorough than Shawn's own findings, and he had even offered the ideal solution.
Of course, ideal did not mean easy.
As far as Shawn knew, the only treasure capable of shielding a soul was the Invisibility Cloak, one of the Deathly Hallows.
With that cloak on, even Death could not find you.
Ah, Harry really was this world's chosen one. All the good things in the original story ended up with him, from the Deathly Hallows to the relics of the Four Founders.
It was not that Shawn was heartless, but he had no choice but to set his sights on Harry.
With a plan