Serum

Synopsis: An unusual epidemic breaks out inflicting children and adults alike, while its cure evades discovery even by expert Healers.

Finally it comes to light that Voldemort's preceding silence wasn't a coincidence; he caused the epidemic himself, thus declaring war on the entire wizarding society. All those who proclaim their loyalty to Voldemort are provided with a protective serum, making them immune to the disease.

However, as all plans, this one has its failings, too. The serum progressively loses its potency, and people who receive it eventually become sick as well. But there is one person unaffected by the illness. Professor Snape remains clueless as to why Harry Potter, the only person who was present when the first disease case emerged, still remains completely healthy…

The race against time commences, even as Harry's protection becomes a challenge. Everyone wants to capture him, seeing that his blood may hold the answer to saving the wizarding world…

Disclaimer: All characters and the HP universe at large belongs to JKR, we are only borrowing her characters to play with them.

Disclaimer 2: This is NOT MY STORY, it's a translation of Lilyanjudyth's original work written in Hungarian. I'm posting it here with her permission.

The story takes place after the OotP, it does not contain references to either HBP or DH.

The story will be a Severus-mentors-Harry fic, if you don't like this category of fanfic, don't even begin reading!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Prologue

The Minister of Magic makes a statement!

Our theories now confirmed as facts!

In the short interview that follows, we report the words we managed to exact from Minister Cornelius Fudge since the announcement he made last week. We hope this will answer a few of the questions arising about the epidemic.

"Step aside, Miss! I've already told you that I'm not answering any questions."

"No, sir. The readers have the right to receive information. Various rumors are already spreading…"

"All right- all right, I will answer a few of your questions."

"Is it true, that the outbreak of the epidemic cannot be explained by the import of magical creatures into the country?"

"I'm sure both of us are aware, Ms. Skeeter, that that is simply unfounded gossip. You-Know-Who is the person responsible for the problem, as I've already let Dumbledore know at our meeting last week."

"I see. Could you explain to the readers about the symptoms of this mysterious disease?"

"All I can do is to reiterate the information we were given by the Healers of Saint Mungo: the first symptom is the uncontrollable trembling of the body, followed by terrible hallucinations, which finally end when the diseased collapses with a fever. As far as I know, the infected wizard cannot be recovered from this fever, which after a week causes complete exhaustion of the body."

"If a person contracts the disease, do they inevitably fall victim to it? That is to say, I've heard about cases when the last stage of the disease followed the onset of the first symptoms much later."

"Yes, there are such cases. But we do not have an explanation as to how and why the course of the disease deviates for these people."

"…and Minister, can you say anything about prospects for an antidote?

"I'm sorry, but I'm not in the position to say anything about that. I can only emphasize that if anyone notices signs of these symptoms, they should immediately visit Saint Mungo's."

"Could you tell us anything about the supposed serum You-Know-Who offered? Is it truly effective?"

"I don't have any more information about it than you do, it was but a few days ago that You-Know-Who revealed his terms and motivation to everyone."

"Could you tell us the number of deaths caused by the epidemic as of today?"

"I'm not in position to disclose that information."

"How about the number of people infected by the disease?"

"I cannot answer that either."

"My sources suggest that the highest number of cases were diagnosed at Hogwarts, and many parents have already removed their children from the location. Do you suppose that taking the life of Harry Potter was You-Know-Who's primary goal?"

"I absolutely cannot give information about issues concerning Hogwarts business. I suggest you ask the Headmaster."

"Minister, I have one more question, now that you mention it, is Dumbledore indeed abroad, searching for an antiserum?"

"My apologies, but I must go now…"

Naturally, with this information our dear readers can only guess about the true purpose of Voldemort's attack, however, one thing is certain…we will pursue these questions in our next issue.

Harry crushed the Daily Prophet in anger, and before his friends could prevent it, he tossed it into the flames of Hagrid's fireplace.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO