RP: Eureka!
Date: 9 April 2006 (very early morning) Characters: Oliver Wood, Anthony Goldstein (mentioned) Location: Hogwarts and the Shrieking Shack Private/Public: Private Rating: PG Warnings: None Summary: Oliver makes a breakthrough.
The day had been long. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. He couldn't remember the last time he had ate. His mind had been focused entirely on the task of finding a way to combat the virus. Except for when she rudely interrupted his thoughts, not that he minded. Thinking of her was quite pleasant, and lifted his mood considerably, but it was still a distraction - no matter how welcoming it was.
The lab was littered with crumpled up parchment, parchment ashes from when Wood had gotten frustrated, and so on... Days ago his eyes had gotten tired from staring at the blackboard, so he had resorted to brainstorming and working things out on parchment. It was almost time for bed. His head was getting dreary and his mind clogged with fatigue. But, he was waiting for one last attempt to finish. He was sure it was going to fail. Like all of the others.
Oliver had laid his head down, he hadn't known for how long, when he heard the charm go off. The charm that he had set Merlin only knows how many times - the charm he had never heard go off before. It was set to make a noise - loud enough to wake him up as he didn't trust his ability to stay awake after all of these long nights - when the virus was successfully neutralized.
Adrenaline instantly pumped through his veins as he whirled his head up and to the cauldron. How could this have worked? It was an idea so out of left-field that he was sure it couldn't possibly work. He transfered the potion over to the apparatus that was setup to simulate the interactions at the cellular level.
As the minutes turned into an hour, Oliver's spirits fell considerably. His solution stimulated the production of the right antibodies to fight off the virus. But the virus was too strong. The potion couldn't stimulate enough antibodies to stop the virus - only to slow it down for a time.
Sighing, he knew he needed help. He grabbed his traveling cloak, carefully packaged the potion and his parchment, and then conjured two knives, one he strapped to the inside of his boot, the other he attached to his belt. He wasn't going to take any chances. Oliver cast the strongest disillusionment charm as he could on himself and left his lab.
As he journeyed to his destination, Wood was so paranoid even the slightest rustle of leaves caused him to jump and whirl about with his wand. It was an easy journey. Too easy, he thought. He went into the Shrieking Shack through the back door, figuring it to be the safest way in. Then he made his way upstairs until he found the office he was waiting for. Fortunately, he was still there.
He walked into the office of Anthony Goldstein and explained to him what he had found and the long road that still lied ahead.