Two days later, Harry and Severus celebrated Christmas with Sofia and her team. Severus gave the team some samples of English plants and insects he had brought with them for the purpose. The scientists in turn, presented Severus with a detailed list of where to look for the items he was seeking.

Tom gave Harry a book on the care and feeding of equatorial reptiles. Harry reciprocated with a tiny snake that he convinced to join the scientific team. She would allow her venom to be collected, and would live with Tom when he retuned to Australia.

Harry gave Severus his translation of Salazar Slytherin’s personal diary. He had managed to hide it when they went into the chamber, so Severus was completely surprised. Severus gave Harry a complete set of top quality safety gear for quiditch, and gift certificates to some of his favorite muggle and wizarding shops. Their gifts from their friends at home would be waiting for them when they retuned.

By the end of two weeks, Severus and Harry had visited four other research sites in search of the ingredients Severus wanted. Following tips from Sofia and the local wizards, they visited Columbia and Venezuela, and Harry had found a parrot egg to send to Hagrid. Harry had never seen so many kinds of the same plant. His father was looking for something, but was very mysterious about what.

Each night they would call for Dobby and Severus’ elf, Listi, to take their collections back to Hogwarts under a stasis charm. The egg, of course was sent directly to Hagrid with instructions for its care.

One particular morning, Severus emerged from his tent, and looked around for Harry. What he saw brought his heart into his mouth, and dropped his stomach to his feet. On the river bank he found his son lying on his back on the back of an enormous crocodile, chatting in parseltongue.

{So just as I was about to grab the snitch, the bludger came flying out of nowhere and broke my arm. I caught it though. Then I fell off my broom and the idiot DADA teacher made all the bones in my arm disappear.}

{You are a great hunter, little one. Is this snitch tasty?}

Shaking slightly and approaching carefully, Severus quietly asked, “Harry, what are you and your new friend doing?”

“I’m telling Jasmine about quiditch, Dad. She is telling me about her life. Near as I can figure, she is the same age as me. She is really good at fishing, and once she caught a bird. She’s not fond of feathers, though.”

“As fascinating as that is, we should be packing up to leave. I have a lead on the flower I seek in Panama. Say goodbye to …Jasmine… and carefully walk away from her, please.”

“Sure, Dad. But you don’t have to worry, Jasmine likes me. She wouldn’t hurt me.”

“All animals balance intelligence and instinct. Many reptiles have small brains and therefore lean more toward instinct. It is not a good idea to push your luck with creatures you have just met. And tell her not to approach any other humans. Losing their fear of man is what gets animals killed.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll remember.”

{I have to go now, my dad wants us to get ready to leave. I’ve had a really nice time talking to you. Remember that all humans aren’t good, and you should avoid most of us.}

{I will remember, child.} And she slipped soundlessly into the murky water.

As they packed up the tents, Harry thought about all the samples they were collecting.

“So Dad, are we looking for something in particular, or are you just grabbing everything we can’t get back home?”

“A little bit of both, Harry. One of the texts you translated for me from the Chamber of Secrets hinted at an actual cure for lycanthrope. And Professor Sprout is always excited to get new seeds. If I collect things for her, she will let me use some space in one of the greenhouses to grow ingredients I can’t grow outside. I’m always experimenting, of course, and new combinations yield new results. Do you remember that large yellow flower we gathered in Columbia?”

“The one you harvested a huge bag full of ?”

“Yes, that’s the one. It is a tropical relative of the honeysuckle plant. I’m hoping that with the increased amount of sun it gets here, it will be more potent in the itch relief paste. And, the orchids I gathered when we were with Sofia will help smooth out the harshness of the memory recovery draught. Except for the soft purple one. That I’m going to grow for Professor McGonagall. She is partial to purple flowers.”

“Uhm, Dad, isn’t she a little old for you? OW! Hey, not in the head! I’m just kidding.”

“Make a suggestion like that to her, and a slap to the back of your head will be the least of your worries. My mother died during my 6th year, and Minerva became a mother figure to me. When I joined the Dark Lord I broke her heart, and when I came back she was the first to forgive me.”

“So, can I call her Grandma Minnie?”

“If you don’t mind spending time as a porcelain cat on one of her office shelves, by all means. Be aware that I will take points if you can’t change yourself back and you miss my class. Hold on to my arm, and we will be off to our next location.”

CRACK

One bit of tropical jungle was starting to look much like another to Harry, but he had checked their plan and knew that they were in Panama. He and Severus set up their tents, and he started to prepare their lunch.

“Dad, you mentioned lycanthrope. Is that werewolves? They’re real?”

“Yes Harry, quite real. Those bitten suffer quite terribly during the full moon. There is a potion that allows them to keep their mind during the change, but not being forced to change at all would be preferable. There is a pack living in the forbidden forest, that being one of the reasons it is forbidden.” He was not prepared to out Remus Lupin as Harry looked to the DADA teacher as a link to his dead parents.

They spent the rest of that day and most of the next gathering samples of plants and insects.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand, Dad”

“Just one?”

“Ha, ha. Salazar Slytherin lived in Britain, right? So if he had a cure for lycanthrope, or anything else for that matter, wouldn’t it use ingredients available back home?”

“In theory, yes. But plants have gone extinct in different areas over the centuries, and again, a tropical variety may be more potent.”

“So, what does the plant you want look like?”

“Hmm? Oh, it looks like…that. See that blood red flower over there? We are going to collect a few of the flowers, and all of the leaves we can fit in the stasis bag.”

As the day turned to evening, they completed their work, and sent the samples off with the elves. Harry knew his father would take the opportunity while they were here to gather everything he could, both plant insect, so they wouldn’t go home until the last possible day. Which meant he had another few days to find a souvenir for himself.