The Unexpected Side Effect of Draught No. 9
Interlude - A Brief History
Chapter 7: Interlude – A Brief History
Evochi is from the Italian verb evocare, which means to evoke or conjure.
Pronunciation: EH-vho-key
Behind the scenes in this story, Harry had asked Severus why the potion was called Evochi and if he knew of its origins. Severus did, of course.
The wizard credited with its invention was the noted Italian alchemist, Alessandro Gallo, c. 1824. To keep the potion under wraps, Alessandro had assigned it a common name to use whenever he referenced it in his lab notes and journals. Very few documents ever linked the name Evochi to its Latin namesake, Sanctimonia Animadverto, but if one was shrewd in their research (as Severus was) then it was simply a matter of connecting the volumes of information available on Evochi with the limited and obscure references to its Latin name – and formula – in only a handful of potions history tomes. Since making the correlation required knowledge of both names, it allowed the potion to stay comfortably out of sight from all but a learned and fastidious few. An intentional maneuver, no doubt – smart man, that Alessandro.
Since Severus frequently had his nose in a potions text of some kind while at Hogwarts (not to mention a mind capable of logging and analyzing vast amounts of information) he became curious about the potential link sometime during his sixth year. It took a few months to track down the rest of the required information in order to confirm his hypothesis, but he eventually did. Just as he prepared to start working with it, though, Voldemort’s fated murders of Lily and James Potter sent his world into a tailspin.
Shortly thereafter, in 1981, he accepted the appointment of Potions Master at Hogwarts. His thoughts of Evochi were dashed aside quickly and forgotten as he settled into his new post, busy with lesson plans, Head of House tasks, and his new identity as double-agent spy. Therefore, it would be many years later (seven, to be exact) before Severus would rediscover his old notes and interest in Evochi. When he did, he immediately dove into learning its craft, refusing to waste another seven years.
Yet, although he had a veritable treasure trove of ingredients, equipment and resources at his disposal at Hogwarts, it still took Severus about ten years – working only as his spare time allowed – to fully master the potion and all of its intricacies, testing and modifying and customizing it scrupulously until it was perfect. It was late into this working period, in 1996, when he finally administered his first full dose to himself, in the spring of Harry’s fifth year.