For those of you who have questions after Chapter 43 and would like a explanation of the stages of transformation that Ollivander spoke of here you go.   This is not mine.  Everything in quotes is taken directly from pgs 205-238 of  "Sorcerer's Stone: A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy" By: Dennis William Hauck.  The rest is paraphrased from there.  If you are good at reading between the lines this gives quite alot away in regard to where I am going with this story, but you all have been so faithful with your reading and reviewing, I just couldn't withhold this information:

Calcination: This is brough about by the great forces of change in our life, the things over which we have no control, such as suffering, failure, humiliation.  As children our center of focus tends to shift from our true self to the artificial and social construct.  We call this the ego.  As adults we spend all of our energy trying to protect this thing.  The loss of our childlike innocence ( a loss that probably came far too young for Severus) "turns our hopes and dreams into mockeries, our relationships sour; dis-ease erupts in our minds and bodies."  Calcination is the natural humbling process as we are gradually assaulted and overcome by the trials and tribulations of life.  People caught in this stage often feel trapped, as though they are doomed to suffer with no escape.  The only way out of this self-imposed hell is to sacrifice your former identity, and get rid of of all traces of mistaken ideas.  Severus went through this to a degree when he chose to let his love for Lily draw him away from the Death Eaters and into Dumbledore's service.  He began to change his ideas, morals and values.   I think he is really in the space between this stage and the next in Chatper 43

Dissolution:  Calcination works on the mind and ego to destroy deceptions and impure thoughts, but this stage works on the heart and id to release buried emotions, the ones that conceal or distort our true nature.  Severus' bitterness and anger destroy his true nature.  The ancient alchemists believed that tears were the literal breaking down and washing away of thoughts.  If you notice, Severus never cries except when he is with Lily, or thinking of Lily.  His love for her is transforming him, allowing him to wash away those thoughts that bind him.  During this stage one's dreams often become quite vivid, you may experience visions paired with deep emotion.  The ancient alchemists knew that the easiest way to defeat the ego was to drown it in deep feelings over which it has no control. "The ego is terrified of the tremendous powerof the subconscious and is constantly running from feelings and emotions - burying all those hurtful and humiliating experiences in the shadows, tying up emotional power in knots in our bodies, thinking faster and faster so feelings never catch up." (sound like anyone we know?)  "One of the hallmarks of this stage is the slowing down of mental processes and an increase in moodiness and depression."

"Undissolved people are judgemental and self-centered, and their relationship can only be described as selfish.  In such people, the process of dissolution results in a withdrawal of judgements...  Being dissolved means being truly relaxed, stopping the endless stream of thoughts to try to feel our way and connect with deeper energies.... (it) results in a wonderfully flowing presence that is free of inhibitions, prejudgements, and restrictive mental structures."

This will be hard for Severus, but you can look forward to him embracing the challenge from here on out.

Separation: At this stage one wil retrieve the purified essences of one's soul and spirit, and will fight very hard to keep them pure.  "The two most immediate expressions of soul and spirit are our own feelings and thoughts, which we now realize offer us important tools of transformation.  Soul expresses itself in feelings and is associated with the act of attention, and spirit expresses itself in thoughts and is associated with the act of intention....Thus, Separation is coming into focus about our true nature and what has to be done to clean up our lives."  It is almost like a holy war.  "All of a sudden we want to live spiritual principles, be true to our spiritual essence, and be around spiritual people...  People who are successful at handling separation are courageous and daring, often initiating major changes in the world and in the lives of people around them.  In relationships, they are fiercely loyal and can fight for the rights of others with unquenchable passion.  The key to successful separation is letting go of the anger or anxiety that is the course of the separtive impulse and letting the eternal essences of one's personality guide them."

Conjunction:  This operation represents the combining or conjoining of things.  "it is the turning point in Alchemy.  It is the marriage of the Sun and Moon within, the union of spirit with soul to produce a new identity. The alchemists saw this as a passionate coming together of the elements Fire..." (Lily - Gryffindor) and Water (Severus - Slytherin), "an act of inner love."

This stage is the "creation of a whole new personality from the essences of  soul and spirit we have discovered within us, and it takes a lot of courage, passion and devotion to succeed in uniting them.  Conjunction is what we feel when we fall in love with another person, and it is also the communion that we feel with all of nature."  This stage is a complete merging of heart and mind.  "The alchemists referred to these two opposed ways of knowing as Solar and Lunar consciousness.  Solar consciousness is the rational, deductive, argumentative, intellectual thinking that is the hallmark of science...Lunar consciousness is a nonlinear, image-driven, intuitive way of thinking that is an accepted tool of the arts and religion.  The union of Solar and Lunar consciousness produces a superior third way of knowing called...the Philosopher's  Stone.

Fermentation: To achieve this phase one must "die in this world and be reborn in the next.  The alchemists called  this...fermentation, and just like natural fermentation, it starts with putrefaction.  People...must die to their own ego reality to grow and be reborn on a higher level.  There is always a dark period of unconsciousness to pass through.  Psychologically (this) is the dark night of the soul in which our ego, everything we thougth was our identity suffers a final and complete death....It is a painful, if necessary step to enlightenment in which we truly realize the futility of a merely physical existance.

"The sudden breakthrough of light and imagination that follows purtrefaction is the most inspired part of alchemy.  During this phase of true fermentation, the alchemists felt they were working on a whole new level of reality....This...changes the vibrational level of the soul..."

Distillation:  "Fermentation (can feel like) a mystical or religious expreience for most people, and it can even take the form of psychedelic or paranormal experiences.  This can be an overwhelming experience in which we temporarily lose our balance and have to readjust to the real world.  What we need is objectivity, a distilling of the experience.  That is exactly what Distillation means on the psychological level.

"Personal distillation is gaining objectivity by taking a step back to get an overall view of the extremes of personal experience, the ups and downs in life.  In that way, it is a purification of consciousness or the rising of consciousness to a higher level....  Distillation takes us into the rarefied realm of spirit where base emotions cannot follow.  It is the purification of the unborn Self - all that we truly are and can be spiritually."

Coagulation:  This is the last, and surprisingly one of the easier stages of spiritual transformation.  "If everything proceeded well through the higher operations of fermentation and distillation, the goal of the Work almost automatically forms or congeals...In the transformed person (there is) a new ego or center of consciousness.  This phase produces a very genuine and alive person with a deep respect and connection to the processes of nature.  It is sensed in the world as a higher love, a deeply felt compassion for the whole world and everyone in it, and also an appreciation for the processes of birth and death in the universe.  

"This is a crowning individuation resulting in peace of mind, heightened energy, and a free-flowing adaptability to new situations.  In the material realm, it entails the production of synchronistic events that enhance the life of the alchemist, as all parts of one's life become golden.  That also means the healing of the body and simply living long enough (and comfortably enough) to apply the knowledge it has taken a lifetime to accumulate.

"Coagulation incarnates and releases a higher state of consciousness, which the alchemists also referred to as the Greater Stone.  Using the magical touchestone, the alchemists believed they could create an elixir that would cure all diseases and heal all wounds on all levels.  They also believed that the perfected human would be able to solve a multitude of problems that seem insurmountable in our human civilization...

"The mind of the coagulated person has been fundamentally and permanently transmuted and is open to vistas of time and space to which most of us are unaware."

Here is