The Potions Professor

Chapter 16

I spent my time reading and writing ideas down for practicing taking a simple potion and adding extra ingredients at the end to get it to deactivate.

There was still one class before I had the class all to myself, but I wanted to start practicing a few of the samples I wrote down. I grabbed my paper and took it to the stockroom to get all the ingredients that I needed.

After getting everything I needed and into a basket to carry everything into the classroom. I waited in the back of the class as Nic did a little lecture before letting the students head to their cauldrons. I waited to see which one was empty before taking my things to the workstation cauldrons.

I went to the empty station off to the side and got everything organized in front of me.

For being a simple potion I was working with I was taking my time to get everything right. I didn't want even the smallest amount to be off since I was too worried about having it blow up in my face if I do something wrong.

“You’re taking long.” One of the guys said near me.

“I’m doing something different so I don’t plan on being fast about it,” I said to him still trying to focus on my task.

“I just don’t see why you out of all people would be slow about creating a potion.” He told me and it didn’t feel like what he was saying was something good about me. I ignored him after saying that to just work on the potion I needed to focus on.

I put the potion together in an order that felt right to me since I wanted to make sure that deactivating it would be easier if I did it that way. I put in the last ingredients and stirred the number of times said in the book.

“Got the potion done?” Nic asked when he came by to do a quick check, but I was able to feel his eyes on me the whole time I was working. I do appreciate that he waited for me to be done before coming over and checking on me.

“I just finished. I am hoping that I am going to do the next part right.” I tell him as I look at him and his eyes were full of hope and reassurance that I could do it.

“Well the worst thing that can happen is you in the hospital for burns, but knowing you I don’t think that will happen.” He tells me before he walked away to give me space.

I took a deep long breath and held it before slowly releasing it and stepping toward the cauldron and looking over my notes one last time. I took everything that I measured out and taking them and placed them into the cauldron before quickly stepping back. I small flame came out of the top of the cauldron and wasn’t as big as I expected. I let it burn a bit and waited to see if it would go out on its own. I stood there longer than I expected and the flame burned at a steady height.

I was about to grab the cauldron lid to place over it but the guy near me did it first.

“Okay, firebug.” He told me, but I ignored him. I watched the cauldron and it still had some flames coming out from under the lid which meant that smothering it didn’t work. I had to go a different route. I went to the closet and grabbed the plant that helped keep fires low and I grabbed a thick towel as well.

I put the towel over the handle of the lid and quickly pulled it off and using it as a shield as I put the plant I didn’t measure out into the pot. It did a huge flame up and then completely went out. I looked into the cauldron and saw that it hadn’t changed the way I had hoped. To the deactivator in class that works on all the low-level potions in class.

I felt defeated and disposed of the now deactivated potion and went into Nic’s office and threw myself on the couch. I waited a few minutes before Nic walked in after releasing his class at their release time.

His hand touched my back rubbing circles. He waited for me to turn around to look at him.

“How did you know it would start a fire?” I asked wondering why he didn’t warn me beforehand.

“I actually didn’t know. I was kind of making a joke.” He moved me to get onto the couch to hold me. He placed his hand under my chin and moved it for him to kiss me. “This is a little setback and you have a whole year to figure this out.” He smiled at me. I put my arms around him tight wishing that this would make me feel better, but it was hard not being good at potions like I thought I was.

“I don’t think I am ready for anything that is from the university if I can’t handle and first-year potion transformation to deactivate it,” I complain to him.

“I know that you can do it, but maybe you need to look at it differently than you did today. Let’s go out for a walk and have you clear you’re head while you tell me your thought process.” Nic suggested.

“I think we should get food while we do that. I am hungry after all of that.”

Nic laughed at me and then kissed me again.

“Let’s do that.” He moved to get off the couch and helped me up. We walked out of the office and classroom and went to the dining hall to grab some food to go walking in silence since I wanted food before talking.

We got a few things and headed outside.

“So Lena tell me what your thoughts were,” Nic said as he watched me take a few bits of food before telling me to speak.

“I thought that certain ingredients canceled each other and thought that would be enough of an effect to deactivate the potion.”

“That sounds logical, but what if it was more than that? Mixing is one thing deactivating is another. Have you looked at anything that involves the deactivation of potions?”

“There are books for that?” I asked a bit confused.

“Have you been relying on me?”

"No, but you have been providing everything I need," I told him since he was the one getting me all the advanced books.

"Okay, how about tomorrow you go and spend time researching in the library." He looked around then got close to my ear. "Even though I'll miss having you close by." I felt my cheeks flush at his words.