Chapter 6
1681 Words
Chapter Six
My knife slips through ginger root, slicing it to the perfect thickness for the potion we're making. My Grandma taught me how to brew potions, and thankfully, this skill hasn't abandoned me with the rest. As far as I know, I'm the top of this class.
The cauldron fizzes as I drop it in, emitting the most delicious smell imaginable. I know that's the point of what we're brewing, but it still takes me a moment to get used to it.
"Excellent work, Miss Black," Professor Clay observes as he walks past me, sniffing my cauldron. "Needs a bit more work, Mr Chambers."
Ryan scowls at his pot in response, but doesn't say anything. Once the professor moves on to another table, I can give him a helping hand on the sly. Except that I can't. I need to avoid any possible contact with him or I'm only going to confuse myself even more.
I stir my potion, watching it turn from a dark blue colour to a more striking turquoise.
"What's this one supposed to do again?" Daphne whispers, tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear.
"It's supposed to help you work out what you want the most," I respond quickly. One thing I've never worked out about this class is whether we're allowed to talk or not. Normally, it's pretty clear, but the moment the cauldrons and ingredients come out, everyone seems to go silent.
"I know a few people who could use this."
"Yeah," I agree, only my thoughts won't stray from the fact I might be one of the people who benefits from this kind of potion. I clearly need help deciding what I want.
Actually, not true. I know exactly what I want. It's my secondary wants which are a little less clear, but I'll deal with them in time.
Ryan's pot begins to vibrate, a vile green smoke rising from it, filling the room with the stink of unwashed socks.
I wrinkle my nose. He needs to get that under control or we're all going to leave the room smelling awful.
"Mona, little help here?" Daphne prompts as she drags Ryan's cauldron off the heat.
I sigh. I'm trying to stay out of his way so I don't confuse myself, but I can't very well ignore the fact his potion is about to explode.
"Here." I push the rest of my ginger root towards him. "Peel it and drop the rind in. I'll get some chilli seeds," I instruct, already heading towards the storeroom.
"We're not making a curry," Daphne mutters.
I snort but otherwise ignore her. Potions is probably the one subject she's not good at. It's not worth explaining they're not cooking chillies. At least, I don't want to eat them in my food. They'd blow my head off, and not in the metaphorical sense either.
Pulling the jar off the shelf, I head back to my friends.
"You really are going to put a chilli in there, aren't you?" Daphne asks.
"Yep." I grab the biggest one I can find. Ryan's potion is getting more dangerous by the second, he's going to need all the help the seeds can give him.
And then probably some more too.
I wish I had time to clean my knife first, but it's only had ginger on it so far and that's already in Ryan's pot. Deseeding the chilli takes a minute at most, and I barge through them all to come face to face with the monstrosity he's been brewing.
"Do I even want to know?" I ask him.
He shakes his head. "This isn't my strong suit," he admits sheepishly.
"You don't say," I mutter as I scrape the seeds in.
The smoke flickers in front of us, wisps of it smelling sweet like they should, but the rest still reeking of socks. Not the best combination. But that left me with the dilemma of what to try next.
"Don't put anything else in that pot," I warn the twins. From experience, I know the two of them will try anything once my back is turned. Their parents must have had a handful when they were small.
I search through the store cupboard, hoping to find some inspiration. This is where it might have been useful for us to have some more theory lessons before diving straight into the potion brewing. But I like making things with my hands, I'm not going to complain about the teaching methods too much.
"What to put in it?" I ask myself as my hand brushes over a jar of newt eyes. I grimace. That's a slightly less savoury part of potion making, but I don't have any control over what ingredient does what.
My thoughts are interrupted by a loud bang from the main room. "Oh Ryan," I sigh. And not in the dreamy-want-to-make-out way either.
I abandon my search for something that will help his potion. There's no point in me doing that now and we all know it.
It takes about thirty seconds for me to realise our bench is almost completely destroyed. At least Daphne has my notebook in her hand, only a small amount of potion covering the corner of it.
Professor Clay waddles over, the alarm visible even through his bushy beard and moustache. "What's happening here?" he asks hastily. "Miss Black? Is this your doing?"
"I was only trying to fix it," I admit, looking down at my feet and shuffling from side to side.
"It's my fault," Ryan says. "I think I put too much wormwood in the initial mix."
The professor sighs. "At least you know what you did wrong. Clean up this mess, all three of you, and you won't need to be marked down on this."
I close my eyes and count to three, glad to have got away with just a bit of cleaning up to do. The relief disappears the moment Daphne and Ryan pull out their wands.
The rest of the class are starting to stare, and I know I have no choice but to do the same. At least I have a few spells in mind from helping Mum clean the house. If it decides to work, anyway. If not...well I'll sort that out when I make a mess of things.
I wave my wand over the grey sludge on my part of the desk. I don't know what Ryan did to make his potion go quite this wrong, but it really is something spectacular.
A short zing of magic flows through me and into my wand. That's a good start.
Or it is until the tittering starts from the students around me.
"Can I have this one?" Daphne asks, and I instantly know what's happened.
Sure enough, I look down to find a kitten perched on top of the blissfully clean desk. I suppose it's a step in the right direction if I'm able to do the magic I intend to, even if I do randomly produce a kitten in the process. This one is ginger, with eyes not quite as big as Rhubarb's but still cute.
"No, this one's mine too." Though I need Caspian to tell me if it's a boy or a girl. Not that it matters, I'll call it Ginger either way.
"That's some interesting cleaning, Miss Black," Professor Clay observes.
"The bench isn't covered in sludge any more?" I suggest weakly.
"That is true. I hope you're having that looked at." He nods towards my wand.
"I am," I say softly, hoping the rest of my classmates can't hear me. At least Ivy isn't in this class. That would just be bad luck on my part. She already has it out for me, I don't need her to see me producing more kittens by accident.
"Good. Then I suggest you take the animal somewhere safer than here."
"Yes, sir." I scoop up the kitten even before I've finished speaking.
Daphne stuffs my notebook into my bag and hangs it over my shoulder.
"Cheers."
She smiles weakly, as if she doesn't know what to say about my whole situation. I don't blame her, I wouldn't either if I were in her position. Maybe she didn't believe I'd just conjured Rhubarb out of nothing yesterday until now. Another thing I don't consider her fault. Magic backfiring to the extent of conjuring kittens is something no one would actually believe.
"Sorry, Mona," Ryan mutters quietly.
"Not your fault," I respond, giving him a weak smile that I hope goes some way to reassuring him. Or maybe I'm freaking him out instead and he won't want anything else to do with me ever.
That seems more likely.
I slip out of the lab and head down the hall, not too sure where I'm going until I'm in front of Thomas' door. I raise my fist to knock, already worrying that I'm overstepping by coming around when he isn't expecting me. Equally, I don't know where else to go, and he has promised to help me get a handle on my situation.
Maybe the cats are a clue. Though maybe not.
I rap on the door, but don't get an answer. Shifting from side to side, I try and work out how long to wait for. Class will be over soon and students will fill the halls again on their way to their next lecture, or to study, or whatever else they do in their time between lessons. I can't say I've spoken with enough of them to be completely sure.
There's no option but to knock again. Well, that's a lie. I could also give up, but I don't really want to, and only partly because I want to know about my condition. The rest of me just wants to see Thomas again.
I check my watch, knowing I only have a few minutes of peace before the bell rings. With a grunt of frustration, I abandon my position outside the door. I need to get away from here before someone sees me with the kitten and starts asking questions I don't want to answer.
At least my room is safe. Or it should be. For all I know, Rhubarb might have destroyed it while I've been gone. I hope not, but I've never had a kitten before and don't know what their destructive powers are like.
Hopefully, he'll have been a good boy and not ripped anything to shreds.
- Writer
