Worms and Poisons P2Y1 Ellaine, OPEN

Hex: #855B51 Mentions: @Paul Turner

Notes: I'm pretty sure that the Professor made a typo and wrote sponge instead of spoon Word Count: 331

Ellaine spared her new neighbour a teasing raised eyebrow, before continuing to stare first at the Flobberworm, then at the professor up at front. With her left hand she slid over her potions book – Magical Drafts and Potions – currently open on a page, which conveniently had her translucent page markers highlighting a potion: Antidote to Common Poisons.

"We're doing Antidote to Common Poisons and Antidote to Uncommon Poisons today," she replied absentmindedly, somewhat glad that she'd already read about these two potions before. Granted, it was only a cursory glance, born out of the desire to find out about... poisons!

Reaching out a finger into the cage, Ellaine poked at the creature. She returned her finger, the tip of which was now covered in mucus. It wasn't all that different from what she'd experienced at her grandma's house, but she couldn't help but do it.

"Quite strange, really," she added to no one in particular, "Flobberworm mucus is definitely not in any of the two potions. I checked."

Bemusedly, she watched Paul interact with the Flobberworm – or maybe, Flobby – with a touch of fascination colouring her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she realised that the he hadn't bothered with protective gloves, before shrugging to herself. She herself wasn't wearing one, so she had no place to be commenting on that.

Ellaine watched Paul scrape the mucus off into the jar, laid on the table right by the cage. She was content to let Paul do his thing. All she knew was that her interaction time with the Flobberworm is lessening with each stroke of the spoon, and she can't be bothered to do it again.

Ellaine didn't have anything against Flobberworms, really. She just mildly dislikes it, avoiding any touches with it when possible, but not to the point of disgust. She just doesn't like getting her hands dirty without quick access to clean, water and beautiful, beautiful soap. Dirty hands, muddy hands, greasy hands, slimy hands – they were the bane of her life.

"Huh... hey Ellaine!" Did he utter, surprised, as he had actually looked at her for the first time since his arrival. She was his neighbour... amazing! "Whoa, didn't expect to meet ya here! Though I should have. You're a first year too..." Rambled Paul, shaking his head when he decided it was quite enough of it.

He took the spoon and continued to retrieve the slime.

"Anyway, thanks for telling me." Paul took out his book too, but didn't open it just yet. Reason one, he had hands full of work with the Flobberworm. Reason two, he wasn't about to open it anyway, unless it was utterly necessary.

"How is the scratch, by the way?" He looked at Ellaine for a moment, pointing his index finger at his own cheek, to demonstrate what he meant.

As soon as he got an answer, he went on to getting the mucus into the container.

After Ellaine informed him that the mucus wasn't in any of the two potions they'd learn to prepare, Paul shrugged. He had no clue why the professor would choose to mention the mucus in this lesson, unless it was really important for potions in general.
"Well, the mucus sounds like an important ingredient... class two important, slightly less important than class one important ones." Joked the boy with the last part. "But the activity is fun, so I don't really mind." Shrugged the boy, lowering his eyes to the flobberworm.

He took one last spoon of his slime and moved it to the container. Then, he put his spoon aside, closing the door to the cage and leaning down to look into the cage, his eyes on the level of the Flobberworm. "There you go... done! Great job, Flobby. You were like... the stilliest worm I've ever met. Hope I haven't taken too much slime from ya! So... bye, stay safe and live a long, happy life!" Did he wave at the worm, as he checked what Ellaine was doing.

"So... what are we-"

After they were told to move to the bowls, Paul did as instructed, listening to the teacher. He swang back on his chair, holding the edges of the desk, as there were no desks behind him he could lean against. Fortunately, he realized in the last moment, balancing so that he wouldn't fall.

“Huh… Hey Ellaine!”

Ellaine turns and smiles at him in lieu of a greeting, nodding along as he starts to talk, and privately she thinks that it's a nice coincidence that Hufflepuff and Gryffindors are sharing classes for Potions.

“Anyway, thanks for telling me.”

“No problem,” she says with ease, and watches him pull out a book. It stays unopened, though she does not blame him much. flobberworm mucus on those pages…? She shudders in fright.

She watches him return to the slimy mucus with a renewed gusto, moving the spoon along its body. She wonders if she should volunteer to do it so he can skim his Potions book, but scratches the thought. She'll wait.

“How is the scratch, by the way?”

Ellaine hums questioningly, looking up from her Potions book. She raises her hand to her cheek. It doesn't hurt anymore. “It's almost gone now, I think. Didn't really check.”

Ellaine almost asks after his own scratch, but as she tilts her head around for a good look, she finds that she can't actually discern where it was. Almost healed, then. Instead of returning to her book (as she ought to!), Ellaine watches Paul with interest. It would do her well to understand the mechanics of scooping a flobberworm's mucus. Maybe.

“There's a class one important?” she repeats quietly, and lets out a short huff, trying not to make much noise. “Now what could that be? Water?”

Paul finishes the task remarkably quick, and soon Ellaine finds herself watching him speak to the Flobberworm. Flobby. A smile appears on her face, though at what, she does not know. Distantly, she wonders what the professor does with his collection of flobberworms after class. Does he keep them somewhere?

No. Maybe he just sets them free. How hard is it to acquire a flobberworm, anyway?

“So… What are we—”

Paul's voice fell silent as the professor resumes his talk, and tells them to clean up their tables. Ellaine raises her eyebrows. Obediently, she helps Paul put away the containers and cages, before leaning forwards to rest her cheek on her left knuckle.

Bowl, bowl, bowl. What will they be doing to the bowl – she checks inside – full of potions ingredients? A second later, she chides herself, just as the professor starts explaining. Obviously, they were going to learn about them.

She listens avidly as the professor talks. Never does she take her eyes off the bowl, carefully assigning the names and characteristics and functions to each of the ingredients.

Bezoars, she mouths to herself. Ellaine thinks it looks like the rocks she finds in her backyard. She remembers her grandma – or was it her mum? – saying something about a goat's stomach and bezoars, and she wonders if they are really found there. If so, is it a common occurence? Is it hard to obtain? Come to think of it, how much does it even cost?

Hmm. Her hands itches to touch. She keeps it safely away, tucked behind her as she leans away. Better not start poking at stuff, but—

To her seatmate, she asks airily, “Do you think we're allowed to touch them?”

Indeed a fortunate coincidence to share a class with his Hufflepuff friend. Especially one that's as cool to be around as Ellaine. Paul seems to be enjoying the presence of the skilled flier because it provides certain calmness and serenity. Though Ellaine wasn't much of a speaker, or, at least, that was Paul's impression, he apparently felt somewhat comfortable around her. His energy was never leaving him, of course. And perhaps, he even listened to the professor more with more focus than in other lessons.

"Then I will. Gimme a sec." Uttered Paul regarding her scratch, before he turned to her and inspected her cheek. As he couldn't find it on the cheek he was looking at, he asked: "Wait, was it on your right or left cheek?"

So, it's likely they were watching each other at the same time, both looking for the scratch, both unable to find it. Which is a good sign. Ran through his head.

As Ellaine spoke about the importance of ingredients, he smirked. "Certainly!" Chuckled the boy about her remark on water, showing her thumbs up that she was right.

He assisted her when moving the cage away. As he was watching Flobby, several questions arose in his head. "Hm, I wonder if water's part of their diet. But... What do they eat if they don't have teeth?" Paul frowned in thought.

"But the most important question is," Paul stopped dramatically, "do you think they're as good at racing as earthworms are?" Paul looked at Ellaine seriously, apparently meaning every word. "I think we should find out somehow."

But how are you gonna find out, Paul? Do you want to take Flobby and one other worm away? You'd be stealing them, ya know. They'd take some points away from Gryffindor and then, everyone would suffer. You just shouldn't. Ran through his mind and he grimaced.

The professor then said they'd move to the bowl and Paul did. After giving a proper farewell to Flobby by petting him on the head and the back. Unless it was his belly, eh. Hopefully, nothing else. One last goodbye, one last promise to get to know the animal and its racing abilities better. Then, he moved to the bowl.

Bezoar. It looked like a brown ball similar to a... "Poop?" Paul rised his eyebrow in suspicion when looking at the object in the bowl. Bowing down to take a better look though, he understood it couldn't be a poop. It didn't smell like one. "Eh, it looks like..."

He just poke the ball with his index finger, to make sure it wasn't poop material. Then, he lifted it from the bowl, inspecting it closely. So much to Ellaine's question about touching them.

"A bunch of entangled hair and something..." Paul put his nose to the bezoar, to smell it. "I'm not sure. Foresty? Like, a cone or something. And it's also hard, like marbles! Wanna try?" Did he offer to Ellaine, swinging his hand up and down, as if he was about to throw it if she said yes.

When the professor mentioned unicorn horn powder, Paul's eyes widened after prof. Lesmana's statement, and his attention was dragged by the powder in the vial. "My... a-a... unicorn? No way!" Did the boy huff, surprised, if not shocked.

When the speech came to how the horn was extracted, Paul's eyes narrowed.
"Uhm... I wonder if there are poachers in the magical world too?" Spoke the boy quietly, with Ellaine, stitching his eyebrows thoughtfully.

“Hm, I wonder if water's part of their diet. But... What do they eat if they don't have teeth?”

Ellaine does not answer, but she rightfully reckons that flobberworms eat the same things non-magical worms do, but… she is pretty sure that they’re not carnivorous. Probably herbivores. Maybe food waste.

Watching the frown on her friend’s face, she wonders what will come next. And— Ellaine repeats Paul’s comment dubiously. “Racing earthworms? Racing flobberworms?” She is pretty sure that worms weren’t fast. But she’ll put her money on flobberworms either way. She shakes her head mildly, and half-heartedly concocts a plan to find flobberworms somehow. Worms, on the other hand… are there non-magical worms in Hogwarts? “Yes, of course,” she says to herself, still keeping half her attention on the front.

It is only a moment later that she realises that those three words could also be presumed to be an answer to Paul.

“Poop?”

She wheezes, whipping her head around to Paul. Poop? she repeats inside her mind, watching in a mildly horrified fascination as Paul just takes the bezoar into his hands, looking at it closely, squinting lightly as he does. So much for her previous question. All she can do is to stare and pray that it does not fall.

‘Entangled hairs and forest-y smells.’ Good to know, she supposes. Though she wonders how he’ll react if she tells him that bezoars originate from a goat’s stomach. No, he’ll probably just wonder how that happens, which, is a good question, thinks Ellaine. So instead, she accepts the offer with an open palm. The bezoar drops into her hand. She feels about slightly, curiously taking note of its surface. It is indeed hard, like a pebble or a stone, notes Ellaine, before she returns it back to the bowl.

“My... a-a... unicorn? No way!”

Ellaine just rests her chin on the folds of her arms. She makes no outward distinct reactions, but her eyes remain glued to the jar of white powder. Unicorn horns… a faintly reverent expression crosses her face, and she feels lighter at once. That lightness fades as the words start to register inside her mind. Podered unicorn horn, extracted from a dead unicorn, yes…

“Uhm… I wonder if there are poachers in the magical world?”

She looks at Paul. A grimace crosses her face. She nods. “I mean, probably? Though I reckon they’d still wait for a naturally shed horn. To slay a unicorn…” She trails off. An uncomfortable feeling falls over her and she can’t help but shudder.

Before Ellaine could say much of it, the professor starts on the last ingredient. She is relieved, in a way. Straightening up, she keeps her eye on the last ingredient as it is introduced. A mistletoe plant. She wilts, scrunching her face, in distinct disappointment. Really, she has nothing against the plant (a lie), she just…

“If poison berries, why kiss under it?” she mutters underneath her breath.

Ellaine didn't asnswer his first question about water, thus, he was forced to answer it himself. Which he seemed to be completely fine with. "That was a stupid question. They have to drink water if they produce so much slime. It's probably like... sweat or something on humans." No, Paul usually didn't speak to himself aloud. He only realized he said it aloud, after having done it, so he looked at his neighbour awkwardly, blushing.

Realizing that with the Puff, some of his comments and questions would just remain unanswered, the boy made a mental note to keep his thoughts to himself.

The remark about worm racing apparently swirled emotion, that was why his eyes widened and, after Ellaine's consequent questions, the boy smiled joyfully and nodded his head eagerly. "Yes, racing! Earthworms are great at it, really! They're surprisingly fast, they just sometimes get distracted from the track by pieces of soil and start digging into the ground. You just need to take them and like... straighten them, so that their head is above the soil, and that's it."

When she said agreed, Paul's face lit up even more and he fisted his palm, pulling his arm down quickly, bent in the elbow."Yay, race partner!" His stretched his free hand to her, to give her a high-five. "We should wait till it rains though. Earthworms are more active then. And we still have to figure out how to get a Flobberworm, if we're including them."

The bezoar doesn't fall down. He hands it to Ellaine, then watches her thoughtfully. "Hm, we've not been told what it is exactly. Is it a stone? If so, isn't it dangerous?" Paul rose an eyebrow. If it weren't, why would mum be so nervous about the possibility of her swallowing the marbles, when we were playing them with Pippa? Thought the boy.

When the topic came to unicorns, Paul looked at Ellaine, listening to her carefully. When she shuddered, he swallowed hard. The professor spoke about their purity and magicality. The image of someone slaying a unicorn seemed somewhat terrifying. For a few moments, he was quiet.

It was... a strange feeling, really. As if... the magic in him swirled in disgust. As if it was trying to oppose the mere idea of a unicorn being slayed. Paul understood why Ellaine shuddered. He felt like shuddering as well, only managing to suppress it, due to the new topic the teacher spoke about, which was mistletoe.

'If poison berries, why kiss under it?'

"Uh... I suppose it's because it... looks nice? Like holly." Tried to reason the boy in a low tone of voice. "There's plenty of it where I live. It's green all year long, so... perhaps, that has something to do with the kissing tradition? Dunno." Shrugged the boy.

When the teacher got stung by the Billywig, Paul's eyes widened in terror! "Professor, are you-" Before he managed to ask if he was alright, Professor Lesmana said he was, so Paul let out a genuine, relieved exhale. He then, with apparent interest, watched as the professor poured a few drops on the injury, and then drank the rest of the vial. When he said it wasn't tasty, Paul grinned.

"Haha, poor professor. Haven't had a tasty medicine yet either! It's like cough syrup - it helps, but the taste is..." Commented the boy, grimacing and pretending to throw up. "Very calming, to know potions are the same in this." Spoke the boy sarcastically, shaking his head.

Ellaine made an interested sound, a slight hum playing out as she listened to Paul. Her silence wasn’t one of disinterest. On the contrary, these occasions where she seemed a silent wall was simply her trying to appreciate the speaker. Her usual manner of mind oft made her slip through a few words, and with this utmost “concentration” she tried to remedy that, yet she did not know how to appear it seem as though she wasn’t— well, wasn’t ignoring them. Though these earthworms weren’t the sort of tiny creatures she would have found an interest in, she found it fun to hear of others’ perspectives.

A rainy day, for rain-loving worms. Flobberworms, on the other hand… Ellaine dug through her mind in search of a clue – anything, to offer something to their conversation. “If I’m not mistaken, Flobberworms live in dark places, yes? Dark, damp, places, so maybe caves?” She paused, brows furrowing as she scowled at her book. “Does Hogwarts even have a cave? Actually, maybe we’d have more luck with forests instead.”

And soon, hearing him talk about the stone – bezoar – Ellaine gave in to her urge and poked at it once more where it sat inside the bowl. “No, no, it’s a bezoar, and bezoars aren’t dangerous. Unless you choke, but… It’s like… a cure-it-all, I guess, for many poisons… but not all.” She vaguely remembered her mother, trying to teach her about – well, she couldn’t remember anymore, but it somehow turned into poisons, and then antidotes, and then— bezoars. “I think even swallowing one would do. Emergencies.”

They got around to the topic of mistletoe leaves, which disinterested her enough that Ellaine felt safe enough to fully turn her attention to Paul as he tried to rationalise the traditions. Traditions, traditions, she repeated inside her head, tsk-tsk-tsk. “Mhm. They probably found some weird kind of importance in mistletoes.”

The professor finally announced the end of their little ingredients introduction, and they finally set out for the finalised products. Ellaine immediately went out of her seat as soon as he called them to the front, belatedly reaching to her side to tug at Paul’s sleeve as they all got to the front.

Ellaine… stared uncomprehendingly as the professor let himself be bitten by the oversized-mosquito – billywigs? yes, of course – before realising that he intended to make use of the potions he had on hand.

…Oh. If it initially only causes a “high”, she supposed she could understand why he didn’t hesitate much. Not as big a problem if it had, ah– delayed its effects.

“Very reassuring, to know that potions are the same in this.”

“At least it isn’t spicy. I hate spicy.” Ellaine nodded her head in complete agreement, before another stray thought struck her. “Ehh… some of them are fine. Cough syrups are sweet, aren’t they?”

'Flobberworms live in dark places.'

Paul had been watching Ellaine with a certain degree of awe and appreciation, as he usually did when people who weren't of Muggle origin spoke about different topics related to the magical world. That Flobberworms lived in dark places, Paul had no idea, for instance. But he was interested and this interest was bound to become passion, as always, with this little guy.

"Yeah, I think so..." Did he reply as soon as Ellaine came up with the theory of caves. "Uhm... I dunno? Maybe?" There's everything here. "Uhm, maybe, they live somewhere, in the dungeons. And no, I don't mean this classroom or the professor's office." Chuckled the boy. Though that could be the easiest way to find some. Ran through his head.

Stitching his eyebrows, it was apparent that Paul started thinking about it. The forest was a strangely alluring place. On several occassions in the past months, he had felt an urge to go there and explore at least its edge, despite the fact that students were not allowed to enter. But perhaps, this was his chance. Perhaps, he would finally get an excuse to get there, moreover with a friend. Hopefully!

"And would you go?" Asked the boy quickly, unsure but hopeful. "To the forest, I mean. To find some Flobberworms. They might... be living on the edge."

Once the topic came to bezoars, Paul listened to Ellaine carefully, but stitched his eyebrows. "Well, I hope I'll never need it. Swallowing stones doesn't sound healthy." Murmured Paul. "Unless it like... dissolves in the stomach, or something. Anyway... you seem to know a lot about the ingredients. Would you mind me asking where from?"

Paul sighed, grimacing, as the topic moved to mistletoe. "Adults... always finding reasons to kiss." Again, Paul pretended to puke, this time moreover rolling his eyes. The truth was, that the first person he remembered when speaking about kisses, was his mum who would always be ready to give some to his dad, himself or his sister. So, yes, she was totally included in Paul's rationale. And so was his dad.

'At least it isn’t spicy. I hate spicy.'

"Ew, spicy..." Paul grimaced again, showing his negative opinion. "What's your favourite flavour then? Mine is sweet! But pure!"

Paul shrugged when she asked him about treacles. "Bitter and sweet. Ew." With the memory of the taste, he shivered.

The professor told them to go back to the stations and prepare for brewing. Paul's eyes shone with excitement, as he rushed to find the book. It was him to tug Ellaine's sleeve now.
Once they reached the station and found the recipe, after the first few lines, Paul grimaced.

"Eh, rock, paper, scissors on who's crushing the bezoar?" Suggested the boy, fisting his palm and lifting it to the level of his chest.

“Uhm, maybe, they live somewhere, in the dungeons. And no, I don't mean this classroom or the professor's office.”

“Yeah, I hope not,” Ellaine said, shaking her head slightly from side to side.

The thought of “borrowing” a flobberworm for their little race had crossed her mind, of course, but it stood clearly under the banner labelled “Stupid Ideas You Ought Not To Do”. She blamed her brother for these ideas, and pointedly ignored how he was currently five hundred miles away. He existed, and so that part of her mind too existed.

"And would you go?” asked Paul, and Ellaine was momentarily distracted with trying to decipher that question— “To the forest, I mean. To find some Flobberworms. They might... be living on the edge.”

Ellaine blinked in response, followed by a mildly incredulous look at him. That sounded… suspiciously like an offer to go gallivanting together inside the Forbidden Forest. Which. While on her bucket list, was not one of the things she planned to do as a first-year. Or a second-year, for that matter.

She also hadn’t been that serious about her earlier words, which – she rectified her plans. “Well – or we could try other foresty patches around the grounds that aren’t the Forbidden Forest?” she asked, ending in an uncertain lilt as she racked her memories for answers, finding none. “Or, I guess, we could first find out where they live. One of our books, maybe? Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Surely there’s something on flobberworms.”

—

“Well, I hope I'll never need it. Swallowing stones doesn't sound healthy.”

Ellaine involuntarily snorted, and her gaze promptly darted away in embarrassment – what a crude sound, thought she. Catching the tail end of his response, she latched onto the question he offered gladly, as a distraction.

“My ma and my grandma taught me,” she said, a note of pride entering her voice. “I like the idea of potions, so I like watching them brew.” —nevermind the fact that Ellaine was horrendous at cooking anything other than eggs and bread, perhaps with bacon on the side – ooh, and fried rice, too. Not that she was ever going to admit that inability.

Reasons to kiss, yes, thought Ellaine in silent commiseration. She was lucky, of course, that her parents weren’t the type to, ah – commit Public Displays of Affection daily, but the matter still stood. She rolled her eyes at his antics, reflexively hiding a smile as she looked the other way.

"Ew, spicy..." Paul grimaced, and Ellaine was simply delighted to find a common face. It was a lonely life she led, when her entire family seemed to bizarrely favour spicy food, and she was the only one without that preference. "What's your favourite flavour then? Mine is sweet! But pure!”

“Pure sweet?” she said, tilting her head to the side. She’d never labelled her tastes before, after all. Ellaine mentally shrugged, before continuing. “Mine’s salty. Soy sauce, salt, cheese, and the like.”

When the professor announced it was time to prepare their brewing, Ellaine was quite amused to find that it was enthusiastic Paul who sleeve-tugged her back to their workbench. In response, she brought closer her book, still open on the page for Antidote to Common Poisons. Quite convenient, she’d say.

"Eh, rock, paper, scissors on who's crushing the bezoar?”

Ellaine, amused, followed his gesture. “Fair warning, I’m atrocious at this game.” She’d lost against her brothers so many times she didn’t even bother to get cross over it every time.

She sent out a rock.