Eye of newt and toe of frog
M I L OxH A R T M A N
i'll be nicer if you'll be smarter
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Late on a Thursday morning the Slytherins and Gryffindors filed into the classroom for double potions. A thin, veil-like purple smoke wafted through the damp classroom as they entered which smelled almost but not quite of tangerine. Half a year ago he might have recoiled and wondered what it was, but by now he was rather used to the potions classroom smelling strange.
In many ways, Potions was one of his favorite classes. Not because he was particularly brilliant at it, but rather because the class was in the dungeons, which meant that getting to class involved going down stairs, not up them. A small but important mercy for a boy who got the shakes climbing up a small step ladder. So far he had managed to disguise his fear, though his excuses for taking the long way around to classes (avoiding the moving stairs) were getting increasingly flimsy.
Milo settled in at one of the brewing stations near the middle of the room and got his potions book out. He was rather hoping that Professor Asmaralaya would let them have another go at last week's potion, which he thought he could have done a better job at, but those hopes were quickly dashed. They were making a new potion today, a Forgetfulness Potion. A quick glance at his book assured him that it wasn't too complex and that the risk of any cauldrons melting or exploding was fairly low. Although... you could never put it past some of the more loud-mouthed Gryffindors to heroically blow themselves up.
Which made it a bit unfortunate that he ended up getting paired with just such a Gryffindor boy. Milo had his judgements ready before the noodly boy had even made it to their shared table. Max Vidler wasn't exactly the calm and quiet sort, and that wasn't just down to looks, it was the unbothered way he carried himself too: robes thrown on without any real care, strutting about like the universe revolved around him, and that sort of grating cheerfulness.
“If you can get the Lethe River Water, I'll get the Valerian sprigs and mistletoe berries,” Milo said without so much as looking up from his potions book. No introductions were necessary, they were in the same year after all, even if they hadn't yet been made to work together before. Milo had already resigned to doing most, if not all of the work, for the next two hours when he finally looked up and gingerly brushed his hair out of his eye. “Do you think you can manage that?” After all, Max looked like the sort of person that might trip over their own feet or get distracted along the way. Not so different from an overexcited puppy, and those were best kept on a leash.
@Maximilianus Kenneally Vidler | Eye of newt and toe of frog 13/04/2026Potions Classroom
Eye of newt and toe of frog
Banner by Julia Evans
Interacting with: Dialogue: Date: Date:————————— Words:
Descending into the dungeons never failed to give him chills. Maybe it was the coldness that crept in no matter what he did, or maybe it was the darkness that loomed in every stretch between the lights. It could be any number of things really. But he knew what it was. Being beneath ground was unsettling. He didn’t enjoy enclosed spaces to begin with, and having the earths crust above his head made the possibility of the walls collapsing around him feel inevitable.
Still, he braved the stairs like the foolishly brave soul that he was. Good thing too, because he was on the verge of being late. Walking in, he looked over the room with a grin. All those who had been unfortunate enough to be paired with him before would be blown away by his brilliance today. He was sure of it. He hefted the bag a bit higher on his shoulder, pulling a bit on the unbuttoned collar of his robe. He would show them all.
Sending a long look at his preferred workstation in the back, he walked over and took a seat at the table in the middle of the room. Opening his bag, he pulled out a rather tattered copy of the potions book. A quick glance at the board told him everything he needed to know. Forgetfulness potion. He could do with a good dose of the opposite.
Flicking pages, he reached the right one and held back a bit of a grunt. He had finally reached the day. The day of learning the potion recipe that was covered in black, dried goo. What a joy. Nevertheless, he would not give up. Only quitters did that, and he was no such thing. He squinted at the page, trying to interpret the few letters that weren’t covered. Thankfully he was saved from the headache for now. «Of course I can manage that! What do you think I am, stupid?» He snorted at his own comment as he stood. The boy looked about as fun as an impossibly long history paper. So Max would have to have fun for the both of them.
Crossing the room in quick steps, he paused before the storage of ingredients. What was it he was told to get? Something with water, that was for sure. He scanned the shelf with all of the precision of a water hose at full power that was dropped. He shuffled his feet a little. He didn’t really see anything marked with something even similar to water. Hesitating a bit, he grabbed a small vial of something. The possibility of being made fun of for not being able to find such a simple thing was looming. So he did the only thing he could think of, and ripped off the label.
Quite pleased with his own effort, he returned to the table. «Here I am, ingredient safely in hand and no disaster has occurred!» He joked as he set the vial down on the table and taking a seat once more. «How are you at potions, by the way? I usually have enough with my own work, not really having the time to pay attention to others…» That was good. It was honest, while still not completely giving away what a mess he usually made in this class.
PC: Maximilianus Kenneally Vidler—————————"Life is short; make it weird and slightly chaotic."
iNPC: Harvey Dunn—————————————————————Roadhouse Radio