Prodigal PV Hunter A Cooperation

Recipe

Reducio

Gregory’s Unctuous Unction

Ingredients: 2 Sprigs of Peppermint, 3 Flower Heads, 1 measure of Pearl Dust, 2 measures of Powdered Moonstone, 4 Eel Eyes

Grind 2 sprigs of Peppermint and 3 dried Flower Heads to a powder
Add 1 measure of Pearl Dust to the mortar
Combine and grind the ingredients until you have a very fine powder
Slowly add the powdered mixture to the cauldron while stirring clockwise
Once everything is added, stir once, anti-clockwise
Set to low heat
Wave your wand over the cauldron
Leave to brew for 8 - 12 hours
Returning to the cauldron, increase the heat to a medium flame
Stir once, clockwise to agitate the settled liquid
Add 2 measures of Powdered Moonstone
Stir 3 times, clockwise
Leave to brew for 30 - 45 minutes
Add 4 Eel Eyes to the cauldron
Increase to high heat
Boil for 60 seconds, then turn heat to low
Stir 2 times, slowly, anti-clockwise
Wave your wand to complete the potion

Hunter awoke with a slight yawn. He had enjoyed a pleasant dream in which... well he couldn't quite recall what his dream was about. He felt delirious, and he could feel something shaking him back and forth a bit. He lifted his head towards the individual, "Professor?" He began to say, questioning if it was Professor Wickham-Deakin who had awakened him. Hunter gently adjusted his yellow-tinted glasses and looked over towards the side of the desk. A cauldron already brewing was in session beside him. A very weak flame beneath it.

Flashback

Hunter had arrived extremely early on Saturday in order to complete a very long-lasting potion, Gregory's Unctuous Unction. Hunter didn't have much of a reason for wanting to brew the potion besides the fact that it was a challenge. A challenge of patience. Typically Hunter was used to brewing potions that required only a few hours, but this one, in particular, was going to require a dreadful 8-12 hour wait. He entered the potion room with his personal journal and potion book. Opening both up, he began to prepare Gregory's Unctuous Unction. Hunter placed 2 sprigs of peppermint, and 3 dried flower heads into a mortar and pestle to grind them to a powder. Next was to grind pearl dust into the mortar as well. An interesting item, and it was one Hunter rarely ever saw. Only very small amounts were in his father's potion room, and his grandmother forbade him from ever using it at home. To finally be able to use the item was fascinating. However, Hunter did find it slightly odd that the item was involved in Gregory's Unctuous Unction. He knew pearl dust was typically used in love potions. Could Gregory's Unctuous Unction be considered as a very weak love potion?

Hunter decided to not ponder on the thought too much, and after grinding everything to a fine powder in the mortar and pestle, he began to add it to the cauldron; slowly while stirring in a clockwise motion. Once all the powder was added, Hunter made sure to stir once in the anti-clockwise direction as the recipe instructed. Turning on the heat to a low simmer and waving his wand, Hunter decided the best way to wait... was to sleep. Waking up so early, and spending so much time last night studying caused Hunter to feel extremely tired. The slight smell of peppermint in the air only furthers his feelings of slothfulness. He rested his head... and drifted off to sleep

Now Hunter recalled what he was doing, and he looked at the classroom clock to notice... only 20 minutes had gone by: "Professor, why?" Hunter began to say, but swiftly cut himself off as he turned his head away from his cauldron to meet the eyes of Sophia Nelson. At first, Hunter gave a confused look. For starters, why was another student in the potions room on a Saturday? Hunter rarely knew or had seen any other students be in the dungeons on such a free day. Next, why did she look familiar, and yet unfamiliar at the same time? Hunter pondered a little... why did she say clumsy, and is she frowning?

Hunter looked around for any other clues and his droopy eyes swept past his journal. Swiftly scanning over the written words, only one individual had the description of 'clumsy,' Sophia Nelson.
Hunter had to re-think a bit because he had difficulty recognizing faces. Especially faces of those he never really spoke with before.

"Ms.Nelson?" Hunter asked in a questionable way. Given a few more seconds of waking up, Hunter came to a quick realization that she probably read the description he had for her. Hunter's face grew a slight pinkish hue due to embarrassment, but he was already caught as he could tell. Hunter had a paranoia that he couldn't control well, and a thirst for knowing more. He wanted to know more about people and keep tabs on them. Know their strengths and their weaknesses. Very few were exceptions, and that was shown in his writing for Sophia. Normally Hunter would be rather nervous, but it was possibly due to being awoken so very early that he felt rather aggravated. He lifted his wand and spoke, "Wingardium Leviosa" and brought the jar of eel eyes from the high shelf down. Hunter himself was rather short of only being 135cm, and he was curious as to why Sophia didn't just cast the spell herself: "I presume not only clumsy but also a bit out of touch with charms?" Had Hunter known that Sophia was not the best with charms, he wouldn't have asked. It most likely seemed a bit rude to have asked such a question. He placed the jar of eel eyes between the two of them on the desk, "I merely write what I see Ms. Nelson." Hunter then proceeded to make a few slashes in his writing, and it could be seen he made comments that Sophia did in fact wear glasses confirming his suspicion: "Unlike someone who doesn't wear glasses, to which I might ask, why don't you wear them more often? From what I've read people tend to find individuals much cuter when they wear glasses, and it may make you less clumsy as well."

Hunter's wording seemed odd, off, and very unlike him. His tone of voice was different as well. He was in a much more of his logical mood, and he was trying to test and learn about Sophia since he had little to nothing else to do.

@Sophia Nelson

Sophia blushed in embarrassment as the other boy brought the bottle of eel eyes to the desk with a simple charm. A charm she - theoretically - should have already mastered. And she kind of had. Sort of. She could perform the spell correctly about eight times out of ten, but those other two times were just as clumsy as she was.

"I, uh," she tried to say, but her words got caught in her thread due to her embarrassment, "I have an accent."

Hopefully that explained her issues with Charms well enough. She grabbed her measured ingredients and prepared her own cauldron next to the boy's.

"Two sprigs of Peppermint," she muttered to herself, throwing them into the mortar, "And three dried Flower Heads. Grind to a powder."

It was simple enough so far! She did as instructed, and, though her technique was far from perfect, she noted the ingredients slowly being crushed into a powder. Good thing the flower heads were dried, or she'd end up with a gross paste. Yuck.

"I don't see how you 'saw' me being clumsy," she argued to cover her embarrassment, "I'm usually pretty good in Potions class. What about you, though? What would you write if you were seeing yourself?"

It was a complicated way of asking him to describe himself, but oh well. He seemed to be not much better than her in social interactions, given that he'd taken notes on all of his classmates, so that helped a bit to ease her mind.

She reached for the single measure of Pearl Dust she'd measured earlier and added it to the mortar with the Peppermint-Flower-Head mixture. She roughly ground the pestle into the mortar, crushing the mixture even more finely. It felt dirty doing this to an ingredient as precious as pearl dust. That stuff even looked expensive.

When she finally had an acceptably fine powder in her possession, she double checked the textbook. When she read it, she was thankful she had. She'd almost just haphazardly dumped the powder into the cauldron, but that wouldn't work at all. And for some reason, despite only meeting the boy for the first time a few minutes ago, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.

"I don't like wearing them 'cause they make my eyes look big, like a fish bowl," she mumbled under her breath as she readied the mortar filled with powder above her cauldron, "I'm not like you. I can't pull glasses off, you know?"

She left out the fact that she'd broken so many pairs before coming to Hogwarts that leaving them at home became a necessity.

She used her left hand to slowly allow the powder to fall gently into the cauldron, using her dominant right hand to stir clockwise. Not too fast, or she'd have to start all over. As soon as the powder was clean from the mortar, she stopped her stirring and added one final stir counter-clockwise.

Once the cauldron was simmering over low heat, Sophia fumbled for her wand in her pocket and gave it a good wave over the premature mixture. She nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, how long has yours been brewing? Doesn't look like it's been too long. Maybe we can time them together?" she asked, peeking at the boy's mixture. Timing them together sure would be convenient, especially for a long brew such as this. Eight to twelve hours, if she was reading the textbook correctly, and given that she was wearing her glasses, she would bet that she was!

Regardless, she looked at the clock to check the time and marked it on a spare scrap of parchment.

Notes:

Reducio

I'm thinking Sophia will completely forget to ask for his name until the potion is finished brewing. Just like a casual, "So, what's your name by the way?" Also, I like the thought of them keeping a similar brew 'timer' so that the brewing processes coincide well together!

Interacting with:
@Hunter Argentum

Hunter gave a slight yawn as he settled the jar of eels between him and Sophia. Perhaps an accent was a good reason as to why she hadn't cast the levitation charm, but Hunter himself also had a slight accent that was a mixture of Scottish and African. However, he didn't decide to argue it since perhaps his accent made it easier to pronounce spells (it did not).

Little else was occurring in the potions room, and it was rather quiet. Hunter laid his head on the table listening to the sounds of a cauldron brewing. However, the slight words coming from Sophia could be heard whether she whispered or muttered. Hunter couldn't understand what she was muttering, but he could hear her voice as his eyes were half-closed. He was used to quiet privacy, and he rarely felt annoyed unless another student was involved. What really piqued his interest though, was what he saw Sophia doing in her cauldron. With the ingredients, the number of stirs, and direction, it was already obvious that she was also brewing Gregory's Unctuous Unction.

"I'd rather not count how many times you've stumbled and tripped Ms. Nelson," Hunter stated. Even in his slight tired and rude tone, he still referred to people by their last name due to a force of habit. This response was also to answer Sophia's question about how he saw her being clumsy. However, clumsy could also be seen as unpredictable to Hunter. To Hunter, the unpredictable students were the ones to be most cautious of.

Sophia's question about Hunter should write about himself was a rather intriguing question. Not once had Hunter ever thought about writing about himself. It wasn't due to narcissistic reasons, and his journal didn't always contain negative things that made students look worse than him. He just never really thought about himself in that sort of way. He laid his head against his arm on the table, still feeling very tired and slightly disorientated from being awoken so early. Still, he could list off a multitude of things about himself if he wanted. It would probably talk about how he excels at potions but clearly shows a quiet and meek nature due to a fear of large crowds and individuals; to which the fear has developed into a constant obsession of needing to observe and analyze students in order to relieve himself of that fear. Then, there was the fact that Hunter would at times ask questions or take things a little too far in order to learn as much as he could about students and how to exploit them.

Hunter lifted his face at Sophia's comments about glasses, "Well unlike yours, mine aren't a prescription," he said. Hunter took his glasses off, and he proceeded to give off an annoyed look. Hunter originally did have normal eyesight like any other student, but he wore his tinted glasses almost 24/7 for years. It was recently that he began to notice that his eyesight has actually become damaged due to wearing the glasses for so long. When he takes them off and the world (to him) lost its yellow hue, then it would actually be disorientating to him.

"And how many students have told you that Ms. Nelson? As far as I can tell, you're pulling your glasses off finely," a typical statement but a lot can be learned from whatever answer Sophia would say. Then Hunter wondered if students his age really cared about appearances that much, "Although your hair is rather messy if I might add. Not much of a morning person if I had to assume. It would explain why I don't see you in the common room that often."

Hunter then stretched his arms and finally felt more awake like usual. Taking out a quill and pen, he began to write a few things. Another question arose from him and Sophia: "Sure, my potion was started 20mins ago. It should be easy enough to track our potions within the next 5 hours. Also, are you a muggle by chance Ms. Nelson?" Hunter found it odd how Sophia hadn't cast the levitation charm even if she did have an accent. Hunter had notes that typically showed that students who didn't use magic to solve their problems were usually muggles. He was curious and trying to learn what he could. What information can he find out from Sophia that he would deem useful?

OOC Note: Hunter has made the mistake of stating the potion will take 5 hrs rather than 8-12 for Sophia to correct him on

Sophia put her wand back into her pocket and stretched. She was still a bit groggy - and cranky, which explained her snappy comment at the other boy - because of the early hour. She'd even skipped breakfast, which wasn't unusual due to her tendency to sleep in, so she was extra unprepared for the proper start to the day.

She reached into her satchel and found a small dinner roll she'd swiped from the Great Hall the night before. It was still surprisingly soft. She shoved it into her mouth in a single bite and chewed it quickly, eager to get something into her belly. She turned to the other boy and held out another similar roll.

"Wnt 'ne?" she asked, still chewing eagerly on the delicious bread, "I h've more."

She swallowed and let out a happy sigh, noting that he was talking to her.

Sophia blushed as the boy broadly recounted her affinity for all behaviors clumsy. She wanted to argue, but she knew that he was right. Even now, in this moment, if she were to pull her skirt up to her knees and her socks down to her ankles, there would be a myriad of bruises painting her shins from contact with the various pieces of furniture in the Common Room. Not to mention the bruises likely marring her back from various falls and other such bumps. Yeah, she was definitely clumsy. But he didn't have to say it out loud.

She grumbled under her breath and shot back, "You still didn't answer my question."

She took her first real look at his glasses when he mentioned that they weren't prescription glasses. That didn't make a lick of sense to the girl Why would he possibly wear glasses that weren't prescribed? Sunglasses were one thing, because having the sun in your eyes was awful, especially if you were riding a bike or something, but just wearing those yellow tinted glasses indoors? That didn't make sense if they weren't at least used to improve his vision.

"What do you mean, 'they're not prescription?'" she asked in a huff, "What's the point of that?"

She rested her arms on the desk near her cauldron, and her head on her arms, looking over at the boy. He was an enigma, that was for sure.

"No one's told me that," she added, as if it was obvious, "That would just be rude. But I own a mirror, and my eyes are like big fish eyes when I wear my glasses."

She paused, before adding a soft, shy, "Thank you, though. No one's ever complimented them."

"But you're right!" she added, slightly more cheerfully, "I'm not a morning person! Mornings are just awful! I'm pretty sure there are studies or something that say kids learn better later in the afternoon, but I dunno if that's right. I like to think I'm just wired for later days."

She ignored the comment about her hair. She had a comb she'd bought at Diagon Alley with some leftover money that could actually fix her hair with a single stroke, and she normally used it to help guide her hair into a perfectly neat ponytail, but she loved letting her hair be messy on lazy Saturdays. It was a rare treat that she could let her hair be a mess, so she wore it like a badge of pride.

"Nice, thank you," she nodded against her arms with a smile before the smile fell into a frown. Five hours? That couldn't be right. She sat up abruptly and grabbed her textbook, scanning the page urgently. She knew she tended to overlook things in Charms or History of Magic, but Potions was usually her only good class. She couldn't overlook such an obvious thing to pay attention to.

She sighed in relief when she saw the instruction in the book.

"Uh, might want to check the book again. It says eight to twelve hours, Mr. Uh," she trailed off, realizing that she didn't know this boy's name. Well, that was awkward. She hoped that he would take the initiative and offer it up, and that he wouldn't be offended that she'd corrected him. She certainly didn't think less of him. She'd made far larger mistakes in her other classes, so misreading a single digit was no big deal.

She continued digging in her satchel, sifting through the myriad of snacks and books within for something that tickled her fancy as she watched the potion-to-be simmering soothingly in her cauldron.

Notes:

Reducio

I like this dynamic a lot! Soon we can have the time skip to continue the process!

Interaction: @Hunter Argentum

Hunter politely declined the roll Sophia offered him, despite the slight hunger he felt in his stomach. Typically on Saturday, he had a much stronger desire for sweets. Even slightly sweet bread would have been fine, but Hunter wasn't 100% sure if what Sophia offered was actually sweet or not. Also, he wasn't sure if he could trust the girl completely. Even in the same house, Hunter wouldn't trust someone so blatantly. In a room full of potions, who knows what could have been poisoned. However, he swiftly blushed and turned to look away as a slight grumble in his stomach could be heard.

Despite the slight echo of his stomach growling, Hunter would still refuse the bread if offered it again. He could hear Sophia grumble under her breath, and all Hunter responded with was, "A person you come to for help, but not someone you can trust." An odd answer and could be rather confusing at first. However, that's the best and most simple way Hunter was going to answer Sophia's question about describing himself. He was someone you could go to for help such as with homework, studies, and of course when you were bruised. Yet, he saw himself as someone that shouldn't be trusted. Not even he himself trusted his own thoughts or ideas all the time.

Another growl escaped from his stomach, and his face turned to a much deeper shade of red. Unfortunately, Hunter forgot to stop by the Great Hall this morning due to so much concentration on wanting to just start a potion that was going to take up his entire day.

"Exactly as I said, they're not prescriptions. If anyone with normal eyesight wears these, then their vision won't be changed. It just makes the world more yellow. The point is the fact I like yellow and that they were a gift to me," Hunter spurred towards Sophia. It was true that the glasses were ordinary and shouldn't alter a person's vision at all. They were a gift from someone close to him, but he wasn't sure why he was ever given them in the first place. All he knew was that they were a gift and he should use them often. However, using them so often was a much worse decision than just letting them pick up dust in an attic. Hunter tapped his glasses and sighed. He took them off, and the natural colors of the room came toward him. Sophia's clothing, hair, and appearance; the gray walls, and the vibrant colors of ingredients all hit Hunter's pupils and a headache soon came to his head. He placed his hand over his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers. A slightly irritated grumble could be heard from Hunter, "Mungu" Swahili for 'God'. Hunter then placed his glasses back on his eyes, but he didn't exactly give an irritated look. It just seemed tired, bored, and slightly upset.

"Perhaps they do make your eyes look big," Hunter stated, "and yet you make it sound like a bad thing. Owls have large eyes, and I've seen many people here with Owls as pets." It was hard to tell if Hunter was trying to justify that glasses are cool to wear, or if he was trying to help Sophia out with her opinions on her own glasses.

Then Hunter's slight blushing turned to a much darker shade when Sophia corrected him. Even if it was seen as minor or even as an extremely simple mistake, Hunter was a bit embarrassed. Potions were his deal, his biggest trick. He'd try and remember and recall everything he could on a potions recipe; even if it was one he never dealt with before. He looked over at his book, and it certainly did say 8-12 hours. He sighed from the fact that the wait was going to be much longer than expected, and that he made a mistake around another student and the professor. His slight anxiety came back to him, and it most likely changed the entire mood he gave off, "8-8-8 h-hours... right. Y-You're, a very clever to p-pick up on things Ms. Nelson." It seemed Hunter was much more awake now and felt a lot less agitated than before. As such, an almost completely different vibe was what he began to give off. His typical quiet and anxious self was back, and all it took was a slight correction in his potion skills.

He fake yawned, trying to pass the anxiety off. He reached down beneath the desk and took out his own Wizarding chess set. Originally he was planning on perhaps playing some matches with the professor, but Sophia seemed just as interesting of a player too. After all, almost no other students typically came to the potions room after classes: "C-care to play?"

OOC Note to @Sophia Nelson: If you'd like to say 8 hours went by with playing wizards chess, talking/gossiping (or other things) then I am perfectly fine with it. I also grant godmodding permission to Sophia on describing how Hunter may act during the time. Just know he seems much different than at the start and is much quieter and anxious-looking. His hands jitter a little, and his eyes begin to dart around the room as a helpful description if needed.

Sophia frowned when the boy declined the food she'd decided to offer. Did he have a thing about people touching his food? After all, Sophia could tell the boy was hungry. She was starving, even after her delicious dinner roll, and she hadn't seen him eat a single thing. Not to mention the growling of his belly. Maybe he didn't like eating while brewing a potion? Admittedly, he was probably in the right in that regard. If a single crumb fell into her cauldron, it could mess up the entire batch.

She rummaged through her bag to find a few chocolate frogs from Kim. They were individually wrapped. Surely the boy wouldn't mind that? She stuffed the refused roll into her mouth and placed the chocolate frogs neutrally on the table for the boy to take if he changed his mind. And if he didn't, well, she had other snacks she could offer. She'd come somewhat prepared.

Sophia listened to the boy's description of himself and frowned.

"Not someone you can trust?" she repeated under her breath, thoroughly confused. She didn't like to admit it to herself, but socially, she was horribly unobservant. Was there something about this boy that was supposed to be untrustworthy? He'd helped her to get the eel eyes, after all. He'd even become essentially her brewing partner. What was there not to trust?

Sophia lazily watched the boy's glasses as he described them, eager to see what the fuss was all about. They were very yellow, sure, but she didn't see the big deal. Though, she supposed if she had a gift like that, she'd wear it often as well. In fact, wasn't there a necklace tucked under her shirt that had been a gift only recently? She understood better than the boy could imagine. Gifts were precious, precious things. Things to be cherished.

"Yellow is a pretty color," she nodded, "And they look right on you."

When he cursed under his breath - or, Sophia assumed it was some kind of curse, or the equivalent - Sophia frowned in concern. Maybe taking his glasses off gave him a headache? She had the issue occasionally if she wore hers for too long, since she wasn't used to them.

"Are you okay?" she asked, extending a hand between them on the table. It didn't actually serve any purpose, other than metaphorically letting him know that she was there if he needed help. He slipped the glasses back on, but something was off about him after the experience. Sophia nervously bit her lip. Had she upset the boy?

When the boy compared her big glasses-eyes to those of an owl, Sophia blushed at the praise. Yes. It was a very well-known fact within her friend group that she was obsessed with the flying creatures. She loved owls so very much. She even had her own owl, as of spring break. (Though she hated referring to Amelia as 'her' owl, since it implied ownership, and she liked to think of them as friends or family.) The point being, that when the boy in the Potions classroom compared her eyes to that of an owl, Sophia's opinion of him grew ten sizes from the comment alone. She liked this boy, even with his occasional riddle-like comments and clinical analysis of other people.

She held back her own excitement at the mention of owls, and instead simply commented, "Yep! Owls are precious, aren't they?"

It was the understatement of the century, but she didn't want to get too overexcited. She could scare the boy off, or ruined their focus for the next step of the potion.

She tried to comfort the boy when her light corrections seemed to fluster him, but she didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if he'd made some massive blunder. He'd just overlooked a single digit, but he still seemed quite upset about the fact. Sophia felt guilty, but the eight hour brew was important, so she'd had to say something.

She blushed at his compliment, not used to receiving compliments on her performance at Hogwarts. Her Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration grades were barely A's, with the occasional E in class if it was a simple spell. Potions was the only class in which she kept consistent O's, with Herbology being mostly O's, dotted with E's. She didn't want to think about Flying. The point was that she didn't often receive praise, so she didn't know how to handle it other than muttering a quiet, "Thank you."

The next eight hours were, well, interesting. The boy had brought along what Sophia thought was an ordinary chess set, but it was actually a 'Wizard's Chess Set.' It was essentially a normal chess set, but with moving, magical pieces. It was very interesting. When the boy offered for Sophia to play, however, she felt a twinge of nervousness and embarrassment.

She'd explained that the gist of her knowledge regarding chess came down to the fact that the horse moved in an 'L' shape and the pawns captured pieces diagonally. In other words, Sophia was destroyed. Time and time again. Every match. She was lucky to capture a single piece belonging to the tactical genius that was her opponent.

Even as their game continued, and both students watched the time, the boy seemed to change throughout the afternoon. He was fairly social at first, discussing glasses, and food, and potions in general. As the day went on, he'd become quieter, with a tense nervousness about him. Sophia didn't understand why, but she just assumed it was from being cooped him in one place around her for so long. She was aware of how annoying she could be in prolonged periods.

After eight hours had eventually passed, Sophia eagerly returned to her cauldron. This was almost her favorite part. The best part for her was the moment of truth when she examined the final product to see if it was, in fact, a successful brew. She always got a bit overexcited when it came time to finally actively add ingredients once again.

"Hey," she nodded toward their cauldrons, "It's been eight hours, I think!"

She prepared to stir the cauldron to agitate the liquid.

Uh oh! Sophia forgot to increase the heat to a medium flame! She's just going to start stirring in her excitement! (I'm leaving the chance for Hunter to correct her now, but it's all on purpose!)

I like to imagine Hunter would just mop the floor with Sophia in Wizard's Chess!. She's technically American and a muggle, so I would think she only knows the very basics of chess, if that!


@Hunter Argentum

Hunter shook his head as if in agreement with Sophia as she repeated his statement of being someone that one shouldn't trust. His quiet and meek nature began to overwhelm him, and his eyes grew slightly droopy as time went on. With little food and sleep, Hunter eventually reached and slowly munched on one of the few chocolate frogs the girl had.

A slight blush came over Hunter when Sophia mentioned his glasses suiting him, but he seemed more focused on the sweet chocolate in his mouth, "Perhaps you should try colored glasses, the professor or some upperclassmen probably know a spell to change the color of them." Hunter had finished at least one chocolate frog but didn't want to take more for fear of having to owe the girl more than what he should.

When her hand reached towards Hunter, he flinched back and had a slight look of nervousness. Not many people typically reached out to Hunter, and he was wary of people his age. Either he ended up being carried or attacked by students who made physical contact with him. There were only two people he was comfortable and relaxed around, and Sophia unfortunately wasn't one of them. He became even more anxious as the girl had a change in mood when owls were brought up. Her likeness to them certainly made her seem like one.

During their match of wizard's chess, it was honestly exciting and boring simultaneously. Hunter was excited because he finally had another person to play wizard's chess with, but he was expecting slightly more challenging games. He found Sophia's tactics interesting, but it seemed all the days and hours of practicing alone allowed Hunter to win rather easily round after round. He worried Sophia would want to quit, and on the occasion, he would allow the girl to win. He tried his very best in explaining how the pieces worked, and any sort of confusion he would correct if Sophia wanted. Still, Hunter became quieter as the games progressed. At some point, he came to just answer in one worded sentences. He had a lack of energy from hunger and sleep. An occasional yawn and talk with Sophia certainly was energy draining over the course of 8 hours. He tried his best to keep the conversations up, but eventually, Hunter's voice fell to a whisper and he just answered in single words.

Hunter almost fell asleep, till Sophia yelled out that 8 hours had gone by. As the girl approached, Hunter rubbed his eyes and noticed the girl was reaching for the stirrer in her cauldron. However, before she could reach for it Hunter cast the levitating charm on his potion book and gently bonked Sophia on the head with it. Never a violent one, Hunter rarely did these sorts of things without reason. Also, it was still only a slight tap to the noggin. He would set the book next to her cauldron on the desk, and whisper, "...Heat."

If she were to turn around, she would notice Hunter approach his own cauldron and turn up the heat to medium.

Hunter would then proceed to stir the stirrer in a clockwise motion. A lot of strength from whatever energy Hunter had from the one chocolate frog was used to make sure that anything at the bottom of the liquid would be agitated. He then added 2 measures of a milky-colored powdered moonstone. 3 more stirs in a clockwise motion were done, and Hunter looked over at Sophia, "Why did y-you choose t-this potion?"

@Sophia Nelson

As Sophia felt the gentle bonk of the boy's Potion textbook, she let out a gently yelp of pain. Truth be told, the impact of the book hadn't hurt in the slightest. It was a light tap, if anything. The book had, in all honesty, scared Sophia more than anything. It wasn't some intense, primal fear. It was more of a jolt of surprise that pulled her away from her present action of stirring her cauldron. Instead of going for the stirrer, her hand instead went to her forehead, which she rubbed in irritation.

Upon seeing the indicated page in the book, however, her mouth fell into an 'oh' shape and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. So much for Potions being the thing she was good at, huh? She frowned and increased the heat of her cauldron to medium, this time making a point to triple check the textbook even as she was adjusting the heat.

"R-right. I knew that. I was, uh, testing you," she said with an embarrassed smile, but then her guilt got the better of her and she added, "Okay, that wasn't true. Thank you for stopping me. My mind slipped for a moment."

She gave the contents of the cauldron a quick clockwise stir to 'agitate' the liquid, which was beginning to settle. She searched her - somehow now messy? - workstation until her eyes fell on the pre-measured ingredient she needed. Two measures of off-white, almost yellow, powdered moonstone were set aside specifically for this moment, and she was careful as she added them to the cauldron. She was frankly exhausted, so she had to take extra care to avoid even the slightest jostle, which could result in powdered moonstone going everywhere and a ruined batch of Gregory's Unctuous Unction.

Careful to check her textbook this time, Sophia gave the fledgling potion three more clockwise stirs. She glanced around to see what was left before skimming the book once more. The only ingredient remaining in her workstation was the batch of four eel eyes, but she wouldn't need them for thirty minutes yet. Satisfied that she was caught up mentally, she turned her attention to the boy, noting that she was only a tiny bit behind him in progress. They could share a timer again. Just in case, though, she made sure to check the clock herself. Couldn't risk losing track of time. Thirty more minutes, and she could put the finishing touches on the potion.

"Why did y-you choose t-this potion?" the boy asked her as he finished his stirs.

Sophia tried to think of how to tell him without sounding like a weirdo, but she knew it was impossible, so, instead, she decided to play a little game with the boy.

"That's a personal question," she said with a smile, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "I think it's only fair if I can ask one in return."

She turned to face the boy completely, crossing her legs despite the lack of room for such a posture in the chairs. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

"To be honest, a friend of mine doesn't get along with someone, and I was hoping to maybe trick him into giving the potion to the person he doesn't get along with! Then if the person he doesn't get along with suddenly gets along with him, then everyone can finally get along! Right?" she asked rhetorically. She knew it was a flawed plan, and Gregory's Unctuous Unction wouldn't last forever even if she did actually try the plan, which she likely wouldn't, but if she could just trick one of them into being kind to the other, then surely they would realize it was far better to get along all the time. Right?

"Anyway, now it's your turn," she said with a predatory smile, "I asked your name earlier, and you never told me, so I'll ask again! What's your name?"

She smiled patiently and waited for the answer.

@Hunter Argentum

I'm really enjoying this joined prodigal RP, by the way. It's seriously lots of fun!

Hunter didn't give an immediate nod nor shook his head at Sophia's request in returning an answer to whatever question she was going to ask. Still, he was curious as to why another student would choose Gregory's Unctuous Unction. He himself chose it merely to test his patience and his potion skills like usual. Sophia seemed a bit different and Hunter just assumed she had a different reason.

So, he gave a small nod out of curiosity.

Hunter was a bit baffled by Sophia's reasons for wanting to brew the potion, and he turned over towards the Professor to only notice it seemed that Sophia's words hadn't been heard (or perhaps they had). "I-I don't think that's how it works," is what Hunter wanted to say. But the words only drifted in his head for a while and he decided to not make any comments. If things didn't turn out how Sophia wanted, then she would learn that potions can't solve everything. Although, there was a chance that they could make things worse. Then again, Hunter could possibly learn from her mistakes and the two could improve the potion later on in the years (by increasing its duration). Still, Hunter got a slight chill and wondered if this girl was willing to use potions to achieve whatever she wanted. If she was willing to use Gregory's Unctuous Unction, then would she be willing to use Amortentia if she ever learned it?

Hunter placed his hand on his chin and thought for a bit, and chose to just not say anything about Sophia's grand scheme for using the potion. As for his name, he decided to make it more interesting, "I'll tell you my name if your potion works. Let's try each other's potions at the end, if yours works then I'll consider you a friend and share my name." To Hunter, it seemed like a fun final game. It allowed them both to find out how well their potions worked, and Hunter would be able to know what exactly it is like to be under Gregory's Unction.

About 30mins went by, Hunter grabbed 4 slimy eel eyes out of the jar he previously brought down for Sophia. He dropped all four into the cauldron at once and then increased the heat to high. Allowing the cauldron to boil for one whole minute, Hunter then swiftly turned it down to low heat. Two very slow stirs in an anti-clockwise direction were done (even though the recipe instructed the slow action, Hunter was already out of all his energy). With his aspen wand, he gave one last flick to finish the potion: "Are you ready?" Hunter filled a glass vial with his Gregory's Unctuous Unction and offered it to Sophia.