Add Two Drops of Trouble PV Jack Ace Finished

The dungeons of Hogwarts were dark and humid. Everything from the cold stone floors to the dusty old furniture were all varying degrees of damp. At first Jack had hated it, but the place had really started to grow on him these past few days. He found it kind of funny how some of the other houses were borderline scared of the dungeons.

It required a bit of asking around, but when he finally managed to find the potions classroom, he was right on time. He was immediately informed that the class was to make forgetfulness potions in groups of two. After a brief introduction professor Wickham-Deakin divided the class into pairs. Jack ended up with a boy called “Mr Conner”.

The very first thing he noticed about this Conner was that he was a gryffindor, which was a bit of a red flag, no pun intended. The other slytherins did not seem to think very highly of this particular house. Jack’s brother especially, who almost seemed to view gryffindors as completely off limits to befriend. But then again Jack was no stranger to breaking rules, especially such unimportant and unofficial ones. As long as Conner and him got along well enough he’d have no problem overlooking this specific flaw of his.

When Jack sat down Conner wasted no time telling him the very same pun he had already heard at least a million times by now. Jack couldn’t help but roll his eyes. But when Conner held out his hand for Jack to shake, he still took it. He didn’t know why but there was something about this boy that Jack couldn’t help but like. He somehow seemed a little likeminded, his blue eyes spoke of mischief. So Jack politely smiled back when Conner apologized. Apparently his name was Finnegan, or just Finn for short. “My name’s Jack” he told Finn.

Finn had already opened the correct page in his potions book so Jack left his own copy untouched. When Finn asked him who’s cauldron they should use Jack instinctively made a motion to grab his own. But then he stopped to think about it for a second. Did he want to trust this boy with his brand new cauldron? He knew through rumors that some potions had a tendency of going horribly wrong and having to replace a blown up, melted or vanished cauldron felt like such a hassle. But they were only first years all things considered so the potion in question was probably not so powerful. “We could use mine.” Jack finally said with a shrug before setting his cauldron in front of them on the table.

Without asking, Jack grabbed Finn’s potions book and pulled it towards himself so he could read the instructions too. “Now this is vague, isn’t it?” He sighed. “Gently heat? That’s like when cooking books tell you to add a pinch of salt. The outcome of that only depends on how big my fingers are, don’t it.” He gave Finn a glance before continuing. “Anyway, let’s get started I suppose, where do we get our ingredients?”

@Finnegan Conner

"Nice t'meet ya Jack," Finnegan said, giving the boy's hand a good shake. The young Slytherin didn't seem all to eager to use his cauldron, but put it down on the table eventually. "Don't worry, I don't think we'll blow it up," he said, picking up on the boy's trepidation. "Worst we can do is scorch it, or melt it, or accidentally transfigure it or-" he decided to stop there, and cleared his throat instead.

When he looked down to glance at the list of ingredients, he noticed Jack had shifted the book over to his side of the table. Frowning, he came up to Jack's side and read the instructions over once more. The Slytherin boy was right, it was annoyingly vague, especially considering how the Professor had droned on about just how exact of an art the brewing of potions was.

"Look, it doesn't even say which size drops or which size twigs," Finnegan added in growing disbelief, then shrugged. "I'll get the ingredients, if you can get the cauldron on the heat in the meantime.

He returned within a minute, clutching a bottle of Lethe River Water, a bush of Valerian Sprigs and a large ladle for them to stir with along with some additional firewood and an iron poker. "It seems quite a simple recipe," he mused while he plucked out two valerian sprigs, leaving Jack to add the River Water to the simmering potion base that the Professor had made appear in all student's cauldrons with a flick of her wand. "Makes you wonder if the creator forgot half the ingredients," he grinned.

Once he'd added the sprigs at the proper time he leaned in close toward the boy, close enough for his breath to tickle the Slytherin's ear. "D'you reckon," he whispered over the quiet bubbling and simmering of the cauldrons, "we could sneak out a bottle once it's done?" He flashed a small glass phial tucked away inside his robe that he'd gotten from one of the cupboards in the classroom.

"Maybe if I slip it in Professor Lydursdattir's (@Béatrice Lydursdattir) pumpkin juice she'll forget how to pronounce her own name and won't be on everyone's case all the time." In truth he did not have any experience with the Professor for Study of Ancient Runes, but everyone knew she was very strict. Finnegan thought it would be intensly amusing to see someone like her fumbling around for a day, struggling to remember how to put her shoes on or which subject she taught.

Could this boy read minds? How could he possibly have known that those were Jack’s exact concerns. Maybe Finnegan himself had worried about ruining his own cauldron. This did not calm Jack down in the slightest. He gave Finn an annoyed glare before looking back down at the instructions.

When Finnegan went to grab the ingredients, Jack stayed behind to heat up the cauldron as instructed. He tried as best he could to make the heat gentle, whatever that meant. His strategy for achieving this was to sneak glances at all the other students and copying them.

A minute later the gryffindor had returned with all their supplies. As Finnegan plucked the valerians springs, Jack grabbed the bottle of Lethe River Water and popped the lid open. He made sure to count the drops very carefully as he added the liquid into the potion base. He smiled at Finn’s continued jokes at the poor recipe’s expense.

Jack had been very concentrated while double checking that they had done everything correctly, so when Finnegan suddenly leaned in to whisper something in his ear he was quite startled. He was about to tell Finn to never do such a thing ever again, but it was quickly forgotten once he realized what the boy had to say. He stared at the little glass phial that Finnegan showed him from underneath his coat. He must’ve sneaked it with him while getting the ingredients Jack thought. He looked back up at Finn with a wide grin. “Who are we using it on?”

Apparently Finnegan’s plan was to spike Professor Lydursdattir’s pumpkin juice. Jack too, had already heard a couple stories about her and how strict she was. “She’s the teacher for Study of ancient runes, isn’t she? That’s a course for third years. We aren’t risking any grades when messing with a professor we don’t have, now are we?” Jack said with a snigger. He crossed his arms before adding “And who cares about getting detention anyway.” This plan sounded like so much fun he thought as he imagined how funny a once strict teacher would look with such a potion in her system.

Jack quickly snapped back to reality when he realized that he had missed when Finnegan added the valerian sprigs. Jack hurriedly grabbed the ladle and stirred three times clockwise, hoping it hadn’t been too late. He pulled his want out of his pocket and flicked it in the direction of the cauldron. He let out a sigh of relief once the liquid slowly started turning a familiar shade of scarlet. He took this as a good sign. “And now we wait” He told Finn before glancing at the potions book for what felt like the hundredth time that day. His eyes widened with disbelief when he read the very last line. "Leave to brew for 45-60 minutes? Oh this class is murder! What are we to do now?“

"Exactly," Finnegan grinned. They'd be heroes in their own houses for pulling such a stunt on the strict professor while she wouldn't even know who or what had hit her. He already liked this Jack, though he begged to differ on the boy's view of detention. "If you get in the detention it means you got caught," he shrugged, "and I don't mean to get caught." He lowered his voice again and whispered, "I heard they hang first years upside down by their ankles in the dark until you're passed out." He wasn't quite sure he believed all the horrific detention stories he'd heard (the one about being locked up with a giant flesh-eating scorpion had seemed a bit much), but he had no intention of finding out just how right or wrong he was.

Finnegan had not expected to like potions when he'd first read about the subject. It had reminded him of cooking which, with the odd exception of baking cookies with his grandmother, had never really struck his fancy. Yet the bubbling of the cauldrons was a peaceful, soothing, simmering sort of sound like the pitter-patter of rain on aged shingles. So far it hadn't been a very difficult subject either and considering the laundry list of uses he could think up for a forgetfulness potion he was starting to wonder about other, more advanced potions.

Before long, plumes of smoke and steam billowed into the air, filling the classroom with the smell of valerian. Jack's concern about having to wait nearly an hour were quickly addressed by the sound of chalk, moving by itself, on blackboard. Cure for boils, page seven. It seemed they would have to use both of their cauldrons after all. On the specified page of their potions book the instructions and ingredients were listed:

Part 1

• Add 6 snake fangs to the mortar.
• Crush into a fine powder using the pestle.
• Add 4 measures of the crushed fangs to your cauldron.
• Heat the mixture to 250 for 10 seconds.
• Wave your wand.
• Leave to brew and return in 33-45 minutes.

Part 2

• Add 4 horned slugs to your cauldron.
• Take the cauldron off the fire before adding the next ingredient.
• Add 2 porcupine quills to your cauldron.
• Stir 5 times, clockwise.
• Wave your wand to complete the potion.

By all accounts it seemed they were doing rather well, or at the very least better than two Hufflepuffs whose cauldron had started to emit a tar-like, black smoke that smelled of badly burnt food.

"Can you get the ingredients?" Finnegan asked. He really didn't want Jack to see him struggle with lifting his cauldron up to the fire and he wasn't particularly keen on grabbing horned slugs either.

@Jack Ace

“I’ll have you know that I’m not exactly planning on getting caught either.”He replied. “But I’m just saying, Finn. If it against all odds did happen, the consequences wouldn’t be too dire.” When Finnegan told him the tale about the ankle hanging however, Jack secretly grew a little concerned. But he wasn’t about to let that show. “Oh please! I’m sure that’s just a made up story used to scare us first years.”

The new potion recipe they had been given seemed significantly more complicated than the last. It was at the very least longer and more time consuming. Jack wasn’t looking forward to this whatsoever. He found himself thinking that maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad to just sit and wait for their first potion to finish brewing. It was with a heavy sigh that he pushed himself up from his comfortable chair. “Okay. Heat the cauldron then, will ya?”

Gathering all the ingredients took a couple minutes. The snake fangs and porcupine quills were fine to collect, he could simply put them in his robe pockets. But for obvious reasons he was very hesitant to do the same with those slimy horned slugs. Although he eventually realized that he could just carry them in a ladle. They’d probably need a second one anyway to avoid cross contamination between the potions.

While getting a mortar from a counter, Jack snuck a glance at the empty glass phials that stood right next to it. It was probably where Finnegan had gotten his. But Jack quickly remembered that a cure for boils isn’t exactly what you’d call a potion worthy of stealing. So he returned to their table without grabbing one.

“I’ll crush the snake fangs, you take care of these.” He handed Finnegan the ladle with the horned slugs without waiting for a reply so the boy wouldn’t have time to object.

Jack seemed awfully sure that detention wasn't so bad. Had he already gotten some himself? It seemed unlikely, despite the boy's eagerness to join in on his nefarious plans, it had only been little over a week since they'd started after all. "Maybe you're right," Finnegan shrugged, "I don't really think there's an old cistern with a fire-breathing slug in it in the dungeons."

But then he hadn't thought magic was real, he hadn't thought walls could pretend to be doors just to mess with him and other hopelessly lost first years, he hadn't thought paintings could talk or that sets of armor could move - though they seemed to only move when no one was looking.

He watched the moody-looking dark-haired boy fetch the ingredients for the second potion. He didn't seem too enthused about potions altogether and Finnegan couldn't blame him, some of the ingredients he'd read about in their potions book made him throw up a bit in his mouth.

Just as he'd managed to lift his cauldron onto the fire (he was rather glad there was a slight fog hanging in the classroom, hiding him and his struggles from view), Jack returned with the ingredients.

"Ewwwww," Finnegan wrinkled his nose at the horned slugs. He absolutely hated slugs, they were just unbelievably gross creatures and the thought of having to add live slugs to a potion grossed him out. Thankfully, they wouldn't need to use them for quite some time and it seemed they were dazed or under the influence of some spell as they didn't move all that much.

This time it was Finn who waved his wand at the cauldron. To his immense relief, nothing exploded, but his victory mood was quickly dampened by the Professor saddling them with a pile of homework that she suggested they could get a head start on while they waited for the two potions to finish.

Once he'd slouched back to their shared desk, Finnegan gathered his quill, ink, and parchment and went to work in silence next to Jack. He only lasted about a minute before he quietly elbowed the Slytherin under the desk. "Maybe we should spike Professor Wickham-Deakin (@Magdalena Wickham-Deakin) instead so she'll forget about this stupid homework," he said in a hushed voice. While it would be fun to make the Ancient Runes Professor forget how to tie her shoes, it really would be more to their immediate benefit to use the Forgetfulness potion on the potions Professor instead.

@Jack Ace

Jack hated potions class more and more by the second. It was tedious and required both concentration and patience, two things of which he had absolutely none. He also didn’t appreciate the repulsive ingredients, something his partner seemed to agree on judging by his reaction to the slugs. Since this was a cure for boils, it made Jack wonder what else he had been drinking each time he was sick or injured. The thought made him gag.

Halfway through the recipe, just when Finnegan had waved his wand, the professor rewarded them for all their hard labor with a pile of homework. The timing was horrible because next up on their recipe was to let the potion brew for well over half an hour. This, of course, meant that they had time left over to get started with said homework.

Just like Finn, Jack brought out his ink, quill and parchment. But unlike Finn he didn’t actually start working. He couldn’t think of anything to write anyway. So he just sat there, resting his head in his hand and staring off into space.

He considered copying Finnegan’s homework, but right as he was about to take a peak, he was interrupted. Finn’s idea about poisoning Professor Wickham-Deakin and making her forget the homework altogether was a real upgrade compared to plagiarism. Much more fun and much less labor intensive. Jack secretly hoped that their potion had failed in some way, and gone bad, so that it would land their professor in the hospital wing. He wouldn’t mind a few potion-less weeks! Jack enthusiastically nodded his head. “Yes! Clever.” He whispered.

But only a second later Jack furrowed his brows. “Finn… How are we gonna poison a teacher and go unnoticed? Especially a potions one. She must know a thing or two about this stuff.” His eyes widened and he lowered his voice even more. “That cistern with the fire breathing slugs you mentioned… What if it isn’t just a rumor?” Jack quickly shut his mouth once he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to put his worries on display like that. He changed the subject by exclaiming “Oh! Would you look at that, It’s almost time to get our forgetfulness potion off the heat! Get your glass phial ready.”

@Finnegan Conner

Finnegan furrowed his brows. Jack was right of course; it was obvious that they couldn't poison Professor Wickham-Deakin, not without finding out if the cistern with the fire-breathing slug was real or not. It had seemed ridiculous to him the first time he'd heard about it, but then there were many things at Hogwarts that were baffling, the lack of electricity being one of them. "It might be real, but I don't think they'd throw us down into it, he answered. Now wasn't the time or place to have elaborate discussions about fire-breathing slugs and bottomless pits. Not when they could be so easily heard over the quiet simmering of cauldrons

Finnegan continued working in silence for a while, chewing on his lips and firing the occasional glance toward Jack, whose homework still refused to write itself. Aside from arching a single eyebrow at the Slytherin, Finnegan did not comment on the boy's lack of enthusiasm and focused on his own writing instead.

It wasn't until Jack practically jumped out of his seat that Finnegan paid him any attention. The Slytherin's sudden excitement had startled him and caused a long, thick smear of ink to appear on his parchment (along with a hint of annoyance on his face). Nevertheless, he fished the glass phial out of his pocket and handed it over to Jack while sounds of shuffling, murmuring, and books being slammed shut, broke the spell of silence.

After he'd cast a questioning glance at their brew, Finnegan positioned himself in front of their cauldron, momentarily shielding it from any prying eyes. "Quick, do you have it?

After the phial had been secured and class had ended, Finnegan came up to Jack's side in the hallway. His next class, charms, was with Hufflepuff, so they'd soon be going their separate ways. "We'll have to think of a better target, he said. "You should keep that until we do and, oh-" he stopped dead in his tracks, rummaged around his schoolbag, and fished out the start he'd made on his homework. "You can have this too. It's ruined anyway," he noted with a hint of accusation in his voice. "Use your own words, OK? There are bits of it'll be keeping the same."

He had to hurry to catch up to the throng of first-year Gryffindors, but by the time he entered his charms class, he already missed the conspiratorial whispering of his new, dark-haired friend.