Meet me! Closed

Athena walks into the potions classroom eagerly. She had been waiting for this class ever since she had fist heard she'd be taking it. Sure, magic was cool, but she always had this nagging feeling that she looked like an idiot when trying to practice the spells. Her blonde hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, keeping her hair out of the way. She had an almost unnaturally pale complexion, and dark circles under her eyes were obvious. She looked... tired. Her blue eyes looked gray from a distance, although when looked at closer they were a mix of dark blue, light blue, and a bit of yellow-green. The glasses slightly obscured the small scar on her eyebrow. 

Despite her obviously tired appearance, she was oozing joy and confidence. Her eyes were curious as they gazed at the different people and objects in the room. She absentmindedly bumped into a few of the tables, while narrowly avoiding others. She bit her lip, looking for someone to befriend- well, more like use as a source of security. She often attached to random people so she wouldn't get lost. She focuses on the one Slytherin she can find, nods, and heads towards the group of girls. When she reaches the group she says confidently, "Hi! I'm Athena, and I was wondering if I could sit with you guys?" She quickly searches her mind for a list of tricks that make it easier to get what she wants. In less than a second of hesitation, she quickly adds, "Of course, you're free to refuse!"

With a spring in her step, Emily walked confidently into Potions Class, ready to learn as much as she could.  She knew she would excel in this class.  She sat down at an empty desk in the front row which is where she normally sat in all of her classes.  By doing so, she would be able to see the professor more clearly.  She pulled her copy of Magical Drafts and Potions, her quill, notebook and ink from her bag and set them out in front of her.  While she waited for the professor to arrive, she looked around at the other students which she did not seem to recognize.  She recognized their faces from the Sorting Ceremony, but she could not recall their names.

Her thoughts turned to her father and his work involving potions.  He was a potions master who brewed potions to sell to Hogwarts and St. Mungo’s.  They were two of his best customers and he greatly enjoyed brewing potions for them.  Emily knew a lot about potions already so she knew this class would be a breeze.  She hoped someone would be willing to sit with her during class and perhaps strike up a new friendship too.

Kendra simply stared in awe after hearing the girl's explanation. So far magic seemed to always find ways to surprise her. A phoenix turned into a human? Was that even possible? Looking at Sefira was living proof it was indeed possible and Kendra's mind was simply blown by that fact. 

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed regreting it as soon as the words left her mouth. The last thing she would want was to draw unnessesary attention to this girl that had just confided her with a secret of such great importance. "Sorry." she said lowering her voice and smiling innocently. "It's just mind-blowing!" she said maintaining the tone in her voice "Do you have any other abilities? I believe a phoenix can be reborn from its ashes. Maybe you are immortal too!" she continued, sparks almost flying out of her wide opened eyes. "It's a real pleasure to meet you! You definitely don't hear stuff like that every day." she said with a bright smile on her face. 

She was suddenly distracted by the rest of the girls that entered in the room. She smiled at everyone.
"I am Kendra, nice to meet you Athena." she said to the blonde Slytherin girl with the glasses that approached them first. "Feel free to join us." she invited her to sit near them before glancing over at Safira hoping the girl wouldn't feel too pressured getting close to so many people in so little time. She seemed to be okay for now so Kendra smiled warmly feeling good about making new friends.

Her voice creating a soft bell-like sound as she giggles at Kendra's enthusiasm and curiosity, completely and undoubtedly enjoying the Slytherin girl's company. Not even bothering the stories her mother used to tell her about students of Gryffindor and Slytherin never meeting eye to eye, the seemingly endless feud between the two houses. Her mother even personally experiencing the effects of the feud, her being a fellow Gryffindor.

Kendra invites the blonde Slytherin girl, who politely asked to sit with them, only a moment before. The thought of finally getting friends making her smile widen, if it were even still possible. "My name is Sefira. Pleasure to meet you, Athena."

Part of her attention returning back to their conversation, not minding Athena's presence and attention at this point, even if she does hear or see. If she wanted friends then being honest is the best way to go. All of her hesitance from before, slowly fading away. A slight confidence replacing it, of course not to the point of overconfidence. "Dad is able to use his powers - from the tears to the flaming wings and well.... flames. He doesn't constantly get reborn though but he has told me before that he gained a fatal injury and he died, literally went up in flames and turned to ash. Although he was reborn after a few days, not like normal though he was still the same age, had same memories, the same persona. It took him around a month to regain his strength and energy. I'm not quite sure if I have the same abilities however I'm not really too keen on testing if I do, especially for the last one."

"I don't seem to have wings, that or I just have no idea how to show nor use them. I do have an ability to control fire, definitely not a complete expert on it though." Her palm facing upwards and her mind in concentration,  a few seconds pass. A small two-dimensional flower made out of flames forms on her hand. 

A small group of girls sat at the table behind James and the other ravenclaw boy were chatting about something James himself had no particular interest in. Slight noises of chatting from the girls could be heard, but not much more than that. One of the girls behind him, who from her robes appeared to be from Gryffindor house, was chatting about phoenixes, and more specifically, how she herself was half phoenix. James started to take a slight interest in their conversation at this point, as James was basically obsessed with magical creatures. James, however, decided to mind his own business, and returned to quietly creating potions.

Then, James saw a bright glow from behind him. He turned around, and saw that a flower made only out of fire had been generated from the Gryffindor's hand. The act memorized James, but he couldn't explain the phenomenon. It seemed to him as though the phoenix as the ability to manipulate fire, however, there was no fire to manipulate. James took out a notebook, with the front cover saying: "Study of Mystical Creatures." The girl herself was by no means a "creature," but since it came from her phoenix heritage, he thought it was worthy of writing down. He turned to a page on phoenixes, and wrote: "Possesses ability to manipulate fire." He quickly placed the notebook back in his bag, and returned to his potion he was making. 

All of the sudden, large bubbles resembling the potion started to surface at the top of the cauldron. The small black cauldron had been overfilled with the potion, and a few drops of the liquid started to spill. A mere moments later, the potion exploded, spewing the now colorless liquid everywhere. James began to panic, trying to remove any traces of the potion. For a second, he thought about the cause. He had done everything precisely as planned, expect for one thing. He forgot to measure the ingredients. He gazed at the brass scale, releasing a sigh of disappointment and worry.

He grabbed the cauldron by the rims, which were now dripping the failure of a potion. Running out of the classroom, James decided the most reasonable thing to do at this point was to get rid of it. He ran to the bathrooms with a look of worry and embarrassment on his face. When he eventually arrived at the bathroom, he poured the failed potion from the cauldron into the sink. It, of course, overflowed as well. But the sink was better than the classroom. He quickly ran back to the classroom, still holding his cauldron which was now empty. James arrived at his desk, and sat down, trying to make it seem as though nobody witnessed the event.

Kendra listened closely as Sefira talked to her about how her father had once been reborn from the ashes and how it seemed that they could both manipulate fire. Sefira proceeded to hold out her hand and after a few seconds of concentration Kendra could not believe what she was witnessing. A small tongue of flame twirled around a few inches above the girl's hand forming into a flower. Kendra's eyes were so wide opened that one could almost see the flower's reflection in them. It stayed there for a few more seconds before fading away. Kendra looked up directly into Sefira's eyes.

"You are simply amazing, and I would guess you never get cold, how convenient!" she exclaimed giggling. 

Just then she noticed the boy with the glasses sitting in front of them was writing something down in a notebook. She didn't manage to read the whole sentence seeing only the last part of it "...manipulate fire." Then the boy quickly shut the notebook and put it away. That left Kendra concerned and curious to know more about the boy's intentions. 

The class continued smoothly. Kendra and Sefira even collaborated on the most difficult parts and as the lesson went by their potions seemed to be on point. Suddenly the flow was disrupted by a loud noise that came from the cauldron belonging to the Ravenclaw boy with the glasses. Kendra watched as he stood up carrying the cauldron containing his ruined potion and disappeared for a few minutes before returning with an embarassed look on his face. She couldn't help but feel bad for him. 

Athena, who was content with working by herself and observing the other people, listened intently to the conversation about Phoenix heritage. She was interested of course, but she had more to worry about- such as the fact that she needed to beat everyone else. She was completely happy working on her potion and helping those around her when people asked. It was a miracle that she was a natural at this. 

She cringed when she saw the boy fail miserably with his potion. She bit her lip, knowing that he was in need of help. Athena, waiting for him to return, finished her potion. She was ahead of the class, and had improvised with her potion when necessary. She had experimented with a few of her potions before, trying to see what would happen. It mostly ended in explosions but a few times she got lucky and ended with a potion that worked far better than the origional recipe. 

At this point, the young Ravenclaw boy had come back. Athena smiles at him, tapping his shoulder, "Hi! I'm Athena. I was wondering- do you need some help? I couldn't help but notice your fail at making the potion." She laughs a bit- not in a rude way, but to make her seem less judgemental. 

Sefton pelted down the hall towards Potions, his heart racing. The Ravenclaw boy had been relaxing in the Common Room when he had realized that Potions was about to start-too soon.

The ash-haired boy was able to make it, though, thanks to his quick running speed. He casually walked into the classroom as if he hadn’t been running seconds before.

He found a spot in the row next to the back. He tossed his things down and seated himself in the desk, putting his feet up on the hard, wooden surface. The Ravenclaw took his glasses off and leaned back into the support of his chair.

Surely walking into the classroom and immediately getting into this uncaring position gave the boy the impression of being lax. Anyone who guessed such would have been correct. 

Indeed, Sefton broke the stereotype for all Ravenclaws. That Ravenclaws were always ready for a lesson, studied all of the time, and were goodie-two-shoes. He broke the stereotype that these students were teachers pets and didn’t stir up trouble. 

Because that was exactly what he wasn’t. Sefton was smart, yes, and loved knowledge, but only when he was dedicated to learning it, and when it was exciting to learn it. Potions didn’t seem exciting to him at all. Here, in the dark, moist dungeons, Potions seemed anything but interesting. And this was coming from a Muggleborn! 

As class started, he payed a bit of attention, but didn’t change his position. If anything, he could have been sleeping.

When they actually got to the Potions part, though, anyone observing him would have been surprised that he knew exactly what the teacher has said and instructed. He was slow, but the potion was going okay.