Observations and Preparation Closed

Kona waited anxiously outside the potions door. The 'rule-breaking' books were weighing her bag down with their emotional guilt and they were just really big books. I don't even know what books I grabbed. She wanted to take a peak but was nervous to pull them out in the open. I hope Isaac makes it here soon and alone.

She sat along a bench against the wall, watching many students pass. Deciding to not look suspicious, she pulled out her grey notebook once more. This time, merely using it as a decoy. Kona watched Slytherins go to their common room and stare at her curiously. Why was a Ravenclaw in the basements alone? Her paranoid thoughts were speaking to her, it was unlikely anyone truly cared that she was there. Honestly, they probably never even noticed her.

Kona skimmed over the page on her life long goals. Graduate Hogwarts was listed in the second collum of the page, underneath were goals she listed to get there.

Step One:
Create a study schedule, balancing class times to maximize memorization

She liked to see items crossed off on her list because it meant she was that much closer to fulfilling her dreams. Kona looked at the first collum that read "Master Potioneer". Reaching into her bag and pulling out a pen she added a new step.

Step One, Part B: Expand your knowledge by seeking outside sources.

@Kona Mason

When he arrived, Kona was examining her notebook closely. He once again felt a curious pull to learn what exactly she wrote about in there, but knew that it would be pretty rude to ask. Instead, out of breath, he gave a curious look to her bag, which contained the books they had made such an effort to get.

Other students passed by in the basement, heading to their classes. He knew that the next potions class would be in about an hour, which was fortunate for them. Hopefully, whatever potions they tried wouldn't take very long to brew. He could already see the bubbling gold of the potion he wanted to make in his mind's eye, and a fantasy carried him off his feet. What would a day of luck look like?

But when Isaac settled beside her on the bench and looked at her, he sensed worry once again. It was understandable. In a way, she reminded him a lot of himself when he was new to the whole 'breaking-the-rules' thing.

"It'll be fine," Isaac reassured her, twisting a stray lock of dark hair behind his ear. "Listen, if anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame. You were never there. I'll tell them that I stole the books and caused all the trouble."

Hopefully, she won't feel so bad if she isn't going to be under fire.

@Isaac Ambrose

Kona felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw the familiar face of Isaac. He didn’t get caught! She took a few more deep breaths and closed her grey notebook, clutching it tightly. Turning to Isaac, she listened to him speak.

He assured her that he would take any blame for what the two of them did, but that made Kona feel a little more guilty. Would she be able to let him take the blame? Would her will to be honest and true to the rules take over her desire to let somebody else take the lead? Kona tried to brush all of that out of her mind. They hadn’t been caught and there was no reason to worry about that unless they did. She gave an unsure nod to Isaac.

With a few glances around her, she reached into her bag pulling out two books from the advanced potions section. She felt a since of warmth from the thought of all the information they contained and a since of guilt twisted at her stomach. We are returning the books. There is nothing to worry about. Kona handed the two books over to Isaac for him to look at, she noticed the top one was, in fact, Advanced Potion-Making but couldn’t see the book underneath.

@Kona Mason
Isaac took the books and placed them on his lap. He gingerly traced his finger over the embossed cover of Advanced Potion-Making, briefly flipping through the pages. Aging Potion, Alihosty Draught, Amortentia, Angel's Trumpet... Skimming the pages brought him a measure of relief, as he knew that some of the most advanced potions he had heard about were in there.

Picking up the next book and setting it atop Advanced Potion-Making, he read the cover. "Hmm...it's the Book of Potions by Zygmunt Budge. It has a recipe for Polyjuice Potion, Laughing Potion, Beautification Potion, Sleeping Potion and Shrinking Solution."

Now that he had the books, Isaac felt...well, a little lost on where to start exactly. His history as a half-blood oblivious to the wizarding world caught up to him. He hadn't even taken a single class yet, or cast a spell. And here he was, doing one of the most insane heists of his life so far.

Anxiety churned in his stomach, but he set his jaw, banishing it away. "What do you want to brew?" he asked Kona. She seemed to be more of an expert on Potions than him.

@Isaac Ambrose

Kona watched Isaac thumb through the books. Glancing at the pages as they flew by, her body got chills from the titles of potions she had only dreamed about making. She had no idea what to do with any of these and didn’t really have ingredients to get them going.

“I don’t know.” She said. “I was just going to observe anyway.” Kona said in kind of a laugh. “Should we look at the ingredients and see what we even have access to? So we can attempt it?” She began to think about everything her parents taught her. Her dad always lets her read any book she wanted to that they had in the house. He always said it was important to know things, even if I wasn’t ready to perform them.

She watched the pages flip in his hands and looked around again. “What about that?” Kona pointed to a potion on a page. Hiccoughing Solution. It sounded easy enough and like the one to do the least amount of harm if incorrect. The description read as follows:

Hicoughing Solution
It causes the drinker to be overcome with hiccoughs.

Kona shrugged her shoulders and looked at Issac. "What do you think? What do you want to brew?"

@Kona Mason
"I was thinking Felix Felicis," Isaac admitted, pausing longingly on the page. "But the ingredients say that you need spell knowledge to make it."

Considering the options, he thought about Kona's suggestion. Hiccoughing solution sounded good for pranks, and if what she said about it being the simplest of them was true, then it was worth a shot. He decisively nodded and quickly said, "Then we'll need to go to the Potions storage room then to grab the ingredients. It says here that Hiccoughing Solution can be brewed with butterbeer, knotgrass essence and aqua vitae."

Something about one of the ingredients sounded familiar. "Isn't butterbeer served at that place called Hogsmeade?"