A potion partner?

Potions class. This still didn't feel all too real to Margaret. The castle still looked like a maze to her, she felt small in the immense corridor. And the architecture, the intricate details in the stone walls, and the speaking paintings. You could interact with them. This all felt unreal.

Glancing at her watch, she saw that she was right on time. The classroom was just as gorgeous as the rest of the castle. Stepping into the dimly-light room, Margaret noticed the painting-like beauty of it all. The black cauldrons, the glistening vials, the soft chatter echoing along the walls, the intimate atmosphere. She felt at ease.

To her surprise, the room didn't feel crowded, perhaps thanks to the high ceiling. Everyone seemed to have partnered up. Great, a group project. To say she wasn't fond of them was an understatement. All her memories of them ended up with her doing all the work, her classmates eagerly stepping down.

She sighed as she made her towards a girl wearing the blue and bronze colors of Ravenclaw, her head in her book. Margaret was already seeing herself taking care of everything, at least things would be well done. Having an awful grade was not an option, not her first one at least. As she approached, the girl still didn't look up.

Was she ever going to? Or would Margaret have to pull her out of it. She sat down on the old iron stool, setting her bag loudly on the table, hoping to snap the girl back into reality.

@Victoria Lena Jones

Tori looked up from her book when the girl next to her loudly placed the bag on the table. When she looked next to her, she saw a girl with dark blonde hair and brown eyes sitting next to her. Judging by his robes, his house was Slytherin. She smiled and tried to talk to the girl next to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you came to. When I read a book, I disconnect from the world. Does this happen to you? Actually, I didn't think someone would come, but if you had asked me I would have arranged my belongings accordingly. For 'etiquette purposes', I think you could ask."

She didn't care that she talked too much. She placed the bookmark in her book, put it in her bag, and moved her belongings a little to her side so that the girl next to her could take out her belongings.

When the professor arrived, silence fell on the class. She heard that they were going to be partners and make potions today When I heard that they were going to make the Forgetfulness potion today she turned to the girl next to her.

"Looks like we're partners. I hope you're good at making potions."

@Margaret Adamson

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you came to. When I read a book, I disconnect from the world. Does this happen to you? Actually, I didn't think someone would come, but if you had asked me I would have arranged my belongings accordingly. For 'etiquette purposes', I think you could ask.

Margarets face froze. Did this girl just say that? Slowly, she looked up towards her, a bothered expression on her face. Etiquette purposes? This group project was already off to a bad start. Taking a deep breath, she looked towards the girl.

'I'm sorry, but I don't think its quite the 'Etiquette' - her hands gesturing air quotes - to say whatever comes to mind' she sighed 'No, I don't disconnect from the world, I like to think of myself as relatively present in the moment.'

God, this girl talked a lot. Margaret wasn't the type to do that, she much preferred working in silence. Upset, she got out her book, cauldron and wand, purposely setting them a little too in the center, before sliding them pettily towards her. Great. This was all great. But she wasn't going to let a stranger ruin her day. Calmly, she opened her book and flipped the pages, the smell of history seeping through the words. In how many hands had this book been into? And how many after her?

As class was starting, she heard the girl talking to her, again.

'Looks like we're partners. I hope you're good at making potions.'

Marget smirked. 'I will, granted you don't talk to much. You know 'Etiquette purposes'.

Of course she was going to be good at this. All she had to do was read instructions, how hard could that be. She glanced around the room, trying to get a sense of how others were feeling around her and much to her contentment, other seemed to be just as lost.

Tori was very angry with what the girl next to her said and behaved. What was this girl's problem? She started talking again.

"Talking too much or saying whatever comes to your mind, as you say, is not against etiquette. Besides, it's none of your business."

She tried to stay calm. She didn't want to start a fight. But her hair still turned a little redder. When she started talking again, her hair returned to normal.

"Stop interfering in people's lives or behaviors in a way that disturbs them. God. And I think we both need to make the same potion. So you can put your things back."

She took the ingredients she needed from the cupboard and reluctantly came to the table. She placed the ingredients on the table and opened the required page from her book.

She put the 4 mistletoe fruit in a mortar and began to crush it. The faster they did it, the faster this partnership thing would be over.

"I hope you can do the job properly. You can start adding the Lethe Water."

She continued mashing without looking at her. She would finish her work faster and she would not have to continue reading her book and talk to the girl anymore.

@Margaret Adamson

@Victoria Lena Jones

Margaret wasn't used to people saying whatever was on their mind, nor did she like that. Especially coming from a girl her age. She didn't like confrontation, but it seemed like there simply was no other way around it this time. This girl was simply impolite.

'Stop interfering in people's lives or behaviors in a way that disturbs them. God. And I think we both need to make the same potion. So you can put your things back.' the girl next to her said before adding 'I hope you can do the job properly. You can start adding the Lethe Water'

That was just too much. She was interfering in people's lives? Said the girl telling her what to do. What a joke.

'I beg your pardon? Maybe you should handle your own tasks and cut down on the talking. Honestly, there is a fine line between being blunt and simply impolite, I believe you have crossed it.'

Margaret could feel her heart beating faster, something she wasn't used to. Anger wasn't an emotion she felt often, and she would like to keep it that way. Taking some deep breaths, she told herself that this girl simply didn't deserve her time and energy, and stooping as low as getting mean was useless. Some people just lacked self-control and rather put it on others. She decided this wouldn't faze her, she had much more important things to do. And she wasn't going to add the Lethe water. Yes, this was purely out of spite. And did this girl's hair just turn red?

'I'll wait, you can add it.' she said in her coldest voice.

Instead of waiting for the girl to do this task, she gathered the next ingredient, the 2 Valerian sprigs. Looking the girl in the eye, she lifted her hand above the cauldron, holding the plant in an attempt to show her she'd to the next step, the one she decided to do. She wasn't about to let this girl play the professor around here.

Word count: 326

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm already preparing the ingredients and I didn't want you to be idle so I asked you to add the Lethe Water so the job would be done faster, and if you ask me, I don't think what I did was rude."

She said it without looking up from his work. Who did the girl think she was? She called Tori 'rude', but she was the real rude one.

When she turned to the girl again, she saw that she had kept 2 Valerian branches, the next ingredient from the Lethe Water, on the cauldron. She placed her work on the table and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"Are you kidding me? Please tell me you're joking now. Look, I really don't want to be a partner with you, but I am, so stop acting on your own terms and believe me, If I wasn't busy with something right now, I wouldn't even ask you to do it. I guess you're too stupid to understand this."

She tried to say it in a cold voice like the girl said. She would not add Lethe water. She took the mortar in her hand and continued to crush it. When she was done, she placed it on the table.

@Margaret Adamson

@Victoria Lena Jones

'Too stupid'

Now she had crossed a line. Margaret didn't say a word. How dare she say that to her.

'You want to be rude, fine, but you'll do it alone. Honestly, I think it quite pathetic of you to stoop as low, I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be the wise ones. I guess its true that the exception proves the rule' she said, looking the girl in the eyes.

Without wasting another second, she added the Lethe water to the cauldron, dropped in the Valerian sprigs and stirred it three times. All the girls had to do was wait three quarters of an hour. And Margaret had a feeling these would be the longest minutes of her life.

The smell emanating from the cauldrons around the room was one her nose wasn't familiar to. The presence of the girl next to her became increasingly annoying, she couldn't bear to even look at her. How could a human being utter such outrageous words in the name of honesty was a mystery to her. Thankfully, she had been raised right, she thought to herself.

On the other hand, it was a shame the interaction had gotten to this. She wasn't exactly planning on making close friends, but a rival surely wasn't something she had wished for. Truthfully, she didn't care for people's opinion about her, but she'd rather be loved than hated. Perhaps hate was equally as interesting, now that she thought of it.

She looked the girl up and down, trying to get a sense of the person she was behind those obnoxious words. Her hair fell to her shoulders, her eyes of a green she had rarely seen. What a shame her words were not equal to her physical traits. The world is full of disappointment, Margaret thought to herself, sighing softly.

'You can go back to your book now' she said sarcastically.

Word count: 304

"I didn't know that Slytherins thought they were so low. I guess I was wrong too. It's so painful."

As she said this, her hair turned even darker red and even went a little further and turned black. She wasn't one to get too angry, but this girl really got on her nerves. The girl finally calmed down after adding the water of Lethe and mixing it with 2 branches of Valerian, and her hair returned to normal.

Since they had to wait a little longer, this meant that he had to endure a little more with the angry girl. When the girl spoke again, Tori opened her bag in order not to have any further contact with the girl, took out her reading book again and started reading.

"Try not to make too much noise. Look, I won't talk anymore like you want. I hope you are relieved. When the potion is brewed,"

She rolls his eyes and continues reading. She would really prefer reading a book to fighting with this girl. Smells were starting to spread from the classroom. She was sure that some people had made very good friends now. Luckily for Tori, she made an enemy.

@Margaret Adamson

@Victoria Lena Jones

The girl had taken out her book once again, and seemed lost in her story. Waiting 45 minutes seemed like an eternity, but flipping through her potion's manual entertained her long enough. Just a few more minutes. Margaret peeked into the cauldron to see a strange mixture, with a stranger smell. Could a simple combination of ingredients make you forget? How did that alter the brain? Or was magic beyond all of that? Too many questions for too little answers. People here really seemed to love to read, perhaps it was a habit she could get into.

For the last few minutes, Margaret had placed she head on her arms, watching time go by, second by second. The classroom was relatively calm, interrupted by the occasional flipping of a page, or tapping of the fingers on the wooden desks. Only three more minutes.

As soon as it was time, she glanced over at the girl. Without truly giving it a second thought, she grabbed the book and dropped it into the bubbling liquid. Well, their potion was ruined for sure, but revenge felt lovely, the rush of adrenaline, the beating of her heart.

Once the book was fully immersed, the concoction turned a bizarre shade of green, bubbles suddenly doubling in size. For a minute, a thick cloud of smoke formed around the girls who were lucky enough to go unnoticed - many other students had failed to the task. Margaret watch as the book disappeared completely before fishing it out with a pair a pliers, placing in front of the girl. In all of this chaotic scene, she hadn't even looked up at the girl. But now, she could notice her hair had turn disturbingly red.

'I hope I didn't make too much sound' she added, faking a concerned tone.

Never in her life had she acted this way, and she couldn't help but feel excitement course through her veins as she waited for the girls reaction. Maybe her hair would start burning.