28 Oct 2021, 03:59
Double, Double, Toilet and Trouble
Classes had ended for the day, but Cricket O’Shea wasn’t finished yet. With a satchel of books slung over her arm, she made a hasty exit from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and headed straight for the stairs to the study room on the second floor. She hoped to get there before anyone else did—if she could finish her essay on gytrashes now, she’d have all the more time to continue her independent research later.
Researching the history of the Morrigans was a lonely and tiresome endeavor, but not one she’d give up easily. It was said, after all, that Hufflepuffs were unafraid of toil. But Cricket had also managed to keep up with all her school assignments so far—possibly due to the fact that her social life was a bit lacking at the moment. Unfortunately, it was hard to keep friends and keep secrets at the same time. Cricket chose to keep the latter.
She picked up speed as she reached the top of the landing, making it halfway down the corridor at a brisk pace before stopping suddenly as the most noxious odor she could imagine penetrated her nostrils. It smelled like…well, if she had to wager a guess, burning hair.
Crinkling her nose and turning her head, Cricket realized that whatever it was, it was coming from the direction of the abandoned toilets. Her first instinct was to cringe. “Ugh, isn’t that the foulest thing I’ve ever smelt?”
Her second instinct was panic. After all, if it smelled like burning, something could be on fire. But her third instinct—however delayed—was to worry. If the toilets were on fire, and someone was in there, surely they’d need help. Tamping down the rush of her nerves, she held her nose, pulled out her father’s wand, and shoved her way inside.
“Hello? Is…is anyone alive in here?!”
Reducio
Interacting with: @Maggie Hawkins
5 Nov 2021, 13:23
Double, Double, Toilet and Trouble
mentioning:
Evidently, nobody, considering she was currently sitting on the floor in front of one of the abandoned toilets, brewing her stew. In went powders and little sprigs of plants, just stuff that was perfectly safe (to the best of Maggie's knowledge, at least). It wouldn't be any sort of issue, would it? Playing around in the toilets was something that children liked to do, it wasn't outlandish.
And yeah, sure, it stank. It smelled like burning, singed hair, singing the hairs of her nose and making her turn up her chin at the entire situation. Maggie wasn't totally certain of what, exactly, she was trying to do here. Was it an attempt at being cool? Inventing a new potion and collecting all the glory for it? Sheer boredom? Who knew!
Still, Hogwarts was at wealth for buzzkills, too. Someone was here.
"Alive? Course I'm alive, I'm not completely daft," Maggie called back, pushing herself away from the toilet. Uh-oh. The water inside, which she'd used as the base for his potion, was bubbling. Not too badly, nothing that would warrant serious concern or reaction, but enough to make Maggie a little bit nervous. After all, potion ingredients weren't meant to be tossed into toilet pots with nasty toilet water, were they? "Though I suppose I could use a hand. If I'm being completely honest, I'm not very good at potions."
No, Maggie wasn't good at potions. Not when compared to charms, which was her forte. Certainly her best subject, but potions weren't all that understandable to her. How did this and that, a little plant and a little powder, make liquid luck?
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.
11 Nov 2021, 23:56
Double, Double, Toilet and Trouble
Cloudy grey eyes widened at the sound of a voice inside the room—not only was someone, in fact, alive in here, they were seemingly feeling rather sassy about it. Although at least whoever it was wasn’t too proud to ask for help, because it certainly smelled like they needed it.
Brewing potions…? Here, of all places?
Admittedly, Cricket was no potions expert herself, but if nothing else, she knew that it was dangerous to brew them without supervision. Plunging herself into the abandoned room, Cricket’s gaze darted this way and that until she spotted a head of brown hair hovering near one of the toilets. The offensive odor intensified, as did the sound of bubbling. Cricket approached with her wand out, as though she were about to go into battle with some kind of beast. Not that she knew any spells that would be useful enough in such a situation—it seemed an instinct to whip one’s wand out at the first sign of danger, and she wondered briefly why that was.
But wondering would do her no good here. She glanced between the toilet and the head of brown hair—which belonged to a Slytherin student—and realizing the wand wouldn’t be of much use, tucked it hastily behind her ear.
She eyed the inside of the toilet, which had apparently been filled with plant material and powders. If this so-called “potion” was as caustic as it smelled, there would be no time for any introductions or pleasantries. Her first priority was to get this student out of trouble. Luckily, years of dealing with her younger brothers’ shenanigans had made Cricket somewhat of an expert at that.
Suddenly all business, she plopped herself down next to the brunette and hurriedly opened her satchel, slapping her Potions textbook onto the floor. Quick fingers flipped frantically through the pages to reach the index. Hopefully the book would provide some adequate guidance to reversing whatever catastrophe was brewing in this toilet.
“All right, first things first—what did you put in there?”
Reducio
Interacting with: @Maggie Hawkins
18 Nov 2021, 03:44
Double, Double, Toilet and Trouble
mentioning:
There were more important things to figure out, though, and Maggie turned her attention to the girl who slid down to sit to Maggie's left with a potions book open on the floor. "Uh, should I remember?" Maggie peered over the edge of the toilet seat, looking at the concoction she had cooked up in the bowl. Smelled awful, wow, and Maggie flinched back just so at the scent. Yikes. The contents were mostly stagnant, for what it was worth, a murky green-brown that could surely turn even the most strong stomachs into washing machines. "I know I got beetle eyes. Those are in there for sure. And, uh," she stole another glance at the 'potion'. "Knotgrass, I think? I also threw some regular dirt I found outside in there. Do you think the dirt on the grounds is magic?"
This was all just guesswork, aside from the dirt (which Maggie could say she tossed in with absolute certainty). Maggie couldn't say with complete confidence what had been put inside her little creation, only that it smelled horrid and looked like a cesspool of sick and illness. "You know, I was trying to make Polyjuice Potion. Thought it might be neat, you know? But I don't really know how to make it. And it's not turning out the way I had wanted," what was she missing? Apart from, like, half the ingredients?
Oh.
"The hair! Of course, that's it!" Maggie's shining brown eyes landed on Cricket. More specifically, Cricket's head. "Wanna loan me a strand?"
I really value when people use violence for me, it's actually one of my love languages.