Practice makes perfect (Nikolai)

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Lyra sat in the very far corner of the room, squinting at her book. Mimosa apparently never studied, which was entirely fine on Lyra’s account. It gave her an excuse to get some alone time for a valid reason. She loved the younger witch, and hoped they would always be friends, but eventually she could get to be a bit... much.

Having never spent this much time I a row with the girl, Lyra hadn’t anticipated her to be so tiring. She was definitely energetic to say the least, she’d thought Sunny was the most energy filled girl in the world. A soft smile cake to her face at the thought of her best friend. Sunny had lived across the street from Lyra their whole lives, and was the person Lyra was closest to out of anyone else on the earth.

She sighed and pushed the thoughts from her mind as she zeroed in on her work for what felt like the eighth seventh time that day. She scanned the same potion recipe she’d been trying to master for at least an hour and a half now before glancing at her cauldron. Still the wrong color. She could have sworn she was doing everything right, and yet the potion would still not turn the color it was supposed to be. She waved her wand at it once more to empty it, sighing heavily.

Another wave of the wand and a soft muttering of a spell and the cauldron filled with water once more. She let it start simmering as she moved to start on her ingredients once more. Two ground scarab beetles, a bit of cut ginger, and nine drops of armadillo bile. She ground the beetles carefully, reading the instructions once more as she did and waiting for the water to simmer.

Add Ground Scarab Beetles and stir 5 times, clockwise, read the recipe and she obliged, sprinkling the beetles into the water carefully. She watched as it changed to a like green color before looking back to the page, reading to let it simmer for five minutes. She then leaned back in her seat, trying to think of what had gone wrong the previous times.

Subject: Re: Practice makes perfect (Nikolai) Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:51 am

Studying was always difficult to be done in the Slytherin Common Room, mostly because when you chose to study, a certain someone seemed to pop up and wanted to talk to you about all the mundane things in her life, or her Jacques, or some equally as uninteresting topic which meant you really couldn't concentrate on your own work. When Mimosa Harrington-Clement did her own homework, Nikolai could not lay his finger on, because she never seemed to do any, and yet, he'd never seen her get in trouble for not handing in any homework, either.

Or, perhaps that was the point, perhaps Mimosa Harrington-Clement was above the homework they got set, and therefore didn't have to do it, because of who she was.

That thought soured Nikolai's mood as he climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor where the study area was. It really wasn't okay the amount of privileges Mimosa Harrington-Clement got around here, and what made it even worse was that his dad was catering to her needs, too! Sighing heavily -- and not from physical exertion -- as he turned in to the study room, Nikolai decided that when he had power, anywhere in his life, he was never going to allow people like the Slytherin Princess to simply buy there way in to places! It sounded like a good plan to him, at least!

Moving through the study area to the back of the room that was hidden from the main view of the rest of the students, Nikolai was all but ready to throw his bag on the table when he found his table to be occupied by another. Managing to catch his bag before it went flying, Nikolai took in the cauldron and the witch who was pouring over her book for a moment. He could, of course, move elsewhere, and study in another part of the room. But that would increase the likelihood of Mimosa finding him, and Nikolai could not afford that. Instead, the boy pulled out a chair opposite the witch and took the seat without disturbing the other witch.

Quietly, Nikolai took out his Care of Magical Creatures notebook and textbook, and settled himself in to studying up from their last class. Not that manticores were a difficult topic to get your head around, but Nikolai didn't want to let his favourite -- not to be mistaken with his most preferred -- professor down.

No words came from Nikolai, because he hadn't come here to talk, he'd come here to work, and work he would.

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No mistake came to mind as she thought. She had done everything perfectly! And yet, the potion still hadn't worked. She sighed, peering over the cauldron's edge to watch the potion ever so slowly change color as time went by.

Five minutes passed quickly and she turned to her recipe once more, eyes scanning the next bit of instruction. Add Ginger Root without stirring, and allow to simmer for a further 20 minutes. The ginger root was added, and she sat down once more, pulling forward her other study work as she set her small timer for twenty minutes.

Ancient Runes. This was one class the Lyra had a pretty neutral opinion on. It wasn't horrible, nor was it amazing, rather it was fine. The only real problem was that she was behind in this subject as well. It seemed that Ilvermorny had been behind in Potions, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. How the school had lacked so much in so many areas Lyra couldn't know, but the bright side was that she was at least ahead in certain other subjects. Transfiguration and Charms were both subjects she was ahead in, though she knew she would likely have already been ahead in these subjects, as these were two of her favorites.

The fact that she was behind in care of magical creatures was quite tragic to Lyra, as this subject was another of her favorites. She had made a point to catch the professor's name her first class with them, and would be making sure to catch them after class at some point. She knew that because she loved it, this would likely be the class that would be easiest to catch up in, and therefore was not her main focus for today.

Her attention turned away from the runes in front of her as a boy sat down across from her. She recognized him from a few different classes, but could not for the life of her remember his name. She expected him to say something, even if it was as simple as 'do you mind if I join you', but he stayed silent as he started to pull out his work. Not that she minded, it just would have been nice if he'd at the very least acknowledged her presence.

Her gaze was turning away from the boy, back to her own work when she caught sight of the textbook he'd brought out of his bag. "Care of Magical Creatures?" She asked him with a large grin, eyes glued to the book for a moment before they drifted up to him. "That's one of my favorite classes. Unfortunately for me I seem to be hella behind. Not my fault of course, Hogwarts is just ahead of my old school. I'm not even completely sure what I've missed in all honesty."

Subject: Re: Practice makes perfect (Nikolai) Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:53 pm

Nikolai's eyes remained downcast on his book, his finger moving across the words on the page and making light taps when he found something interesting. For now, his notebook remained untouched because he preferred to read everything as a whole before making his notes. That was you didn't end up paraphrasing with ideas close to the original authors, but instead truly summarised what you understood. Or, that was how Nikolai had always believed things to work.

Rather, Nikolai would have managed to read the whole passage had he been left alone.

"Care of Magical Creatures?"

Nikolai's finger stopped short of the end of the third line of his passage, and for a moment, he considered ignoring the witch. The grating American accent -- seriously what was wrong with Hogwarts of late? -- was enough for Nikolai to wish he'd just stayed in the common room. At least Mimosa Harrington-Clement had been tuned out. This witch, though, was not.

Glancing up as the witch continued on about how Care of Magical Creatures was her favourite class, but that she was behind in the lesson, Nikolai resigned himself to the notion that he was not going to get his work done here, either. The witch explained how her last school, which was why Nikolai didn't recognise her now that he looked up and took her in properly, had been behind in the subject, Nikolai gave a small nod.

"That sucks, I guess." The boy commented lightly, not overly interested in the impromptu conversation that had been forced upon him, but deciding not to be rude. "Professor Venizelos is approachable, though, so you shouldn't have a problem with catching up." Nikolai supplied, before turning his attention back to his book and continuing on with his reading of the passage he was trying to get through.

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The boy didn't seem to be all that happy about being interrupted. He had the decency not to be flat out rude, but the finger still holding his place in his book and the rather short remarks told her she was interrupting. Which, of course, she'd known. But instead of doing the polite thing and leaving him be she'd went on ahead and talked to the boy, about herself no less, like an idiot.

She frowned slightly at herself and nods. "Yeah, good point. Thanks." Her gaze turned back to the textbook in front of her, scolding herself mentally for intruding on the other boy, sitting back in her seat with a slight amount of disappointment.

But at the same time... her gaze lifted for a moment and scanned the room. There were plenty of other empty tables that he could have sat at, and yet he chose to sit at the one that she currently occupied. If he hadn't wanted to talk, then why would he have chosen to sit at a table that someone else was already using?

She brushed the thought away for a moment, her gaze lifting to the other boy’s book once more after a moment. She really just couldn’t help herself, Care of Magical Creatures Just was, and always would be, more interesting than Ancient Runes. The picture immediately caught her attention and she sat forward just slightly once more to see it better.

”Is that a grindylow?” she asked excitedly, ”There’s English Folklore around them you know. It’s said that they will drown little children if they get too close the the water’s edge. I’ve also read that merpeoples keep them as pets though, so it makes me wonder if they truly are all that vicious. I mean, they’ve never been tamed by human before, but maybe one day. We don’t have any of them in America, though if I’m remembering correctly they’re native around these parts?”

She realized a moment later that she had told herself to leave the boy alone. She sat back in her seat again, waiting to see how he would respond and hoping she wasn’t being too much of an annoyance, though she supposed that if she was he could always find somewhere else to sit.

Subject: Re: Practice makes perfect (Nikolai) Thu Feb 28, 2019 7:22 pm

With the girl seemingly contented with his short answer -- or as contented as anyone could be in such a situation -- Nikolai's eyes returned to his book. His finger managed to move down two more lines, the words sinking in quite easily with the given subject, before he was interrupted again. For a moment, the boy was still, waiting to hear the witch out as she spoke about the very obvious things that the subject before him was trying to teach.

"Yes, Grindylows." Nikolai replied as patiently as he could, looking up from his book for the second time with a not too fond of the idea of talking look upon his features. "And that story isn't just Folklore, it's somewhat true. They will attack you if you disturb their habitat, or get too close to the mermaids they are 'owned' by." Nikolai explained, and was about to move on when the witch's potion began to bubble up towards the top of the cauldron.

"Umm, your potion is bubbling over!" Nikolai explained, quickly grabbing his book from the desk so it wouldn't get ruined by the over spilling potion. Sliding out his wand from his belt, Nikolai quickly waved it over the cauldron, emptying the contents in order that nothing would end up ruined. He hadn't taken a bit of notice as to what the witch was brewing, but she was clearly not capable of following instructions. Which, Nikolai had noted, was a reoccurring theme with the American population of the school.

"What are you trying to brew?" Nikolai asked once the crisis had been averted, placing his book back on the desk now that the risk of ruining it had been nulled. "Because you really should concentrate when you're brewing, otherwise you're going to have a very serious accident! And you definitely shouldn't be sitting whilst brewing, either!"

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As she listened to the boy's response she nodded in agreement. "Well yes. Almost any animal will respond rather harshly if they feel themselves, their communities, or their territories are being threatened. Humans included." She was in the middle of another sentence that was cut off by the boy's exclamation.

She turned quickly, eyes wide and jumped to her feet, though the boy acted before she could, emptying her cauldron all over again. She sighed softly to herself. She was going to start running out of ingredients eventually! She squinted at the small timer she'd set, the one that still noted that there was plenty of time left before the potion should have been ready for the next step. She frowned, turning it off and pulling out her ingredients once more.

"A wit-sharpening potion." She informed the boy, turning her scowl upon her directions. "It's one that Ilvermorny hadn't done yet. I'm trying to get caught up..." She trailed off as she read before turning her frustrated gaze on him as he criticized her.

"It said to let it simmer for twenty minutes! I'm just supposed to stand there and watch it the whole time? That's nearly a half hour. Haven't you ever heard the phrase a watched cauldron never boils? Besides, it's not a dangerous potion. If it was something that could like... explode or something I would have watched it. But a wit sharpening potion is harmless."

After saying her fill she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest before conceding. "But, you're right. I should have been more careful, potions in general all have the potential to be dangerous." She glances to his book. "It's okay, right? It didn't get ruined?"

Subject: Re: Practice makes perfect (Nikolai) Sat Mar 02, 2019 3:16 am

Nikolai couldn't help but look mightily relieved when the witch denoted what potion she'd been trying to make. The carelessness of the witch in and around potions showed her lack of talent in the subject even before she explained how her last school, Ilvermorny had been behind.

It seemed all Americans lacked intelligence, Nikolai thought to himself, though his data was only that of two girls so far. But both were concluding one very simple equation for him.

Americans = Stupid Squared.

"Of course you're supposed to stand, it doesn't matter what kind of potion you're making, the contents of the cauldron will always be to a temperature that could cause severe burns if it were to over flow over you. The school nurse is good at fixing most things, but there is always the possibility of lasting damage." Nikolai told her in a matter of fact tone. "And it's not nearly half an hour, it's a third of a hour. A key difference which is important with potion making."

The witch's comment about the potion not being dangerous was a naivety of the girl's mind. All potions were dangerous. That's why they all required a tonne of concentration. It was always the problem with Mimosa, she couldn't concentrate long enough to make these things work, and it seemed like this girl couldn't either. But Nikolai didn't make a comment on that, knowing he would probably regret it later.

Not to mention the girl was asking after his book now instead.

"It's fine, your potion didn't get far enough to touch it." The boy assured her, moving it to his bag instead to ensure it was kept safe.

"If you want my advice, though," Nikolai continued once his work was safely away from danger and his desk space was clear. "You don't want to be doing your potions here. Base temperatures are warmer up here in the study area which throws off the equilibrium of the potion. You're best making most potions in cooler air, such as that of the potions classroom in the dungeons, to keep a cooler base temperature around your ingredients.

"Of course that means sneaking in to the classroom to practice, but I'm quite sure Professor Harrington wouldn't mind." Nikolai finalised with the faintest of smiles touching his lips at the thought of his professor. Reaching down to grab his bag with the finality of the actions he was leaving, Nikolai didn't look to the girl in that moment, best not to suggest he had to be polite and say goodbye or something.

After all, he wasn't going to get any more work done now he'd opened conversation, so he'd have to find somewhere else to study.

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She focused on the boy before her as he spoke, though she couldn’t help but feel a prick of annoyance at the way he spoke to her. But of course he had to input exactly what he felt she should do. Her first instinct would be to say he was Ravenclaw (yes she was slowly learning the houses) due to his smart ass remarks, but knew not to judge to book by it’s cover when it came to people.

Besides, she had to admit, at least to herself, that he was right. She should have been standing and properly focusing on the potion in front of her. But just because he was right, didn't mean she had to like it, and when he input that the time she'd stated was wrong she huffed softly.

"Well yes, it's a third of an hour. It's also nearly half an hour. I would say ten minutes away is little enough time to say nearly." Her words were snappy, her annoyance clear in her voice.

The annoyance drained away as he spoke about the potions classroom being better suited for her potion practice however, and her expression turned thoughtful at the explanation behind it. It did make sense, she supposed, that the reason the potion wasn't working may be because the temperatures weren't acting correctly. It didn't explain why it had boiled over this time as opposed to the previous times but that was a whole different problem she supposed.

She started putting her ingredients away once more, waving her wand to clear away the small mess that had been made as she spoke. "Yes, I can see how that would make sense. I hadn't thought about it in all honesty. That would definitely explain why it hasn't been working for me, unless I'm having another problem that I can't think of."

She sighed and gave him an exasperated look. "I swear, I'm usually more... I don't know, I stood the first couple times but I've been trying this same potion for an hour and a half, and eventually I just figured it wouldn't be a big deal to study Runes as it simmered." She frowned and glared at the cauldron. "Which was obviously a dumb idea I suppose. But, live and learn."

She sat once more, her ingredients and mess both cleaned up and her cauldron now empty. "You seem to know a lot about potions?" She pulled her work towards her once more. "I have some other study work I should do now, but I really could obviously use some help. Would you mind going through a couple potions some time?" She despised having to ask for help, but the boy obviously knew what he was doing, and considering how many subjects she had to catch up on she could really use all the help she could get.

As he moved to grab his bag her eyes widened slightly and she shook her head. "Oh, you don't have to leave! Really! I'm not going to attempt any more potions right now, I'm going to attempt some other work." She motioned to her Ancient Runes books with a small smile. "I really won't be too much of a bother. And you won't have to worry about any more potions spilling. But I mean..." She shrugs, "If you need to go that's fine and all, I just didn't want you to have to leave on my account. You'll hardly notice I'm here."

With that he let him decide whether to stay or go and returned her attention to her studies, fully content with leaving him be. Not initiating any further conversation, even refraining from commenting on pictures if she happened to notice any more in his book were he to sit back down. He hadn't seemed like he had really wanted to talk, and if she was honest she probably didn't need the distraction. She got enough of that with Mary-Kate after all.

Subject: Re: Practice makes perfect (Nikolai) Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:37 pm

The annoyance from the witch at his correction brought a flash of amusement to Nikolai's features. Too easy, he thought in that moment, but no comment came from him. He knew now that this witch was easy to rile, and therefore he had an upper hand on her, should he ever need it. Not that he imagined he would, but knowledge was power, after all.

The excuses came soon after, not that Nikolai was buying any of the crap she was spouting in that moment. If you got a potion wrong -- which the Wit Sharpening Potion wasn't a difficult potion -- then you should have been concentrating more, not dividing your attention. Nikolai's eyes moved to the book of his dad's class before moving away once more, not interested in knowing which subject she was looking over because he would know much more about that than he did about her potions and the witch seemed to be much more riled up than he wanted her to be.

But the next question was for his help.

Whilst Nikolai Kessler held no assumptions of his kindness in the world, for he didn't much care for being nice, he did have a spot for those who needed help. Perhaps it was a power play ideology that gripped the boy to want to help another, or perhaps it was a classical damsel in distress pull that made him feel as though he really should help the witch, but Nikolai was drawn to doing the right thing in these moments. Something which he'd learned in the last two years or so that didn't always end up as planned. Considering this point for a moment, Nikolai let out a soft sigh before speaking.

"If you want help, I'll be in the potion's classroom on Wednesday evenings. Ten o'clock. Yes, that is after curfew. Yes we could get told off, but if you want my help, just be there." He told her, not waiting for her thanks or anything else as she continued on with how he didn't need to leave.

"I have a lot of things to do today, so I really do need to go." Nikolai informed her, pulling his bag up on to his shoulder and heading off to find somewhere else to study that day. Honestly, what was wrong with him? Was he a magnet for people who distracted? Or did he just have a big sign on him that said 'please distract'? Whatever the case, it meant he was going to have to find somewhere else to hole up for the day, which did not make Nikolai Kessler a happy bunny.

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» Practice Makes Perfect (Open to one)
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