Crash Course in Potion Making (Lyra)

Turns out Lyra's pretty good at sneaking around. As long as you know where people are, know the paths they take, it's really not that hard. Lyra it seemed, was slowly becoming a people watcher. It wasn't something she ever thought she would look at herself as, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she always had been. Back home she'd always watch the tourists that visited. It was funny to watch people who'd never been to the beach before. The looks on their faces when their toes sank into the sand, or when a bit of salty water got into their mouths; it was amusing to say the very least.

The prefects of Hufflepuff seemed to enjoy their habits. Their rounds where the same every night, and all it took was a bit of studying to memorize them. After that, you could pretty much go wherever you wanted as long as you made sure to time it right, and watch out for them. Not to mention professors that roamed the halls every so often. But again, it didn't really affect her much, duck into an empty classroom, wait for them to pass, voila!

She had done just what she'd resolved to do a few days ago, and memorized most of the dungeons. She hadn't had time to memorize them all just yet, but she was well on her way. So, when Wednesday came around it was quite easy for Lyra to sneak out of her dorm, and slip towards the Potions classroom. Much too easy if you asked her.

She was dressed in comfortable clothing. Some skinny jeans and one of her favorite t-shirts, feeling a bit chilled but not caring because the outfit reminded her of home. That was one bad thing about the dungeons, they constantly seemed to be chilly. Just enough to make the hairs on her arms stand up without a jacket or long sleeves, but not enough to make her shiver.

She reached her destination right on time at exactly ten o'clock and slipped into the classroom easily, the satchel draped over one shoulder filled with the ingredients and recipes she had decided to practice. The first would of course be the Wit-Sharpening potion, since that was the one giving her the most trouble at the moment. She'd also brought the supplies for some more complicated potions, and resolved to just see how much time they would have. Of course, she knew there were ingredients and such already here, but if they were to not be caught they shouldn't use the class ingredients, right?

A quick scan of the room and she spotted the boy that had agreed to help her. She gave him a small smile and started towards him, hoping her footsteps would be enough to warn him of her presence so that when she spoke she wouldn't startle him. "Hey! Thanks for doing this... It's always easier to practice with someone who already knows how to do the potion."

She looked over the table, noting that he already had the recipe out and dumped her bag in a chair, partly to show that she really was committed to standing the whole time, as she had failed to show last time she'd seen him.

At the boy's response she nodded, not really sure how to respond. She felt a bit guilty for making him basically teach her a potion that he likely already knew, and didn't really need to practice.

"So, I figured we'd try the Wit Sharpening Potion again -- unless you've managed to crack that one since we last saw one another?"

She hesitated, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug. "I mean, I found time to go over it once and it was successful, but that doesn't really mean I could do it again. Sometimes the first time you do something is just pure luck, and considering how many times I failed..." She blushed slightly at the admission that she had failed at all, even though she knew the boy knew this already. "It's probably best to start with this one."

At the question of whether or not she brought ingredients she nodded and opened her bag. "Of course I did. I brought some stuff for some more difficult potions as well, I wasn't sure how much time we would have."

She started pulling out the needed ingredients resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she listened to him. "Well I'm not stupid. This isn't my first potion ever, I know to clean everything." The fact that the boy was treating Lyra like a beginner made her bristle slightly but she focused on the ingredient list, after all he likely wasn't trying to push her buttons. "Sorry, long day. I really do appreciate your help, but I have made a successful potion before."

She followed his instructions carefully, though she could easily see the book and didn't really need him to say it out loud. The base was poured in carefully before she started adding the ginger. She added it only until the potion turned the desired color before setting it aside with a nod. "Now it simmers, right?" She looked to him for confirmation, more to stroke his ego than because she couldn't see the directions. "For twenty minutes?" She checked the directions to make sure she was remembering the correct amount of time, frowning slightly. "Wait..." The recipe in his book said something differently entirely and she glanced up at the top of the page to make sure he had the right direction. "Your recipe is different..?"

She paused before raising both eyebrows. "I don't even know your name yet!" She offered him a hand to shake, a small smile on her lips. "I'm Lyra."

The explanation made sense of course, and she nodded without a word. The realization that his book was different than hers, or at least the one recipe was, made her sigh to herself as she read over what his book said. Yes, much different than her recipe, though the ingredients were the same.

"Well that's just stupid." She murmured in response to the boy's suggestion of her having the wrong book. "Why would you put a recipe in a book if it didn't actually work? What's the use in that?" She huffed softly and pulled the next ingredients closer. Before offering properly introducing herself to him.

The name that came from the boy caused her eyes to widen and one eyebrow to raise. "You're Squid Boy? Mary-Ka-, er, Mimosa talks about you quite a bit. She seems to be under the impression that you aren't good in potions, but it really seems to not be the case. Though, she doesn't always really understand how things work well enough to be able to make proper judgement, so it really may just be her bad. Either way, I would say you're pretty good at potions! I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm better than Mimosa, and you're better than me, so I don't see how she would think she needed to teach you anything..."

She trailed off as she spoke to better concentrate on the potion as she added the bile a little at a time, waiting for it to turn blue. She then ground the beetles quickly and the potion was soon red. A quick consult with his recipe told her that more bile was next, and the potion yellow in no time.

"Yeah, my recipe never had the potion turn yellow," she commented as she added ginger once more. "It was a dark blue." The process went by quickly until the recipe said to let it simmer, though she made note that it said ten minutes, not twenty, just as Squid Boy had said earlier. She pulled a small timer out of her bag and set it for ten minutes so she wouldn't miss the cutoff time.

She felt the urge to go grab her book, compare at least the title to the boy's and see which book she would need to purchase, but it would really be better to wait until after the potion was done. After all, she felt the need to prove that she could stay focused on her potion, even if she talked as she did.

"So what house are you in?" She asked curiously, gazing at him before her gave returned to the cauldron. "Mimosa said you were in Slytherin but she obviously was wrong before." Another point came to her and she looked up again excitedly. "And are you really on the quidditch team?!"

"But that's my point." She debated lightly, mostly thinking out loud, "If their method didn't work why would they insist on publishing a book that included it? You would think that they would have tried the potion a couple times to make sure it worked. Though, maybe they did try it once. It ended up working for me once, though I don't understand how that would have happened logically..." She thought about that for a moment, trying to think on what she had done differently that one time that it actually worked.

A fantasy world was one way to describe the way Mimosa lived, the examples given and the examples she would be able to give if asked certainly supported such a statement, but she didn't comment any further.

She chuckled and shrugged when he said that buttering people up didn't make them like you. "That very much depends on the person, actually. Though I guess they ultimately like the attention you give them more than they like you, so you're still right in a way." She had come across plenty of people in her life that were like this, though usually they weren't the kind of people you'd want to be friends with regardless.

The mention that she was a bad Hufflepuff made her roll her eyes. "Yeah, well, I didn't pick my house, did I? Besides, I'm not bashing her, I'm simply stating the facts. I'm not insulting her or anything."

She grinned widely when he confirmed he was on the Slytherin team. "Well I don't expect much of a challenge from Mary-Kate, but maybe you'll give me a bit of one. I'm the Hufflepuff's seeker."

The timer went off after the required time, and she turned it off quickly before grabbing the ginger root again as she checked the instructions one last time and added it once more, slight bits at a time until it was a dark orange. "Well, that should be it..." She peered at the potion hesitantly, half expecting it to still not work.