Splash
nine years old
Sofia's eyes were cartoonishly large behind the giant cauldron she was trying to haul across the room. She had tried magic to move it but the spell she could cast wasn't strong enough to lift it. The ruined potion inside looked like bright purple water but gave off a most offensive brine-like odor and was remarkably heavy. It had been her mistake. One lacewing too many had mucked it up beyond repair. Sofia couldn't remember the spell to vanish it away and so she was trying to move the vessel across the room to the window to keep the tower from soaking in the stench. She had kicked off her shoes to lift the cauldron from the workbench. Her knees nearly buckled under the weight but she persevered. She would succeed. She would make it!
And then the door opened beside her, bumping her elbow and sending the cauldron to the floor. The impact sent a splash of liquid catapulting into the air before raining down. She covered her face and prepared for the impact - who knew what exact effects a ruined potion could have on a person. Strangely enough, Sofia didn't feel a drop of the liquid. She opened her eyes to find Mr. Cedric's sorcerer's robe hovering over her and Mr. Cedric, protecting them from the potion.
Sofia stared up at him with wide eyes, waiting to see how he would react to her misstep. He gazed down at her, eyebrows furrowed and opened his mouth to speak, likely to yell, when a bright purple bird with a voluminous, gloriously long and glittered feathered tail accompanied by Wormwood's complaining squawk came to rest between them. A giggle escaped Sofia's lips and she immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. Until Cedric started to chuckle. And before she knew it they were both rolling with laughter while Wormword asked again and again what could possibly be so funny.