For the rest of his holidays, Blaise gave his attention to the project Geddes had given him. By the end of break, he'd managed to complete five of the eight required draughts. He hadn't yet found a proper replacement for flobberworm mucus nor what the other two ingredients were supposed to be. Geddes proved not to be much of a help, every once in a while smiling tauntingly when he saw Blaise brewing. The day before winter break ended, Blaise sat holed up in his room reading a book on potions ingredients.

"You're not going to find anything in that book," Geddes piped up from the doorway.

Blaise jumped a little in his seat at the unexpected noise but quickly composed himself, scowling at his own startled reaction. "What are you on about? How else will I learn what ingredients come after bobotuber pus alphabetically? Fascinating stuff, that," Blaise drawled.

"You're taking some things for granted," Geddes continued ignoring Blaise's comments. "I can already tell you're going to be mad at yourself when you figure it out. It'll be quite obvious in retrospect."

Blaise closed his book and set it on the desk beside him. "Did you make your way over here just to offer cryptic remarks?"

"The cryptic remarks are definitely a part of it," Geddes admitted easily. "Or as I like to call them, hints."

Blaise peered at the man curiously. "What part of that was supposed to be a hint?"

"All of it. You should really be more thankful. When I did this project, I wasn't given any hints."

"Of course. I thank you very kindly," Blaise said drily. He tapped the arm of his chair in consideration. "So this project is commonly given to prospective unspeakables."

"It's actually more common than that. It's a test given to prospective potioneers, inventors, and researchers of magic," Geddes corrected. "Though it's usually only given to people with years of experience in one of those fields. That's why I expect you to fail. When most people take this test, it's to test their knowledge. When I gave you the test, it was because I want to test your aptitude for analysis and experimentation."

"Then it is doable," Blaise concluded.

Geddes raised his brows. "You still doubted so?"
"Perhaps," Blaise said with a shrug. "So the ingredients I'm missing are ones I'm taking for granted?"

"One of them is," Geddes affirmed. "And I'm not giving anymore hints."

Geddes left, leaving Blaise to ponder over what he'd supposedly taken for granted. He tried to think what someone completely unfamiliar with potions would notice that he didn't. Blaise shook his head, finding that area of thought futile. He doubted a child or Neville Longbottom could notice something that he had failed to. Or a muggle, for that matter, Blaise thought wryly. He decided to postpone the project for the night. As he started to get ready to sleep, his last thought niggled in his mind as if he knew he almost caught onto something. Only when he laid down in his bed to sleep did it click. The ingredient he took for granted was magic. Neither a muggle nor a squib could make a working potion even if they mimicked the recipes used by wizards. Magic was so prevalent in Blaise's life since birth that it hadn't even occurred to him to consider the absence of magic. Feeling embarrassed over missing the obvious- and annoyed that Geddes had just predicted this reaction- Blaise fell asleep attempting to think up a replacement for magic.

At the time Blaise boarded the Hogwarts Express, few other students had boarded as well. He chose a compartment near the back and hoped no one annoying would choose to share his compartment. As time passed, students would occasionally peek into his apartment briefly before leaving to presumably find their friends or an empty compartment. His luck ended when Black peeked in, paused, and then took the seat across from Blaise.

"Good morning. How was your vacation?" she asked upon settling down.

"Very well. And yours?" Blaise returned politely.

"It was lov-" Black cut herself off with a grimace. "Actually, in all honesty, it was misery."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Blaise said opting not to ask why Black's vacation had been so bad. He didn't particularly feel up to feigning interest. After frowning thoughtfully at Blaise, Black turned her gaze to the window. Deciding he had nothing better to do, Blaise changed his mind. "What happened?"

Black twitched in surprise and brought her curious stare back to Blaise. She opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by the compartment door opening again. Lestrange popped into the compartment with a grin. "Hello," he greeted cheerily sitting beside Black. "I hope you two weren't hoping for a private compartment.

"Oh, come off it, Corvus," Black said with a laugh. "I've told you already, there's nothing going on." She turned to Blaise. "I apologize. Corvus here thinks he's funnier than he is."

Blaise just stared back nonplussed. The two were acting friendly though - not too long ago - Lestrange had warned Blaise away from Black due to her sympathies towards muggleborns. There'd been clear enmity in his voice "Are you two friends?" he ended up asking.

Lestrange rolled his eyes at him. "I wonder if you even know what the Slytherin common room looks like with how little you spend in it. We have exploding snap tournaments every Wednesday night."

"Corvus and I are undefeated in doubles this year," Black added. Blaise leaned back in his seat feeling stunned. He truly knew nothing about his fellow Slytherins.

"How were your vacations?" Lestrange asked changing the subject.

"I was just telling Blaise," Black started. "It was quite eventful. Alphie and my aunt were at each other's throats the whole time."

"Alphard was back home? I thought he was still in Germany?" Lestrange exclaimed.

"He hasn't been in Germany in ages. He's been in Finland for the last couple of months. He came back home for Christmas, I think because Aunt Irma threatened to hunt him down if he didn't." Deciding he no longer was expected to contribute to the conversation, Blaise unfolded the Daily Prophet to read. Lately, he tried to keep up with current events.

"He could have at least told me he was back home," Lestrange complained. "I haven't even received an owl from him since he left."

"I wouldn't take it personally. He's hardly sent an owl to Walburga, and you know how much he adores her." Black sounded upset by her own words.

"How long is he going to stay abroad?"

"That was the topic of one many arguments between him and his mother. Alphie says that he's going to Asia now. Apparently, there's still so much of the world he needs to see."

"I don't understand that," Lestrange said as Blaise read over an article about Grindelwald's growing influence in Europe. "He never even spoke of wanting to travel until he left."

"Well, that's Alphie for you. Sometimes an idea just pops into his head, and he goes with it."

"Yes, I know. Last year, he decided the Quidditch team needed some practice without their brooms. Avery complained about it more than enough times. I even once saw Marsic running around the pitch jumping at the snitch."

Black giggled. "I'd almost forgotten about that one. Alphie claimed that practicing on the ground helped his chasers focus more on their throwing technique. He made Marsic practice on the ground too just so he could have a laugh."

Lestrange laughed boisterously. "I do miss the lad."

Black sighed. "I do too," she agreed sadly.

The two quieted down after that, and Blaise relaxed in the ensuing silence. The silence didn't last long enough. "Are you voting in the upcoming election, Marsden?" Lestrange asked breaking the peace.

Blaise deigned to lower his paper and give Lestrange his attention. "No. I don't have any interest in politics." Besides, he already knew who won the election.

"You should. If Moon gets reelected, soon muggles will be running the place," Lestrange said.

"Unbelievable!" Black exclaimed angrily, her cheeks flushing a bit red. "How come anytime we get along for more than two seconds you have to bring up politics? You know it's inevitable that we get into an argument."

"I'm just trying to educate you," Lestrange explained patiently. "I still believe you can see reason."

"I'm not the one that needs to be educated if you think Minister Moon is championing muggles," Black said haughtily. "He's the one that proposed banning parents of muggleborns from entering platform nine and three-quarters."

"He also constantly works with that muggle prime minister on wizarding problems. As if muggles could in any way help against Grindelwald. Revell won't wasted time coordinating with muggles."

"Revell," Black spat out the name like it tasted particularly nasty. "wants muggleborns to either abandon their families or give up on magic altogether."

"What's wrong with that?" Lestrange asked, genuine confusion spreading over his face. "It's their decision then."

Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Black leveled a stern gaze at Lestrange. "That's not really much of a decision, is it? Would you be able to choose between your family and your magic?"

"No, but then my family aren't muggles." Lestrange turned to Blaise. "Any thoughts?"

Blaise tapped the seat cushion beside him trying to think of the best response, but Black saved him from having to answer. "Don't seek out help," Black told Lestrange. "You're the one that started the argument."

"We've reached Hogwarts," Blaise interrupted hoping to stave off more of the argument.

Black glanced out of the window and then stood up. "I hope you understand if I seek out a different chariot then you. Until Lestrange learns a bit of empathy, I'd like to take a break from him." With those parting words, Black marched out of the compartment.

As soon as she left, Lestrange looked pointedly at Blaise. "I told you she has strange ideas. Bloody more concerned with mudbloods than real wizards."

"Yes, you did warn me," Blaise agreed. He stood up and exited the compartment, Lestrange following behind him.

With a sense of trepidation, Blaise made his way to the dorm where he'd have to see Rosier and Riddle again. As soon as Riddle's dark eyes settled on him, Blaise felt all the relaxation from break seep out of him. He was back to having to act carefully in every interaction. The proper greetings between dorm mates were made and then Blaise was free to go to bed.