The Houses Competition
House- Gryffindor
Position- Transfiguration
Drabble/Standard- Drabble
Prompt- (Word) Elixir
Word Count.- 940
"What is that?" James asked, wide-eyed as he looked into the cauldron which Lily was working on.
Lily sighed exasperatedly and said, "That is an elixir."
"Like the elixir of life from the Philosopher's Stone?" James asked, hovering over the cauldron, hoping to see the dark-red liquid—the elixir of life.
Lily rolled her eyes. She didn't even know why she was bothering with this. Her husband—although brilliant at Transfiguration, wasn't good at Potions and only got through his seventh year by Lily teaching him privately. It wasn't surprising that James would confuse it with the only very widely known elixir—The Elixir of Life.
"No. It is not the Elixir of Life. It is a cough elixir. You know, made for curing coughs?" Lily added the last sentence completely unsarcastically.
James looked even more confused. Lily internally sighed as she put the potion in stasis. She was going to check on her son in a few minutes.
The thought of her son made her smile automatically. Her beautiful baby boy. With black hair and sharp features just like James. But, with her pale skin, pink pouty lips and her emerald green eyes. Such beautiful green eyes. She'd wager that his was a shade darker than her's. But that was okay. It made him look even more beautiful. She was sure that her boy would grow up to be a heart-breaker.
"So, it's a potion…right?"
"I'm surrounded by idiots," she said softly enough so that James couldn't hear her.
"No. It is an elixir," she said to James.
"But-it is not the Elixir of Life. It is a cough elixir. Meaning it's a cough draught, right?"
Okay. So, it was going to take a lot of explanation she was not looking forward to. She was a Potions Mistress, not a Potions Professor for Merlin's sake!
"No. It is an elixir. There is a difference between a potion and an elixir," she said.
"Is there a difference between a potion and a draught?" asked James. If he didn't sound so genuinely curious, then Lily would've thought that he was playing with her.
"No. There isn't. It is basically the same thing," said Lily.
"Oh-kay. So… what's the difference between a potion and an elixir?" he asked.
Deep breaths Lily. If you managed to gain Potions Mastery while pregnant, you should be able to explain to your husband what's the difference between a potion and an elixir, right? she thought to herself.
"Right, so," without even meaning it, she had slipped into her 'lecture mode', "a potion is made of—"
"Should I take notes, Professor Potter?" James asked, his eyes twinkling with that goddamn smile on his face which made her unable to be angry at him.
Lily pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, loudly.
"Yes, you may, Mr. Potter. I may even ask you this on a test," Lily said wryly.
"Of course, m'lady. I shall prepare for it in due course," James said while taking an extravagant bow.
"Okay. So, potions. They are made of simple ingredients—magical and muggle alike. While elixirs are a lot different. They are also made of simple ingredients—muggle and magical alike, but here is where the difference kicks in. An elixir is much, much more complicated to brew than to brew a potion. That's why it isn't taught at Hogwarts. It includes a bit of Muggle Chemistry and Runes. Sort of similar to Alchemy but not really. Do you understand?" Lily said.
"Urm…a little," James said.
"Good. A little is good. It isn't as if you are going to have an exam based on it," Lily said as she removed the stasis spell and began to work on the elixir again.
"Why are you making it? I am sure that there are many potions in the shops which do the same thing…" James trailed off, noting his wife's angered face and hoping desperately that it was not directed at him.
"Those things they sell in the markets are faulty at best and poisonous at worst. They use cheap ingredients and inexperienced people so that they do not have to spend much money on the making of the product. I will not have my baby boy having something like that. Especially when I can help him," she said.
James remembered. His boy, only a year old, had come down with a terrible illness. He was coughing and vomiting everything that they tried to feed. Lily, not knowing what to do, knocked Harry out and took him to Madame Pomfrey. Pomfrey said that it was some sort of disease only children had. She put Harry on a special diet so that he could actually eat anything without vomiting it up. Lily took up the task to prepare a throat-soother for Harry.
"Lily, you have already made three elixirs," James started softly, "You are taking on too many responsibilities. If you continue like this, you will crash, sometime or the other. Do it tomorrow."
"No, James. Upstairs, Harry is suffering from a Merlin-knows-what disease. The least I can do is help him."
"Well… you won't be of much use to Harry if you suddenly crash one day,"
She had no answer to that.
James carefully watched as Lily added the potions and did things that went far beyond his understanding.
Suddenly, he chuckled.
"Why are you chuckling?" Lily asked.
"Oh, Lily. You are so sweet and lovely. Always seeing the best in people. You are like an angel with no wings," James said.
Lily simply laughed. A true laugh. The type of laugh that made James happy even if it was the worst day of his life.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)
Assignment 7
Ballroom Dancing: Strictly Come Dancing
Task #2: Foxtrot - Write about someone learning something new.
HALLOWEEN BINGO- 13. (object) Cauldron
COSTUME PARTY- 3. Sally the Ragdoll- a. Wig - (trait) curious
HOGWARTS CAFE- 12. Bananas Foster Coffee - (era) marauder
POTION MAKING- 13. Pepper Up Potion - Someone being ill
YEARLY EVENTS-
365 days-
166. (character) Lily Potter I
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND HOW TO COLLECT THEM:-
87. Harpy- (character) Lily Evans Potter
YEARLY SCAVENGER HUNT
20. Write a story with the genre Family
AUTUMN SEASONAL CHALLENGES:-
Sarcastic Month
12. (dialogue) "I'm surrounded by idiots."
Comic Book Day
5. The Adventures of Tintin: (dialogue) "You're like an angel with no wings."
World Farm Animals Day
13. Sheepdog - (trait) Protective
Ravenclaw OTPs
1. James/Lily
WRITING CLUB- OCTOBER
Written in the stars
16. (setting) Godric's Hollow
OCTOBER FORTNIGHTLIES
Ice Cream Sundaes
The Bases- Sugar Cone- Marauders era
A/N- Hope you like it. Please read and review. Have a wonderful day/night.