A/N: I've added a new little sidenote to this story, you can find it in my profile. It's called Etymology of "An Outsider's View, because I really did put more time into this fanfic than is strictly necessary. If people would like to read that, just so my hard work doesn't go completely unnoticed, that would be great. Read on!
Chapter 11—Exploding Potions
After Herbology, though, the day seemed to drag on, nothing terribly exciting. Unless, of course, you counted Lockhart nearly scalping her, insisting her knew "just the spell!" to return her hair to normal.
Now, her nails changed colors, as well as her hair. She wanted to scream, especially when Fi suggested asking Professor Snape for help.
"Please, Ryan, if this annoys you so much! He's a Potions master, her probably knows what they put into the ink, and what antidote to use! He's the logical person to ask." As much as Ryan hated to admit it, she had a point. So, she hurried down to the dungeons to get to class early.
"P—Professor? Professor Snape?" He turned his eyes unblinkingly on her.
"Yes?" His cold voice nearly sent her scampering back to Fi and Ben, but she held her ground, glancing down at her nails and remembering why she was here.
"Could—could you…do you know how…to stop this?" She gestured to her hair with flashing fingers.
"How did it happen?" he asked quietly.
"Well, you see, the hair and nails are two different things…my hair, it got drenched in color-changing ink in Charms, when this girl's spell missed the feather and—" she stopped herself. She was babbling. "Anyway, the hair was from the ink. My nails were because Professor Lockhart did that on accident, trying to change my hair back to normal."
"Show me your fingernails," he instructed. She extended her fingers toward him. He tapped each of her nails in turn with his wand, and they were back to their original state. Perhaps even cleaner than before. "Any competent teacher could have reversed Gilderoy's failure," he informed her, grimacing slightly. "For your hair…you tried washing the ink out?"
"Yeah, I did, but it's still changing colors!"
"Stop whining, Miss Lapitske. Wait here and do not touch anything." She was more than happy to reassure him on that count. She was scared to touch any of the creepy slimy things he had on his desk. Snape disappeared into his office, then returned a moment later with a green glass vial, which he handed to her. "Wash your hair with this tonight. It will get rid of that distraction."
"Th—thank you, Professor," she stammered, stowing the vial away in her robe pocket, glad that he hadn't lashed out at her. All he said was,
"Sit down before I take points from Ravenclaw." She thunked down without comment in her usual seat, in between Ben and Finn. Fi had stayed long enough to make sure Ryan was still in one piece, then drifted off to avoid further contact with Ben. Ryan was fine with that, personally; whatever kept the peace.
But the rest of the Ravenclaws eventually trickled in, and Ryan was painfully aware of how her hair was even more apparent in the gloom that seemed permanent in dungeons.
"Today, we shall be making a simple sleeping potion. Simple…for some, that is. It is not very potent, and, when drunk, will only keep the drinker asleep for an hour or so. Instructions…ingredients…are in their usual place. Begin." Ryan was paired with Luna, which couldn't bode well for Ryan's grade.
"Shall you get the ingredients, or shall I?" asked Luna, in her normal dreamy state. Ryan jumped slightly. Those eyes of hers really were creepy, especially since she didn't seem to blink.
"Uh…why don't you get them? I'll get the cauldron ready." Luna nodded, as though she expected no less, and wandered off to the supply cabinet. Ryan personally didn't trust Luna around flame, so she lit the fire under the cauldron. Luna returned, juggling an armful of various pouches and packages.
"Oh, catch that!" With a quick move that belied her normal absentmindedness, Luna solved her own problem by shifting all her contents onto the desk and catching the packet of asphodel that had slipped from her grasp. Ryan raised her eyebrows, impressed in spite of herself. She had barely even had time to register that the asphodel had fallen; she probably never would have been able to catch it.
"Nice catch," she said, grinning slightly. Luna sat down, supremely unruffled at having rescued the key ingredient of the potion.
"Thank you. Let's start, shall we?"
"Um, sure. What's first?" she asked, squinting at the board where the instructions had written themselves neatly.
"Pond water, four of those ladybugs, and the packet of asphodel," Luna replied. Ryan poured the pond water in, then counted out four ladybugs and dropped them in the cauldron, as well. She was emptying out the asphodel into her hand when Luna shook her head. "Oh, not the asphodel yet. The ladybugs have to simmer until…there…" The potion slowly turned a nauseating yellow color. "Now add the asphodel. Shred the leaves, first, and throw away the stems." Ryan wasn't sure if Luna was just relaying information, or if she just enjoyed bossing her around. It was impossible to tell anything about that girl. But she added the shredded leaves, and the potion began to bubble madly.
"Why don't you add the powdered wormwood?" she suggested, waving the somewhat hideous odor away. Luna nodded and brought out a measuring scoop.
"All right, then. How many scoops? Oh, two." The potion quit bubbling so suddenly that Ryan checked to see if the fire had somehow gone out. "I say, is the potion supposed to—"
"Partner team of Lovegood and Lapitske…" Professor Snape came by and peered into their cauldron. "Shred the asphodel leaves finer, next time, and go easy on the wormwood." He made a mark on his paper, and moved on. "Coley, what is this rubbish?" Ryan turned. Ben and Finn's potion was full of lumps and expanding like a balloon. Before it burst from the cauldron and found somebody to maul, Snape tapped it with his wand. "Evanesco!" It all disappeared. Then he moved on. Ben kicked the table dejectedly. "One point from Ravenclaw. Do not abuse anything in my classroom."