Year 1: Outstanding
Chapter 8: April 2015
Molly was excited. All month they'd been studying the wideye potion, analyzing its ingredients and their properties in preparation for this. Finally it was here. Of course, Molly enjoyed the theory immensely. Arguably more than the actual brewing. But it was also incredibly rewarding when she finally got to find out if all her learned theory was up to scratch.
It was only the third potion the first years would be brewing – first was the forgetfulness potion, and then there was the herbicide potion back in February. Now they would be attempting the wideye – or awakening – potion, which was exciting, because it required new ingredients that they'd never worked with before.
They had a double period to make their potions – ample time to ensure that they followed all the steps and didn't miss anything. Molly happily set up her workstation, getting her cauldron into position and then arranging her other tools the way she liked them. The first two potions had also been a lot about learning how to organize herself when brewing – at least it had been for Molly. Now though, she had things pretty much figured out. She liked to keep her stirring rod on the right side of the cauldron with her scales, while leaving her knives and her mortar and pestle on the left. The right side would be for tidier work, and the left side for the messy.
"Alright class, attention on me please," Professor Abbott-Longbottom requested. Molly paused in her activities to listen to what her teacher had to say. "Today we're going to change things up a bit – I know the last two potions you've brewed have been individual, but today I'd like to give teamwork a try, so everybody's going to be assigned a partner to work with for the duration of the class."
A partner? Molly gaped and reached for her stool to sit down. Why did she need a partner? She was perfectly capable of brewing a potion on her own – a partner was only going to slow her down.
She could hear her professor calling out the pairs, but she couldn't hear anything. A partner was just going to mess everything up. She had a very specific way she liked things done – how was she supposed to do this if someone was slicing on the right-hand side of the station and dropping the stirring rod on the left? It would be chaos!
"Ooh, bad luck there," Sarah said from the workstation next to Molly's.
"What's bad luck?" Molly asked, not having been paying attention.
"You just got paired with Flora Bailey," Sarah responded.
It couldn't be happening. Of all the people in her class, Molly had gotten paired with Flora Bailey? Not only was Flora terrible at potions and a completely ridiculous human being, but ever since her failed attempt at a slumber party, she'd hated Molly something fierce.
When Professor Abbott-Longbottom finished announcing the pairs, everyone started moving around to join with their partners. Since Molly already had her station set up, she motioned for Flora to come join her, but Flora ignored her, instead setting her own cauldron up at her own workstation.
With a sigh of exasperation, Molly dropped the vial she was holding and walked across the room.
"Flora, didn't you see me waving you over?" Molly asked. "I've got everything set up over there."
Flora continued to ignore Molly. With her cauldron in place, she began to set up her other equipment, focused solely on this task.
"Look, you're going to have to talk to me at some point," Molly pointed out. "I mean, at least for the rest of the period. We can't brew a potion together unless we communicate."
"Fine," Flora said, her voice cold. "You should get your things, because we're working here."
Deciding this battle wasn't one worth fighting, Molly resigned herself to the fact that she wasn't going to get her perfectly organized workstation today.
"I'll get the ingredients then?" she asked. When she received no recognition whatsoever that she'd said anything, she shook her head and walked over to the storeroom anyway. She would need billywig stings, wolfsbane, and snake fangs, in addition to standard ingredients which was already at the workstation. She grabbed the three ingredients and hurried back to Flora and their cauldron, where she discovered that Flora had already added the water.
"How much did you put in there?" Molly asked in surprise.
"Don't worry, I put in the right amount," Flora responded, rolling her eyes.
"Okay," Molly nodded slowly. "But how much was that?"
"Gee Molly, if you don't know how much water to add to a wideye potion, then you really shouldn't be here," Flora said.
"I know how much water to add," Molly cried in frustration. "I want to know if you know how much to add."
"Of course I do," Flora scoffed. "Eight cups."
"Did you put in eight cups exactly?" Molly asked.
"Of course I did," Flora frowned. "What, you think I'm an idiot?"
Molly hated this. There was no way of checking of course. Not unless she poured the water out of the cauldron and measured it herself, which she was tempted to do. But they didn't have time for her to double check all of Flora's work. It was terribly difficult though, knowing that her grade depended on Flora measuring the eight cups out exactly. It would have been so easy for Flora to accidentally put in a little more or a little less because she was going too fast.
"Give me those snake fangs to crush," Flora demanded, reaching over the cauldron when Molly hesitated and grabbing them. "You can add the standard ingredient to the water and start heating the potion.
Molly did as instructed, not liking that Flora seemed to think she was in charge. Molly would have to watch her carefully to make sure she didn't skip a step or go too fast or measure something incorrectly. She wasn't about to sacrifice an Outstanding because she'd gotten a bad partner.
Curiously, Molly glanced around the room to see who her friends were paired with. It looked like Sarah was working with Caroline Fletwock – a girl in Hufflepuff who was nice enough but not very bright. Debbie was working with Serena Adams from Slytherin. Molly didn't know Serena very well, but got the impression she at least was competent in classes, if not decent. Finally, Julie was paired with Ethan Carpenter – a fellow Ravenclaw and by far the best partner any of the four had received.
Molly measured out the standard ingredient she needed and then re-measured it, just to be safe.
"You're wasting time," Flora muttered while crushing the snake fangs in her mortar. "Just throw it in."
To Molly's dismay, Flora reached over, grabbed the bowl she'd measured the standard ingredient into and tipped it into their cauldron.
"There," she said, satisfied. "Now get the fire going before I have to do that myself too."
Molly was furious. What if her measurement had been off? Flora hadn't given her the time to double check. If they went on like this, their potion was sure to come out a disaster.
Molly found herself wishing, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, that she was working alone. Or at least that she could have chosen her own partner. Debbie or Sarah or Julie would have made a much better partner than Flora, and at least would have respected her need to double-check her measurements, if not shared them.
"Is it warm enough yet?" Flora asked then. "The snake fangs are ready."
"Hang on," Molly muttered, searching for a thermometer. "I'll take the temperature."
"Oh never mind," Flora grumbled, dumping the snake fangs into the cauldron anyway. "It'll heat up eventually."
"Flora!" Molly cried indignantly. "You can't just – what if it's not hot enough? You can't add the snake fangs until it reaches two hundred and twelve degrees at a minimum."
"What's the harm?" Flora shrugged.
"What's the - ?" Molly gaped. "The harm is the potion may not turn out properly now."
"Look, the potion is starting to steam," Flora pointed out. "I'm sure it's fine."
Molly shook her head and ground her teeth. If this didn't kill her, she'd know she was invincible.
"Alright, what's next?" Flora asked.
"Well someone needs to stir," Molly said, recalling the directions. "And someone should start crushing the billywig stings."
"Well I've got the mortar, so I'll do the crushing," Flora declared, reaching for the billywig stings. "Is it seven?"
"Six," Molly corrected.
"Too late, I already measured out seven," Flora muttered, reaching for the pestle.
"Hold on!" Molly cried, grabbing the pestle away from Flora. "First of all, no. It's six billywig stings, not six-ish! And secondly, you didn't wash your mortar or your pestle before adding the next ingredient."
"What does that matter?" Flora demanded. "It's all going into the same place anyway."
Molly groaned. "Do you not understand anything about potions?" she demanded. "Here, take the stirring rod, I'll do the crushing."
Molly handed the rod over to Flora and took the mortar and pestle over to the sink, dumping out the ruined billywig stings into the trash.
"How's it going over there?" Julie asked, joining Molly at the sink with her own mortar and pestle to clean.
"Terrible," Molly replied. "Flora's going to kill me, I just know it. "How did you manage to get the only decent partner?"
Julie shrugged. "Luck of the draw?" she suggested.
"I'd better go back," Molly said reluctantly once her equipment was clean. "Flora might be stirring the wrong direction or something."
Molly returned to the work station and set the mortar and pestle down on the table. Thankfully, Flora was stirring in the right direction, though just a little fast for a wideye potion.
"You might want to slow that down, just a tad," Molly offered.
"Oh, first you criticize my crushing, and now it's my stirring?" Flora demanded. "I'll have you know, I'm perfectly capable of brewing a decent potion. I got E's on both of the ones we've already done."
"Well I got O's," Molly countered. "So there."
Flora made a face. "Look at me, I'm Molly, I'm so smart, I know everything," she mimicked in a high-pitched voice.
"That's not fair," Molly insisted. "I just want the both of us to get the best mark we can get."
"Just crush the billywigs already," Flora said, turning away from Molly in anger.
Molly sighed and set about crushing. The potion required that the billywig stings be crushed finely, so she kept going a little longer than she normally would and then asked Flora to take the potion's temperature.
"I'm sure it's fine," Flora insisted.
"Well just to be sure," Molly said, holding onto the mortar firmly so that Flora couldn't tip in into the cauldron like last time.
"Whatever," Flora muttered, grabbing the thermometer and dropping it into the cauldron. "I'm going to need a minute," she said when Molly continued to stare.
"Take your time," Molly nodded, trying to look elsewhere, but finding it hard not to keep her eyes on the cauldron.
"Alright, it's above two thirty," Flora said. "You can throw it in."
"Mind if I check?" Molly asked.
Flora stepped away, letting Molly in. Flora was correct, the potion was indeed boiling at a temperature above two thirty.
"Told you," Flora muttered.
"It's always better to have two sets of eyes," Molly replied diplomatically. She added the billywig stings and stirred them in until she couldn't see the powder anymore, and then lowered the heat of the fire underneath. "Let's try to get this simmering around one ninety-five," Molly said then. "Watch the thermometer, I'm going to wash the mortar and pestle again."
Molly took her time at the sink, washing the equipment out carefully since they wouldn't be needed again. When she returned, Flora had the potion simmering and was sitting on a stool staring at the thermometer.
"Can I do anything besides stare?" she asked.
"You can take the unused billywig stings and snake fangs back to the storeroom," Molly offered. "We'll need to hold onto the wolfsbane though."
"Obviously I knew that," Flora muttered, grabbing the two ingredients and disappearing.
With a sigh, Molly gave the potion another stir and checked the thermometer. The temperature was hovering between one ninety-three and one ninety four, so she turned she increased the intensity of the fire just barely, to kick it up to one ninety-five. When Flora came back she sullenly retrieved her herbology notes and started working on her herbology assignment.
"We have time to kill," she said when she saw Molly staring. "Might as well make the most of it."
"I'm just surprised," Molly said.
"What? I may not study as much as you, but I still do my work," Flora replied.
"Of course," Molly nodded.
"Don't you have to do the assignment too?" Flora asked.
"Well I did it already," Molly replied. "But I suppose I could revise my notes. I have some for transfiguration that I wanted to go over.
Not being in the mood to sit with Flora and her judgment and sullenness, Molly chose to remain at her original workstation for a while. After all, their potion was doing fine. It just needed to simmer a while before they added the wolfsbane, and it could simmer just as well with her than without her.
She got out her transfiguration notes and began to read, quickly becoming absorbed in them and forgetting she was even in potions class. Suddenly, there was a cry and Flora called her name.
"What happened?" Molly asked, hurrying over.
"I added the wolfsbane, but it turned green," Flora said, wrinkling her nose. "And it smells awful."
Molly breathed in and then let out a cough as the pungent smell reached her nose. "Flora," Molly said slowly. "Did you dilute it first?"
"Did I do what?" Flora frowned.
"Did you dilute it?" Molly repeated. "Wolfsbane can't go into a wideye potion without first soaking in water. The water soaks up some of the unnecessary parts, leaving only the essential behind."
"I didn't – I must've forgotten – "
"Why were you even adding it without me?" Molly demanded.
"Well you seemed rather busy," Flora replied. "And it was ready, the temperature was right. I didn't want to wait and then regret it if it over-simmered."
"You should have called me before you added it," Molly said, sadly looking down at their pathetic potion. "What are we supposed do to now?"
"We could finish it?" Flora suggested. "It needs to be stirred counter-clockwise for three minutes on a high heat and then it's finished."
"Do it if you want to," Molly muttered. "But there's no point. It's ruined now."
Furious, Molly stomped back to her own table, packed her things away in her bag, and left the room even though class wasn't finished. It hardly mattered. Their potion would get a P at best – or a T at worst. Either way, it was a fail. And it was all Flora's fault.
MmMmMmMmMmM
"Come on," Debbie said encouragingly later that evening. "It's not so bad. It's not like it was the final exam."
"Did you smell it?" Molly asked. "It was horrid. The worst color of green imaginable. What was Flora thinking?"
"Why were you so far away?" Julie questioned."
"I was revising my transfiguration notes," Molly replied. "The potion was simmering, it was fine. If Flora hadn't tried to finish it without me…"
"I'm just saying, if it were me, I wouldn't have let the potion out of my sight for a second. Especially not if Flora Bailey was the one watching it," Julie said.
"Don't put this on me," Molly cried. "This wasn't my fault!"
"Are you sure about that?" Julie asked.
MmMmMmMmMmM
In potions the following day, everyone received their grades on their potions. Molly and Flora received a D for dreadful. It was the worst grade Molly had ever received. Her father would be furious. And disappointed. How would she explain this? Julie was right. It was her own fault for leaving her potion alone with Flora for so long.
MmMmMmMmMmM
"Stop moping around," Sarah cried a few days later. The girls were in their study room, but Molly was doing anything but study. She just stared at the directions for the wideye potion, as if they would change or something.
"I'm trying to see if we did anything else wrong," Molly said. "Besides not diluting the wolfsbane. There's so many steps where it could have gone wrong. Flora added the water – who knows how much went in there. And she didn't let me double-check my measurement of standard ingredient. And she definitely stirred too fast the whole time, and the temperature might have been a little on the low side for a while too.
"You've got to stop this Molly," Debbie insisted. "It is what it is, the potion was a disaster, now move on and do better next time."
"I was going to be top of my class," Molly said, recalling her attitude back in September, when she'd boarded the train. "I was going to be the smartest, get the best grades. I was going to be the one that soared above all the rest."
"Well you do," Sarah assured her. "You're an amazing student, and your grades are incredible."
"But I'm not the best," Molly said. "Maybe in one or two classes, but certainly not in all of them. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get over that hurdle. It's like I have all this potential to be the best, but I can't find it.
"Molly, stop talking right now," Julie ordered. "You are smart, and you are talented, and you are wasting it sitting around thinking about what could have been. Get your notes and start revising. Get your textbooks and start reading. For Merlin's sake do something besides moan. So maybe I'm better than you in some classes, and Debbie's better in some classes, and Sarah's best in others. So what? Be the best at what you can, and do your best everywhere else. You're never going to beat us unless you try, so try!"
Molly sighed. Julie was right. "I guess I'd better," she agreed, closing her potions textbook and pulling her history textbook closer. "You guys better watch out, because I'm about to make a comeback."