I don't own Harry Potter, but with the arrival of October I'm getting more and more excited for Fantastic Beasts!
Swelling Solution
Late April, 1990
First Year
Potions. Jo's most hated class. They were making swelling solutions today and Jo was having a miserable time of it. She had thought she'd be good at potions but no, if it didn't blow up in her face it turned green and all 'monster from the deep'-ey.
Leili on the other hand was actually good at potions, her transfiguration wasn't so fantastic but she could make a decent potion if given enough time and uninterrupted concentration. That's not to say she didn't blow her cauldrons up occasionally but hers went kablooie with less frequency than Jo's did.
Jo attacked the mortar fervently, crushing the nettles and pufferfish eyes, which made a disgusting squelching sound. In her peripheral vision she saw Leili shudder at the sound, it was the one thing she knew Leili hated about potions, not so much where the ingredients came from, but the noise they made when crushed.
45 minutes and 20 seconds later, she slipped in the bat spleen and stirred 4 times anti-clockwise, a long 30 seconds and a wand wave later Professor Snape made his rounds past the girls' cauldrons. He scrutinized both potions, and was initially pleased that Jo had managed to not blow up her cauldron this time.
It was hard to hate someone who tried so hard. He lingered over the cauldron for a moment; it was perfect; he looked from the cauldron to Jo, from Jo to Leilani and back to the cauldron before turning away.
"Good job," Jo brightened, he'd never praised her before. "Miss Akina." Jo slumped and Leili's forehead hit her palm with a slap.