Pandora's Box: The Deleted Scenes
Five
(From Chapter Seventeen)
Fenny looked into the cauldron that Grizelda was stirring. Whilst their idea to brew Ambrosia Nex as a means of possibly defeating (or at least incapacitating) the Devil had been, Fenny thought, an inspired one, she was not quite sure if her friend was going about the delicate process in the right way.
"Griz…" she began. "I'm fairly certain that it's not meant to be green."
"It is," Griz assured her. "See, it's there in the recipe: the potion should, at this point, be a clear forest green, the colour of vervain tea."
"Yes, I understand that," said Fenny. "But that potion is not the colour of vervain tea."
Griz looked into the cauldron, and she had to concede that her friend was right. The potion was a thick, opaque concoction with the consistency of wallpaper paste, and it was the colour of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. Despite this being Fenny's favourite film (she was a strong believer in the theory that the witch had never actually died and was in fact running a Travelodge at Woolley Edge in Wakefield), the vibrant hue was beginning to unnerve her a little.
"Well, we'll just have to risk it." Griz shrugged. "I mean, Miss Cackle always said that it's not the right words, it's the right feelings."
"And what, precisely, are the right feelings for a potion to poison the Devil?" asked Fenny, raising an eyebrow.
"Well…"
"And I think that particular theory only applies to spells," Fenny continued. "Look how many potions tests have been bodged thanks to the application of one drop of nail varnish remover too many."
"Which idiot put nail varnish remover in her potions test?" asked Griz incredulously. Fenny said nothing, avoiding her friend's eyes. "That was probably the reason why it bodged in the first place."
Before Fenny could think of a comeback, the potion began to bubble ever more violently, and the two ex-pupils took a step back from the cauldron instinctively.
"You know, I really don't think it's meant to do that," said Griz.
Fenny said nothing in reply, instead choosing to dive under the desk as the cauldron exploded with a resounding splat. She looked up at her friend, hair smoking from the blast and face dripping with green goo. For a moment, she was confirmed in her theory that Elphaba Thropp was still alive and well.
"Fenella? Grizelda? What on Earth has happened here?"
Fenny peered over the top of the desk to see Miss Hardbroom standing in the doorway, no doubt alerted by the miniature conflagration.
"Well… It's rather a long story, Miss…"
I can just see HB in the fairy outfit as Galinda…