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That made her stand up straight and walk in. I look back at my wand and consider trying to Summon it, but I remember my promise to Hermione.
I hop over to grab it and then hop back to catch the door. After I follow her in I let it close and melt into a solid wall behind me.
Hermione is already at the bookcases. "These are a bunch of books on potions!"
I smile. "Well I did promise I wasn't going to cast any spells, didn't I?" Off to the right where the training dummy was, I see a desk equipped with Potions gear.
She looks back at me, eyes bright with excitement. "This is amazing!"
"I thought you'd appreciate that part," I say. "But I don't have much time to practice. Any suggestions on a quick potion I should try?"
Her lips purse in thought. "Hair-raising potion?"
"Hmmm, I'd prefer something practical," I say.
"Well most practical stuff takes too long. The sleeping draught has to sit for almost two hours, for example, and even a simple boil-curing potion has to sit for 45 minutes, so we'd be cutting it too close. The hair-raising potion would be quick and is safe to test, or you could try something more difficult like the Draught of Peace, but getting it wrong could put the drinker into an irreversible sleep. I don't know how good you are."
"Let's try for the Draught of Peace, I'm feeling dangerous," I say with a small smile. "If it doesn't look right we'll just get rid of it."
"Sounds good, it should be in...ah, here it is; the Fifth Year textbook—wait, what about the ingredients?"
I smile. "The room, remember?"
"But you can't conjure anything edible; that's the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration!"
"Yeah, I thought of that earlier." Except for the part about Gamp's Law. "But you can conjure water, yes? And birds? It seems to me there is some wiggle room there. Let's give it a shot, see if the room can provide it. I know for certain that the items conjured by the room disappear if you try to carry them out, and they probably disappear after a certain amount of time, too."
Hermione looks thoughtful. "Okay, we'll try it out, anyway. We need powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore, powdered porcupine quills, valerian root, and powdered unicorn horn. Here..."
Sure enough, the Room provided a significant supply of all five ingredients. I studied the instructions. "Like baking," I say, more to myself.
"For the most part," Hermione says in reply. "Except it's even more exact than that. The margin of error in baking is significantly larger than in Potions. The amount and quality of the ingredients, temperatures, the timing, the stirring – it's all critical. A master potioneer knows every property of each ingredient, including how it reacts with others, and how combinations of ingredients react to different stimuli."
"That sounds...awful. Will you do the honors of casting the Aguamenti Charm for the base? I would but..." I smile. "I promised."
She smiles and comes over to conjure the water for me before returning to one of the chairs. "It does sound awful, but some people seem to have an instinct about it. Harry does, actually, though he doesn't try hard enough to realize it, and Snape has it out for him. I have to rely on studying, memorization, and references."
I smile at her, tempted to spill Snape's reasoning behind disliking Harry, but I keep it to myself for now. "All right, looks like the ingredients are already prepared, right? Or do you normally have to powder unicorn horn yourself?"
"Well those particular ingredients do come powdered for our class. In Sixth and Seventh Years, we have to enchant the mortar and pestle and do the powdering ourselves. I wonder if the room knew."
"I did specifically request powdered," I reply.
"Interesting..." Hermione looks thoughtful, so I dive into the Draught of Peace formula.
Before I know it the powdered moonstone, porcupine quills, and unicorn horn along with the valerian root are all added, and I'm reducing the flames and setting the egg timer to allow it to simmer for seven minutes.
I'm not at all sure about the temperature or colour or smell, but a glance at Hermione shows a lack of a grimace or frown so I figure it can't be too bad. But then, it isn't a smile, either. I'm afraid to ask.
"Anything you want me to ask the Room for?" I ask instead.
"Shouldn't you be watching your potion?"
I shrug. "It says to let it simmer for seven minutes before I add the hellebore. It's only been one. I can conjure something for you if you like. A non-potion-related book, perhaps?"
"Thank you, but no, not this time. Not enough time to enjoy it."
"Oh I dunno, I thought I saw you read our entire Charms textbook during breakfast."
She smiles coyly. And I look away.
Hell, what am I even doing? Flirting with Hermione?
Sure, her and Ron just don't make sense, but can I really just change something like that on whim? That could really mess things up in the future.
She must notice my look. "What's wrong?"
"Just thinking..." I respond with a sigh.
After a moment she asks quietly, "anything you want to share?"
I wish. "Hmm."
"You don't seem happy at whatever it is."
"I'm not."
This seems to get her fidgeting. "I know we just met, but...you really can tell me, whatever it is."
"I may, in time."
"Speaking of time..." she hints in an amused voice.
My eyes snap up. Phew, thirty seconds to add the hellebore. "You scared me."
She smiles at me. "It's only fair."
"I guess it is."
I add the syrup of hellebore, and the potion begins to emit a yellowish vapor and a sour smell. "I don't think that was supposed to happen."
"No, I wouldn't recommend giving that a sip," she says with a grimace.
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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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