Chapter Eleven - Potions
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Potions
THE BEGINNING OF this second week passed in a blur. Mostly due to keeping my head down to avoid curious stares about what happened. Apparently, losing that much control wasn’t that common, even if the chancellor appeared to brush it off. I hadn’t gotten into trouble since it was obviously instigated. While I kept my head down, I noted Christina had mostly backed off, other than giving me the odd comment or scoff.
“I got to go, I’ll see you before dinner.” Blythe ran out of our last class of the day without making eye contact. It was a little weird, but she usually went to study after classes anyway.
I shuffled through the students piling into the hall. The moment I stepped out of the classroom, I spotted Levi walking down the hall in my direction. A white bucket swung in his hand with a wild look in his eye that made me feel like I should have pretended I didn’t see him because as soon as I made eye contact, he was running for me.
My feet stopped and I knew it was a bad idea when a big grin pulled over his face. Students passed me in the hall as I waited for him. Levi’s head towered over those around us. Then, he gave me that look like he did once before.
I shook my head as he held out a brown-streaked, white bucket up to me. “Levi, no, I can’t.”
I looked around the busy hall. There were already people looking at me like I was a freak, and I could still remember the smell from the last time he wanted me to hold something for him. It sounded like something was skittering in there.
“Please, just take it for a moment. If I take it into my professor’s class, she’s going to take points off my grade. She’s always mad about something. I’ll be right back.”
My shoulders dropped and I nodded, taking the dirty white bucket from him. Instant regret washed over me because I could feel something moving in there, shifting the weight around. He was already gone, running down the hall like the world was ending.
He was taking too long, it had been five minutes already. I was pretty sure I wasn’t imagining it when I felt the bucket getting heavier, like whatever was in it was rapidly growing.
Mr. Ares exited his classroom from two doors down the hall, turning the knob and locking it. Why did it always have to be him finding me in the worst situations? It was like the universe was punishing me .
His eyes instantly met mine. An intensity that I was never prepared for. Since finding me out on the field practicing shadow magic and having to clean up my mess of earth magic that exploded in the first-year common room, he had barely made eye contact with me. It was easy to tell that while he didn’t seem to like any of his students, I quickly became his least favorite. That, and I was the only one horribly underperforming in his class, holding onto my magic even harder than before.
The bucket in my hand trembled and his eyes shot to it, narrowing in suspicion. I held my head high. What was one more stare like I was a freak?
For some reason, tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I realized this year was turning out worse than I imagined. I let out a shaky breath. His assessing stare went to the tears welling in my eyes, revealing nothing as always as he stepped closer.
“Ms. Solace?” he asked, it was a softer tone than I expected.
He stepped close, so close I noticed he smelled like ink, leather, and a hint of peppermint. He was already lifting up the lid of the shaking bucket to reveal small black beetles crawling all over each other, piling up to the top.
My stance shifted. A scream stopped itself in my throat, and every instinct in me wanted to drop it but I didn’t want to be covered in them. Levi asked me, and he was currently one of the only people that didn’t stare at me like I didn’t belong here.
“They’re not mine,” I barely breathed out as I stared at the bucket, silently cursing Levi for doing exactly what I thought he was going to do .
The repulsion on Mr. Ares' face was clear, and he tightened the lid back on it. “Multiplying beetles. A rare ingredient for potions for their rejuvenation,” he replied, his voice filled with distaste. He cocked an eyebrow in question.
“My friend asked me to hold it.”
He sighed and took the bucket from me, placing it on the floor. “The more they move, the more they’ll multiply.”
He was still standing close enough that if I leaned forward, we’d be touching. His eyes traced my features with a softer look that I wasn’t used to, slow and deliberate. His lips parted and chest rose just a fraction on an inhale. It made me think he was holding back from saying something. Then his features hardened, his mouth snapped shut. A flicker in his jaw showed me that once again, his tolerance for me came to an end.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
He nodded and headed down the building.
A few moments longer in the hall, growing more silent as students left for the day, and Levi caught my eye, running back toward me. I was starting to wonder if he just ran everywhere. His hands were full of different ingredients this time.
Levi looked from the bucket to me. “Okay, good. You still have it.”
He led me into the Herbology greenhouse that was completely empty now. Blythe smiled and waved us over at the back of the room. Her pink hair was tied back, and she stood behind a cauldron at one of the many back tables set up for potions .
“You gave me an idea on Sunday,” Levi murmured as he started handing things to Blythe, pouring different contents into the cauldron.
I eyed the bucket nervously.
Blythe’s dark brown eyes lit up like she wanted to laugh but gave me a look like I should just trust him. “It wasn’t on his own. We talked about it and well, just give us a chance.”
After a few moments, steam was rising from the cauldron, along with a thick, pungent smell, like sickly rotting plants.
Levi stepped away and Blythe gave him an encouraging nod.
He pinned his light green eyes on me. “Dip your hand in that.”
Taking steps backward, I shook my head. The dark substance was subtly bubbling. “No! It’s going to burn my hands off, this is where I draw the line.” Holding his stuff as he ran around the school was one thing, but each time I got caught with something weird, it was because of him.
He gave me a flat look like I was the ridiculous one. “It’s not hot, it’s warm. ”
“It smells,” I responded.
“It really does,” Blythe added, covering her nose with the sleeve of her sweater.
Levi threw his hands up. “The smell will fade.”
I shook my head. I didn’t understand how he could have gotten past this.
His auburn eyebrows pulled together. “Watch.” He dipped his hand in the sickly substance. “ Ooh, it’s really warm.”
My teeth clenched tightly shut, suppressing my gag as he pulled his hand out.
“Your turn,” he said.
Blythe pulled me forward. “Trust us. We put a lot of research into this the past few days.”
The look in both of their eyes, looking at me with hope and encouragement, it didn’t feel like this was some mean trick. They wanted to show me something they appeared to have put a lot of work into. I took a deep breath and stuck my hand in the liquid that instantly coated my hand with what felt like a warm, thick sap.
“Now pull your earth magic forward. Create a ball of vines—a little one,” Levi warned with a look, “just within your hand.” He demonstrated, letting vines grow out from the potion in his hand and grow into a thorn-covered, hollow, little ball.
I copied him the best I could. Up close, the potion completely coated the vines in what was more and more resembling sap, hardening over the earth magic.
“I’ll just watch. No need for us all to demonstrate,” Blythe said. Her lips turned down, eyeing the substance. The smell did fade like he said, to a strong, sour-sweet smell.
As the orbs of vines closed over the tops, Levi said, “Ok, wait. Don’t freak out. When you made the vines in the common room, it gave me the idea because they were wet and sticky—and protective. So, we thought about altering that a little. This is what we came up with.” He looked to the center of his vine orb and within it a flame started.
“No.” The whisper left me once realizing he wanted me to copy him. I already lost control once. I didn’t want to do it with the two friends I made and catch the greenhouse on fire, this time with less help around.
Blythe touched my arm and nodded to Levi. “Watch.”
He grew the flame larger. It didn’t touch the vines even though it was roaring within as a little ball.
“Blythe mentioned you were struggling with fire magic,” he trailed off. “This potion is temporary, the fire can’t get past the sap protective potion and earth magic. No matter how much I try, it won’t expand past it. Just like when that first-year attacked you with fire, it should have burned but the vines were slightly resistant. If you focus your magic within it, it’ll stay small. So, you can get used to it.”
Blythe added, “Magic is tied to your emotions. If you’re worried about casting fire, with this way you’ll know it’s more controlled. It should last until the sap drains off your hand, and don’t worry because you’ll see it happening.” She gave me an encouraging nod. “I’ve seen you use earth magic, and it didn’t get out of control. It was your response to fire magic that caused that reaction. We kind of pieced that together with how poorly you’re doing in Basic Magic.”
“Let go,” Levi said.
And I did. Fire formed as a small ember in my palm. At the sight of it, it quickly expanded until it was taking over the entire space within the orb and was raging, pushing for a way out—but it didn’t get past the vines.
I nearly choked with held-back tears while I watched the fire within my grasp. No one said a word as I watched myself holding it for long minutes before extinguishing it. They gave me this little bit of control.
Blythe hugged me. “Well, no one is doubting that you have magic now. You just have to control it.”
Levi smiled at both of us, proudly crossing his arms over his chest. “This will only work on a small scale until you’re used to it. Then, it’s all you.”