All Kinds of Chemistry [Closed]

[Adeline Green]

Potions class.
Adeline took a deep breath as she stared at the cauldron in front of her, her hands placed flat on the table. She had done okay on the mid-term for the class because she'd focused on studying extensively the night before. She'd barely managed to stay awake the whole day but she managed it.

Her own special energy brew had helped too. But the professor had made it quite clear they were really done with her experimenting in class. She couldn't help herself though. She'd finish what the assignment was easy enough, but then her mind would always ask "What if?" and she'd have to find out.

She glanced up without fully looking up, trying to see where the professor was at the moment. Her finished brew was in front of her and that nagging little voice was in her head again. What would happen if she just added a little dittany? It had healing properties on its own, so surely it would make the potion they'd made today more potent. Right? She bit her lip as her hand started to slide across the table towards the ingredients she'd set out (she tended to bring her own things she'd harvested from the greenhouse). She was trying to be discreet because her table partners had been warned to not let her get carried away since she couldn't seem to help herself.

Dittany was relatively stable as an ingredient, so even with what was in there, it shouldn't have a powerful reaction of any kind, nothing that would be noticeable as long as no one saw her grab the plant...

Now, one might assume she was being a mischief-maker, but it really wasn't that. Her mind just always saw things in an abstract way and she just had this innate desire to make the abstract a reality. It came through in her art and music as well. She just wanted to see, wanted to prove whether something was possible or not. While that could make her a Ravenclaw in some cases, her whimsical, caring nature took over overall, hence why the professor tried to get the classmates involved. If one of them were to say something and make her feel bad for trying, then she'd stop and let the abstract disappear into the unknown.

[Nigel Dextera]

“I didn’t see that,” a low voice from the other end of the workbench said.

Nigel’s eyes were seemingly glued to the bubbling concoction in his cauldron as he stirred it carefully, all the while having a skeptical look on his face. The colour of his potion was a touch off. Nothing really major to worry about, but the fact that it wasn’t textbook perfect bothered him. Could he fix it? It was unlikely, but he could give it a shot.

“As a tinkerer I can’t impede your pursuit of knowledge, but I’m obliged to tell you not to get carried away,” he went on, as he swept his gaze over the neat piles of potion ingredients before him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied the professor looking in their direction. “Shottie,” he cautioned as he pretended to work. After chopping up a wee portion of herbs, he tossed them into the cauldron and continued to stir. As the colour deepened into a slightly concerning shade, he scrunched up his face in concentration. It was still somewhat within tolerances, but he had definitely made things worse than they were before. “Besides, the professor’s instruction to me was terribly vague. It leaves a lot of room for interpretation, don't you think so?”

Just then, the professor turned their attention to another student. “You’re clear now,” Nigel said. “Please be quick though. I can only feign interest in my cauldron for so long.”

[Adeline Green]

Adeline pursed her lips when Nigel spoke to her, stopping her hand by her bag of herbs and she glanced over toward him without fully looking since they were trying to be discrete, and when he warned her, she brought her hand back and looked more fully toward him, catch a glimpse of what was in his pot, making it seem like she was being more curious about what was going on there than potentially being interested in messing with her own. When he noted they were in the clear, she quickly cut up what she wanted of the dittany and put it into the pot, giving it a mix. It wouldn't have much of a visual effect, but when nothing boiled over or exploded, Adeline gave a sigh of relief. Having been in the class, Nigel would be aware that sometimes her experiments did not end so smoothly. Especially in earlier years, she had taken off her eyebrows in her first year from something literally exploding in her face.

She quickly put her hands back down when she'd mixed it in. There wasn't much way to know if her addition worked unless someone took the potion. It could have been a dud and done nothing.... she couldn't imagine dittany of all things causing something bad to happen. She looked back over at him, "Perhaps you could use some as well. It's useful in stabilizing potions and yours seems a bit... off," she mused, pursing her lips, "I might have just cut more than I really need, so I have some to spare... Dittany that is," she added, glancing around to see where the professor was. They were still at another table, so she looked back at Nigel.

[Nigel Dextera]

OOC: For the sake of advancing the plot a little, kindly allow me the liberty of taking the leftover dittany. Please feel free to decide on my behalf what happens to Nigel’s potion :D


The faint traces of a grin hovered over Nigel’s lips as Adeline stealthily prepared some dittany and added it into her cauldron. Though he wasn’t the one going against the professor’s explicit instructions, he could not deny any involvement in her act. Only time would tell if the professor would take kindly to Adeline’s experiment. “I hope your potion turns out well,” he said.

He had all but decided not to touch his potion further when Adeline suggested that he could try to stabilise it with some dittany. The gears in his head began to turn as he worked out how the herb would interact with the other potion ingredients while taking into account his deviations from the standard recipe. “‘A bit off’ is such an understatement,” he noted dryly as he considered her offer. “Since I’m already complicit in your experiment, I suppose there’s no further harm in joining you,” he concluded with a nonchalant shrug, before properly requesting for the ‘unsanctioned’ herb. “May I have some dittany, please?” he asked.

After stealing a furtive glance across the classroom to ascertain that the professor was not looking in their direction, Nigel deftly took a small pinch of dittany and added it to his potion. A quick stir was all it took for any traces of the herb to vanish into the bubbling concoction, and he watched with bated breath to see if Adeline’s hypothesis was right.

[Adeline Green]

OOC: For little things like that, feel free to do them :)

Adeline made a bit of a face at his well wishes. Either this would go very well or very poorly. but aside from actually testing, she'd have no idea. She giggled a little at his dry comment before clearing her throat to avoid drawing attention to what they were doing. When he'd asked for the dittany, she'd slid her chopping block closer to him so that he could get them quickly and easily before making the motion as if she were cleaning it off once he'd gotten what he wanted from it. You would think she'd learned how to have a better poker face, but that was lying and Adeline had just never really learned that skill.

Visually, dittany was a rather mild addition and might resort some of the colors that had been lost, but other than that, it wouldn't seem to do much. Adeline gave a hum, "Drat, I thought that would have done it, but best not to add even more to it. We already don't know what will happen to what's there," she mused, "I thought that the dittany might help with some of the effects since it's a healing herb and this potion is meant to more or less heal the mind," she murmured, trying to explain her thought process, "Potions are fickle things though," she added before stiffening realizing the professor was coming right for them, "Oh bugger," she muttered quietly then flushed a little, "Sorry, that was a little rude of me to use such a word," she put her hand to her mouth.

"Miss Green," the professor drawled as he approached, "I would say it seems we've stuck to the recipe today, but I suppose that's yet to be seen," he said as he looked into the cauldron. He eyed her next as she did her best to school her features, but he noticed her fidgeting a little with her fingers. Realizing she'd been caught, she clenched her hands together, "Why don't you give your own recipe a try then?" he stood back.

"Y-Yes, professor," Adeline said quietly, taking a deep breath. She put the potion into a vial before drinking some of it. She stood still for a moment before sighing in relief as she could feel the initial effects the draught was supposed to have, but...Oh no...something was definitely off. She put her hand to her mouth as she felt her emotions starting to bubble up, and this sensation of needing to cry from relief was almost unbearable. She really hoped Nigel wouldn't have to try his, considering she hadn't seen what else he'd added. The dittany seemed to expound on the effects of the potion alright, but to an extreme she hadn't predicted! She tried to give him a look of warning to not try it no matter what!

[Nigel Dextera]

Nothing much had happened to Nigel’s potion upon his addition of dittany, for better or worse. At the very least there hadn’t been an explosion or anything catastrophic. As Adeline advised him to leave his potion as it was, he nodded his agreement. When it came to herbology – his worst class (relatively speaking) and one of her best – he preferred to defer to her judgement.

As he listened to her explanation, his focus turned to the topic of discussion, and his guard slipped for a moment. Before he knew it the Potions Master was swooping towards them like a vulture that had caught sight of carrion. Had he noticed what they had done? Or perhaps he had simply assumed that they had taken the liberty to experiment a little with a finicky potion, and came over to prove himself right.

Either way, the ‘why’ was of no significance. Rather, the important question was whether they had successfully brewed their potions in spite of the altered recipes, and the Potions Master was now keen to find out what the answer was. To that end he asked Adeline to sample her potion. Though Nigel had wisely clamped his mouth shut, he knew his turn would come too… but he could not deny that there was some curiosity mixed in with his trepidation. He needed to know how their potions were affected by the addition of dittany, and tinkerers like himself thrived on having such feedback so that they could modify yet another variable and try to get closer and closer to their desired result.

Sadly, said desired result wouldn’t be attained during the class today. For a moment, Nigel held out hope that Adeline’s take on the potion would be better than the original… but the discomfort on her face said it all. Mentally he braced himself for what would come when it was his turn to sample his potion; while Adeline had given him that warning look, he knew that he could not refuse the Potions Master if he made the same request of him.

“Time and again you prove me right,” the professor said, before turning his gaze to Nigel and his cauldron. The concoction within did not pass muster, and they both knew it. “Two stirs too many, Mr Dextera? I was under the impression you could count accurately.” The sharp remark stung, but Nigel took it without flinching. But the professor wasn’t done with him. “Would you like to try your potion?” he asked, even though it was clearly not a question. “I imagine you are just as eager as I am to find out if it meets your expectations.”

“Yes, Professor,” Nigel replied as he scooped some of his potion into a vial. There was no way other way out of this fix, so he downed the potion without hesitation. It tasted surprisingly refreshing, and a wave of calmness washed over him… but things swiftly went south. An unpleasantly sharp gave him a solid kick that sent the world around him spinning, and the calming sensation intensified into a mind-numbing deluge of blankness.

The Potions Master was talking to him, but Nigel couldn’t quite comprehend any of the sounds. He tried to say something, but found no words. And just as abruptly as it started, the wooziness ended, leaving only a swiftly fading foul aftertaste that made him gag before it vanished completely. As he regained his senses, he realised he had been clutching the table before him. There was another uncomfortable feeling – not from the potion – and he looked up to find the Potions Master staring straight him with a mix of smugness and intrigue.

“I’m sorry, Professor,” he apologised instinctively.

[Adeline Green]

Adeline was trying to keep her surprisingly uneasy emotions under control as she watched the effects happen to Nigel. Despite the color, his potion might not have had such an effect if she hadn't been so sure of the dittany, "I'm sorry, professor," she said, her voice wavering a little, "It's my fault, as usual, I was sure that the dittany would make the effects even better, make a stronger draught. I didn't take into account the unpredictable and finicky nature of draughts in general," she said, keeping her eyes down. Her grades in here weren't bad by any means, and she did know how to do exactly what she was supposed to, she just couldn't help occasionally needing to know what would happen, "I also suggested it to Nigel when I saw his potion had taken a strange color cause I thought it could help stabilize it since it's a generally more neutral herb... but I didn't think-"

"No. You didn't. You got arrogant and decided to use that arrogance as an excuse for recklessness. You are not an expert in potions-making, therefore, you have no business trying to decide what would make one better. Consider yourself lucky the effects weren't more severe. Start over. Both of you. And 50 points from Hufflepuff," he said sharply before turning and walking away from their table.

Adeline sighed, knowing her house was probably tired of her getting them in trouble, and tried to master herself against the draught as the effects started to come down. She looked at Nigel, "I'm terribly sorry. I thought it would help, but clearly, I was wrong," she sighed. She started the process of cleaning out her cauldron so that she could start from the top. This time she'd do exactly what she was supposed to, as she had prior to adding the dittany, "Perhaps I ought to leave the experiments to my art," she gave a little laugh, "Are you feeling okay?"

[Nigel Dextera]

The Potion Master’s harsh words hit hard, but he was right: they should not have messed around with their potions without knowing what effects their deviations from the recipe would have on the finished product. “Yes, Professor,” Nigel said meekly as the Potions Master instructed them to brew their potions once more and docked points from their house. As much as he didn’t like it, he had neither any reason or rights to protest.

When Adeline apologised to Nigel, he shook his head and smiled reassuringly; she wasn’t to blame, and he had been at fault too. “It’s all right,” he said as he started preparing a fresh batch of potion ingredients. “we got complacent and modified our potions, believing that we knew what we were doing.” To give credit where it was due, they had seriously considered the potential effects of the additional potion ingredients on the potion, rather than tossing potion ingredients willy-nilly into their cauldrons. “It’s pure shan that things didn’t go as we intended, but at least we learnt something.”

“I’m feeling fine now, thank you,” he replied when Adeline asked if he was okay. “Personally I don’t think it’s a good idea to give up the pursuit of knowledge just like that,” he added as he thought about how Adeline could continue with her experiments. “We’ll need a safe environment to experiment with potions and the guidance of someone knowledgeable…” As he spoke, a crazy idea came to his mind. Putting his preparation on hold for the moment, he turned to look at Adeline, so he could see how she would react to what he was about to say. She might not like his idea, but he felt that it still merited consideration. “I know this is going to sound quite daft but please don’t dismiss it immediately,” he began, giving her some advance warning so she could mentally prepare herself for what was to come. “If we’re as bad at Potions as the professor says, then he shouldn’t turn us down if we ask him for extra lessons after class. That would be a good chance for us to ask him as many questions as we want without worrying that we’d be disrupting the class for everyone else.”

Now that he had voiced out his idea, it suddenly didn’t seem like a good solution. “On second thoughts, maybe not…” he said, backpedalling on his earlier suggestion. While the Potions Master wasn’t as frightening as Professor Sigma had been, he was still a notoriously strict professor, and might not deign to entertain their ‘frivolous’ questions.

[Adeline Green]

Adeline sighed in relief hearing that he was both not mad at her and also that he was okay, "I always thought dittany to be a more... base kind of ingredient, but it seems it isn't always so predictable. Lesson learned," she mused a little, glad to hear that he was just as curious about things like that as she was. She thought so in the past, but she hadn't wanted to bother him with a bunch of questions.

While she was remixing the actual ingredients, she looked at him as he was telling her his idea. She tilted her head at the warning but listened. She looked surprised hearing his suggestion then her brows knitted as she considered it, "Well," she mused, "We could always try to ask. If I weren't afraid of it coming back in a very not good way, I could always try those tactics where people are like "I'll report you" or whatever. My mother is an alchemist of some repute... but I would feel really bad doing something like that," she pursed her lips, "I suppose I could have just asked her what would have happened, but it's much more.... satisfying to find it out for yourself, don't you think?"

Realizing she'd gone off topic, she shook her head, "Oh sorry, but it can't technically hurt to ask can it? True he might get annoyed, but he can't take off points for us trying to learn," she shook her head then looked up as she thought... could he do that?

[Nigel Dextera]

“Lesson learnt,” echoed Nigel as he broke into a smile. He was no Ravenclaw, but his thirst for knowledge could very well rival one. Every failure and setback was but a small step towards success, and with enough mistakes, they’d get to where they wanted.

As he had anticipated, his suggestion was met with surprise, but Adeline took it seriously nonetheless and offered some ideas of her own. “It is more satisfying that way,” he replied, agreeing with her view that it was better to experiment and learn by themselves. As he spoke, he continued to work on his potion, this time round sticking strictly to the recipe and checking in on Adeline from time to time to see if she was doing the same. “That said, I can’t help but be a bit worried that we might end up doing something dangerous unknowingly, hence I thought it would be better to conduct any experiments under the supervision of someone knowledgeable.” After all, the consequences would be dire if they ended up mixing and consuming something poisonous. “I suspect the Potions Master only allowed us to test our potions because he knew that they were relatively safe,” he added. “I can’t say for sure, but perhaps the addition of dittany had helped in mitigating the negative effects of my potion.”

When Adeline asked if the grim and severe Potions Master would punish them for wanting to learn, Nigel shook his head tentatively. With a furtive glance to check where the professor was, he continued when he was satisfied that the coast was clear. “I don’t think so, and I sure hope that wouldn’t be the case,” he mused, as he considered the various possibilities. “He might fault us for disrupting his class with stupid questions, or for intending to experiment with our potions again if he figured out the trajectory of our questions.” Realising that they might be in a no-win situation, he shrugged in resignation. “Alas, someone as intelligent as him would likely be able to come up with some way to penalise us if he really wanted to.”

[Adeline Green]

Not wanting to get them in further trouble or lose the house more points, she was sticking to the recipe this time, an easy enough task to do- boring really, but she'd had enough fun for the time being. Best not to make matters worse for now. She was sure Snape was going to find some reason to get her kicked out, but her grades were usually high enough to keep him from being terribly angry at her for her experiments for long. Just earned her a bit of a spotlight.

Hearing Nigel's concerns, she nodded in understanding, "I've certainly had some mishaps in my spare time," she said, "Nothing necessarily poisonous, just... a bit combustive or surprisingly gelatinous," she said, glancing towards the professor to make sure he wasn't overhearing, "I like to try and make new paints, new mediums to try," she explained, "Not everything mixes like I think it will, but it only takes one mistake to learn things don't go together," she said, shrugging a little, "Also, I've learned that it's a bit difficult to get ahold of some ingredients I want to try, some I've not figured out how yet. It shouldn't be so hard... then again, I suppose it's to dissuade folks like myself from getting carried away," she hummed as she looked at her potion, squinting a little before adding just a touch more of one of the intended ingredients, evening it out.

"I wonder... Do you think we could try writing out potential recipes of things we think could work and submit them to him?" she looked at Nigel once more, "Just to sort of see what he thinks? That way we're not experimenting without full permission and he can give us feedback on our recipes in a more...safe way," she suggested before adding the last ingredient and stirring the requisite amount of times, and setting her spoon down.

[Nigel Dextera]

Nigel froze for a moment upon hearing about Adeline’s mishaps during her experiments… but relaxed when she added that it wasn’t anything too dangerous. It seemed that they weren’t too different: she enjoyed making new paints and trying out new mediums, just like how he liked tinkering with clockwork contraptions and coming up with new designs for them.

When Adeline mentioned that it was hard to get hold of certain ingredients, Nigel had a possible explanation in mind. “May I presume those ingredients are hazardous in some way or another?” he asked as he watched her work. Just like him, she had chosen to stick to the recipe as well. “It’s very difficult for me to acquire certain chemicals that are essential for chemical gilding, such as aqua fortis and spirits of salt,” he continued while he proceeded to weigh out and cut up some herbs. “The two chemicals are mixed together to form aqua regia, which is why their sale is tightly controlled.”

But there was another substance that was even harder to come by. “And then there’s mercury, which is outright impossible for me to get my hands on. Not that I want to, both literally and metaphorically.” The volatile metal was used in fire gilding, which produced superior results as well as mercury fumes, a potent health hazard. While magic could be used to mitigate the dangers, it was always a gamble, so much so that even an experienced craftsman like Nigel’s father rarely used the technique.

Adding the last of the prepared ingredients into his cauldron, he gave his concoction a good stir as he listened to Adeline’s suggestion. Writing down potential potion recipes and submitting them to the Potions Master sounded like a great idea. “Definitely,” he nodded. “It’s like a technical drawing for a potion, if that makes sense.” The gears in his head turned as he thought about what other information they could include. “Would it be helpful if we included the intended effects of the potion, as well as our rationale for using certain ingredients and thought processes?” he said. “This might make it easier for Professor Snape to critique our work.”

Abruptly Nigel realised that he had allowed his thoughts to distract him from his potion for too long, and he hurriedly checked on the bubbling liquid. To his relief, nothing seemed to have gone wrong despite his inattention. Not yet at least; the potion still needed some time to simmer before it was ready, and only then would he know if there were any consequences for his slip up. “How’s your potion coming along? he asked, hoping that Adeline hadn't made the same amateurish mistake as he did.

[Adeline Green]

Adeline thought about the question for a moment, "You might be right," she said, "That would explain why my mother got rather angry at me for using some of them in the past," she hummed a bit in thought, "But they made the texture and color so pretty," she pouted at the thought before listening to his thoughts on mercury, "Yes, I don't think I should use things quite that dangerous in my works, wouldn't want to hurt anyone," she shook her head, looking back down to make sure the ingredients were mixing properly.

When he mentioned the things they should add to their submissions, she nodded, "That's smart," she said, "Then he could maybe give us some suggestions on better ingredients to use for the intended effects," she tapped the side of the cauldron as she thought, tilting her head side to side. She jumped a little at his abrupt action and smiled lightly seeing him check on the potion.

"Once you've got the ingredients in and mixed it the appropriate times, this one isn't too hard to finish off," Adeline said, though she glanced around as the other students were leaving... which meant they were going to be alone with Snape until these potions finished. The thought made her look a little paler, "Oh boy.."

[Nigel Dextera]

Despite Nigel’s far poorer knowledge of paints as compared to Adeline, he was still aware that some pigments were once extensively used despite their toxicity. “We can still experiment and come up with with safer or better alternatives,” he offered encouragingly. “Even lead white has been supplanted by non-toxic alternatives like titanium white and zinc white. Titanium white even has better hiding power than lead white, making it superior in almost every aspect. I’m positive you’d be able to come up with better and safer paints in the future.”

It seemed that his mistake hadn’t escaped Adeline’s eye, but at the very least it was not Snape who had witnessed it. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any trace of it by the time he was done, for his potion was starting to look better. After he gave the concoction one more stir, Adeline’s “oh boy” caught his attention, and he looked up to see the other students packing up and leaving the classroom and inferred the reason behind her worries. “Better Professor Snape than Professor Sigma,” he whispered, though it probably did nothing to comfort Adeline. Normally, one’s negative perception of a bad situation wouldn’t magically become better just because it was compared to something far worse. But in Nigel’s case, the Arithmancy professor had left such a strong impression on him that being stuck with the Potions Master was vastly preferable in comparison. (Never mind the fact that Professor Sigma was no longer around to terrorise the students, having returned to the Ministry of Magic to head the Department of Magical Education prior to the start of the school term.) “At any rate, I doubt we have anything to worry about if our potions are up to snuff,” he added, “which I believe they are.”

[Adeline Green]

Adeline had looked rather impressed when he brought up the facts about lead-, zinc-, and titanium-based whites. She hadn't expected him to know things about paints, but she had smiled brightly knowing that he did know some. His comment about Snape being better than Sigma, "I don't know if I think of any professors being worse than others. I rather hate having any of them displeased with me," she admitted, fidgeting a little. There was no reason Snape would be further displeased with their progress, they'd done as they were told. She nodded when Nigel said the same thing aloud, "Right," she murmured.

Though Snape seemed fine with letting them stew in their own discomfort all the same. He walked around the room for a moment, before finally designing to give them the ability to breathe. He looked between the potions, seeing that they were as they were supposed to be, "Will I ever need to repeat myself about following directions?" he looked mostly at Adeline with that statement since yet again, she'd disobeyed him.

"N-No sir," Adeline said, looking down. Now was probably not the time to ask him about giving him potion proposals. He would take it as her being disobedient in a different way, "I'm sorry, Professor," she added in a small voice.

[Nigel Dextera]

Adeline made a good point about how she disliked earning the displeasure of any professor, and not just the really strict ones. “Touché,” Nigel conceded. Just as he didn’t want to anger Professor Snape, he would have hated to upset the nice professors too.

The Potions Master finally decided to come by their workbench to inspect their work. To Nigel’s relief, Professor Snape seemed satisfied with their potions now, even though he sternly asked if he would need to repeat himself about the need to follow his directions. “No sir,” Nigel instinctively answered in unison with Adeline. It was a habit he had picked up from his Arithmancy classes, where the saying “there’s safety in numbers” rang especially true; he and his classmates had found it much easier to endure Professor Sigma’s withering remarks as a group.

Guessing from Adeline’s meek apology that she wasn’t intending to bring up what they had discussed earlier with Professor Snape, the boy decided that he would ask on their behalf instead. Thus far he hadn’t gotten himself into Professor Snape’s bad books yet, and his penchant for experimenting and tinkering with things – primarily clockwork contraptions that he worked on outside of his classes – was fairly well known and thus provided a logical reason for him to propose what they had in mind. “Sir, if I may…” he began hesitantly, as his mind raced to find the best way to convey his intended message. “We understand and appreciate the importance of following your directions, so as to avoid any potentially dangerous situations caused by deviating from the prescribed recipes.” He started off diplomatically, though it was plain to see that there was a “but” that would soon follow. “But would it be acceptable if I were to submit modified potion recipes to you, along with a report about my hypothesis, instead of performing any ill-advised experiments on my own?”

There. Though he kept a straight face outwardly, he was secretly panicking a little inside. It was too late for regrets now, but at least he had made his case. All that was left now was to await the Potion Master’s response.

[Adeline Green]

Snape looked at him with his usual disparaging expression as he listened to his proposal, raising a brow as he finished. The silence as he considered it seemed to stretch on for ages and Adeline slowly raised her eyes to look up at Snape rather than looking at the cauldron. Since he hadn't answered yet, she decided to add a pitch that might solidify their chances, "We wouldn't try to actually make the potions, we just have a general curiosity as to the results of additions or modifications... hence why I keep changing things in class," she murmured, "Nigel thought that this would be a way for us to satisfy that curiosity without actually breaking the rules," she said, looking to her classmate.

Snape looked at her as she spoke before looking back to Nigel as she mentioned him, still not speaking yet. After a moment, he answered, "If I find out you attempt to create a single of these recipes, even those that do not have regrettable side effects, trying them out yourself and recreating them correctly will be the least of your concerns," He said before turning and starting away, "Dismissed."

Adeline gaped for a second before looking back to Nigel as she gathered her things, whispering, "Does that mean yes?" She couldn't help but sound excited, as much as she was trying to contain herself.

[Nigel Dextera]

Snape’s critical gaze was burning holes in Nigel, but the boy knew better than to look away and risk appearing rude. It helped that he had learnt how to meet the eyes of a strict professor – or more accurately, how to seem as though he was doing so by fixing his eyes on the professor’s hooked nose instead. A few tense moments later, no decision had been made, and Adeline chose that moment to jump in with a few words of her own to sway the Potions Master. Professor Snape looked at both of the students in turn, before cryptically warning them not to brew any potions based on those recipes and dismissing them from the class.

W-was it a begrudging yes? The same thought was on Adeline’s mind, and Nigel nodded tentatively when she posed her question to him. “I believe so. We can’t be creating potions from nonexistent recipes, can we?” he reasoned, his own grin widening as it began to set in that they had just achieved a small victory together.

Just as quickly, Nigel came to the realisation that he had no idea what to do with this sudden, newfound freedom. “To be honest, I’m at a loss now,” he said as he packed up his belongings. When it came to mechanical contraptions, particularly timepieces, the most important rule was that everything had to fit within the casing. But now that the sky was the limit and he was only constrained by his imagination, he didn’t know where and how to begin. “I’m too used to having some kind of limitation, certain requirements to meet, or something along those lines,” he admitted with resigned shrug. Maybe it was just him, and Adeline – with her superior knowledge in herbology and potions and boundless creativity – might already be raring to put ink to paper. “Do you have anything in mind?”

[Adeline Green]

As Nigel nodded in response to her question, she grinned as well, "You're right!" she said before quickly packing up her things, not wanting to test their luck with staying in Snape's presence longer than he cared for them to be, "I have some ideas," Adeline said to his question, "I've always been curious when you mix herbs that are thought to have similar properties, though they aren't usually used together. Or like the ability to make things more potent... I also want to know if there's a means to make new ones outside of the known recipes, to use lesser-known herbs or ones that are easier to grow and gather for some of the more powerful potions, like the good luck one or the veritas serum," she explained as she started towards the door to the room.

"I don't believe that there's only one way to accomplish things, so I want to figure out all the different ways," She smiled at Nigel, "Maybe there can be something useful for mechanical things, like creating oils and whatnot that are more effective," she explained. She had an extra pep in her step, so excited to have gotten this much permission, "Oh this will be jolly good, I'll be able to learn so much, though I imagine I shouldn't put in my mixes for paints, he might not find that academic," she mused.

[Nigel Dextera]

As Adeline shared her ideas with him, Nigel couldn’t help but feel amazed at how swiftly her creative mind worked. Sometimes he would find himself trapped by the rigidity of his systematic methodologies and forget that it was all right – or in some cases even beneficial – to let his imagination run wild from time to time and pursue even the most whimsical of ideas.

He nodded thoughtfully as he pondered over what she said, his face scrunched up in concentration. “Better oils… that would be an excellent place to start,” he agreed with a smile as the sparkle that he usually had in his eyes when he was tinkering with his beloved contraptions returned. “I wouldn’t be too quick to discount that though,” he offered encouragingly. “I might not know too much about paints, but any pigments with unusual optical properties could potentially have applications in other areas. Perhaps a pigment that bends light could be useful for creating invisibility cloaks that can bypass existing magical defences such as counter-charms to common invisibility spells.”

It had been a while since Nigel had last experienced the heady thrill of experimenting with something for the sole purpose of of satisfying his curiosity. While he still didn’t have a clear idea what kind of potion he wanted to come up with, he knew roughly where he could start, and he was eager to do so. “I think I’ll be heading to the library to do some research,” he piped up. “Read up on what’s already been done and what hasn’t, how viable my ideas are, and so on.”

[Adeline Green]

When Nigel mentioned pigments of paints that could be used to make invisibility cloaks, Adeline's eyes lit up, "Oh, oh, oh!" she said, clearly having an idea already of what to try, or write down at least, "I've got something I want to see with my paints now that you've mentioned it. I'll see you later then?" she beamed at him, bouncing a bit on her toes, "This has been rather fun! Thank you!" and in classic Addie fashion she gave him a squeezing hug before turning and starting up the stairs in a flash, "Bye, Nigel!" she called over her shoulder, nearly tripping up the stairs before pulling up her cloak to prevent it in her hurry.

[Nigel Dextera]

Nigel’s suggestion about creating pigments that could bend light must have sparked an idea in Adeline’s mind. Her eyes lit up as she eagerly said that she wanted to inspect her paints. Such was her excitement that she literally couldn’t stand still. Thanking him for the idea, she suddenly hugged him tightly, then swiftly excused herself and dashed up the stairs, almost tripping over her own cloak in her hurry.

For a few seconds Nigel stood frozen in stunned silence, slightly amazed by how quick Adeline’s mind worked, but mostly taken aback by the unexpected hug. “Um… glad to be of service?” he replied belatedly to the empty air, before breaking into a laugh and shaking his head. She was one of the most unusual people he had ever met, a true one-of-a-kind if there was ever one.

“Best of luck, Adeline,” he said, even though she was already long gone and his well wishes would probably never reach her ears. Turning to the opposite direction, he headed towards the library for his own research. He too had his work cut out for him, and he wouldn’t want to have nothing to show for it by the time Adeline made a new discovery.