𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 - 𝙝.𝙥. ⚯͛

𝗏𝗂𝗂 - 𝗆𝖺𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝖿 𝗉𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

╰┈➤ ElSIE'S POV

When it was time to head to Potions later that day, Harry and Ron were in a foul mood. The two of them continued to come up with ideas for revenge on Malfoy and his gang while Elsie and Hermione continuously tried to tell them that it wasn't worth it to retaliate.

"How can you say that Hermione?" said Ron as the four of them headed toward the dungeon classroom. "Goyle attacked you!"

"I know," said Hermione, crossing her arms. "And of course I'm furious about that, but if we get revenge on them it'll just make things worse for us."

Harry opened the dungeon door begrudgingly; he and Ron immediately shot furious glances at Malfoy, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who had all turned their heads to look at the four friends walking into the classroom.

During class, Elsie and Hermione tried to remain as composed as possible without giving Pansy the satisfaction of knowing she had upset them, but when Pansy threw her hood over her head and wiggled her fingers as if mocking one of the dementors, Elsie squeezed the pink Bouncing Bulb that had been in her hand and it shot out from her grip, just grazing the back of a Slytherin student's head.

The Slytherin boy brought a hand to the back of his head and looked around confused; Elsie and Hermione quickly looked away, bringing their attention to their bubbling cauldrons.

"That was close," Elsie whispered to Hermione as they both attempted to stifle a laugh.

Professor Snape strut around the classroom with his nose in the air, grimacing at the students as they worked on their potions. Rather than attempt to help his students, he simply pursed his lips together and gave disapproving nods at their work. How he was ever allowed to become a teacher at Hogwarts, Elsie didn't know.

Elsie glanced up from her cauldron and looked around the classroom. Many of the students were having trouble; Seamus' potion was smoking, Dean's potion had developed a cement-like consistency, and poor Neville was squinting at the ingredient bottles on his desk, totally clueless about what to do. Elsie wanted to go over and help Neville, but she knew Professor Snape would not allow it.

Elsie returned her attention to her cauldron whose contents were now bubbling slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, Elsie noticed Hermione staring at her cauldron with her eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked. She stirred her potion, still looking at Elsie's cauldron, desperately trying to get her own to the right consistency.

"Try adding some more licorice root," Elsie said, looking at Hermione's cauldron. "Just a pinch."

"And try stirring a bit slower-- it will over-harden if stirred too quickly." Elsie guessed that that was what happened to Dean's potion.

"Alright," Hermione said determinedly, pushing up her sleeves and opening a tiny phial of licorice root.

Elsie peered over at Harry and Ron who looked as if they were also having a bit of trouble with their potions; they were gesturing loudly toward each other's cauldrons and inspecting their ingredients by holding their bottles up to the light.

"Are the squid bogeys supposed to look this mossy?" Elsie overheard Ron ask Harry as he squinted in disgust at the tiny jar he held in his hand.

"Dunno," said Harry. "Hey, how do you suppose they go about getting the squid bogeys anyway?"

Elsie smiled to herself as she listened to the boys come up with wild theories about how the bogeys were extracted from the squids, but her smile faded when a large shadow appeared over her and Hermione's workstation. Elsie looked up and saw Professor Snape hovering over them, his eyes glistening with malice and his lips pursed in his usual sneer.