Oliver Evans is The Prodigy of the Heart (Book One)

Chapter Twelve: Masters Potions

"I need to talk to you." I said anxiously to Trent as he walked up the dormitory stairs. He lugged his trunk in front of him and groaned, "I always over pack for these trips. I swear I can never figure out just how many pairs of pants I need compared to how many shirts." he heaved his trunk to the foot of his bed and flopped down on the mattress, "What has you troubled, mate?"

"I have some really big news," my eyes brightened as I sat down across from him on my own bed

"Spill."

"Professor Snape told me I was accepted into Masters Potions!" I shrieked with excitement

"Congratulations, Oliver!" Trent responded happily, kicking his feet up over the edge of his bed, "When do you start?"

I rocked back and forth with glee "This week. I'm real nervous, though. I'm the only fifth year that's in the class. Everyone else probably knows a lot more than I do."

"Just go in with an open mind." he stretched his arms "What made him change his mind, then?". I paused for a moment, feeling my face grow warmer. "I'm, erm, not sure. We did some private lessons during the winter holiday, maybe he just saw how hard I was working?"

Trent propped his head up on his hand, leaning on his elbow "You seem a little frazzled."

"No, I'm okay." I replied shakily

"Don't lie to me, Oliver." Trent sat up and looked me up and down "Somethings up. Why won't you tell me?"

I rubbed my hands together, "I..." I took a deep breath, "I think I fancy somebody."

Trent's eyebrows perked up "Oh really now? Who?"

"That I'm not going to say." I laughed, standing up and started heading to the top of the stairway "Look, I learned a lot of really important stuff while you were gone. Come with me, I want to show you some things."

We both left the common room, exited the dungeons and walked out onto the school grounds. The snow crunched underneath our feet as we walked down the steep incline to the forbidden forest. The sun was just beginning to set as we found a secluded spot just outside the entrance to the forest. "Do we really need to be this far out?" Trent asked with concern in his voice. "Yes. We can't be practising this type of magic where others may get hurt. Or where we'd be seen by anyone, really. Don't worry, we aren't going to be using anything on each other today." I reassured him, pulling my wand out of my jacket pocket

I stood next to him as we both extended our wands out to the side "Okay, this first one is a really good shield spell." I swung my arm forward and yelled "Protego!" out into the clearing. A flash of yellow light expanded over the grass and all the way to the treeline of the forest. I put my wand down, and looked at Trent, "Do you think you can do that?"

He nodded and took a sturdy stance, flicking his wrist forward, "Pah-tego!" he shouted. His wand sparked at the end, but quickly went out. I patted his shoulder, "It's okay. You just need to pronounce it a little more clearly." he exhaled and took a starting position again, "Protego!". Immediately, his wand shot out a yellow light that covered the clearing. He grinned, looking to me for encouragement.

"See!" I clapped "Way to go. Let's keep practising that one for awhile before we try anything else."

As the sun continued to set, we stayed out on the grounds and trained ourselves in defensive magic. Once Trent was able to successfully cast Protego and Fumos, we decided to call it a night. We were already out past curfew and now had to figure out how to sneak back inside without being caught.

"Thanks for showing me some of the things you learned," Trent said, pushing his hair back "Did Snape teach you anything more on the aggressive side?"