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

Chapter Thirteen: Liquid Luck

The first day of our OWLs finally came. The great hall was turned into a room with aisles and aisles of desks. Each desk was perfectly in line with the ones in front and behind. A jar of ink sat in the upper left hand side of each desk along with the provided quills, and a small stack of parchment was stacked in the middle. Up at the front of the hall, a very large hourglass was perched on top of the podium. I noticed how incredibly silent it was that day; you could hear a pin drop.

My desk was smack in the middle of the rest of them, about three aisles away from Trent. I saw Felicity seated in the second row; she had her oval framed reading glasses resting above her forehead. I heard the creaking of a seat as someone reached down to retrieve their dropped quill. The sound of his movements and the screeching of his chair legs amplified against the walls.

I laid my head in my hand; staring down at my paper and trying to make sense of what the question was. "Name the charm that the caster can transfigure pure water from their wand." the parchment read. I bit the ends of my fingernail as I dipped my quill. I hadn't been following along in classes outside potions lately. With the workload from two potions classes, along with my others I had started to fall behind.

My hand shook as the quill tip touched the page; black ink started to seep from the end and dye the parchment. I started to write out my answer, "Aguamenti" I wrote on the line. I skipped ahead over a few questions that I hadn't a clue what the answer was. My focus transitioned from my parchment, to the tall hourglass towering over us. The sand inside slowly trickled down the sides, forming a triangular pile at the bottom. There was only a little bit of time left.

I sat uncomfortably in my seat, flicking my quill back and forth. The girl who was seated in front of me looked back, putting her index finger up to her lips to shush me. I rolled my eyes and stuck my hands into the pockets of my robe. I felt my fingers touch something small and cool. I peered down inside my pocket to see the tiny vial of Felix Felicis; I had forgotten it since the week I had brewed it.

My fingers clutched the bottle in my hand as I looked up to the front of the great hall. Professor Flitwick was seated on a tall stool, observing us as we marked our parchment. I cautiously flipped the cork out of the top of the bottle, keeping a close eye on Flitwick to ensure he didn't see me. When he turned his attention to a student on the far left side of the hall who had fallen asleep on her desk, I put the vial up to my mouth and took a swig.

The golden liquid filled up my mouth, leaving a very musty flavour behind. I coughed, covering myself as I discreetly slipped the vial back into my pocket. Flitwick turned to face me and shook his head; I held my hand up to signal an apology and went back to my work.

All of the sudden, I felt a little kick in my stomach. It felt as though I had just woken from a very long nap and was incredibly well rested. My eyes started to blink faster than usual, and my fingers tapped against my desk. I picked up my quill and looked back at my test; the words started to jump off the page at me. I quickly answered the remaining questions, only seconds before the final grains of sand fell to the bottom of the hourglass.

"Quills down, students." Professor Flitwick said. Everyone began to set down their quills and stack their parchment back in a neat pile. I grabbed bag from behind my seat and stood up, walking over to meet with Trent.

"Glad that's about done, then?" he asked tiredly. He yawned, "How'd you think you did?"

"I dunno. Maybe pretty good? I'm thinking at least a bit better than planned. Who knows, though?" I said with a very rushed tone. Trent looked at me funny and laughed, "You're a little wired today, mate."

"I must have drank too much coffee. That has to be it, there is no other explanation." I said, rocking on my feet "Come to think of it, I think we should celebrate a job well done. Only a couple more of these tests and we don't have to worry about anything else all year. Let's go to the lake."