Practice Makes... Permanent (Lynn)

Professors Posts : 147

After her last potions class had gone spectacularly wrong, Brooke had vowed (once again) to try and get better. The only problem was that she knew she had to practise, and if she was practising the same things over and over, it wouldn't really get better. Still, with nobody to help her this time - Joe was busy, and while he had offered to help, she had nicely told him to focus on his own studies; Cassana, on the other hand, was enjoying the newfound love she had for Devin, and Brooke hadn't wanted to disturb the couple - she found herself in an empty classroom, instructions for a basic potion in hand.

Looking around, she nodded to herself. "Alright, let's try and get this right, yea?" she murmured to herself, eyes travelling down the ingredient list. Turning to the cupboard, basket in hand, she began to slowly collect all that she needed, double and triple checking the numbers as she did so. The last thing she wanted was to blow things up again.

Once certain she had everything, she moved to a table and laid everything out neatly. Propping up her notebook so she could easily glance at the instructions, she began to prepare the ingredients, crushing what needed to be crushed and cutting what needed to be cut.

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 9

After growing bored with his homework, Lynn had spent an unbelievable amount of time searching for a group of people to interact with, or even an individual to have a conversation with, but despite his efforts he found everyone was busy or simply not around. Merlin, being new is hard. He had had hopes of instantly finding the perfect friends, but with the passing of each day he slowly began to realize how utterly stupid that was; "nothing will change if you don't make it change yourself," words from his mother that had proved more than true before surfaced again, this time bringing memories of his seventh year at Hogwarts.

Pausing in his aimless walk around the campus to shake his head, he pulled out his headphones—whether he found anybody or not, there was no point in being bored—and shuffled his favorite playlist. Satisfied, Lynn continued on his way, pondering where he should go until remembering that he could always just go do potions no matter the time. He smiled slightly to himself and started toward the potions wing, a small part of him wondering if someone else was also there—obviously it was unlikely, but he could always hope; maybe someone who was also there out of boredom, or someone doing make-up work, or even someone who had no idea what they were doing.

Within the length of a song and a half he was already at the entrance of the potions wing, determining that the best course of action was to check the classrooms to see if anyone actually was there; it must have been utter chance that the very first room he looked in contained a person. A girl, one with bright red hair and admirable focus, was preparing the ingredients for what looked like a simple potion. Lynn felt it would be almost rude to interrupt her, especially if she hadn't noticed him enter, so he stood off to the side and paged through his music collection in order to appear occupied—in reality he was watching the girl work, wondering what reason she had for being there.

Professors Posts : 147

Her eyebrows were practically knitted together as she focused on the task at hand. Truth be told, potions always made her feel like a failure; magic and all things wand-related, she could do. Spells, she could manage with ease. Mastering her metamorhphamagi abilities, she had mostly done, too, although the occasional mishap still happened when she was particularly emotional. Heck, she even managed to get her ADHD under control at times, if she really tried.

But with potions...

With potions, no matter how simple the instructions or how basic the brew, she just could not get it right. Eventually, she figured out the reason why - her ADHD made it practically impossible to precisely follow instructions, and she would always forget to cross her t's and dot her i's, which meant that eight out of ten times, something went wrong.

Having said that, they made for fantastic stories, just not marks. Still, Brooke ran with what she had, and made the best of the situation. One thing was for certain, though: potions was definitely not her thing.

Her attention was called away from her current task (turning a root into powder) when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning, she glanced the male over. It wasn't someone she recognised, meaning he was probably new, and not in the same course as her. At the very least, she would have company, and she smiled at him. He seemed interesting, like the kind of person she'd love to get to know; his white hair no doubt held an interesting story, and he definitely did not look European. Asian, most likely. Chinese? Korean? Japanese? Brooke could never tell the difference between the types, and so refrained from commenting until she could be certain.

Instead, with a smile, she said, "Hi hi. What brings you to the potions classroom?" Pausing a moment, she put down the pestle. "I'm Brooke, by the way."

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 9

Watching the girl work reminded Lynn of his earlier years at Hogwarts, when he had first discovered magic and the power of potions and been enthralled with the newness of it all. Though a lot of time had passed since then, his fascination and enjoyment of it hadn't faded in the slightest, even growing as he dove deeper still into the subject. There was so much one could do with potions that the possibilities seemed utterly limitless, simply waiting for anyone to touch on them, to explore them without caution or being at the mercy of rules. Lynn wanted to have the chance to try new things whenever he wanted, to discover cures and poisons and so much more that wouldn't be possible if he bothered to follow regulations or had to follow the path his parents had previously set for him. Earning marks was satisfactory for some, but he wanted to be known for going beyond the current limits and reaching new heights.

At the sound of the girl's voice he looked up, flashing a smile of his own. "Hi; I didn't have much else to do, so I thought I might as well come here and at least do something useful." While he spoke he closed the distance between them in order to avoid any awkwardness, taking note of the ring on her finger and mentally ensuring that he wouldn't try to flirt with her since she was obviously married. "I'm Lynn," he paused the song that was playing and removed his headphones, looking over the items and notes Brooke had out and determining the potion she was making. "What's your major? If you don't mind me asking;" courtesy had been drilled into him from a young age—if he wasn't trying to flirt it quickly made itself apparent.

Professors Posts : 147

It could be said of some that just by listening to the accents of people, they could figure out which country said person was from. For Brooke, this was simply not a possibility. Languages and accents got jumbled up, so much so that unless someone very specifically told her "I'm from whatever country", she would not be able to guess accurately. The only accents she ever really recognised were British, Scottish, and Irish, mostly because those were the ones she grew up around.

"Oh?" she inquired, wondering what 'useful' thing there was to do down here. Clean? Homework? "What were you thinking of doing?" she added, moments later; she wasn't just the type to think about something, but outright ask, too. That way, she wouldn't have to just speculate and never find out.

"Nice to meet you, Lynn!" Sticking out a hand, Brooke debated asking him where he was from, and then decided against it for now. Too soon; she barely knew him, and that sorta thing was sometimes personal. He asked her something before she could, and she couldn't help but smile inwardly at that; normally, she was the extroverted one, and it was refreshing to be having a conversation with someone who was also one, especially since most of her friends (Cassana notwithstanding) were introverted.

"Not at all! I'm an auror in-training, third year. How about you? You're a firstie, right?" Already she had forgotten the potion ingredients; it was lucky, therefore, that she hadn't actually started making it yet, or it probably would have exploded by now.

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 9

Lynn had only half expected her to ask for an elaboration, though he supposed that he had been rather vague; "Honestly, I wasn't completely sure, but I probably would've ended up experimenting with something or other; there are always new things to discover, especially outside of class." He stopped himself before running down a tangent that would only display his passion for potioneering, not wanting to possibly bore her if it turned out she had little interest in the subject. "What about you? Are you just bored, or did I interrupt you trying to make earnest progress?" He tried his best to ensure that his tone didn't sound condescending.

"Likewise," Lynn happily shook her hand, then waited to hear her response to his question. A third year auror in-training. Of course he would run across someone with two years more experience at Merlin's than he, and if anything could be taken from how friendly she was it was likely she had many friends—whether that was true or not would become apparent later.

"Ah, yeah, first year potioneer in-training, straight out of Hogwarts." He didn't hesitate before returning his own answer aside an indication of his age, part of him wondering if Brooke had done the same or taken time between each block of education. For Lynn, it had been an easy choice to immediately attend university after graduating; if he hadn't, his mother likely would have coerced him into working with her. He loved her, there was no doubt in that, but there was nothing in him that desired the impersonal life of business—it was cold, lonely, stressful, and more trouble than it was worth, if he had learned anything from his childhood.

Professors Posts : 147

Grinning at the male, Brooke's mind wandered to all the things she had gotten to "out of class". He was right about that, though 'experimenting' (and here, she figured he meant with potions, since he was in the class for that) might not have gone so well for her. "Oh, definitely. I think sometimes I've learnt more on the outside than in any lecture," she commented. From Josh - a painful lesson on revenge and the cost of standing up to people - to her Hen's Night - when she learnt what muggle jail was like - Brooke had many an adventure, and equally many lessons.

The question drew a snort of laughter from her, and she shook her head. "Actually, it's more like you interrupted me about to make a bomb." A sly grin on her face, she let out a giggle. "No, you're fine. I was just practising; potions isn't my strong point. I either end up blowing something up or sprouting green tentacles." A casual shrug combined with the embarrassed look would be enough to show that she was only half-joking.

His answer drew a genuine smile from her. "Oh, that's so cool! Nothing else you wanted to do, huh? Same, actually. I've always only ever wanted to be an Auror."

She paused for a moment, then went on. "Have you met Cassana yet, then? She's also in your course. And Devil- uhh, that is, Devin." She flushed at the slip of the wrong name, freckles growing on her cheek. Despite the fact the pair had been married (again), she couldn't help but stick to the nickname they chose for Devin all that time ago. "Devin," she repeated. "Sorry, slip of the tongue. Uhh.. You won't repeat that, would you?"

Potioneers In-Training Posts : 9

Lynn couldn't help but wonder what sort of things Brooke had got onto outside of class, but decided it was best to leave that for later. "Exactly; if I'd been allowed to experiment outside of class at Hogwarts then I could've made leaps and bounds of progress. Plus there are always things that can't or won't be taught in school." A conscious choice to tack on the more general example, though indistinctly so.

Lynn let out a small laugh at her answer, certain she was joking—what kind of Auror would need a bomb?—and another laugh at the comment. A thought crossed his mind, undergoing only a surface-level evaluation before he went ahead and offered: "Well, maybe I could help—it is my major after all, and I definitely have free time. Only if you want, though; don't feel obligated." In spite of how carefree the situation appeared, he didn't feel it was acceptable to not offer her a clear way out in case she felt he was going too far; in all likeliness she was comfortable, but Lynn knew from experience that being trapped in something could make a person extremely uncomfortable very quickly.

"Yeah; my mom wanted me to go into business but after Hogwarts there was no chance of that happening," he grinned, intentionally leaving out an unnecessary mention of his father—no point in bringing him up, though it wasn't as if one would immediately assume the man was out of the picture. In any case, Lynn was glad that Brooke shared the same passion, albeit for a different subject, since that made it all the more likely she would understand his passion.

"My lips are sealed;" he laughed quietly, "but no, I haven't really had the chance to meet many people—too busy settling in and exploring and getting lost," a sheepish smile crossed his face. He hadn't gotten lost that much, only about three times, but two of those times he had forgotten what floor he was on and yet still ended up in the dungeons—as if he couldn't escape potions even if he wanted to. The other time was at his arrival, so no one could blame him for not knowing his way around.

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Practice Makes... Permanent (Lynn)

Practice Makes... Permanent (Lynn)

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