InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It was never that big!"

Mary Macdonald (mary_mac) wrote in loremrpg,
@ 2011-05-11 11:57:00

Entry tags:

!incomplete, mary macdonald, xenophilius lovegood

Characters: Mary MacDonald and Xenophilius Lovegood (and Open)
Setting: Potions class
Summary: Mary and Xeno get partnered on the latest Potions assignment, which is a recipe for disaster.
Rating: Mild (maybe a few random swears)

Potions was quite possibly Mary's worst course. But this year was shaping up to test just how disastrous she could really be. For today's assignment, Slughorn had instructed them to make a philter of their own choosing. Then Slughorn partnered them up with someone from a different house to "get them more acquainted with abnormal circumstances" because "you never know in what situation you might have to make a potion".

Honestly, if Mary was ever in a situation that required her to make a potion, she was more likely to get out of it by smokescreen or small explosion. And, to make matters worse - this had to be a joke on Slughorn's part - Mary was partnered up with Xenophilius. From one standpoint, they were perfect partners; Xeno was the only person in their class that as bad as Mary. But when Mary tried to protest Slughorn's choice, she was stonewalled by his previous statement, "You never know in what situation you might have to make a potion."

Silently admitting that talking her way out of this one was not going to happen, Mary walked back to her cauldron where her partner was already sitting. 'This may be the end. Simple as that. Here lies Mary: She was rubbish at Potions,' she thought as she dropped her bag on the counter. "Well, Xeno, did you have an idea for the type of philter we should make? Personally, I don't know what I'd like to charm someone into doing. Something easy, like only turning left, maybe?" she asked with a forced smile.

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fond_of_strange
2011-05-20 10:18 pm UTC (link)

"Fascinating. I had no idea Muggles could learn anything like that without magic. Don't worry about not being good at it, I bet you excel at other subjects like me. Everyone has theirs strengths and weaknesses. I can't imagine finding out I was a wizard at eleven instead of right from the get go." Xeno chuckled at Mary's apology and assured her that it was perfectly fine with him to talk about anything at all.

"Seems fair. My father is an inventor much like myself, he created those journals that everyone is frantically scribbling in all the time, which gives him the means to invent more but he has hit a slow spot lately. Mum is an artist mostly, she likes to paint. She also like to rearrange the house so it's always an adventure going home on holiday." Xeno laughed nervously. He wasn't sure he had talked with anyone this in depth before, most students at Hogwarts ignored him or taunted him about his discoveries. He was glad to add another friend to the short list he acquired.

"I guess it's mine turn, aye? Hmmm...what other subjects do Muggles learn? I mean you went to Muggle school until you got your Hogwarts letter I'm guessing."

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mary_mac
2011-05-23 12:13 am UTC (link)

"Oh, yeah. Muggles just work with what they have. And, well, it was a bit of a shock. But, I guess I kind of always felt that there was something... else." Mary shifted some of the cut up bits off to the side and continued while listening to the information about the Lovegood's.

And hearing that Mr. Lovegood was an inventor and Mrs. Lovegood was an artist struck Mary as one of the funniest things she'd heard in a good while. She laughed a little bit when Xeno did, before she realized how rude it must have come across. Quickly placing the knife on the table, she looked up at Xeno. "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at them or you. Being an inventor and artist are just so normal that they seem not right for around here. From the other students I've talked to, I was expecting something with the Ministry. Seems like just about everyone's folks are connected to it. But that's quite brilliant. It makes them seem like real people instead of just another position that I didn't know about."

Mary resumed cutting up the ingredients and answered Xeno's rebuttle question. "Yeah, before Hogwarts I was at Muggle school. So, other subjects? Well, English, where they teach you to read and write and the proper structure of language. Maths, where you learn numbers and equations. Science, like my mum teaches, which is learning all about Muggle tools and technology and how they can be used in life, really. Although they cover so much that that doesn't do it justice. Then history, music, and anything else about learning about local and other cultures around the world."

Dropping the last of the cut up ingredients into each pile, Mary tried settling on one question to ask Xeno. There were so many things that she wanted to know more about, but on the spot, Mary was having trouble settling on any one thing in particular. "So what's your latest invention that you're working on?" she finally asked.

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