Closed Shared Enthusiasm

[Penny Wills]

Last minute changes meant that Penny remained at Hogwarts for the Christmas break. She had been surprisingly productive with her time, opening her Potions textbook to browse what would be coming up in the new class next semester. And to say she was instantly hooked was an understatement! There were all sorts of potions to cure colds, coughs, boils (ew), a colour changing potion, and loads more with full instructions on how to brew them. Penny, who had turned into a nerdy Ravenclaw in just one day, went to the library to look up other Potions in an older years textbook and found loads more like Liquid luck and Draught of the Living Death. She had become so excited for the new class that she could hardly contain herself.

She arrived for the evening meal with a big smile on her face. She spotted @Finn Lockley and decided to sit with him at the Hufflepuff table. She flopped herself down opposite him, "You will not believe some of the Potions that exist." She told him without introduction, "And we're going to be learning them next semester!"

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn was enjoying his evening meal when he was interrupted by Penny. Finn loved the food at Hogwarts, but he also enjoyed Penny's company. She seated herself next to him and started talking about potions and how they were going to learn them next semester. ''Sorry to break your bubble Penny, but we ain't brewing anything next semester'' Flynn already had his share of potions and told Finn the classes were a total bust. They weren't allowed to make their own potions, they just gathered some silly weeds. ''We just gather some stupid ingredients and that is about it.'' Finn found it extremely stupid, they were old enough to practice hurtful spells, but Professors didn't want them making any potions. ''Its so stupid.'' he said while taking another bite of chicken wing.

 

[Penny Wills]

Penny's smile dropped faster than a pranksters dungbomb and her expression turned to that of someone who might very well be able to smell a dungbomb too. "You have got to be kidding me! That is just my luck." Penny raised her hands in dismay then dropped them onto the table. "I brought a standard size 2 pewter cauldron with me to school, it was on the required list, they told us to buy it and we're not brewing any Potions!" Penny's bubble was well and truly burst and wondered how Finn could he casually eat chicken at a time like this. She shook her head whilst saying, "That means I have had a cauldron at the foot of my bed all this time, for no reason!"

Penny folded her arms and leaned back in her seat, momentarily forgetting in her rage that she was on a bench and there was no back support, she kept falling backwards.

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn had expected Penny to react just like she had done. He was furious when he heard they had to buy a cauldron, but weren't going to use it. Finn sighed and knew he couldn't alter anything to the lesson plan the Professor had made for the first years. Finn wanted to respond when Penny folded her arms and leaned backwards. There was no back support and thus she fell backwards. Luckily for her Finn was quick and he caught her with a swoop. He tried to steady her on the bench once again and laughed. He hoped he didn't got to much chicken dirt on her outfit. ''First off, how are you still alive, it seems that without me you would have died three times now.'' He grinned ''Second we could always try and get ahead of the class, no use in letting that precious cauldron go to waste.'' Finn said with a wink. ''We only need to find certain ingredients, but I know some of them grow outside in the gardens.'' Although Finn wasn't very studious, he was a good listener. He heard Flynn tell him they had to do manual labor for once class and go out to find some ingredients for potions.

 

[Penny Wills]

Finn and his super fast reflexes came to Penny's rescue once again. She wasn't so sure about the risk of death, but he did save her some embarrassment and pain had she landed on the hard stone floor. She laughed, looking at Finn's eyes and his smile, "Wow thanks, it's a coincidence I promise." She sat herself upright and brushed the bits of chicken from her clothes.

She listened to his proposal, taking a moment to think about it before replying. "Well I'm in of course! Our cauldrons will only sit gathering dust otherwise!" She replied matter-of-factly, if the Potions Master was going to fart around and not let them brew anything then Finn and Penny were going to take action and teach themselves, it was to be expected and why they got on so well. "The Potions textbook does have a chapter on where to find some ingredients, I don't think it'll be that hard to figure out."

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn smiled when Penny said it was a coincidence. He also knew he could count on Penny for plans like these. He was also sure Flynn would be in, but somehow he knew he couldn't rope two people into this. Brewing potions without supervision was a big no go. ''We don't want dust on our cauldrons.'' He grinned ''We do need to keep this a secret, I am pretty sure we are breaking about four rules by doing this,'' If they would get caught it could mean detention for the next semester. ''That sounds like a good start, we shouldn't start brewing things without any preparation, I don't want to blow up this school.''

 

[Penny Wills]

They had nothing to worry about on the secret front, Penny was an excellent secret keeper and certainly wasn't going to tell anyone about this. "I think we'll be breaking more than just four rules doing this!" Penny scoffed, holding up her little finger, "Pinky promise, this is just between us. You can't go telling anyone else either." She gestured for Finn to accept her pinky finger. "We'll be safe." She smiled, reassuring Finn of his safety concerns. "Can you think of anywhere we could do this? Somewhere quiet and abandoned where we won't be interrupted."

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn was pretty sure they would break almost all the rules, but maybe that was a bit dramatic. Penny actually spoke his thought and he smiled. When she asked for a pinky promise he was shocked, normally Penny wasn't much into touching, he tried to hold her hand once and she freaked. He linked his pinky in hers and nodded in agreement. ''I promise I won't share this plan with others.'' He wasn't going to shoot himself in the foot anyway. ''We could go to the abandoned classroom, I tried to skate there once with Flynn, there was no one there bothering us.'' It was also one of the easiest places to get, that didn't require dangers or doing it in some kind of toilet. ''Professors don't bother to come there and I don't think we got any other place that is that empty.'' Finn almost whispered, he didn't want anyone to overhear this conversation.

 

[Penny Wills]

Penny noticed how shocked Finn looked to be offered a pinky, she looked at her finger, then at him. Speaking quietly she said, "Pinky promises aren't as intense as unbreakable vows, but we still can't tell anyone." She reassured him, assuming that Finn was worried about how binding a pinky promise might be. They linked little fingers and agreed their secret, she smiled at him then rested her hand back down on the table. She listened then said, ''The abandoned classroom will be perfect, although you'll have to show me where it is because I've never been there.'' She was really excited about their new plan.

 

[Finn Lockley]

Finn found it weird that Penny thought he was looking weirdly because he was afraid that it was an unbreakable vow. He was looking weirdly, because he thought Penny didn't like to be touched. ''I don't care about unbreakable vows, I just thought you didn't like to be touched'' Finn said honestly. ''We need to gather a list of ingredients and think of what kind of potion we want to make, let start really easy with one you can't ruin'' Finn was sure there were potions that would be way too dangerous. He wasn't going to kill himself over some stupid potion. ''Lets work on the plan first, if we go to the abandoned classroom too much, it becomes shady.'' Finn looked excited and grinned.