Extraordinary (Sign it Series; BOOK 2)

Chapter 32

{Really long A/N at the end I would really appreciate if you read}

After an uneventful week of classes, Maddy and Simon split their separate ways following their final Friday class: Simon to the Hospital Wing, and Maddy to her afternoon tutoring lessons with Mrs. Daisley.

She re-tied her ponytail as she made her way through the hallways, having memorised every trick stair due to her tri-weekly escapades down the same halls. When she arrived, Mrs. Daisley sat by a cauldron with a potions book, but that wasn't what caught her eye. In the corner of the classroom was Maddy's broom and Quidditch bat; in the same pristine condition she had left them in at Grimmauld Place a few months prior.

Ms, Daisley followed her gaze, "Professor Dumbledore asked me to hand those to you. Said your father dropped them off earlier this morning. There's also a package." Maddy hadn't initially noticed, but next to her broom and bat was an average sized parcel. Maddy nodded her comprehension. "Now, I know normally we'd do practical work on Fridays in Charms, but Professor Snape has personally come up to me and asked me to do a few more lessons on Potions, or you'll have to start taking Remedial Potions."

Maddy groaned, but personally thought of this as an overstatement. Sure, she hadn't managed to brew a single potion that didn't explode, melt the cauldron, or emit a fume that caused the dungeon to be evacuated, but she didn't think she needed Remedial Potions. Everyone had bad subjects, and just because her highest score was a ten out of one hundred when she worked solo didn't mean anything. On a second thought, the more she thought about it, the more she realised how bad she actually was. She was only doing well on homework because Simon who, quite opposite to Maddy, was a whiz in Potions. But also, she didn't even know Snape offered Remedial Potions, and even if she did, Maddy's schedule was brimming with classes, tutor sessions, and Quidditch.

"Secondly, even though you have that weird thing with Umbridge, the 'Athletes must still pass every class including Potions' applies to you." Ms. Daisley added, which made Maddy's eyes spring wide. "Now, if your potions all week don't do anything on this list I was given of what a Potion isn't supposed to do, and it can safely be bottled and sent to Professor Snape, and you start improving in class, which I'm told is a minimum of sixty five percent, you'll be alright."

Maddy stared at her, her mouth slightly agape. Sure, she hated potions with a passion, but she tried — minimalistically. And that was more when Simon was looking than anything. She held out her hand, and Ms. Daisley pulled a piece of parchment that was sitting in the book out and handed it to Maddy. The potion was hand written.

"Professor Snape wrote that himself for you to use." Ms. Daisley addressed her unspoken question. "Anything else?"

What happens if I'm still failing Potions come December?"

"We'll have to see. You know where everything is."

Maddy didn't particularly care for that answer, but she set forth on her quest to make a Cure for Boils, which when she had made back in September had given her boils, and she had to visit the Hospital Wing. Maddy preferred to wipe that memory clean from her mind. Unlike normal, she quadruple checked every step, and crossed off every step as she went so she didn't repeat steps, and had scribbled notes in the margins that were some odd combination of English and Welsh. Not even full sentences in the two languages. One word would be English, immediate followed by a word in Welsh, and then flipped back to English. By the end, the potion was blue; which was a hell of an improvement compared to normal, but instead of the airy pick smoke it was supposed to emit, the smoke emitted was a dark blood-red. Maddy gave Ms. Daisley a sideways smile to try and convey she had tried her best, and the smoke colour was just because she was naturally not gifted in the subject, though that should've been evident given her previous work.