The Legacies Only They Knew

Chapter 13 - Experimental Brews

Coraline continued following her classmates out of the greenhouse wing till she was standing in front of the beautiful stone fountain in the middle of Central Hall. Many of her classmates hooked a left upon reaching the fountain and headed up the main staircase out of Central Hall to the upper levels of this section of the castle. Despite the extended break in time before her Potions class was set to start, Coraline couldn't bring herself to follow her classmates out of Central Hall and up to the Great Hall to spend time with her dormmates. Instead, she let her gaze wander around the expansive stone room, taking in all of the intricate designs and carvings throughout. Eventually, she noticed a small staircase behind her, directly next to the staircase she had just taken to exit the greenhouse, that seemed to lead up to a small landing area tucked in the corner of the hall.

She quickly looked around the hall once more and, after not recognizing anyone that she knew, made her way up the stairs to the landing. To her surprise, the landing was relatively plain in comparison to the rest of the hall, with only a stone sculpture of what she assumed to be a wizard donned in flowing robes covering his entire self with a book of some sort extended from his body in his left hand in terms of true decoration. Granted, there were a few world globes and multiple tall stacks of books placed near the few armchairs strewn about the landing, but ultimately, it was much plainer compared to the intricate decorations of the Charms floor, for example.

No one else was up there on the landing, allowing Coraline to take a deep breath before moving over to the armchair tucked away in the back corner of the empty landing. She collapsed into the armchair, pulled her legs up, and crossed them underneath herself as she dropped her book bag down onto the ground next to the chair. While she was glad of the friendships she had made thus far with Sammie, Devin, and Robin, their constant company made it so that she didn't have a lot of time to herself to mull over everything. She had tried the night before, but clearly, that didn't last very long as she ended up falling asleep in the bath after the chaos in Hogsmeade and her first magical classes. It had been just one thing after the other for the past few days, forcing Coraline to just go from one thing to the next without truly processing each of the events as they snowballed into one another. Between the introduction of goblins, ancient magic, and the discovery that Rookwood and Ranrok were working together, not to mention everything she was supposed to keep track of in each of her classes, her brain felt like it would explode from all of the new information. Somehow everything Professor Fig and her had learned thus far fit together like a puzzle, yet nothing made sense in the slightest.

Coraline remained lost in thought for what felt like both hours upon hours and barely a few seconds at the same time before large gatherings of students started making their way back into Central Hall and towards the different classrooms for the afternoon classes. She shook her head lightly to bring herself back to the present before pulling her Field Guide out of her book bag, flipping through it absentmindedly as she looked for the map of the castle to locate where the Potions classroom was. To her surprise, the classroom was relatively close by as it was tucked away in an alcove on the opposite side of Central Hall from the Greenhouse wing, meaning that her decision to wait at this landing actually worked out in her favor.

As more students flooded into Central Hall, Coraline shoved her Field Guide back into her book bag and made her way down the stairs of the landing and back towards the fountain. A couple steps past the fountain, a sharp shout of her name over the bustling noise of the other students had her freezing mid-step. For a brief moment, she was concerned that she was somehow in trouble with one of the professors; however, when she turned around, Devin, Garreth, and Sammie were quickly descending the main stairs of the Hall and heading straight for her with wide eyes and concern clearly etched across their faces. Their looks instantly made her feel guilty about hiding away on the landing without letting her friends know where she was, especially after the attacks at Hogsmeade yesterday.