Sophia Brandt and the Ilvermorny Fountain of Youth

Thanksgiving

"That will be all for class today." 

With a flick of his wand, Professor Fleetwood turned off the gas powering the burners under their cauldrons. "Bottle up your finished potions and bring them to the front of the classroom. We will be testing them when you all return from Thanksgiving break." 

Sophia carefully removed the ventilation chamber over her cauldron and looked inside the pot. Now that the potion had stopped boiling, she was pleased to see it had turned a creamy blue color. It was a close match to the picture of the Alihotsy Draught in her textbook. 

Next to her, Collette groaned. "I don't think my potion was finished." 

Sophia looked over at her friend's cauldron and stifled a laugh. Collette's potion had turned an ugly gray color and appeared to be quite sticky. 

"Sorry, Collette," Sophia said sheepishly, "but that looks awful." She tried her best to hide her grin, but the corners of her mouth seemed to be turning upwards of their own accord. 

Collette put her hands on her hips. "Let's see yours, then." She came over to stand by Sophia and let out a laugh. "Of course, it looks perfect. I probably should've listened to you about the flame settings." 

"That, and the stirring," Sophia teased, remembering the vigorous stirring Collette had put it through when her potion nearly boiled over. 

Both of the girls let out a laugh. 

"Sounds like your potion worked, Sophia," Noah remarked wryly from the row behind them. 

Sophia looked back at him, then at Collette. "Hm. Is it really that strong?" 

Professor Fleetwood had warned them at the beginning of class that the Alihotsy Draught caused hysterical laughter. Drinking the potion or even inhaling the fumes would induce laughter for hours--hence the ventilation chambers they were using. Still, it could definitely be possible that some fumes were left when Sophia removed the ventilation chamber. 

"Or she just likes laughing at my struggles," Collette said, letting out the stopper on her glass bottle with a loud pop. 

Noah grinned. "An equally likely theory." 

Sophia smiled, but soon had to turn her attention to the cauldron as she lifted it up to pour her potion into the waiting bottle. She in a breath as she poured and successfully pushed the stopper in.

"All done," she said proudly. "Collette, you want some help?"

Collette nodded her head vigorously, and Sophia took over holding the cauldron while Collette tried to scoop her potion into the bottle with a wooden spoon. It was even stickier than Sophia had realized and took them a few minutes to get it all into the bottle. 

"I can't believe the handle on that spoon didn't snap," Collette said as they left the classroom together. 

Sophia laughed. "I though Professor Fleetwood would snap when you gave him your cauldron to clean." 

"At least he's got spells and cleaning potions for that," Collette said. "That was your last class of the day, right? Do you want to go back to the tower and pack for the break?"

Sophia shook her head. While most of the students at Ilvermorny had already made plans to return home for Thanksgiving break to spend the holiday with their families, Sophia had chosen to stay at Ilvermorny. Well, she hadn't had much of a choice--she'd forgotten to book a ticket on the train home. 

"I'm just staying here over the break." 

"Ah, that's right..." Collette said awkwardly. "Well, I'd probably better get packing. I'll see you later tonight, Sophia!"