POTION ✶ NOTES

The whole week’s been a complete nightmare. I didn’t realize how much I rely on this thing for, well, everything. Scribbling down potion ideas and random thoughts on napkins and bits of parchment? A right pain in the arse, that’s been. I’ll attach them here later, but it’s been such a bother. Maybe I should charm this bloody thing to stick to me. Nah… Too much effort.

Peeves is the obvious suspect. Well, sort of. I mean, if it were Peeves, there'd have been a lot more racket. He’d be prancing about the castle making up some daft, idiotic, off-key song about me losing my journal. Or worse, about what’s inside it. No, I’m not convinced it was him. But then, who—or what—could’ve done it? The place looked absolutely trashed after things went missing. I might have over-exaggerated before. Not EVERYTHING was stolen… Just a few quills. And a pile of wrapped sweets. Which is a bit odd, actually. Maybe Peeves is just looking to cause me grief, but even then… it doesn’t feel like his usual nonsense.

Apart from snapping quills and cramping my fingers trying to keep my potion genius alive on the backs of napkins, things have been quiet… Well, except for the new girl. Literally. You can always tell  when she’s coming by the sound of Revelio being cast every few steps. She’s been here weeks now—what is she even looking for? And speaking of, she’s been running around with Sallow a lot more lately. Are they a thing? Everyone’s been talking about it. Oh, and the things I hear whispered in the hallways—most unseemly. Not that it matters to me, of course. Obviously, I’m far too busy for rubbish like that.

Although… Now that I think about it, Sallow’s been looking smug. Too smug. He wouldn’t, would he? No… no, that’d be ridiculous. He doesn’t even—right? I mean, I’ve heard things, but they don’t seem like they’d—Merlin’s beard, why am I even thinking about this? Doesn’t matter. Nothing to do with me.

Anyway. Glad to have this little book back at last. Maybe the drawer isn’t the safest place for it anymore. I’ll have to move it somewhere more private… Under my bed? Too obvious. Potion kit? Hm. Book stack? That could work… temporarily. I’ll sleep on it.

Right. So, I’ve finally worked out that if I ever want to get any sort of decent sleep during the week, I’ve got to finish Shah’s homework the same night it’s assigned. Otherwise, I'm doomed to be up the night before next class, staring at these cursed charts until my eyes fall right out, and I’m left with a grand total of three hours of sleep. It’s a nightmare, but definitely better than being in the Tuesday, Thursday, AND SATURDAY section! Can you imagine? May Merlin have mercy on those poor souls.

So, here I am, freezing my fingers off in the Astronomy tower, working on these bloody star charts. This time, it’s constellations—not quite as dreadful as tracking planets or mapping some obscure patch of the sky (it all looks the same, Shah!!), but still maddening enough to make me question my life choices (and Shah’s entire teaching philosophy, to be honest). If it’s not the mind-numbing precision, it’s the fact that I’m slowly turning into an icicle up here. My hands are going numb and I don’t know how much longer I can even hold this quill!!! Merlin’s beard, how does Amit do it?! The bloke’s actually up here with me, probably doing next week’s extra credit just for fun. Knowing him, he's finished this week’s homework yesterday. I’ll go ask if I can just borrow his work for a moment (so I can copy it, obviously)

He said no. 

Well, he didn’t exactly say no, but I knew that look. Thanks, Amit. Cheers.

Bet if I had some Felix Felicis, I’d never get that look again. Read it’s a nightmare to brew, though… Still, it might be worth getting a head start. Imagine the awe when I pull it off in class... They’ll all finally see my brilliance.

Anyway, for my own record:

Orion (The Hunter) (utter misery)

Cassiopeia (The Queen)

Ursa Major (The Great Bear)

Aquarius (The Water Bearer) (absolute bane of my existence)

Cygnus (The Swan)

Taurus (The Bull) (yet another bane of my existence)

Hydrus (The Water Snake)

Crux (The Southern Cross)

Pegasus (The Winged Horse) (more insufferable than the other two combined)

Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog) (BEST constellation ever)

As if having aunt Matilda breathing down my neck wasn’t bad enough, now my dormmates seem to have joined the “Garreth Stalkers” club.

It’s only the second week of term, and I’m already being accused of nicking food! Usually, I don’t start properly swiping pastries until at least the fourth week—and even then, my impeccable sleight of hand keeps me undiscovered well into December! …Usually. 

And to add insult to injury, it wasn’t even me who mucked up my reputation! I had it all worked out—a foolproof system, perfected over the years—and now, thanks to some idiot, it’s completely fallen apart. Even my own stash has been raided! Stolen!! Gone!!! It’s bad enough being accused, but now I can’t so much as look at someone else’s food without everyone’s eyes glued on me.

Clearly, it’s up to me to uncover who this thief is. If I want to catch a thief, I have to think like one—and lucky for me, I am one. A better one!

Though, I still might need to recruit a few trustworthy souls. Can’t exactly go around sleuthing when aunt Matilda expects me to be the perfect little student, can I? Maybe I’ll rope in Sallow. Bit of a showoff, but I hear he’s got a knack for Disillusionment and sneaking into the Restricted Section. He could be useful.

Then again, it is entirely possible there could be someone even better—so good that nobody even knows they’re sneaking about.

Meet Duncan

HoM read chapter 5

Ask Prewett for notes

Buy Knotgrass seeds

Transfig paper butterflies

Greenhouse: water, check for spots (Fluxweed)

Experiment: powdered bicorn horn + doxy eggs (test durability in acidic solutions)

Nellie was at it again — climbing walls in the common room. I overheard her plotting another climb, this time up the Ravenclaw tower. Absolutely barking, that one, but by Merlin, she’s nothing if not determined. Honestly, it’s just a matter of time before the whole school’s buzzing about it. Blink, and your deepest secret is front-page news. I’m still recovering from last year’s sock scandal.

Speaking of which… Actually, no. I’ve heard that bloody name enough for one day, and I’ll be damned if I let it worm its way into my notes. Best left unmentioned. 

Anyway… Popped down to the kitchens after dinner for a quick snack before bed (I deserve it)(always). Feenky, bless her heart, insisted on stuffing my arms with enough food to last me ‘til Christmas . She’s been doing that since first year—never lets me leave without half the kitchen in tow. Tried offering her something in return, but she looked horrified. One of these days, I’ll figure out how to repay her. Until then, I suppose I’m stuck suffering through mountains of pastries… Oh, the hardship.

Oh, and I ran into Poppy on my way back. She asked what I was smuggling, so naturally, I told her the truth—all of it. The look on her face! Poor girl nearly dropped her wand. Despair not, Poppy! There’ll be plenty more foot-of-elf flavoured roast tomorrow. …Merlin, I swear the Ministry knows they’re serving us filth and just doesn’t care. Then again, with them putting Black in charge, why should I be surprised? Brilliant leadership all around, honestly…

I’d best not think about elf feet for much longer, or my appetite might just run off and never return.

Notes: 

Honeydukes chocolate + flobberworm mucus for long-lasting, anti-fatigue brew. Sweet, but useful?

Need to find where I left that stash of lacewing flies… ALSO, add pickled slugs to shopping list. Short supply. Maybe I’ll get it at Hogsmeade when I go with Everett.

Check if powdered dragon liver improves thickness in sleeping draughts. Maybe thestral hair?

Have to keep a low profile since it’s only the first week, but Merlin, I swear it’s as if someone cast Imperio on me. Can’t stop myself from asking that new fifth-year for a fwooper feather—I need it SO badly. Literally buzzing just thinking about getting my hands on one right now.

Ashwinder eggs x 1 Mongrel fur x 1

SUCCESS! Brew something for fifth-year later as thanks.

Fwooper feather x 1

Spectacular failure—literal fireworks. Robes reeked for the rest of the day. Maybe some dittany next time? Might help calm down whatever chaos that fwooper feather stirred up. Not sure how to use it yet. Further experimentation is definitely in order…

Prewett wouldn’t stop prattling on about my experiment costing Gryffindor a few points! It’s not my fault that the faculty, and apparently everyone else but me, can’t grasp the importance and necessity of my work! The ideas I have cannot and will not be restricted by this stifling school curriculum! House points be damned, I WILL figure out what that fwooper feather is good for!!!

First day of 5th year, and I still can’t get used to the train ride to Hogwarts. Breathtaking mountains, truly. Sat with Prewett, as usual. Natty joined us, along with a new first year—Lewis, I think. Lovely kid. Bet a Galleon he ends up in Gryffindor.

Everything was perfectly ordinary until the end of the sorting ceremony. We’d just wrapped up with the first years when, lo and behold, Headmaster Black struts up with another student. She looked older—our age, maybe? I mean, getting sorted this late? Bit odd, isn’t it? But there’s probably some perfectly ordinary reason for it… 

The new student got sorted into Ravenclaw. I wonder if the sorting hat has some quota to fill. Or maybe Hogwarts is just that balanced. Fascinating—or disturbing. What if I was supposed to be in Ravenclaw too, but there were already too many bookworms? Could I have missed my calling? Or, no. Wait. My name got called first… Agh! Enough of that, before I drive myself irreversibly barmy.

…Anyway, as if sorting an older student wasn’t odd enough, Black went ahead and CANCELLED QUIDDITCH for the ENTIRE YEAR. I could practically see Prewett’s dreams and hopes shatter right before my eyes, and I’m pretty sure I heard Imelda scream a profanity so foul, I’m surprised she wasn’t expelled on the spot. …I’d been planning to try out for beater this year too… Dragondung.