 Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?
Ash turned her pumpkin around so that its feelings wouldn't be hurt when she used the pumpkin insides in a potion.
4. She put the pumpkin type organs into her cauldron. Two cups, densely packed. Easy. Medium heat. slightly less easy, but still okay.
5. Ash added the moths. She did not like seeing them. Why did they have to kill things so that they could have a dumb pumpkin for a head? Where did they GET the moths from? Ignoring that thought, she added the powder to the cauldron and stirred clockwise. Her potion turned a grass green color. Ash was glad the shade of green was specified. Lime green was quite different from forest green, and the exact color of potion was important.
6. More murder. Sure, it was just a plant, but it kind of felt like it might have feelings. They were magic plants, after all. She stunned it anyway, and then she chopped it up. Chop chop chop with a silver knife. Finely chopped bouncing bulbs with the skin peeled off. She stirred it counterclockwise, because it didn't specify and counterclockwise was just cooler.
7. So much of life was spent waiting. This was boring and Ash got easily distracted. In the thirty minutes, Ash somehow ended up with a half sleeve temporary tattoo that she made using a spell she'd learned. She was so fixated on it that she almost went overtime. Good thing she set a timer.
8. Ash methodically plucked, weighed, and added the foxgloves. They were pretty. That didn't stop her from wearing gloves(she was sure she'd somehow poison herself and die on accident). Foxglove poisoning was rare... but so were a lot of things Ash had experienced. She wore gloves. And then she washed her gloves and the equipment that touched the foxglove. And then she took off the gloves and washed her hands for good measure. She stirred until the potion was a pretty dark purple. Ash thought that sort of purple would taste good, but she knew better that to drink potions that weren't finished. Or pumpkin head potions in general.
9. Ash added a pumpkin seed, and then stirred counterclockwise, and then added a pumpkin seed, and then stirred counterclockwise and then... Ash added and stirred until her head hurt and the moments blurred together, which was not a long time at all with her attention span. She was glad that the orange color of the potion was so bright. Otherwise she would have added too many seeds or something.
That was not an appetizing color. Were the seeds and petals WHOLE in there? Ash was glad that she wasn't going to drink it. She made her potion. Now she would file this potion away in her mental "things I don't need but cannot forget" filing cabinet.
She turned her pumpkin back around to face her and started cleaning up the table and equipment. She wondered if the professor would like a sad pumpkin. Or maybe a sad pumpkin if a sad Ashley gave it to him. Probably not. Sigh. She'd just take it back to the dorms with her. |