His lack of response only served to confirm that this was no big deal. That she could walk around without her badge on and it would be of no consequence to anyone. That was all she needed to know. It would sit in her trunk til the end of the term, then it'd sit at the bottom of her drawer when she got home where it would hibernate til she was forced to take it back to school for one more year.

Shouldn't be that hard.

Lex shook her head. The Professor wasn't understanding...then again, he'd already confessed to not understanding how the Gryffindor mind work. Perhaps she could offer a bit more insight. "That would be deceit Professor. If I didn't want you knowing I jinxed him, I wouldn't have jinxed him in the first place. The responsibility was owning up to it afterward. Showing that I was fine with whatever happened after, so he'd know how serious I was when I jinxed him." She wouldn't be sneaking around doing jinxes then running from consequences. "Don't you reckon he'd have bolted to you afterward to tell that I jinxed him anyway? I'd rather you know from me." THAT was where the responsible part came in. Not in telling but why she told him.

Her lips tugged up, almost into a smile as she gave a light shrug. "Plus I might have been showing off. Might have wanted you knowing that I silent cast at him. What good's a jinx if you don't get recognition for it." Glory. It was a thing. A thing she liked. Bragging rights, you know?

Ah but she was free to go. "Thank you Professor. If it makes you feel better, I'll give 'em a once over before bed." A quick glance through the rules wouldn't kill her.

Cris' hopes of ever helping his friend, sank with every word Professor Culloden spoke. The vaxifloo only worked for flus and not for every illness. "Are there imm...." Cris was going to ask about the availability of Immune Potions but after his Potions Master mentioned that it would be a waste of resources and energy, Cris chose silence instead while he ingested the bad news he had just been given.

Mickey would never get to go out and enjoy what the outdoors had to offer him. At least not the help, he, Cris, was hoping to give his friend.

Despondent, he just stared down at his hands for a few seconds. He blinked back tears that were beginning to fill his eyes and sighed before looking back up at the Professor. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me." Cris thanked Professor Culloden and then paused when another idea popped into his head.

"Professor, I was wondering whether it would be alright for me to I practice brewing another potion? The Fever Reducing Potion. I know I can't help prevent Mickey from getting sick but maybe I can help reduce the fever whenever he has one." Cris explained hoping that this plan was a better one.

This wasn't awkward ....

Seren folded her hands in her lap, tapping her fingers on her knees gently. At any rate, she'd given him options, she would keep a closer than usual eye on Kevin - again, and hoped that things would simply resolve themselves. A part of her wondered if any of her other colleagues were holding back on her... at least where the Lions were concerned, she needed to know these things. She didn't read minds, and wasn't in the castle enough to hear things otherwise."Mmmm, good... excellent," she mused, half still in thought.

It was only at Cosgrach's followup question that she blinked herself present. "Uuuhh... well I was simply going to inquire about his academic progress, he has assured me that he's doing very well, so I wanted to check." Because these things were nice when verified. Words and grades could be exaggerated if not fabricated. "I see a great deal of potential in him, he's got a lot of promise... I just wanted to make sure this is the case."

...

You know, now that she'd put it like that... it made sense. Cosgrach didn't respond for a moment, but thought what she'd said. And it was logical. It still wasn't what he would do, but if she insisted on being such an honourable Gryffindor, then he had to admit it: she was doing it with style.

"I see your point," he said, and even smiled - see? He was as understanding as a person could be. After communicating with her, he understood her completely. Or so he hoped. "Yes, then you are right. I'm sorry." Would she accept that? Because she wouldn't hear that to often, an apology from a professor, and Cosgrach wasn't even being arrogant. He truly was sorry. "I believe you already know all the rules." HE didn't get her, not the other way around. So she didn't really have to read anything.

"This is not to say you should jinx people at my class again, but I understand you and again: my apologies. This is the way you make sure everything is going in accordance with the rules."



But then, it felt like Cosgrach had drank a cauldron of guilt potion. Because he could see how tormented Cris was, and he sighed to himself. This kind of 'caring' feeling was new to him, though, so he still didn't know how to speak to people.

"I'll ask a few friends if a potion to help the immune system as a whole exists, okay?" he said, trying to catch the boy's gaze, "and you can brew fever reducing potion in the meantime."

Okay? Could he not look so dejected?



Cosgrach didn't even try to stop himself: he snorted and shook his head to himself impatiently. Kevin, with potential? Sure, sure he had that - if he hit his head somewhere several times.

"I won't deny: he is good at potions." He didn't know other classes, though. "But he needs to get over that attitude if he wants to graduate with decent grades, to begin with." The attitude Seren didn't believe the boy had.

He sipped at his tea again. That boy. He was dead tonight.

Her eyebrows rose high into her head, consider her pleasantly surprized. Not only had she been able to explain herself but he actually got it. He saw her point for what it was. Him getting it was one thing but it was the apology that threatened to have her mouth hang open. Good thing she'd learned composure and could maintain an almost even expression now, save the smile that had grown on her face.

"I jinx in only extreme cases Professor." And if he stood there telling himself Kevin hadn't gotten extreme then he'd have been LYING to himself. "But, see, I've realized a pattern. There are those that listen and therefore need no prefect control, and those that do not and will only make a Prefect look bad for trying. I'm not going to get myself worked up about the latter." In short, she was done helping. It wasn't worth it in the end.

She rose from her seat, feeling the hunger finally setting in from earlier. "Have a good evening Professor." And with that she turned and left the office.

Awww...the Professor's a wonderful softie xD
 

Wait! The Professor was going to ask his friends whether a potion to help the immune system existed? Cris had a hard time swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat so much so that his voice cracked initially as he tried to thank his Potions Master.

"You wi...You WILL? Thank you, Professor. Thank you so much," Cris began to smile as he looked up to meet the Professor's gaze. There was still hope for Mickey.

"Where there's hope, there's life and while there's life, there's hope, right Professor?," Cris quoted both Anne Frank and Marcus Tullius Cicero, his heart feeling a whole lot lighter.

"I'll go get started on making the fever reducing potion right now. Thank you again, Professor," Cris couldn't help but thank the Potions Master again. Realizing that he was beginning to repeat himself, Cris looked at Professor Culloden sheepishly.

Sorry there, super excited boy here!!

He wanted to grab the Professor's hand and shake it over and over again, but since he wasn't sure whether his Potions Master would appreciate having his hand shaken out of its socket, Cris refrained from doing so. What he did instead, was stand up straight, pull his shoulders back before sticking out his hand to politely shake the Professor's.

Well, he was going to take that as 'apology accepted', then.

He nodded - of course she only jinxed in extreme cases. Kevin deserved that. He could understand her logic better, and he had to agree with her again - he nodded once more, but didn't say anything. It was sad how she gave up. Kevin would pay for that.

"You too, Alexa," he muttered, and started thinking deeeeply.




Oh, well... Cosgrach felt HAPPY. He didn't stutter or grin from ear to ear like Cris, but it felt nice to see the boy's enthusiasm, y'know?

"Sure, Cris," he muttered as he watched him with a small smile. Yeah. Writing a few letters to his buddies wouldn't hurt him, would it? If he could save a kid's life, he would be the happi - haha, cheesy. Maybe not the happiest, but he would be happy. "You're welcome." And it was the least he could do, anyway. So he got up when Cris did too, and shook his hand.

They got this!

"I'll let you know shortly," he said and made a mental list of who to write to.

Cris gratefully shook his Potions Master's hand before turning to make his way towards the door. "Thank you again, Professor. I can't wait to owl Mickey to tell him. I know there's no guarantee that we'll be able to find a cure to help him, but I'm sure he'll still be happy to know that he might have something to reduce his fevers, whenever he has one," Cris told the Professor.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, Professor Culloden. I really appreciate it," Cris thanked the man before he headed out of the office.

Adi was wondering why Culloden was taking such a long time. But at that exact moment, the man appeared from the Potions lab, still wearing his gloves and goggles. "Hello, Professor,'' Adi said, grinning broadly. Culloden no doubt would have figured it out by now. Benny greeted him with a set of random words.

"Professor, Benny seems to have started uttering nonsense for no reason.'' Keep your tone puzzled and face blank, Adi. "I was wondering if you could figure out what's wrong with him?''

Oh, so somebody was inside! Culloden was. Good, because he was the one Sophie really wanted to see anyway. Maybe he could explain her name printed out that list outside the door. She gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Hello," she said. It only took a second for her to notice the casual clothes. Uh oh. She gave him an almost sympathetic look. "I can see I've interrupted your holiday from work, so I won't be long," she said. Because who liked to work on their holidays? She turned and gestured toward the door. "My name's on the door outside" she pointed out. She knew he likely knew that, but...why was it on there? She turned back around with a questioning look on her face.

Okay, so...what's up, Culloden?

Ben too
 

Oh see how happy Cris was. That really made Cosgrach happy too, who would have guessed that?

"Anytime, Cris," he told the boy and smiled. What a nice lad!



The potion was working! EHEHE - no, no, he wasn't laughing. Cosgrach set a straight face, if not a grim one, and watched the boys with a disturbed look.

"Did someone point his wand at him?" he asked, "or, did you eat something out of ordinary? A cursed mail, perhaps?"

His response was hardly dignified, but she would listen nonetheless. Given their disagreement last year, and given Kevin's feelings towards the man, it was hardly surprising that Cosgrach too behaved in such a manner.

She nodded slowly, an indication that she was listening, not agreeing... and then there was that. The blonde uncrossed her legs, and crossed them over in the opposite direction. Was he implying what she thought he was implying? "If his work is good, then his grades should be good also... behaviour should only account for a minute portion of their outcomes..." seeing as grades were largely skills and knowledge based. No? So his attitude oughtn't impact his grade very much at all.

Still she might put a memo out to the rest of the staff, gauge their experiences with the boy.

"Well I best not hold you up much longer, but I was wondering also, whether you had any use for Flesh-Eating Fairy Orchid resin? The students have harvested some and so I thought your stores might appreciate it."

Benny did his best to just listen as Adi told Professor Culloden the problem. His problem. The third year hoping the man had some clue as to what might be wrong in this circumstance which as he began to ask further questions of them it seemed he might have ideas on possibilities. He shook his head at first before pausing in thought. "Hazel gremlin bated flourish dare backgamon." He hadn't seen anything that was since he hadn't really been paying much attention out of his own bubble lately.

The Grryfindor corrected his answer with a shrug before looking at Adi. Had he seen anything?

Just look at Culloden playing along! He couldn't get any cooler than this. Adi shook his head, maintaining his serious look as Benny let out a few more words. Seriously, that never ceased to amuse him. And now he was having the urge to laugh out loud again.

"I didn't notice anyone doing any spell work that could affect him but then again, I wasn't paying attention to everyone in the Great Hall.'' Hehe. Had to make it look good though he would have to tell Benny eventually that he had slipped him the potion. Or maybe not. "He was eating the stuff the House Elves prepared. I don't think anyone spiked the food.'' Adi looked questioningly at Culloden. "Professor, do you need to examine the food? I could go get it.'' That way Culloden could get to see the effects of the Potion without having the Hufflepuff around to distract him.

...

No comment. None. He just shrugged and muttered "That's right." No, he was more interested of what she said next, and he smiled.

"I always appreciate ingredients," especially if they were free, "so thank you, Seren. And thanks, kids." Wasn't this neat.




...

......must... not... laugh...

Cosgrach took a deep breath, cleared his throat and said "Thank you, but that's not necessary, Adi." He got up and walked to his 'emergency potions' shelves. There, he acted as if he was trying to pick the right one. What he actually did was, fill an empty vial non-verbally with water and turn the colour to purple. His body was thankfully wide enough to hide his actions. And anyway, they probably trusted him enough not to watch what he was doing.

"This is Hogwarts," he was saying as he did all those, "we are a folk that love showing off with magic. It's probably some hex that went in the wrong direction, but if someone even dared poisoning you," he turned, once he was done with creating the purple-coloured water, "this should fix it. It's an antidote for some common poisons. Bottoms up!"

Hehehe. The panic was going to e priceless as the 'antidote' failed to fix his speech!

So Adi hadn't seen anything either which was not a good sign. That meant there was nothing pointing to the identity of a culprit to find out what exactly had been done. But surely a professor would know or direct them to someone who might since they had more knowledge in these matters. Right?

But showing off?! He was babbling because of someone showing off? So he luck was apparently still bad. Benny exchanged a look with Adi as Culloden turned away and appeared to be looking for something. Which he apparently found as he turned around and offered it to him.

He tentatively accepted the offered vial from the professor but he wasn't quick to drink it. Not even when the man explained it was an antidote and could cure his problem. Hello....unknown potion being given to him and he wasn't often that thrilled with testing out the ones they did in the lessons where he knew everything that was in it. "Walla te---" The Gryffindor started to ask what was it, breaking off when it was useless.

Instead he swallowed nervously and moved the vial closer to his lips. The boy talking a deep breath before drinking, surprised by the taste. Or rather lack of it.

....

Well that was a definitive response if ever she heard one. Seren just sat, staring. Hhhmmm...

But at least there was something positive to be taken away from this meeting. "Oh excellent... I'll have some delivered as soon as possible," save her some space in her own stores cupboard.
"And I best be off, thank you for meeting with me... if things don't work out with Kevin will you let me know please?" she asked, taking up Kettleburn's wand from the table in the process. That, needed to be returned.

"Thanks again," she mused with a polite smile, leaving the comfort of the couch and heading for the dungeon corridor.

Hayden hadn't been waiting very long when the door opened and Professor Culloden invited her into his office. She followed him in and sat down in a chair across from where he sat. Now that it was actually time for her to talk to him, she really didn't know exactly what to say. Her questions were mostly general confusion instead of real questions that could be easily formed with words.

"Hello Professor," she greeted him with a smile. That was a start. She'd get to her reason for visiting eventually. "How have you been?"

Not necessary. Okay. Adi shrank closer to the wall of Culloden's office. Take it away, Professor! He wondered what the man had in mind for Benny. The boy watched as he did something but as to what it was, Adi did not know for Culloden was completely blocking his actions with his body.

Wait! A remedy already? Adi was taken aback. He had not expected Benny to be served a remedy already. He watched his friend down the purple coloured liquid. Well, there went the Babbling Benny. Hello, shy, quiet Benny. Whom Adi didn't mind, by the way.

"Of course," Cosgrach said as he got up as well. Of course he would let her know. "Thank you, as well," he said somewhat distractedly - he was thinking about what to do with the boy tonight, and he walked out after her to lock his office and open the classroom.



"Hello... Hayden, was it?" Yeah. Yeah. He remembered! He smiled back. "I've been fine, thank you. And you? Would you like something to drink? Eat?" He was in a good mood today. Enjoy.




Well?

"Of course, whoever thought of pulling this prank should be punished," he said - he was that 'sure' of the antidote that he didn't even see if it worked, hehehe, "but, world doesn't work that way. Well. What do you think?" Benny? Speak up! Hehehe.

"Yes," Hayden confirmed with a nod and a smile. She was surprised he'd remembered her name. Actually she was surprised he knew it at all because she did not remember introducing herself. Maybe she should have done that when she entered his office. That would have been the polite thing to do. Oops. It was a good thing he did know her name then.

"I'm good, I'm finally able to find my way around Hogwarts without getting hopelessly lost. Sure, thanks." That last part was in response to his offer of food. She assumed he meant the bowl of candy on the table by her chair. She wouldn't say no to candy. Hayden selected one that looked cherry flavored. Right, she'd come there for a reason.

"How did you get into potions?" That wasn't exactly what she had wanted to ask but it would do for now. Also, she could have worded it better. Oh well, he'd know what she meant.

Last year, Cosgrach didn't study the list of students at all, and it'd caused him problems. So, this year, he had at least checked the students that he wanted to talk to, and Hayden was one of them.

See how easy knowing her name made the conversation.

He narrowed his eyes, unable to decide whether she wanted something to drink as well, but... she didn't look so. Well, then.

"Good for you," he commented idly, good for her indeed that she could find her way around now.

Oh, she came for that? Interesting. Not uncomfortable at all, too. In fact, although he was surprised by the question; he was also glad. She was only the second person to ask that.

"Well," he said, and paused. How to explain his reasons? What to say?.. "I didn't really have a goal in life when I sat the OWLs," he said, "and I failed most of them. I passed only a handful, and although I'd always been good at potions, it had never drawn my attention until I received the results letter. It was a bad moment of my life, see," he wasn't going to elaborate why it was bad, but clearly it was bad, "so potions helped me get over it. It saved me, actually. And also, of course, I really enjoy it."

Well?

Adi watched as Benny opened his mouth to speak, expecting his speech to return to normal. But no. More mumbo jumbo. The Hufflepuff stared. "Er...Professor. Does the remedy need time before it starts working?'' Maybe a delayed reaction or something?

Poor Benny looked so sad. Adi was wondering if he had done the right thing by slipping his friend the Potion. "I only wanted you to speak more, Dragon,'' he thought. He wondered if he should keep the information that he slipped the Potion a secret. Benny might not talk to him FOREVER if he found out.

Hayden listened with interested and nodded her head slowly, almost without even realizing it, to show that she was listening. He failed most of his owls? That was interesting, but she didn't comment or ask more questions about that because it didn't seem very polite. His story was interesting enough but she didn't know what kind of response from her it called for. So, instead of really answering she moved the subject a bit to the real reason she'd come to his office. Hopefully he knew she'd listened and didn't think she was just ignoring him.

"I have a question about the subject." She almost asked him if it was okay for her to ask that, but he was the Potions Master after all, answering questions about it was why he was there. So she just jumped into her question. "How do potions work? How do you know what ingredients to add? What is the point of them being there? What do they do?" Her last question sounded more distressed than she'd meant, but those questions had been bugging her. She wasn't satisfied with just following directions, she wanted to know why they worked.