Maglins and the Infinite Quest

24

Pipher Green

It was the day after Christmas, and I needed to do something for Anna. We didn't have the money to blow at a grocery store to buy a pill so I had to figure something else out. While Anna's parents were working, we both rummaged through the house, through Mr. Bennet's office, and anywhere else we could think of. All just to find a potions book.

Eventually I found one and ran to the kitchen to begin brewing. The potion acted as pregnancy prevention as well as temporarily getting rid of a period.

All of the ingredients seemed to be things that could easily be found, or bought cheaply at the grocery store except for one thing. A type of rose that was necessary for creating the potion. I had remembered hearing about it at school but for a different potion, apparently they're very rare.

Once I told Anna the bad news she was frustrated, and for good reason. In her frustration, she ran up the stairs and said, "Figure this out before my parents get home," before I heard her footsteps run off.
I could understand why she was upset.

Not only did I need to figure out how to make this tricky potion, but I now also needed to do it alone.

I sat, brainstorming what I was going to do, and decided to write to Charles and Lucy to see if they knew anything about where I could find the rose. Thankfully it's used in many other potions so it wasn't suspicious to ask about it.

On the letters I wrote to them, I put "Open and respond immediately" because I needed responses quickly. I quickly delivered them to the post office, handing them some money to have them sent as soon as possible.

I went to the bookstore and looked for a book that may be able to tell me more about it, but my luck was running out. Eventually I found a page about it but it was full of bad news.

The plant is only found in tropical islands but shipped regularly.

That gave me about an ounce of hope.

I asked the bookstore cashier for a map of the town but that didn't help much. There were no plant shops. There was a magic store with basic supplies so that was my next stop.

The cashier didn't seem to be of much help.

"The closest place I've ever known to have that is Halford which is a mighty far trip,"

The time was slowly clicking down and I asked the man for directions before going on my way. It may be a far journey, but at least it's guaranteed to have the roses.

I kicked the horses side, causing it to speed up as we went through some fields, some towns, and eventually after a long trip, I made it to the big city of Halford. The city was overwhelming and made me feel tiny compared to the height of the buildings. At the first small shop I saw, I went inside and asked for a map.

The map was just like the city, very overwhelming and hard to read. Once I pinpointed the shop the man told me to go to, I did.

It was a small corner store with many floors. The walls were full of shelves stocked with many different products, it was magnificent.

"How may I help you?" A man in uniform asked.

I coughed before saying, "I'm looking for a rose for a potion I'm making. I don't remember the name but its tall and changes from yellow to blue,"

Once I gave the last detail, the man grabbed onto my arm and pulled me toward the back of the shop. The flowers I was looking for sat in vases in large amounts.

"Be careful picking them," The man said, "The thorns are sharp,"

I began plucking a few roses out, and he was right, the thorns were sharp. Once I had gotten the few that I needed, I went to the counter where the man was now standing and handed him some money.

"What time is it?" I asked him.

"About two in the afternoon," He responded.

I rushed out of the door where I got back on the horse and quickly rode away. I only had a few hours to get back and brew the potion before Anna's parents would be back from work.

The bag that held the flowers wasn't didn't have handles, making it hard to hold on to. After what felt like ages, I was approaching the town Anna lives in, "Finally," I spoke, feeling exhausted.

When I got into the house, Anna was still upstairs and I went to the kitchen to brew up the potion. Once I boiled some water and all the other ingredients, it was time to add the flowers. The potion brewing book specifically said to only add them when they're blue and if they are yellow you need to find a way to turn them blue.

Thankfully I had enough blue ones so I didn't have to "figure out" how to turn them blue.

I sprinkled in the petals and left the mixture to brew, stirring occasionally. I also put the potion book back on the shelf and put everything back to normal to make it seem like neither of us had been snooping.

Once the mixture looked ready, I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured some in, and oh my it smells horrible.

With the glass in hand, I walked up the stairs to find Anna asleep in her bed. I put the glass down and shook her a few times, causing her to wake up.

I'm surprised just the smell of the mixture did not wake her up.

"Drink this," I said, handing her the glass.

Once she got a whiff of the potion, she made a disgusted face and plugged her nose as she drank.

As she drank, I heard her dad getting home from work, I needed to go clean up the rest of the kitchen. I felt bad leaving Anna to drink the mixture but I had to clean up before anyone suspected anything.

The cleaning went quite quickly, I hid the excess flowers I didn't use and made sure everything was tidy before her dad opened the front door.

I went back upstairs after greeting him at the door to find Anna, still trying to swallow the liquid. She looked disgusted and as if she could throw up any minute.

There wasn't much I could do for her other than comfort her as she tried to drink it, I wouldn't want to drink that gross mixture either.

"I'm never doing that ever again," She said after finishing the last sip.

I took the glass from her and gave a warm embrace, apologizing to her.

"I love you Pipher, but please don't make me do that ever again," She whispered into my ear.