Albus Potter and the Cursed Legacy | Scorbus

11. Opportunities

It had been nearly a week since Magnolia had chosen to work with Albus in potions class and he was still waiting for the day she got bored of him and decided to partner with someone new. It wasn't that Albus completely minded being partnered--he'd actually started to get used to her--but knowing his luck, he expected her to realise that working with Albus was a mistake.

It had been fairly clear since the beginning that Magnolia only wanted to partner with him to get a good mark. Perhaps she saw mutual benefit in their partnership, she would do well in class and he would be slightly more popular by association. Albus wasn't so sure if it was actually working in his favour in that way. It seemed like Matthias was more hostile toward him than ever despite Albus' best attempts to avoid him. It was almost impossible, of course, to avoid him completely since they had been assigned to the same dormitory since first year. Albus' new relationship with Magnolia might explain why some of his possessions had been disappearing from his dorm and turning up in odd places...

Even if Magnolia wasn't helping his social situation, she was bearable to work with. Although she still didn't seem to know the recipes, she at least tried to pitch in every so often. She acted as a sort of assistant to him, grabbing the ingredients he asked for or stirring the cauldron whilst he crushed ingredients with a mortar and pestle. So she wasn't completely useless.

She attempted to make conversation too. She must have learned quickly enough that Albus was never much for small talk, so she tended to just go on about her day or recent gossip whilst he pitched in the occasional 'mhmm' or 'okay'. Working with Magnolia didn't compare to working with Scorpius but it wasn't as torturous as he expected.

Rose and Scorpius, on the other hand, still seemed to be in a bit of a power struggle as they attempted to work as a team. Rose, a determined leader, and Scorpius, a meticulous perfectionist, tried their best but almost always ended up bickering.

"Bloody hell, Scorpius, hurry up. I need to add it before the potion boils over!" Rose moaned, stirring the steaming cauldron and waiting to add the next ingredient.

"The book says to grind it into a fine powder. Look, it's still too coarse!" Scorpius held up the mortar for her to see the bone he was crushing.

Albus held back a chuckle, overhearing their squabbling. He continued to stir his own cauldron, adding the last few ingredients to the potion.

"So how did you get so good at potions?" Magnolia looked over at him, plucking the petals off a daisy one by one.

Albus blinked, not used to her asking about him for a change, "Erm, I dunno. It's just the only class I'm not rubbish at."

She raised an eyebrow, "The only class? Surely there's more you can do than just potions." Albus thought she was trying to be encouraging but she obviously didn't know him too well.

"Do you remember that time in defence against the dark arts when I tried to cast expelliarmus but ended up disarming myself and my wand flew into Elliot Birch's eye?" Albus reminded her of a lesson back in third year, "That's pretty much how all magic works out for me."

Magnolia giggled, "Okay, okay, so that wasn't your greatest moment, but I bet with a little practice you could get better! I happen to do very well in charms. Maybe we could study together sometime?" She tilted her head slightly with a flutter of her long lashes.

Albus' breath got caught in his throat and he started to choke on the air a bit, making quite the fool of himself, "You want to study...with me?" He sputtered. Albus could understand Magnolia partnering with him to get good marks in class but wanted to spend more time with him outside of lessons? That was just unheard of. Why would she want to even be associated with him if it wasn't to her benefit?