Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
Chapter 44: What is your goal?
"I'm not sure if I'm improving at all…" Bella pouted while staring at her latest potion batch.
"Well…" James was still getting used to Bella's strange displays of emotion.
Over the past week, she had been visiting his lab every afternoon, and the more time they spent together, the more her attitude appeared to change.
Seeing her play around with Primum and showing something akin to a genuine, warm smile… he was having a hard time adjusting to it.
In public, she still behaved as usual, with her aggressive and cold persona. Only in this secret lab did she allow herself to show some emotions.
"Well?… Well, what?" Bella glanced at him, waiting for a proper answer.
James made a quick recovery. "Well, let me see that vial."
She handed him one of the potions she had created. Bella was still making batches of Confusing Draught to improve her control over the flames.
"It is better." James could tell at first glance that the quality of her brews had become much more refined.
"But it's not good enough yet…" Bella muttered.
"But it means that you are improving," James pointed out. "No need to be so hard on your work. That's my jo-."
"Kyu!" Primum jumped down from the large cage that James had set up for him near the roof of the laboratory.
They both looked up and saw the creature move its tiny wings to slow its descent, landing on top of Bella's lap.
"Hey! You took a long nap, didn't you?" Bella greeted her friend.
"Primum… you're interrupting our lesson," James said in a harsh tone.
"Kyu?..." The creature glanced back at him with its innocent eyes.
"We talked about this. And don't pretend that you don't understand me. I know how smart you are… don't forget I created you," James said, pointing at Primum.
"Kyu…" Primum made a sad expression.
"Hey, come on, James. Lay off the poor little guy. He's still a child," Bella scolded him.
"And you need to stop treating him like a child…" James placed the potion down. "Your current results can be considered… acceptable."
"Really?" Bella said with rising excitement. "But I didn't manage to get the same level of purity as the one you brewed." She had been using James's potion as a reference to measure how well her potions were coming along.
"That's why I said… acceptable. If you could replicate my results exactly, then you wouldn't have need for my teachings. That being said…" James seemed to be considering something.
"What is it?" Bella asked.
"Kyu?" Primum chimed in.
"I can understand that repeating the same exercise over and over can get tedious, and making improvements would get harder over time," James muttered.
"Are you going to teach me something new?" Bella became more interested.
"Tell me, Bella. How good are you with wandless magic?"
"Wandless magic?" She wasn't expecting to be asked that. Performing magic without a focus isn't even talked about until their sixth or seventh year. And even then, no one is required to learn it in order to graduate or even to pass their N.E.W.T.s.
'Now that I think about it… didn't he perform wandless magic in class?' Bella recalled.
"I've never even tried to do wandless magic… wouldn't know where to begin," Bella responded to his question.
"I see…" He had forgotten how little they taught at Hogwarts already. For him, this was just a basic skill that all his students learned early on, but he remembered the faces of shock when he did that little demonstration in class. "Then I'll teach you that first. Then we can move on to something more complicated."
"You want to teach me wandless magic?… What do you mean by something more complicated?! Wandless magic is extremely complicated already."
"Tempus…" A clock appeared in front of James. "We still have two hours left. Since I've dealt with all my obligations for today, I can focus on teaching you the basics."
"Will I need to learn wandless magic for that brewing method?" Bella was getting concerned after learning this.
"Of course. So far, you've only worked with normal fire, but that method requires the use of a special type of 'Alchemic Flame.' These flames, even the most basic ones, are created and controlled by your own magic. Being able to use magic without your wand is just the first step," James said, lifting one finger in the air.
"An alchemic flame? Why wouldn't normal fire work?" She had never studied alchemy, so she had no idea what those flames were.
"They're necessary because normal fire isn't hot enough."
"Not hot enough?!" Bella exclaimed.
"Kyu!" Primum seemed interested in the fire conversation.
"These flames used for brewing can only reach about 3000ºF, while Alchemic Flames can reach much higher temperatures. And that is required to achieve the perfect extraction of the ingredients' essence without losing any quality in the process."
"That's…" Bella muttered.
"Now, let me make something clear. You don't need to learn this just to brew potions. You can achieve a very high degree of purity with just the normal tools, as long as you have the necessary skills. That method of brewing that you saw me using is actually meant for alchemy experiments. I just adapted it for potion-making."
"Are you trying to convince me to give up?" Bella frowned.
"I'm just telling you that if your goal is to become a Potion Master, then this step may not be necessary. I'll still teach you no matter what, but it could be something else."
"My goal…" Those words made Bella stop for a moment and think. Why was she so obsessed with learning that specific thing?
'It's because when I saw it… I thought, wow… Grandpa would be so proud of me if I could do that. But was that the only reason? Or did I really hope that…' Her eyes became fixed on James.
"My goal… I'll tell you about it, James. But I want you to promise me something in return."
James saw the determination growing in those purple eyes and knew that whatever Bella wanted to request from him would not be a small thing.
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