(1940-02-26) Peace Be with Us?
Details for Peace Be with Us?
Summary: Abraxas Malfoy and Soleil Parkinson do some Potions Tutoring.
Date: February 26th, 1940
Location: Hogwarts - Study Area - 4th Floor
Related:
Characters
AbraxasSoleil

Hogwarts - Study Area - 4th Floor


It is a winter afternoon. The weather is cold and fair.


A very small library that can be used as a place to study that is both out of the main library and also not the Great Hall that usually acts as the home for study hall. The walls are all stone and the floor is oak hardwood that is designed to the wood looks like interlocking open books. Cheeky students in the past have scratched stories onto these books. Several throw rugs are placed here and there over some of the more inappropriate stories. Of course as well wood fill was used as a censor here and there as well. There are a few bookshelves in the room. Each bookshelf is dedicated to a Hogwarts Subject and every shelf is divided up by year with first year on the bottom and seventh year on the top. All the books in the study area are donated by students so they are in varying degrees of disrepair. Flanking each shelf is a couple of large tables. Every table is centered with a book holder and simple quills rest in black ink wells ready to be used by a studying student.


Abraxas Malfoy, between classes, has set up in a corner of the study hall with a small pile of books. It's coming down to OWL time, and so he has to spend more time studying than doing… whatever else he might do.

Soleil has finished setting up the miniature potions laboratory in the designated area and she softly calls over to Abraxas, "Okay, done setting up." She gives him a gesture to come away from his books for a bit to give him some pointers. "Now Slughorn fancies himself quite the comedian, when I took my OWLS it was the Draught of Peace that he had us do." She does a poor imitation of Slughorn, "You're going to need it by OWLs end." She even chortles like Slughorn after he's amused himself. "That is the potion we'll work on now. The first step is powdering the moonstones…" She makes a gesture towards the mortar and pestle that has a box of moonstones by it.

"Does he now? Maybe I should have brought home more crystallized pineapple, to put him in a better frame of mind." Abraxas says, as he approaches and selects an appropriate number of moonstones from the box and drops them into the bowl of the mortar and pestle. The first sharp *THWACK* breaks them up a bit so the grinding can commence to powder them.

Soleil chuckles, "He does love that stuff." She watches him work over his shoulder. Waiting to see if he knows the good stopping points. If he goes too coarse her silence might be indication enough to keep going. If he goes too fine a clearing of her throat and tapping the box closer to him so he can start again will seal the deal. "So, are you focused? I am certain you'll be fine and pass with ease. I just also know that you've got quite a large distraction that you've burdened yourself with." She lowers her voice substantially, "Do you really think they might free up a Prefect position?"

Abraxas groans as he gets it too fine, and dumps out the ruined ingredient to start again. "Bloody potions, I'll be happy to see the last of them. And herbology. Let someone else tend the gardens…" he murmurs. But as he selects some new moonstones and gets back to grinding, he says, "I don't know, really. I suppose it depends on if the person currently holding that position does something stupid. Then again, stupidity seems to be rather genetic."

Soleil hmms softly, "See, distracted…" She points out softly. His shoulder is given a very light pat, that holds no condescending in it at all. It's all supportive and assuring and brief. "I would think it would be more based in a general lack of doing anything with the badge than it would be for him doing something stupid. Lan has a cunning about him, unlike his brother, but he's still useless at being a Prefect. The only reason he wasn't removed in Flint's Prefect Culling was because he was Slytherin." But they are here to get this Draught perfected so she changes the subject back to that. "Potions is about patience and practice. You do things until it's muscle memory. If you rest your wrist lightly on the edge of the pestle here and hold the mortar like this…" She gently adjusts his grip and where his wrist is to demonstrate. "Give a circular rolling spin, it gives you greater control of the powders fineness."

"Yes, there are certainly times when I feel like I'm the only one doing any sort of Prefect work. Not that it has been particularly beneficial to Slytherin, points-wise." Abraxas says, as he tries the trick and gets it perfect the second time. "There." he says, satisfied, and moving on to the next step without needing to be told what it is - he's halfway into it before he glances at the potions book to make sure. "Besides, I can politick and potion at the same time."

Soleil looks rather prideful when her trick really seems to sink in and he does gets the moon dust and the next step precisely done. "…and seven." She says on the seventh stir that has the potion turning purple. "With this potion make sure you have something to scrape the spoon or stirring paddle off with as pull the spoon out, every drop counts." She lifts up a pliable pit of sheet metal and offers it over to him. It's what she typically uses for such things. "You can keep this one if you'd like." She gives him space so he can bend over and check the height of the flames so they are just high enough to allow the potion to simmer until it turns pink. Which gives them a few minutes to talk and fill the time. "Yes, but can you politick, potioneer, garden, charm, arithmance, rune, transfigure, historian, defend, and astro-navigate? I don't doubt your Abe, I am merely trying to urge you not to do anything to ruin your future while attempting to ruin their future. Especially as they are doing quite fine at that on their own."

Abraxas laughs lightly, "You know me better than that. If you get caught, you aren't trying hard enough." He scrapes off his implements as directed, after finishing with the stirring and moving on with the potioneering. "Yes, they're doing quite a fine job of it, aren't they? The only problem is that both of them are set to be around again next year, and I don't know how long I can maintain patience for this silliness. The longer they stubbornly refuse to admit their beaten, the sterner the measures that will have to be taken to reinforce that for them."

Soleil clasps her hands together over her belly and she hmmms. "Politicking is a lot like Potioneering. It takes patience. The Malfoys have done an excellent job preparing the potion for disaster and have left the tending of the potion to a bunch of leeches, who obviously have no potion experience, nor realize that they themselves are in the pot! I'm not trying to discourage you from this pursuit. Merlin's Beard it's much more healthy and wise than your last crusade." The Magijugend, it's no rumor that Soleil did not care for the group, it's fact. "They wholly deserve what is coming to them. As your friend and Potion Mentor, I simply want to make sure that you don't get too carried away, and your grades suffer. I'm sure that they won't, merely feel the need as your friend to make sure it's said."

"Mmmhmm. Strange that you and your arch-enemy Valda Rosenblatz have the same opinion on the Magijugend. Though I have been giving the issue more thought lately. I'm concerned, because, for me at least, it was never a matter of lording over Muggles - who, being bloodthirsty and fractious as a rule, I think we are better off without. It was always about maintaining the wizarding world for wizard kind." A political pyramid with the Malfoys snugly and securely at the top, of course, but he'd probably consider that merely enlightened self-interest.

Soleil licks her lips and narrows her eyes at the mention of Valda, "Yes well, I full well know that she realizes the stupidity and villainy of her actions. That doesn't mean that she should still be allowed to not face the law like anyone else. I'm sure there's plenty of criminals in Azkaban that realize now they shouldn't have murdered a good young man in cold blood for no reason what so ever. She has no right to be here, Dumbledore should be removed as quickly as he was put in for allowing that vile Dark Witch in this school. I am no fan of as you say the bloodthirsty and fractious Muggles. They are going to blow this beautiful world up with their war trinkets and toys. Where Grindelwald and his precious little Magijugend go very wrong is their, "Conquer by any means necessary stand point. I would rather see this world blown apart by Muggles than to live in a world ruled and populated by Dark Witches and Wizards and their mindless little yes men automatons. Remove the dark magic from Grindelwald's plan and you have something. Your cousin's UNITY Act is closer to something I am comfortable with. I don't care for Muggles, but I don't mind them existing as long as they don't go making wars because some warlord belched at another's dinner party." She realizes she lost her usual prim decorum in all that and she clears her throat, "Apologies. That was a bit much…hmm, it's about to turn pink…" It still has a bit before it does turn pink. She's only trying to get back on course.

Abraxas sees to his potion, and nods, "I understand your feelings on the matter. Though I wrote my father about it, and he says that having seen the information, he believes that Dumbledore was correct in this." A sideways glance, "And, of course, if one is concerned with stopping Grindelwald, a defector from his cause, who has done a horrible thing and seen the wrongfulness of her actions, is a wonderful propaganda tool." He begins to get his phials ready for the decanting.

Soleil takes a deep breath and is obviously doing her best to not go on another tirade, Valda (and the Magijugend) is really the only thing that can get her so hackled. "Yes, well all well and good propaganda, but she has no need to be brought here to school, she could have been given a place in the Mysticked District that could be closely monitored by the M.L.E. and magistrate instead of putting the entire school at risk. But let's focus on the potion. I fear we've gotten off topic. You need to be very careful with the Syrup of Hellebore. One extra drop and the potion is ruined. It's thick so some drops can be larger than others."

"Since she will be gone in three months, I would consider it a personal favor if the time were simply allowed to pass without comment. Nothing is going to change now, anyway." Abraxas says, smoothly. Then he goes back to what he was doing, paying close attention to his drops. "Besides…" he adds, almost as an aside, "Where is anyone more closely supervised than here at Hogwarts?"

Soleil returns easily, "Azkaban." As she watches him she muses softly out loud, "A lot can happen in three months, just as Flint and the Magijugend." Touche! She leans over to watch the drops and if one is looking on the large side she gestures upward so he can suck the excess back up into the dropper and start a new drop.

"If you consider supervision to be dementors, yes. Don't they eat your soul or something? I'd really think that qualifies as something quite different." Abraxas observes, "Hardly warm and cuddly. Though I suppose effective." He snorts just a bit about the fall of Flint, "Flint went to far too quickly. If he had been more reasonable, we might be having a different conversation. People don't understand the benefit of subtlety." Wait, is this Abraxas Malfoy we're talking about? He's learned a few things in the past year himself.

Soleil gets a smug little smile. "You mean patience and allowing someone to hang themselves? Much like I was making sure you did just a few minutes ago. In that you're speaking to the choir. He went too far because he was a breath away from teaching his mindless yesmen in the Dark Arts. He was Dark Arts Daffy, which is why he failed. Which is why a group of young men should also be careful with what the dabble in." She doesn't know exactly what him and his little band of Knights are up to. But it's most likely no good. "Extremely effective and the lawful place of anyone who casts an unforgivable curse, let alone does so and murders someone. It's the worst of the worst in unforgivable curses and there she flits, in tha same halls Leander should be flitting. It's disgusting and against the law, but we all know how your family handles laws they don't like. They change them. So you're right, nothing to be done besides keep an eye on her."

"I'm starting to wonder if we're friends or not." Abraxas says drolly, "Because that feels like a bit of an attack. Though I'm sure I'm mistaken. As for what I dabble in… cartography, tomb raiding, and competing for the attention of good looking women. Not necessarily in that order."

Soleil leans over to give him a light nudge when it is safe to do so and he's not carefully measuring the next ingredient. "We are friends. If we weren't would I be tutoring you in this and worrying about you so? I don't have to agree with everything you or your family does to be friends. In fact it's a sign of a good friend. One that's not afraid to speak concerns and offer support and advice." She gives his shoulder a little squeeze if allowed. "Now, truly let's set aside all of that talk and focus on your school work. Yes? Slughorn might be right, we may need sips of this ourselves if we continue on about politics." She even offers a cool but friendly and warm in effort smile to Abraxas. "The powdered porcupine quills has a trick to it. It's all in the wrist again. Place the shaker…making sure the lid is twisted so the holes are closed… in your hand. Let your wrist go dead, keep the rest of your arm still and just let your hand flop about super quick. Like you're doing a so-so hand gesture. I find that's the way to really see there's no clumps in the powder."

For the rest of the tutoring session the two manage to keep on track and focus purely on the potion making at hand. Perhaps the fumes from the Draught worked their magic?

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License