Raven's School of Magic: Year One

Chapter 18: Thanksgiving at Raven's

Ally

After the masquerade party for Halloween, I just can't wait for even more holiday parties here! I know I should be studying for midterms like everyone else, but I'm too busy dreaming of all the great times to be had here at Raven's. While it won't be a big party, we will get a nice big feast for Thanksgiving! I can't wait to try out all the food here and because momma is here as a teacher for Ariel, daddy will be coming too! Oh, it's going to be so much fun!

I hope Ariel will sit with us, but he may sit with Professor Moonfall and his brother too. I haven't seen Silas since that night in the nurse's office so I'm not sure if their relationship is good or not at this point, but I do hope he'll treat Ariel right from now on! No more slapping and no more yelling either. He seems to care in his own way even if he's a big meanie! I guess I'll see what it is soon enough.

That morning I can barely contain my excitement. Of course, we have classes first, and getting closer to our midterm exams means we have a lot of homework and plenty of note-taking. School never really stops so we don't get a chance to catch our breath.

It is a bit of a drag not going to lie about that for sure. However, daddy did get here while momma was teaching Ariel a new spell, so that brought my excitement back to seeing him! As always he flashed me a goofy grin and a wave before I had to get back to paying attention to class. Professor Sable is getting more and more strict, but it makes sense in a way. The more magic we learn, the more the risk is that we could hurt someone.

In potions, we even have another test. We need to mix a potion all on our own and follow every instruction perfectly or we could get an orange tongue that makes everything taste sour. I certainly don't want that to happen to me! I wanna enjoy my Thanksgiving turkey! Most of the class complained too when this was announced, but Professor Kelp silenced us.

"If you want to enjoy the feast then mix the potion properly." Was all he said. So here we are taking it slow, but also not too slow. Each step has a time element and if we're off by even a second, we fail. I don't want a sour orange tongue! I wish Scar could help me like usual but since we have to do it by ourselves, I have to do it on my own.

I look back at the instructions for this cold potion. I'm not sure if it means it can cure a cold or if it makes you cold. The last potion we made was a hot potion which after drinking we started to sweat like it was a hot summer day. The ingredients don't really help to tell me either... man I need to study and read up on them! They mainly just sound gross.

Step 4: After bringing the razor lizard scale and frog blood solution to a boil, add two grams of snarkowl feathers and mix for exactly 1 minute. Then go on to step 5.

I shudder a bit as working with frog blood reminds me of my neighbor, old Ms. Beets, and her house full of frogs. I wonder what she would think of potions like this. The idea of drinking it too... it sounds so gross! Will I feel and taste everything going down my throat?

Wait stop! I need to focus! I add the feathers and continue to stir. Moving through the last remaining hours steps, I finally find myself finished with the potion. I grimace a bit, not knowing how all the ingredients I added could have made an icy blue potion. Looks like maybe it will make me cold after all. The hot potion had been bright red after all.

"Oh looks like you're done as well, Rose." Professor Kelp interrupts my thoughts. "Go ahead and try it out." I notice Scar is done too and shivering a bit after taking her mixture. Two others, Freda and poor Eddy, are also done but they are sticking out their now orange tongues. I feel sorry for them, but I take a good amount after Professor Kelp says to get more and take the potion. I brace myself but as it goes down my throat, it feels like I'm swallowing ice.