Devoted Witch Part I

**Catlyn Ollivander**

The remnants of nightmare clump in my mind like sweat sticking to my skin. Heat penetrates the walls of the rooftop potion lab as the bubbling of cauldrons drowns out the bustle of the street below.

Even after a month of having it, it still fills me with glee. The massive stone room, wood would have disintegrated by now, spans most of the roof. LED light sprays down on the Lab portion of the room, illuminating it in white light. I prefer natural light, but having too many windows could affect the potions.

Only a few places allow natural light to peek through: the closed skylight, a small hole to let in fresh air and disperse any toxic fumes, The door on the side of the room, tinted glass french doors, and a spiral staircase leading up to a greenhouse. Marble counters and dark wood cabinets line every other portion of the walls.

Bags hang under my eyes as I prep the ten cauldrons bubbling on the marble counters. Buying so many cauldrons did bite a sizable chunk out of my allowance, but it gives me room to experiment.

I make my way to the far side of the room and up the staircase. The earthy smell of dirt fills my nostrils as barely any light makes it through the tinted glass.

Careful to let as little light in as possible, I slip through the french doors. Rows of plants stretch their stems up to the morning sun as it beats heat down in return. A wooden table leans on the side of the greenhouse. Spots still blink in and out of my vision as I grab the Whomping Willow bark baking in the sun. Its dry texture pokes into my hand while I bring it down to place it next to the last cauldron.

"Good morning Miss Catlyn!" Cimsy cheers, Apparating in with a pop.

*Morning!* I greet, glancing to see a mug of blood in her hand.

Handing it to me, I give a small thank you nod and take a sip. My body breathes in appreciation as the liquid's metal tang slides through my body.

*Thank you!* I "voice" my appreciation after setting the mug away from the cauldrons.

As I do so, Cimsy's gaze turns puzzled as falls to the numerous cauldrons. "What potion is Miss making?"

*Mana Potion, same as usual, why?* I ask, smiling at Cimsy taking an interest.

"Cimsy was just wondering why Miss is making more if Miss has all of that." Cimsy points to the tall cabinet, filled with Mana Potions, next to the door. The cabinet is organized so that half is filled with vials of the standard recipe and the other half houses experimental versions.

*The Mana Potion recipe is fairly new and needs to be perfected and refined." Glee at Cimsy's questions threatens to leap out.

"Refine? Cimsy doesn't understand." Cimsys brow furrows between her massive eyes.

I take a second to formulate my thoughts, *although the Mana Potion works, it isn't perfect. Messing with ingredient amounts and recipe steps could decrease how quickly it degrades and increase the amount of Mana it can hold.*

"Is that what Miss is doing here?" Cimsy asks, coming closer to the cauldrons.

*Exactly! With this, I'm experimenting with two different variables. My theory is that a factor that influences the potion's life expectancy is how long the Whomping Willow bark is sunbaked. The other variable I theorise to be the amount of bark to impact Mana capacity. Here I'm using a control and nine different cauldrons all with a different sample of bark.

Four with the independent variable being time spent sunbaked and the other five being the amount of bark. I add the bark in and watch the volatility of the reaction, then I add a sample of the potion to my journal and note the weight of the potion to see if there's any change that will either make the formula not viable or require a new ingredient.* I rant, only to look at Cimsy and realise the incomparable nature of my words.

"What?"

Biting my hair, I think hard to make anything I say understandable, *think of the potion like a cake. I used the same recipe so far for ten cakes but got to the step where I'm adding… sugar. The problem is that sugar's expensive and I don't know if using less sugar will change…* I struggle for a moment to figure out a good analogy.

"The taste of the cake?" Cimsy asks, getting into the analogy.

"Yeah! Let me demonstrate." I stop for a moment to look for some stepstools. Considering I have more stepstools than cauldrons, I quickly find two and drag them to the control cauldron. *This "cake" is used to compare and make sure that the change actually affects anything. First I weigh the bark and the cauldron. Once alone and once together.*

My explanation follows along as I do the steps. *Then I note all the weights on the page marked with the number next to this cauldron. Adding the bark in, I stir and watch the amount of bubbling and mentally keep track of it so I can compare it to the rest. After it finishes, I then weigh the outcome, note it, and use the stirring stick to rub some of it on that page.*

"Miss puts a lot of effort into this," Cimsy praises, earning a smile back from me.

Just as I'm about to respond, Father's words echo up from downstairs, "Catty! Ready for your lesson?"

Oh yeah, today's the day we start prepping for the Wand Licencing exam. Turning to ask Cimsy to go and tell him I'll be there in a moment, the experiment comes to mind. Bollocks! If I stop now, I'll have to scrap most of the current batch and lose all of those materials. I start tossing an idea around in my head as I look at Cimsy.

Cimsy has been slowly getting more and more confidence since coming here and no glass is being used. *Cimsy, do you have any chores you have to do soon?*

"Cimsy has nothing until lunch."

*Can you do me a favour and do what I just showed you with the rest of the cauldrons?* At my request, Cimsy's eyes grew wide.

"Cimsy doesn't know if she'd do it right. Cimsy, Cimsy doesn't," her words turned into a stutter as the idea circled into her mind.

*I have the steps written on the previous page if you ever get stuck. If you can't, it's not a big deal.* The idea battled within her for a while until she sighed in defeat. Nodding, I give her a smile and a pat on the head, *thank you so much. Can you quickly pop by Father first and tell him I'll be down in a moment?*

Happy to get the simple task, a grin stretched her massive face as she Apparate's down. A pep springs in my step at the prospect of a wand lesson as I stroll to the door. My stride hitches as I near the cabinet filled with Mana Potion. I better bring some. Grabbing a few of the standard recipe vials, I set them on the counter. Grabbing my pocket watch out of the pocket of my, oversized, black windbreaker, I set it down next to the vials.

During lessons with Dr. Ballester, I use a lot of Mana. Sure, I only needed to use two vials a lesson but I found it quite clunky to have to reach into my pocket or stay by a ledge. Lucky for me, I found these tiny gold quick-release hooks and pins to connect the vials to the chain of my pocket watch. Unhooking the pins from the chain, I grab two of the vials and stab them into their corks. Wrapping the end of the chain through two of the right belt loops of my baggy jeans, I clasp the chain secure. Tucking the watch into my pocket, I continue out the door.

Descending the fire escape crammed between the two buildings, I pass Father's window and slip into mine. Moving through my room, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I pass. Bollocks.

Like an itch needing to be scratched, I do a u-turn straight back to the mirror. Inspecting myself, I make sure the green T-shirt, under my wand holster and windbreaker, covers the runic circle as well as any other scars.

I contemplate slipping the amber shard necklace under my shirt. It's not that flashy, but it is the only thing that stabilizes the Mana Potion and prevents its degradation. Considering it's a piece of the Philosopher's Stone, it's probably really valuable. Deciding to do so, I test to make sure I can easily grab a vial or check the time.

"Catlyn!" I could hear Father yell from below, shaking me out of the trance my reflection put me in.