Brewing a New Future

"Oof, back at last!" I groaned in relief as I all but kicked the door to my apartment open.

A month had gone by since school started, and all the minor annoyances, like homework, waking up early, and having stupid tests, had quickly reared their ugly heads, like a foul hydra. I was able to keep up with the school work easily thanks to my previous education experience and Occlumency training, and neither tests nor homework were truly all that bad thanks to my unfair advantages, merely irritations at most, but I could have done without the early mornings!

One of the few things that made Woolingsby tolerable was my new friend, Sam Parson. He was a sharp kid, and clearly recognized I wasn't the typical thirteen-year-old. But he assumed that was just because I was smarter than most of our classmates.

And, honestly, it was refreshing being friends with Sam. He was a bit hyper, but he wasn't unpleasantly so. He was definitely an extrovert, and liked dragging me around to do different things. But Sam knew when not to push to hard, and we were able to reach a comfortable middle ground between us regarding our hobbies and playtime.

Also, he was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons. We hadn't even had a single session yet, but I had bought the rulebooks and then loaned them to him, and he was instantly hooked on the idea of an adventure game where he got to decide what the heroes did.

Second Edition was still two years away, however, and First Edition was somewhat complicated, so I'd be dumbing down some of the rules. It'd basically be Third Edition but with tweaks.

Still, I was tired after a long day at school, and it was only the sight of a package on the floor that perked me up.

"Is it…? It is! Finally!" I cheered as I tore off the cheap brown wrapping paper off the box, and grinned gleefully at what was in front of me.

You know how there were Easy-Bake Ovens and such? Well, the magical world had something similar for potions.

It was a product called 'Lil Witch's First Cauldron.' The whole set cost only a galleon, and was a steal for what it provided. The contents consisted of a basic copper cauldron large enough to hold a gallon's worth of liquid, a pewter mortar and pestle, miniature weighing scales, a blunted knife, three empty glass phials with cork stoppers to put your finished concoctions into, and enough ingredients to make at least one dose of three different potions that were taught to all Hogwarts First Years, plus recipes and brewing instructions. The potions in question were the Boil-Cure Potion, the Numbing Potion, and perhaps most importantly to me, the Wiggenweld Potion.

All three were useful, as the Boil-Cure could be altered to deal with pimples (a must have once puberty started), the Numbing Potion was basically a topical anesthetic to remove aches and pains, and the Wiggenweld Potion could heal, restore stamina, and act as a cure to minor poisons and curses.

Best of all, for the Wiggenweld Potion at least, there were multiple ways to brew the potion, with ingredients ranging from cheap, like salamander's blood and mountain ash tree bark, to expensive like unicorn hair. It all depended on what you wanted the potion to do. Blood and bark would give a superior healing effect, while unicorn hair boosted the potency of its curse-breaking effect.

The kit didn't come with something that precious, just a couple drops of salamander's blood and a pinch of ash tree bark, but the fact this potion had so many customization options even for beginner brewers was the important part.

See, what I planned on doing in the long term was turning potions from the wizarding world into something I could make and sell in the mundane world!

And while it would be tricky, it was entirely doable!

There were a lot of misconceptions about Squibs, I'd come to realize. Yes, we couldn't cast magic directly. We were unable to use wands, staves, rings, talismans or any other manner of foci to direct the energy within us and manifest it as spells.

However, that didn't mean Squibs lacked magic. Indeed, we had a little bit of it inside of us. How else could we use magical items and benefit from potions, unlike Muggles? And if we were truly magicless, then Muggle repelling wards would keep us out of magical society all together. But they didn't, as evidenced from Hogwarts' token Squib caretaker, Mr. Filch. We could also see magical phenomena and creatures, like Dementors, which to a Muggle was invisible, and only its icy presence was noticeable.

With that knowledge, I knew that I wasn't completely helpless in my new world. I could still benefit from the advantages magic provided, and I would do so in three ways; Arithmancy, Runes, and Potions.

None of the three disciplines required the ability to cast magic. Arithmancy was just fancy, complicated math. It was used to decipher certain types of magic, and was vital in all kinds of advanced disciplines, including runes.

Speaking of runes, they didn't need magic to be carved or set. Just a bit of magic was needed to activate the function of a runic sequence, and after that they'd passively absorb magical energy to sustain themselves. As such, runes were a key component in many enchanted magical items, alongside the branch of magic known as Charms.

Now, one might wonder how a Squib could use runes if we didn't have the ability to outwardly manifest our internal magic. The answer to that was the third discipline: Potions!

Most potions do not take their magical effects or properties from the mage who brewed them, but instead from the magic within the ingredients. As such, Squibs could brew potions if they wished. It was how Tom Riddle Jr.'s mother had managed to catch the eye of Tom Riddle Sr., after all. A love potion was why the greatest monster since Grindelwald ended up being born.

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