The next couple of days brought great excitement for James. He didn’t want to study anything else except this ‘magic book’ that Sebastian had finally shown him. He felt elated, driven and most of all he had a goal in his life. The possibility of a magical school was in sight now and he could get away from… the drudgery of a ‘normal life’.
In a quiet study room, James had gone through the book translating the first couple of pages easily. “It’s a potion book!” He declared with excitement. Potions of various effects! It was so clear.
Sebastian however was a little disappointed. “No magic spells?” He was hoping they could do some actual magic. “Potions don’t feel like real magic.”
“No! Potions are perfect for us.” A steppingstone to knowledge towards the path of wizardry. He pointed animatedly to the ingredients list. ‘Anyone’ can mix stuff together…” James rubbed his hands gleefully. Mixing took no magical power at all. They just had to be precise, and precision was exactly James’s forte! He knew he could do it. He ‘would’ do it.
In the study room, Sebastian heaved a sigh as he leaned in the chair. All this time he just had a recipe book. He had imagined all kinds of wonderful possibilities… but they had been dashed away. He still recalled that day when the book came into his possession. It was a normal day he was just walking down the street, and he saw a student- someone from a magic academy drop the book. He crossed the street to see.
… He had a choice of course. He ‘could’ have called to the girl saying ‘excuse me you dropped this!’ he could have talked to her… but when he saw that book and what it was… a real actual ‘magical book’ he… he just couldn’t do it. A book like that was impossible for a non-mage to access.
…it wasn’t theft, was it? The magical student did ‘drop’ it. She was too far away- and well- she had gone through one of those magical doors so he couldn’t follow anyway… he didn’t steal it! Sebastian was pulled out of his thoughts when James finally spoke.
“These are the ingredients…” James wrote the list carefully, making double sure on the amounts of each. “Let’s see, Levitation, breathe underwater, Fire resistance… Oh! Mana Potion! This one improved magical power! We Just have to find them, mix them, and we got a magical potion. We- we can actually use it to do magic!” James’s hands were shaking. This was big! “So many options…”
Sebastian looked at the notes carefully. “Herbs were easy enough. Mushrooms, lavender…but some of these ingredients I’ve never heard of like- ever. How are we supposed to get the claw of a dragon? What the heck is a dream bubble?” The young teen rubbed his chin in thought.
James knew this would be a difficult task, but he wasn’t going to give up. “We have a list of things to find… we just need to work it out. Maybe we can substitute some of the ingredients just to test it on something.” He wasn’t going to give up just because half the stuff was from some ‘fantasy world’.
“Substitutions never work in the comic books,” Sebastian reminded. “I might know someone who can get stuff but…”
“Really? Who?” James asked.
“Um- he’s a few years higher then us... His name is Daniel. I saw him with some stuff once. He got in trouble for having it.”
“I’ll talk to him.” James nodded. “We’ll have to keep an eye for other magical inclined students…” Finding out about people was ‘not’ James’s strength… but he had to try. He wondered how the boy figured out people so quickly. “We’re gonna make magic potions.”
Sebastian cringed slightly at the thought of such a project. Messing about with magic was always a little dangerous, especially for ‘ordinary’ people. Still, this was just ‘potion making’ so… there shouldn’t be any problem, right? Yet why did he feel like this was all going to be a disaster? What if the potion exploded? Sebastian kept his fears quiet though.
“We might need help…” Sebastian sighed. “Maybe we can use the chemistry club…”
James nodded. “Let’s found it… a secret magical club. We’ll find them… people who want to do magic just like us. We’ll bring all the items we need to create the greatest spell ever made…”
That was how the magical club was started.
James had said it was a ‘chemistry’ club to the teachers… but in reality, they were going to create magic. With his high credentials they took his word for it. The whole thing was surprisingly easy.
All secret… all dedicated to producing a real, actual magical spell for their own uses. Of course, they had nobody to guide them except for the magic book. Getting materials was a little tricky though. The book stated to use a cauldron for one, but they had to substitute that for pots and pans. To James he didn’t think it would make a difference. There were other odd things like waiting for the rise of the ‘second moon’… stuff he couldn’t really help.
“I got you Dream-grass…” their third member stated. Daniel Hunt, a third-year student who had decided to help out for his… own reasons. He placed the box down. “… I heard you can use it to make that dream-bubble stuff but I don’t know how.” Daniel was broad shouldered, strong as an ox, and quite tall. He had a connection to the magical academy but he did not want to say how… and the other students agreed not to ask. After being told of a secret magic club he joined in no questions asked. His only payment was for a cut on any magical item they made.
“Hm… maybe I boil it. Makes sense.” James thought as he put it inside the ‘mana potion’ he was working on. He placed the grass inside, watching the water inside bubble. It turned a rather pretty purple colour. He mixed it, thinking that would help. “Must be a good sign…”
Perhaps the least useful member was Sarah Orphrey who James recruited.
The resident ‘goth’ girl who had been in college for a year. She was mostly accepting that she was flunking class and tended to waste time in whatever she could now. James had approached her and it was awkward as could be expected… but she did say she would join. She had black and white hair as a result of a dye job. Thin with pale white skin. “Mixed these two things, nothing happened.” She shrugged. “Noted it all down.” Then Sarah’s concoction suddenly did a small ‘smoke’ explosion. “Hm… another failure.”
The smell of the potion was the worst stench anyone had ever made.
The door suddenly opened again, as another girl and boy entered in looking annoyed. “What the heck is going on here!” She stated. The cheerleader girl Cindy Mayford. She waved her hand angrily. “Urgh what kind of chemistry club is this! We’re trying to do our own stuff you know! Your stuff is reeking through the hallways and right into the gymnasium!”
James tried to smooth things over. “Hey uh Cindy! Sorry you know, chemistry can be a bit haphazard, heh. Tell you what, we’ll stop for the rest of the day…”
“Just what is it you’re making anyway?” Cindy asked. “Uh- is that stuff supposed to rattle like that?”
The strange concoction in the middle of the table made a ‘sound’ akin to a bell ringing. It tingled gently as if vibrating on the souls of those present… it rippled with lighting, glowing and flickering with trails of energy…
Everyone watched as the strange manifestation changed into a weird cloud of rainbow light, flowing higher and higher into the ceiling before turning into ‘rain’…
Everyone was suddenly drenched in the strange liquid…
