Seohyun, as usual, was the first to arrive to class. Choosing a seat in the very front and in the very middle of the classroom, she placed her bag carefully on the ground and pulled out her textbook, a notebook, and a quill and ink; all of which were meticulously placed on the table in front of her. Everything had its place and order. 

Seeing that there was still at least ten minutes until class started, she opened her textbook and reviewed the chapters for today's lesson. 'You can never be too prepared.'  That was her motto which Seohyun lived and died by. 

As time passed, people started filing in. However, the seat next to Seohyun’s remained empty, until someone ungracefully plopped into it.

“I’m surprised you showed up to class,” Seohyun remarked, eyes briefly leaving her book and scanning the disheveled appearance of her seatmate. “Where were you last night?” she asked, despite knowing fully well where the girl was.

“Library,” Sooyoung grunted with her head facedown on the table.

“Couldn’t get in again?” Seohyun asked disapprovingly.

Sooyoung scoffed weakly in response. “Stupid eagle. I swear he gives me the hard ones to spite me.”

Despite being a Ravenclaw, Sooyoung had remarkable difficulty answering the riddles that guarded the entrance to the Ravenclaw common rooms. Usually, the girl piggybacked off another Ravenclaw student, namely Seohyun. In fact, that was how they had first met each other. 

A first year Seohyun had found Sooyoung cursing loudly at the eagle knob that led into the Ravenclaw commons. Seohyun had decided to take pity for the girl and from then on, their friendship bloomed. Somewhat. But that's a story for another time.

Unfortunately, Sooyoung also had a bad sense of time, which led her to stay out after curfew a lot. Seohyun on the other hand, had never broken curfew. In other words, Sooyoung got locked out a lot. On those nights, the girl tended to spend them in the library. How Sooyoung didn't get caught by prefects or professors was beyond Seohyun.

“Alright, can anyone tell me what a girding potion does?” Professor Slughorn asked his class as soon as everyone was settled in their seats. His eyes swept past the silent section of students in green robes and hovered hopefully over the students in blue.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something peculiar. “Sooyoung,” he announced. “It’s rare that I ever see you in class. Can you tell me the answer?”

Sooyoung didn’t respond. Her head was bobbing back and forth and her eyes were closed, signaling that she was close to slumber. It wasn’t until Seohyun’s pointy elbow invaded her ribs that she woke up.

“Yes?” she woke up immediately, head snapping up as her hand went to wipe off any drool.

Slughorn looked like he was trying to hold back a displeased frown. “Can you tell me what the girding potion does?” he repeated his question.

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow. “The what?” she asked causing several students to snicker.

‘How is she in Ravenclaw? I thought they were supposed to be smart.’

‘I heard she almost failed this class last year.’

Sooyoung rolled her eyes as Professor Slughorn asked the class once more what a girding potion was. No one moved. Most of the Slytherins didn’t know the answer while the Ravenclaws were just too lazy. Sometimes, it just wasn't fun knowing everything.

“Just save him from his misery, already,” Sooyoung hissed under her breath. Seohyun, to her credit, actually listened to the girl and finally decided to speak up and answer the question.

“A girding potion increases one’s endurance,” Seohyun answered with her back straight and her hand held high in the air. Slughorn nodded his head appreciatively. “That’s correct. Today, we’ll be brewing girding potions!”

Half of the class groaned. (The Slytherin half of course).

“Since it is the first potion of the year, you are to do it pairs. However,” Slughorn smiled excitedly and Sooyoung has had enough experience with Slughorn to know that she was not about to like this next idea. “It has to be with someone from the other house.”

At this, everyone seemed to slump into their seats.

“Go on now,” Slughorn prompted, the grin never leaving his face. “Time’s ticking!”

Reluctantly, the students got up from their chairs. Most of the Slytherins rushed towards Sooyoung, not because they wanted to work with her, Merlin's no, but because they wanted to work with the person next to her, the year’s brightest student (and arguably the brightest in the whole school), Ju Seohyun.

But Seohyun had other plans.

“Who knows? She may even be smarter than you.”

Seohyun frowned slightly as she remembered Sooyoung’s words.

Ignoring everyone around her, she made her way to the Slytherin side and stopped in front of the one and only Jessica who had been silently sitting next to Yuri this entire time. Jessica looked up as the girl approached. 

“Would you like to be partners?” Seohyun asked. They had been classmates for almost a week now, but never interacted. Needless to say, even Seohyun had her own curiosities about the new girl.

Jessica, quiet as ever, observed Seohyun carefully and eventually tilted her head forward in the tiniest of nods. At least, that’s what Seohyun took it as, so she sat herself down next to her partner.

“You may begin,” the professor announced and every pair began scrambling to work. Yuri and Sooyoung were forced to work together as everyone else already had a partner. Good luck to them.

Seohyun and Jessica worked in silence, both being the quiet type, but in almost perfect coordination. Jessica chopped while Seohyun stirred. Then they would switch. Seohyun skinned while Jessica stirred.

Seohyun eyed the brunette from the corner of her eyes. Seohyun may not have been one for gossip, nor was she one to judge, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of the rumors going around.  They say that Jessica Jung was a prodigy of magic, among other things. 

Prodigy.

Seohyun too, was once described as a prodigy in magic for her age, especially in the precise art of potion making. She did after all, achieve the impossible of skipping a year at Hogwarts, having gone straight from being a first year to a third year. But that was before the arrival of a certain Jessica Jung.

And apparently, everyone thought there was room for only one prodigy.

‘She definitely seems proficient at potion making,’ Seohyun thought as she glanced at the perfectly peeled doxy eggs. ‘She’s precise and careful.’

Jessica seemed very concentrated on the brew as she stirred the cauldron, watching for the color to change before starting the next step.

Seohyun frowned.

Something didn’t seem right.

“Doesn’t the recipe say to heat it not stir?” Seohyun asked worriedly as she eyed the potion. ‘Isn’t it supposed to turn a dark red at this point?’

Jessica looked up at Seohyun and blinked. “Really?” She looked down at their textbook, which laid unopened on their desktop and really, Seohyun should have taken that as a sign. Just because she had already memorized the entire recipe, didn’t mean Jessica had as well, rumored prodigy or not. True enough, as Seohyun opened the book to the correct page, the recipe indeed called for heating the potion until it turned red.

“That’s interesting,” Jessica frowned as she scanned through the rest of the procedures.

Seohyun sighed through her nose, trying to keep her annoyance in check. This was the reason why she hated group work. Usually, she could make up for the other person’s incompetence, but she really screwed up this time. This is why she hated rumors. They were never true. Seohyun was always too shy to voice out her opinions but she was not about to lose her perfect marks streak. She was never to going to listen to another rumor ever again.

Opening , Seohyun was about to go off on a lecture about the importance of reading and following procedures before a quiet voice cut her off.

“This is...different.”

Seohyun perked up. “Excuse me?”

“I learned to do it a different way,” Jessica clarified, still scanning the textbook with a careful finger.

“You’ve done this before?” Usually, Seohyun had a really good check on her emotions, but she couldn’t help the surprise showing on her face and in her voice.

This was a hard potion to brew, which was why Seohyun suspected Slughorn made them work in pairs. The fact that Jessica had brewed it before...

Jessica nodded and then went on to point out the differences in the recipe she was taught and the recipe written in the book.

Seohyun pursed her lips.

Maybe the rumors were right for once. Maybe.

Seohyun was timid yes, but she was also stubborn. It wasn't often that she would follow someone else’s advice, especially not in academics. Yet here she was, her heart fighting her mind and telling her to go with the flow.

She was very textbook based. That's how she became the smartest kid in their year. She could almost hear Sooyoung’s voice in her head.

“Just being textbook smart isn't good enough, Seo. I hope you learn that someday.”

Then again, that was something Sooyoung said to get out of doing her homework. 

So Seohyun took a risk. “Let's do it your way,” she said, looking up at Jessica, her eyes determined.

Jessica nodded slowly, taking in the sudden change in demeanor from the girl. “I'll guide you.”

But she did more than just guide Seohyun through the steps. She explained the purpose of each step and how doing it a different way ended up with the same or even better result. Seohyun was surprised at how knowledgeable the blonde was and at how easy it was to talk to her. 

Seohyun had once curiously read up on the muggle subject called “Chemistry” as light reading (though it was a three hundred page textbook so it could hardly be counted as light to any other person). She guessed that potion making was similar to mixing chemicals. There could be many ways to achieve the same thing. This unfortunately was not something they taught at Hogwarts. 

The two of them ended up getting perfect remarks and an additional fifty points to Ravenclaw and Slytherin each for ‘brewing up such a beautiful masterpiece that would’ve made even the late Professor Snape proud’. They were even allowed to keep a small sample of the potion.

Finally, Seohyun let out a quiet sigh.

Looks like the rumors weren't that far off this time.

“You're really smart, aren't you?” Jessica said off-handedly, and Seohyun noted the upturn of her lips. Jessica was smiling. Somewhat.  

So maybe not all rumors were true, at least not the one where Jessica was a cold, heartless… Seohyun stopped. She was not one to curse, even in her thoughts.

And Seohyun, well, Seohyun thinks she’s finally found a friend who can match her intelligence level. (Sooyoung did not count. Ravenclaw or not, that girl was too lazy for Seohyun’s liking. It didn’t mean the girl wasn’t brilliant in her own way, of course.)

As for Sooyoung and Yuri, let’s just say Yuri ended up needing to buy a new cauldron and Sooyoung needed a new textbook.

“BUT WE LITERALLY FOLLOWED EVERY STEP WORD FOR WORD. HOW DID WE SCREW UP?!?!”

Seohyun fought back a giggle. Even though Seohyun was the pure-blood and Sooyoung was the muggle-born, Seohyun wouldn’t have been surprised if the girl had never read a book on chemistry. Otherwise she would’ve known that, sometimes, even if you follow the steps exactly as they're written, something may still go wrong.

Of course, that rarely (read as “never”) happened to Seohyun.

“I can’t believe it,” Yuri complained as she and Jessica walked out of their potions class. “Out of all of the Ravenclaws, I get the most useless one.”

Jessica decided to be smart and not comment about Yuri’s own skills in brewing potions.

“Tell me something,” Yuri eyed Jessica as they walked to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. “What subject aren't you good at? You’re amazing at Charms, and a natural at Potions. Not to mention you’re a world class Quidditch player and from what I’ve seen, an amazing duelist. You have to have a weakness.”

“My best subject is actually ancient runes,” Jessica admitted.

“Ew.”

Jessica promptly shoved her friend against the wall.

“What?” Yuri teased. “It’s a useless subject. I didn’t peg you to be the nerdy type.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. Apparently doing well in all of her classes wasn't a big enough clue. Yuri just didn’t understand. There was so much knowledge out there, old, powerful knowledge, all written only in ancient runes.

“So? A weakness, princess? Unless you’re too perfect to have one,” Yuri prompted, eager to find at least one fault in her friend. (Jessica’s a sleepyhead, but that could hardly be counted as a weakness.)

Jessica hummed in thought. “Herbology. Divination...Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

Yuri almost tripped in surprise. “You’re kidding.”

Jessica shrugged. “Nope. In my second year at Mahoukotoro, they brought in a boggart. When it was my turn, it turned into a giant cucumber. Before I could even think of the Asian equivalent of the spell ‘Ridikulus’ I fainted from the smell. I was stuck in the recovery ward after that for two whole days.”
 

Yuri burst out laughing, surprising an innocent student walking behind them in the hallways. 

“Yah, stop laughing,” Jessica slapped the girl, who was crouched over, clutching her stomach in pain. Yuri couldn’t even breathe from laughing too hard.
 

“Oh my gosh! Jung, that is so uncool,” Yuri chortled. “I just can’t believe it. I mean, you took on a whole pack of wolves by yourself. How can you possibly be bad at Defense against the Dark Arts?”

“You’re a jerkhead,” Jessica grumbled as she walked on ahead, leaving Yuri convulsing in laughter and screaming "That's the best you can do? Jerkhead?" in the middle of the hallway by herself.

“Well, now I can’t wait for our next class,” Yuri grinned, as she caught back up with the blonde. She was eager to see the blonde hopeless for once because , yes, her best friend was actually human.

What Yuri found out later was that Jessica wasn’t lying.

In fact, the girl seemed completely unable to perform a simple jinx.

“Jinxes, hexes, curses...I can’t do a single one,” Jessica told her.

Yuri was stunned and had pressed Jessica for an explanation, but the girl stayed quiet.

“Consider yourself lucky. I would have jinxed you a long time ago if I could. You’re quite annoying, you know that?”

And that was the end of that topic.

AN:

Short update. I have to make up finals this week (because I got hurt and skipped a month of school) so wish me luck!

I promise I'll update after my finals! :D

Comments:

I really liked Seohyun and Sooyoung's characters here. Seohyun is your typical Ravenclaw, while Sooyoung...not so much. It's interesting to see how they interact. Idk, I like the idea of challening your house stereotype. So in that sense, Sooyoung isn't all that booksmart. Neither does she study hard (at least for her classes), do her homework, or even get the riddles. (like seriously, what if you were a ravenclaw that at riddles? Not everyone smart is good at riddles) Plus, it's just funny how they get on each others nerves.

Also! Jessica finally has a weakness! There's a reason for it too. Was it surprising? The relevation? If you go back into the previous chapters, she never uses a jinx, hex, or curse. When Taeyeon and Jessica fight the wolves, Taeyeon's the one that's using jinxes/hexes/curses. Don't think anyone noticed that ;D

Fun fact: The JessSeo potions scene was one of the first scenes I wrote when I came up with this story. I have a huge google doc of all these little scenarios that don't come until much later. Some don't actually fit the plot anymore so I'm thinking of just adding them to spin-offs at the end of chapters.

Till next time~

Sosh