"Are you almost done?" asked Oleandra, stifling a yawn. "At this rate, I'm going to be late."
"You've done all you can," replied Theo. "You can leave whenever you want, though you'd be missing out on the part of our deal in which I teach you Alchemy."
Having said those words, he bent over the Alchemical Circle Oleandra had carved into the stone floor of the abandoned dungeon room. From his pocket, he drew a phial filled with a silvery liquid and poured its contents into the hollowed-out grooves. The fluid slowly spread, seeping into every crack until the entire circle was filled. Once the liquid had settled, Theo gave his bucket of black sand a final swirl to ensure each grain was coated in Albedo, then dumped its contents at the centre of the circle.
"Nah," Oleandra responded after a while. "I've waited this long, so I might as well stick around to see what happens… though it's probably just going to be a failure again."
"Suit yourself," said Theo, as he drew his wand. "Now, since we're working with sand, we can take Earth as our first step, which means that next up is Metal."
He rummaged around in his pockets and produced a small bag which he upturned, sending its glittery contents raining down on the pile of sand on the floor.
"Was that gold dust?" asked Oleandra, to which Theo nodded.
After Metal was Water, which Oleandra graciously supplied with an, "Aguamenti!"
Then was Wood, which Theo lit on fire with an, "Incendio!"
And with that, all five elements were present, symbiotically feeding upon one another, feeding the Alchemical reaction.
With everything in place, Theo began walking anticlockwise around the circumference of the Alchemical Circle, waving his wand and chanting, "Yera, Laukaz, Raidhu, Dagaz," as he passed each of the four cardinal points.
"My ancestors travelled the globe, learning everything they could from whomever they could, and as such, Nott-style Alchemy is a blend between European, Egyptian, Chinese and Indian Alchemy," said Theo, as he completed his revolution around the circle. "The runes, Nordic. The guardian of the scales and the black dirt, Egyptian. The cardinal points and the five classical elements, Chinese. The cinnabar, Indian. And gold, the fifth element of metal… encompasses all of them, representing what all true Alchemists should be striving for… perfection."
The air in the dungeon seemed to hum with power as the circle diverted a tributary of the illusory River of Time through its centre. The pile of black sand in the circle began to take on a golden lustre, each grain trembling with untold possibilities and impossibilities…
"Vár, Sumar, Haustr, Vetr— the Cycle of seasons— spring, summer, autumn, winter," chanted Theo. "The Lake of Power, from which this boon of sand was graciously taken. The Chariot, the Way of Transformations. And… the Hourglass, through which flows time itself. May this sand be imbued with the power of Time!"
BANG!
There was terribly loud sound accompanied by a bright flash of golden light, and the next thing Oleandra knew, she was being pelted with sand.
"Well, that was an obvious failure, so it's back to the drawing board," said Theo, dusting himself off with the back of his hand. "Shall we try again tomorrow?"
"Blergh!" spat Oleandra. "This stuff isn't dangerous, is it? I think I got some in my mouth!"
She was covered from head to toe in residue from the experiment, and judging from the itchiness, the sand had even somehow made it under her underwear.
"Seems perfectly inert to me. An ordinary grain of sand, just like any you might find at the bottom of the Black Lake," said Theo, selecting a grain of sand from his hair and holding it to his eye to scrutinise it from up close. "Incidentally, you're a good swimmer, aren't you? Would you mind fetching some more sand for tomorrow's experiment? I've run out of shiny glass baubles to trade with the Merpeople."
Rather than answering, Oleandra drew her wand and pointed it at herself, chanting, "Scourgify!"
The Scouring Charm worked its magic, wiping away all traces of Theo's mess from her body. The itchiness remained, though, leaving her feeling as though a million ants were nibbling at her skin.
"I'm late," Oleandra muttered, as she checked her watch. "Look, Theo, I'm really busy with schoolwork, and tomorrow's a Sunday, and Tracey's been complaining I've been spending too much— anyway, I'll see about completing a new version of the Alchemical Circle by next Saturday, but until then, I'm not promising anything."
"That's fine by me," said Theo, shrugging slightly. "You're already much more efficient than the official Runesmith the Nott family employs, which is more than I could have ever hoped for from a partner."
Not to mention that Oleandra was much less expensive, seeing as she worked for free!
Still, what had surprised Theo most about Oleandra was that she'd even learned to design Alchemical Circles on her own, starting from generic templates. Normally, it took years of study in both Alchemy and Runesmithing for a Wizard to learn to modify even the simplest of arrays— but Oleandra made it look as if she'd been doing it all her life.
"Tell Astoria I wish her good luck!" cried Theo, as Oleandra made for the exit.
"I will!" Oleandra called back, as she started running.
Oleandra effortlessly ran through the dark tunnels of the dungeons, turning left and right and right again without slipping on the damp flagstones underfoot, thanks to the inhuman grace afforded to her by her Dusk Elf blood.
"Watch out!"
As Oleandra rounded the last corner before the Great Staircase, a mass of wriggling green tendrils suddenly appeared in her field of view, forcing her to screech to a halt.
"Watch where you're going, Oleandra!" said Daphne irritably, looking up at her twin sister. "You almost ran me over!"
"Daphne?" Oleandra hiccupped in surprise. "What are you doing here? What—" she looked in the direction her sister had come from, "— were you doing over there?"
Oleandra hadn't been down that corridor since her fourth year at Hogwarts, when Hermione had dragged her along to search for House-Elves to liberate. If memory served, that corridor led to the kitchens and what she suspected to be the secret entrance to the Hufflepuff common room…