Three more weeks pass and it's finally time for Halloween. Decorations pile up every corner of the castle to boost the spirit. The group hasn't been able to do anything with their potion yet except for completing the first half. It took a few days, but Maria was finally able to locate a book that talked about the uninvented potion. Now, they are at a stalemate and have no idea what to do next.

Halloween landed on a Friday this year, so the group of friends should be in double Herbology right now. However, Professor Sprout told them not to come because she wants everyone to have a relaxing holiday. "Relaxing" is not the word the second years would choose to describe their thoughts.

Agnes, Ethan, Maria, Lauren, Hannah, and Julia are all sitting in a circle around a cauldron with a bunch of potion ingredients on their laps. Lauren, Ethan, and Hannah are looking in books to try and see what ingredients should be put in next to make the potion while the rest use the Lumos charm to light up their wands and help them read. Alana is the only one absent, as her Divination class has not been cancelled.

"What about these? Snurtlap snouts are used to heighten the sense of sight." Lauren points to the ingredient in her book and follows the words with her fingers. "They use them in simple potions for wizards and witches who wear glasses."

"That's the best thing we've read so far. We should start with that one, then!" Maria reads over Lauren's shoulder and picks out a few snouts from her bowl. "How many does it say to put in?"

Lauren follows the paragraph to the end and reads, "Snurtlap snouts are normally stirred three times counterclockwise immediately after placed in the cauldron. Add them one at a time and stir until the potion changes color."

"Here it goes..." Maria starts placing the ingredients in slowly as Julia stirs the potion three times to the left after every placement.

"Oh, look! It's changing color!" Julia says and finishes her last stir. Everyone watches with interest as the liquid changes from dark blue to light purple. Before they can start celebrating, the potion changes to a fiery red color and explodes in their faces.

The young students are pushed onto their backs and potion ingredients fly everywhere. The dimly lit room fills with smoke, making the friends all start coughing to clear their lungs. Agnes sits up and wipes some black smudges off her face. "Ugh that is not a nice smell..."

"Oops. I forgot that Snurtlap snouts don't react well with silver snapping turtle shells. That was one of the ingredients we had to use in the first half of the potion." Lauren sighs and looks at her blonde hair now covered in black sludge.

"Now we have to start all over." Hannah pits down her book and starts cleaning the cauldron with a rag. "Let's come back after this smoke clears."

"Yeah, I'm getting out of here." Ethan stands up and fans the air around him to try and clear some of the smoke.

Julia covers the potion equipment and leads the group out of the room. Once almost everyone is out, Julia blinks the smog out of her eyes. Now that her sight is cleared, when she looks upward she sees a tall wizard in light golden robes. He has a tall, pointed hat in the same color on his head and half moon glasses on the tip of his crooked nose. Julia gasps and kicks Ethan backward as hard as she can before slamming the door behind her. "Professor Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore smiles and looks between the five girls. "Good afternoon to you all. I was wondering if I may have a word with the five of you in my office. I was also looking for a young second year by the name of Kevin Turner, but I don't think he's around here."

"Oh he's here!" Agnes says happily, but then realizes her mistake. She quickly thinks of something before she gets busted. "Uh, we were all in this room to work on some Herbology stuff since we didn't get to go to class today! And E-er-Kevin was cleaning up the mess before he left. As you can see, we got kind of dirty..."

"I'll get him." Julia says after an awkward moment and slides back into the room. Another few moments pass and Julia comes back out with Ethan, who is hunched over and grabbing his stomach with his arms.

"Uuuuugggghhhh... I'm here... I'm... here..." Ethan thinks his sister might have broken a rib or something because it's hard for him to breathe. His torso has got to be at least bruised.

"Ah, excellent! If you all could please follow me to my office." Professor Dumbledore leads the group of kids down the stairs, through a couple hallways, and finally to a huge bird statue. He thinks for a moment and then smiles saying, "Melon tarts!"

The bird statue starts to spin and rise, forming a spiral staircase leading upward. Dumbledore gestures for everyone to hop on, so they do. He follows them onto the staircase and they ride until they reach the top.

It has just occurred to them that none of them have been inside Dumbledore's office before. Last year he visited them all in the hospital wing after what happened with Cade, and that was their only big interaction with them. Agnes continues to try and rub the black smudge off her face, which is now hardening and turning flakey. She's getting a little nervous as are the rest of the students. What is so important that Dumbledore wants to talk to them about?

Dumbledore waves his wand and six seats materialize out of thin air. "You can sit down, I know that was quite the walk." The group does as Dumbledore suggests while he himself sits at his desk across from them. "I have a request, well, more of a favor to ask of you."

The girls' and Ethan's eyes widen and they look between one another, not expecting that at all. Hannah tilts her head forward and asks, "A favor, Professor?"

"Yes. I have grown concerned, after the past month, of one of your friends." Dumbledore explains, making the friends even more confused.

"One of our... you mean Alana?" Agnes puts her hands on her knees uncomfortably, getting a bit scared. "Why? What's wrong? Is she in trouble or something?"

Dumbledore puts his hands up gently to calm Agnes down. "Ms. Alana Carth has come to my office extremely stressed lately, and I just wanted you all to be aware of that. My request is to simply continue to be her friend the best you can. Happiness is a very powerful thing, but friendship is true magic. I want you to share the bond you have with Ms. Carth."

"We haven't really noticed anything off about her, though." Julia points out, not sure what she's missing.

"When we're in our dorms, she just goes right to sleep. She doesn't really talk much at night." Maria thinks back as she tries to remember anything odd about her fellow Hufflepuff's behavior. She never thought it was a problem before, but maybe Alana really does need more attention.

"Oh, I've got it!" Lauren pounds one of her fists into an open palm and smiles. "We need to get her into something. We all got clubs that we are a part of now except for Alana. She's supported us in each of our struggles to join said club. Quidditch, choir, and even my Studies Club! Remember on the train here how she mentioned her dream?"

"Of course! She needs a spot as announcer for the Quidditch games." Hannah can't believe she forgot all about Alana talking to her about meeting her dad one day. Alana idolizes Hannah's dad because of his profession as announcer for the Quidditch World Cup. It's her dream to be where he is, and this year is where she's going to start. "There's a match tomorrow against Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. If we talk to Amy today, then maybe she'll let Alana announce the game tomorrow!"

"This is great! We should split up so that some of us can find Alana while the others go and find Amy to-" Ethan is cut off by the office door opening.

Professor Trelawney walks in followed by a distraught looking Alana. When she sees her friends all sitting by Dumbledore's desk, however, Alana brightens up and waves. "Hi guys. What are you all doing here?"

"Oh, nothing! Just planning a surprise for you!" Agnes is the first to stand up and walk toward the back of the office, leading the others. "Meet us in the Quidditch field when you're done!"

The group of six quickly leave the office and start sprinting once they reach the bottom of the spiral staircase. All of them have a huge smile on their faces and are skipping with every step they take. Maria gets really excited, her long dirty blonde hair flying wildly behind her because she's running. "I can't wait! How come we never thought of this before?!"

"We were so caught up on everything that we never noticed!" Agnes thinks about all the times Alana came to watch her practice when she could have been trying to fulfill her dream of announcer. "Stupid selfless Alana."

"This'll make her so happy that she won't even know who to hug first! Oh, go this way, it's a shortcut." Maria points to the left and the group continues to sprint through the corridors. "We should also make sure to include her more. She probably feels left out since we tried to make the potion while she was still in class."

"Yeah, and she can help us the most anyway. Think about it, she was the only one of us who wasn't there in the bookstore at Diagon Alley. The attacker won't suspect her at all!" Ethan chimes in.

"Great idea, bro. Look, we're here!" Right as they reach the outdoors, Julia points over to the Quidditch stadium.

The group runs inside and are delighted to see a seventh year Hufflepuff with white hair and bright, red eyes. Everyone all at once shouts, "AMY!" as they run up to her.

Amy spots them and stands up from the grass. When they approach all out of breath, she becomes interested and she chuckles, "What can I do for ya?"

"We need your help." Julia is the first to regain air into her lungs, but quickly has to stop because she is out of breath again.

Amy lets them compose themselves and Lauren starts explaining. "We have a good friend whose dream is to be a professional Quidditch announcer. Since it's your seventh year and you're leaving, could you maybe show her the ropes and help her be your successor?"

"Sure! I actually needed someone to take my place when I leave after this year. Usually Dumbledore or another professor posts a sign up so people can apply, but I'd be honored to help train her myself!" Amy nods and looks between the group. "Which one of you wants to be the announcer?"

"Her name's Alana and she's a second year Hufflepuff. You think you can teach her some things tonight and allow her to announce some of the game tomorrow?" Maria asks with high hopes.

"We can talk about it, but I'm not sure if she'd be comfortable with announcing a game the day after she first practices. We can do it together so she doesn't feel so overwhelmed." Amy suggests, making the friends extremely excited.

"Alright, I'm here! What did you want to tell me?" Alana's voice sounds from behind the friends and they all turn around to see her.

Agnes takes Alana's hand and introduces her. "Alana, this is Amy. She's the one who announces the Quidditch matches here at Hogwarts. She has just agreed to train you!"

"Wait, really?" Alana looks completely surprised and a smile slowly forms on her face when everyone nods. Tears well up in her eyes and she squeezes Agnes in a hug. "Thank you, oh my gosh, thank you! You guys... don't know how much this means to me!"

"Why didn't you ask Amy before? You did have to go to all of our practices, you know." Julia teases, but is genuinely curious about why Alana didn't try to get the position before.

"I was really really nervous. Professor Trelawney could sense my discomfort in class and has taken me up to see the Headmaster a few times. Sorry I didn't tell you before, but I just wanted you all to be happy." Alana apologizes, feeling like a goof.

"Silly, you don't have to apologize! You're one of us now, so stop going to Dumbledore for stuff and come help us with the potion!" Maria scolds Alana and very lightly slaps her on the back of her head.

"You guys are making a potion?" Amy raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms.

The six girls pause and scramble to say something to explain, but Ethan cuts through the gibberish and says, "It's extra credit. We need to make a very advanced potion without instructions. However, we have no idea how to combine a certain ingredient without getting it to react badly with the previous ones."

"Hmm... I'm not the best with Potions, but you can always try a barrier spell!" Amy says.

"Oh, that's actually a really good idea! Thanks! Do you have any particular spells in mind?" Hannah asks, hoping to get more information.

"Actually, yeah. Go to the library and get this book." Amy reaches into her bag and shows the students her seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts book. "Pages 106 to 130 I believe are the barrier spells. Good luck!"

"Thanks again!" Lauren says and starts to walk off.

Amy stops them to say one more thing before they depart. "And Alana, meet me in the Great Hall at around 5:30 at the Hufflepuff table. We can have dinner and discuss tactics."

"Okay, I'll be there!" Alana waves goodbye to Amy and follows her friends back into the castle.

Everyone fills Alana in on what they were doing while she was in Divination. She can't contain her laughter when she hears that the potion had exploded in everyone's faces, causing them to get all filthy and send potion ingredients flying everywhere. Hannah finishes the story and says, "I just hope the smoke is gone. I'll stop by the Gryffindor common room with Ethan to get cleaning supplies and sanitize the cauldron."

"It just sucks that we have to start from scratch." Agnes sighs dramatically and puts her hair up in a ponytail since they will attempt another potion trial. "Alana, Maria, and I will head to the mirror room and vent it out if there's still smoke inside."

"I'll go with Lauren to the library, then." Julia nods, knowing this plan is both efficient and effective so they don't waste any more time. "We will get the book for the barrier."

"Sweet. See you all there." Maria waves to the two other groups as they break off to get their things. She follows Alana and Agnes to the mirror room so they can guard the potion.

Lauren walks into the library with Julia and goes into the Defense Against the Dark Arts section. She skims through the books until she finds the seventh year level book. Lauren picks up another one that is titled, 'Barriers and Potion Blocks'. "Here we go. And we can take this one as well for extra reference."

Julia checks out the books and the two head up to the mirror room. On the way, they pass Ethan and Hannah holding a bunch of rags and cleaning supplies. Ethan then comes up with an idea. "Maybe we can learn a washing spell in case it happens again."

"Yeah, that's a good thought. We might need it." Julia nods and opens the door to the mirror room once they reach it. The four head inside and meet up with the rest of their friends.

"Hey guys, we were able to gather all the ingredients we spilled." Maria gestures over to the pile of organized stuff used to create potions.

Julia sets the two books down and starts flipping to the pages Amy mentioned from her book. As she starts reading, Hannah and Ethan give cleaning supplies to the rest so they can start picking up the mess. The smoke had all cleared when Maria, Agnes, and Alana came in, which gave them time to find the scattered ingredients. All they have to do is clean the room and the cauldron because the explosion left a bunch of black residue splatter on the walls, and even the ceiling.

Once most of the cleaning is done, Agnes hunches over Julia's shoulder and reads a paragraph from the book. "This spell may be used to block some unfriendly attacks, but also used as an offensive tool. Woah, you can use water as a tool?!"

"Sort of. It's a type of barrier spell, and also can be a weaponized spell if you know what you're doing. My dad tried to teach it to me, but I ended up breaking the water pipes instead." Julia says, making Ethan laugh out loud at the memory.

Agnes sits down next to Julia and puts her hand on her chin. "I swear I've seen that spell before..."

"Last year in the forest- oh, uh..." Maria starts explaining, but then sees Hannah look downward and wishes she hadn't said anything.

Hannah sighs loudly and sits down, crossing her legs. "No, it's fine. I shouldn't be this sensitive about it, right? I mean, the five of us all fought in the forest that day, so it's not fair to force you all to be silent. To answer your question, yes, Agnes. Professor Laney used that water spell to attack us while he was under the influence of... Cade."

"It's okay, Hannah. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Lauren scoots next to Hannah and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I was the one Professor Laney attacked with that spell."

"We all got pretty beat up, didn't we?" Hannah starts crying a bit, but she laughs at her own comment to make herself feel better. Four of the other girls laugh with her while Alana and Ethan just smile comfortingly. Hannah wipes her eyes and sighs, feeling relieved that she was able to get that out of her system. "Okay, back to the potion. Can the spell be used as a barrier for the ingredients?"

"I'm not sure if barrier is the right word. It's more like, ugh, what is it called? Dil..." Julia tilts her head and closes her eyes, trying to think of the word.

"Dilute." Lauren smiles once the word pops into her head.

"Right... what does that mean?" Maria looks between Julia and Lauren, not exactly knowing what they're talking about.

"Dilute means to make something weaker, or not as strong." Alana explains, and then thinks of a metaphor to help with the description. "It's like it calms the potion down."

"That might work then. Hopefully it won't explode!" Maria doesn't want to mess up the potion again and have to deal with the smoke.

"I say we try it. I'll practice the spell while you guys start the potion." Agnes offers and Julia gives her the book.

It takes a while, but the group is finally able to recreate the first half of the potion. Agnes stands away from the cauldron so she doesn't mess anything up while she practices the spell. After a couple tries, she surprisingly starts to get good at it. The group finishes putting in the last ingredient after a few hours and Agnes is ready. She points her wand at the cauldron and everyone watches intently as she says, "Aguamenti."

Water gently pours out of her wand and falls into the cauldron. She gives it a generous amount, but not too much. The friends let the potion settle for a moment before adding the Snurtlap snouts once again. This time when Julia stirs, everything melts together and the potion changes color. Everyone holds their breath in anticipation. After waiting a long minute, Lauren exhales and claps her hands. "It worked! The water diluted the potion without blocking the effects!"

"Okay, I'll write that down. We need to keep a log of the steps in case we have to start over again." Hannah grabs her notebook that she keeps her Potions class notes in and makes a new section for their personal potion. "It needs a name. Anyone have any ideas?"

Maria smiles and remembers something she saw in her History book. "How about Persequi Potion? I saw it in my History of Magic book. I think it means to pursue or follow in Latin or something."

"Hey, not bad! It has a nice ring to it." Alana compliments.

"Awesome. So, the Persequi Potion is on its way to being invented. What's next?" Ethan asks and turns to his sister since she's holding the book.

"Lauren, where's the section you read about Snurtlap snouts?" Julia flips through the book that Lauren was reading earlier in the day.

The Ravenclaw takes the book and opens up to a marked page. "Right here. It says that after adding these, it's best to wait for a few hours to let the snouts soak and simmer. I think we should leave it for today since it's getting so late. The ingredients will have all night to combine."

"Good idea. I have to meet Amy in a few minutes anyway." Alana says and stands up to help everyone clean the area. They cover the cauldron and hide it in the corner, along with their cleaning rags and potion ingredients. When they are all satisfied with their work, everyone leaves for dinner. This day has been quite eventful, and the friends are excited that they were able to progress in the potion some more.