"Oh."

"Aren't store masters supposed to check freshness? Or at least confirm sources..."

"One would think so, yes! But my dear headmistress assured me the school would cover whatever materials I require. Fille de pute."

"Is she usually incompetent?"

"Not brilliant, no, but usually capable."

"Eesh. Maybe send an angry letter to the school's potions master, then - though it won't fix it now..."

"Oh, they will all hear about it, do not fear."

Nod. "The judges also really should've given you more points - having a back up was clever, and it sounds like you recovered really well. Plans kinda just don't go perfectly all the time, and adaptability's important."

"Especially your headmistress, since she knew you'd prepared..." Headmistress Maxime had given the second lowest score, actually.

Elodie scowls. "Let us speak of something else." Music?

Music! Anathema mentions they're going to try doing their OWLs early, she's hoping to switch her elective to Music next year and get the OWL for that by graduation... And she of course has thought about points that were left hanging last time...

A much more pleasant conversation.

Elodie relaxes noticeably over the course of their talk.

Very good. (She should be happy and relaxed. It's nice when she is.)

(...After, Anathema brings up with Ellie if it's possible Elodie was sabotaged.)

"Maybe," she says doubtfully, "if she's otherwise confident in her potionmaking skills. But who benefits?"

"Krum or Diggory, I guess, especially since they were so far behind her, but they'd have had trouble doing it - they could've messed with her potion while it was brewing, but that's probably hard to do non-obviously... Dumbledore wouldn't, but Karkaroff might? If he's taking the tournament way too seriously." Shrug. "I dunno. She seems competent, and it's... Weird."

This might also be Anathema's mild infatuation though. Elodie seems - not as amazing as Ellie but definitely amazing.

"A bit. Getting her potion to where it would fail halfway instead of outright seems pretty hard."

"Some potions are finicky in weird ways, but yeah ours tend to just explode when messed with." Pause. "Though that might just be us."

"More you than me."

Giggle. "Okay, explosions might be just who I am as a person, then."

Nod. "Self-acceptance is very important."

Giggle. "Explosions are fun... I just need to control when they happen a bit better."

"Just a little."

"As long as I don't damage your pretty face, I think we're good."

"What about the rest of my pretty me?"

She kisses Ellie's cheek. "I'll keep the rest of your pretty you safe, too," she teases. "Though a few choice scars might enhance things..."

"Already got one of those."

"I'm not sure under your fringe counts. It's not really enhancing your features properly."