Chapter 71: 5th September 1991, Thursday: Part 5

George didn't wait for a reaction from Myrtle as he pocketed the vials and started to pull out his potion-making equipment from his sack. There was no reason not to start preparing now since she had already given her consent. There was a little enjoyment to be had from watching Myrtle's face as he pulled out a large black cauldron from his pants. To add to her bafflement, he placed the cauldron on the ground and quickly put his hand back down his pants to pull out another piece of his equipment. George kept on pulling out item after items such as stirring tools and magic bunsen burners. The floor was quickly beginning to get cluttered with everything he needed to make the Calming Draught.

This absurdity caused Myrtle to finally break her silence, "how much have you got stuffed down there?"

George looked up and smiled as he pulled out a thirty-inch-long pair of metal tongs from his sack, "you'd be surprised, I have very deep pockets. I never leave home unprepared."

All of his equipment was now lining the bathroom floor, but George didn't stop as he now had to retrieve his potion ingredients. He started by pulling out stems of lavender and leaves of peppermint freshly taken from Greenhouses One and Two just over two days ago. George also pulled out a wooden box that contained a variety of standard potion ingredients as well as a jar that contained over a dozen hearts. These were all the core ingredients, there was enough to make a bucket load of potion. All the while, Myrtle's baffled expression only intensified as she kept floating completely still. She seemed quite content to silently bear witness to George performing his Mary Poppins impression.

George didn't need any potion books as he had already memorized every version of the recipe. He'd invented several different methods to brew the potion using the books as reference. He just needed to go through every method until he found the one that worked, sounded simple enough? For whatever reason, Myrtle paid particular attention to the last item George pulled out as she pointed toward the jar of hearts.

She asked with a slight stutter, "are those human hearts?"

George looked down towards the glass jar before returning his gaze to Myrtle with a confused expression. He wondered if she genuinely believed that he would carry around a jar of human hearts. Where the hell would he have gotten them from? It's not like Knockturn Alley did express delivery to Hogwarts. Not only that, but she would also think George would be stupid enough to show her the hearts if they were indeed human, he felt offended by her insinuation.

George looked disappointed in Myrtle as he pointed at the jar, "those are crocodile hearts, not human hearts. What do you think I'm trying to do here? I'm making a calming potion, not trying to summon a demon from the underworld."

Myrtle's face instantly relaxed after hearing George's explanation, her concerned expression seemed to swap to suspicion as she squinted her eyes at him.

She pointed at all the ingredients by George's feet and asked accusingly, "where did you get all of these? Didn't you say that you've only just learnt the potion existed, how do you happen to already have everything that you need to make it?"

Well okay, now that was a good and reasonable question. George was surprised that Myrtle was smart enough to question him on this matter, she was paying far more attention than he had initially anticipated. George could not understand how she could be so stupid one minute and so astute the next, it was like her intelligence fluctuated with her emotions. Being someone who prepared for every circumstance, he already had an excuse that could reassure her. It wasn't a very complex excuse, he was just going to tell her the truth. It was going to be incriminating but extremely believable since it wasn't a lie, that was better than acting innocent and losing her trust.

George gestured towards each of the ingredients whilst explaining their origins, "I purchased the box of standard potion ingredients from Apothecary at Diagon Alley before I came to Hogwarts. I thought it would come in useful at the time and I was able to afford it. In hindsight, I can see I made the right decision.

The lavender and peppermint were retrieved from the greenhouses during my lesson with Professor Sprout, I don't think she would mind if a few leaves and stems went missing.

Finally, the crocodile hearts were liberated from a shelf in one of the potion classes I happened to accidentally walk into a few hours ago. The jar was covered in dust and I felt that it would be a waste to see them spend the rest of their lives not serving any purpose."

Myrtle pursed her lips as she stated matter-of-factly, "so you stole them?"

George acted a little nervous as he came up with a weak excuse, "I'm only using them for their intended purpose. All of the potion ingredients at Hogwarts are intended for students to use in their studies.

Brewing the potion will be a learning exercise for me so I'm technically not breaking any rules, I'm just bending them a little for the right reasons."

George perceived his admission of guilt as being a major risk since Myrtle had an obligation to inform the teachers of his theft. Regardless of that fact, George was not worried. He was gambling on the fact that Myrtle would value their relationship more than the petty crimes he had committed. She wouldn't throw away their relationship just to see him get into trouble for something she hardly cared about. Instead of being angry, Myrtle appeared to find his admission to his crimes entertaining as an ominous smile found its way onto her face. He wasn't liking what her expression might entail as Myrtle began to slowly float rings around George like a shark circling its prey.

Myrtle started to speak like an Italian mobster, "well well, looks like Mr Linwood is quite a naughty boy. I never thought of you as a thief but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Wouldn't it be a shame if I was to perform my duty and tell the teachers about your heinous crimes? I'm sure the consequences would be very severe."

George decided to play along with her thinly disguised blackmailing, he was someone who could take what he usually dished out if needs be.

He pretended to get very nervous as he begged, "please don't do that, they'll take away my ingredients. I need them to brew the potion, and without the potion, I can't cure my panic attacks."

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Myrtle kept circling as she shrugged her shoulders at George's problem, "that does sound awfully terrible, I would hate to see that happen. I guess I could look the other way if you offered me something in return."

George prostrated himself on the ground as he held his hands together like he was praying. It was best to ham it up a little bit more to inflate Myrtle's ego.

George spoke in desperation, "I'll do anything."

Myrtle stopped rotating as she stared down at George with a smile that seemed to broaden as wide as the Cheshire Cat's from Alice in Wonderland, he found it a little creepy. Hopefully, all of his panderings would provide him with more favourable terms.

Myrtle demanded in an authoritative tone, "you have to come to the girl's bathroom every day just like you said you would, it has to be every single day for at least four hours with no exceptions.

I also want you to update me on what's going on around the school since no one else is willing to talk to me. Only then will I overlook your crimes."

Georges' persona's face sank as he realised he would be unable to fulfil that request, the hours were simply too demanding for a first year.

He pleaded for a better offer, "please Miss Warren, I can't agree to those demands. I beg you to be a little more lenient. The teachers are already watching me closely and staying here too long might ruin everything. They could stop me from coming here altogether if they found out."

Myrtle appeared to be drunk on power as she looked at George like a queen looking down at her peasant.

She ended up showing a little mercy, "three hours and not a second less, or I will immediately snitch on you."

George hurried to vigorously shake his head up and down in confirmation, he had gotten what he wanted out of the deal. He was happy with the terms even if they had remained at four hours, it's not like he had anything else better to do with his spare time. He only wanted to reduce the time just in case his future self had some other commitments. Now that the agreement was settled, he started to move his potion-brewing equipment into the cubicle he had chosen before Myrtle had scared him.

Myrtle floated back down to George and watched him ferry his stuff from the floor to a cubicle a few feet away for seemingly no reason.

She asked him, "why are you moving your stuff?"

George paused and turned to face her, "so I can start brewing my potion right now. Why else would I be doing this?"

Myrtle didn't appear to gain any clarity from his response, "I know that, but why are you moving into a cubicle? There's much more room by the sinks."

George paused yet again right as he was in the middle of moving the heavy copper cauldron into the cubical and exhaled in exhaustion. He knew this was only going to be the start of Myrtle's constant interruptions, he best get used to this since it probably wasn't going to stop.

He formed another fake smile and told Myrtle what he considered apparent, "if I start brewing my potion in the middle of all these cubicles, or by the sink as you had just suggested, and a girl decided to walk in here, then everything we had just agreed on would fall apart.

I know you said no one uses this bathroom but, even if it's only a one in one thousand chance, I don't want to take the risk just so I could get a little more elbow room."

Myrtle listened to George and seemed to agree with him, she kept nodding and stayed out of his way as he moved the last of his equipment. Just as he unloaded the last of his cargo, Myrtle flew into the cubicle with him. They were both inside a relatively small toilet stall that was only made for one person, George's personal bubble was feeling very suffocated.

Myrtle appeared to have come to her own conclusion, "now that you come to mention it, the cubicle is a much more 'suitable' and 'private' place to brew your potions. We should be just fine in here."

It was subtle but George could see Myrtle was slowly hovering closer to him after every word she said, this was all whilst she had that stupid smile on her face. With all his equipment and ingredients plus an annoying ghost looming overhead, he barely had enough room to breathe. George was wondering if it was too late to change his mind and use the Room of Requirements instead.

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